The Cost of Freedom and Forgiveness

The Cost

So this was the cost

the price you had to pay for me

to be with me

to save me

to redeem me

You laid down here for me

Hung here for me

Died here for me

You laid down here for me

As they laughed at you

And said who’s hitting you

You laid down here for me

As they nailed you

Impaled you

You laid here as nails cut you, pierced you, ripped you

You laid down here for me

You hung here for me as they mocked you

Jew King, here’s your crown so come down and be king

You hung here for me as your breath wouldn’t come

And the blood wouldn’t stop

and nails or no nails you still are God

and could have come down

and made the pain stop and made the laughs stop

but you hung here for me

You died here for me

As you said

it is finished

And now there is nothing left,

But the horror of this place

And I want to turn away, to walk away, to run away

To just forget without regret

All the horror of this place

Of the blood on your face

And the pain of the nails and the hole in your side

But I can’t turn away cause I need to be saved

And if this is what it takes for me to know you

To be with you

to find you

if this is what it takes for you to save me

Then I can’t look away

Cause I need you to save

this soul that cries out for you,

dies for you,

reaches for you

If this is what it takes then I all I can say is

Crucify! Crucify! Crucify!

Cause I need to be saved

And I...

I can’t pay the cost

When the preacher has no words

And they came to an olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, "Sit here while I go and pray." 33 He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be filled with horror and deep distress. 34 He told them, "My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and watch with me."

35 He went on a little farther and fell face down on the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. 36 "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine."

37 Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. "Simon!" he said to Peter. "Are you asleep? Couldn't you stay awake and watch with me even one hour? 38 Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak."

39 Then Jesus left them again and prayed, repeating his pleadings. 40 Again he returned to them and found them sleeping, for they just couldn't keep their eyes open. And they didn't know what to say.

I've been reading and rereading this passage. I've studied it in every context, in the original language, through the hearts of many commentators and preachers. What they've taught me, I understand.

But... oh!

I don't know what to say... either.

How could we ever understand just how broken Jesus' heart was that night?

How could we fathom the depths of sadness and depression that gripped the disciples?

But how could they disappoint Jesus like that?

Oh...

like I have... so... many... times?

.............................................................................................

I need Good Friday, so this time I'll be faithful. This time I will "watch and pray."

Good Friday 2010

We've had ten years of Good Friday services at New Hope, but few have been as intimate and moving as tonight's gathering. The observance is always the most serious we do all year, and everyone who comes seems to understand that we're preparing our hearts for Easter by remembering the cost of our salvation. Amy's reading of "The Cost" in particular was awesomely moving. Here's the worship outline.

THE SERVICE OF THE WORD

Scripture: Revelation 6:12-17

Message: “The Wrath of the Lamb”

THE SERVICE OF SHADOWS

The Shadow of Betrayal
Reading: Luke 22:1-6
 
The Shadow of the Agony of the Spirit
Reading: Matthew 26:36-44
Response: Scenes from the Passion 5:00

The Shadow of Arrest
Reading: Mark 14:43-49

The Shadow of Desertion
Reading: Mark 14:50, 66-72
Response: “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” 4:29

The Shadow of Accusation
Reading: Matthew 27:11-18, 21-26
Response: “The Cost” – Amy Anderson

The Shadow of Crucifixion & Humiliation
Reading: Matthew 27:27-37
Response: “Surely He hath Borne Our Grief”

The Shadow of Death
Reading: Matthew 27:45-54
Response: “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”
The Christ Candle Is Removed.

Communion

The Shadow of Burial
Reading: John 19:38-42
Response: “Were You There”

Silent Reflection
 
It’s Friday – But Sunday’s Coming 

 

It's Friday... but Sunday's coming

Finished preparing for Good Friday and realized that it is one of those worship gatherings that I strip down to the essentials and it feels "right." In the smaller church, we're not going to talk much about "production values" or "striving for excellence" as some others might do. There are things that size affects, and producing a "wow-filled" worship experience with all the latest technology is one of them. The tools just aren't there.

But I don't want them to be. I want the gift of simplicity. Oh we'll use powerpoint, and video - but those are as common in churches now as casseroles. The biggest impact that will come in worship tonight though will probably be through one of two things - The Scripture, or the encroaching darkness as the "Service of Shadows" plays out.

To sit in silence and listen to what our Lord and Savior endured on our behalf, and to feel the stillness and increasing gloom of Good Friday seems to transport us back into a group of fearful, grieving disciples, who have seen all their hopes die. They don't know what we know. They think the story has ended in the worst possible way.

We know it's Friday - but Sunday's coming.

Can't wait.

Good Friday Service 2009

This year, I chose to use a wonderful resource from CSS Publishing company called "Letters From A Good Friday World." It consists of a series of letters from people who were participants in the events of that day, when Jesus suffered and died. Reading the previews, I was blown away. I never really considered what it was like for them once Jesus' body was laid in the tomb - or how they dealt with the loss.

We'll do some nontraditional music as well as some traditional. Anytime you hear Neil Young and Trent Rezner in Baptist worship I think you score 100% on the "they killed the sacred ficus" meter. But this is a service where we'll invite the Holy Spirit to grab our hearts and confront us with the enormity of our sins... and the raw cost.

Video this year will be less than in years past, but we still may use a couple. Thank you Sermon Spice. Still praying through the list of elements. My hope is that people come away convinced of the amazing grace we'll sing about Sunday. God's wrath was poured out onto the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.

He died in our place. He died... in our place.

It's why it is called Good Friday.



Hope to see you there.

The End of the Beginning

It's a beautiful Saturday here. And yet I'm almost in tears as I type this.

Knowing what Jesus went through that final week gets to me. It always has. And ever since I came to New Hope almost ten years ago, we have done a Good Friday service because I believe that unless a person knows what their freedom from sin cost, they will never fully appreciate grace. In most years we do a service where it gets progressively darker during the service and we leave in sorrow.

So this morning I began to put together the elements of that service. And it grabbed me again.

He did it for me. He died in my place. He took the wrath of God upon Himself - He who was sinless - for me.

Amazing.

Grace.


Holy week begins with Palm Sunday tomorrow. It was the end of the beginning.

While We Go About Our Business This Weekend

Easter weekend has begun, with churches all over busy holding Good Friday services, Saturday easter Egg hunts, and Easter morning sunrise services. It's a frenzy for some.

Ironic isn't it.

The first participants would have been huddled in darkness, shrouded in secrecy, straining to hear footsteps that might mean the same officials who put their Master to death had decided to handle the rest of the problem. Nerves would have been raw. Tempers short. The dark room's outlines must have seemed fuzzy through bleary, tear stained eyes.

It was as if all the light had fled, all the life they had known - was dead. Buried. Gone. Forever.

Who of us can identify?

Who of us can understand just how lost they felt that Saturday before Easter?

When there was... no hope.

Final Good Friday Script

FWIW Here's our 2008 Good Friday Service

Good Friday Worship Order of Service

Welcome and Explanation Pastor David Wilson

The idea behind this service is to give some context for why Christ had to die. It wasn't just "for God so loved" it was that we are sinners and are unable to pay the price for our sins. God is Holy, and we're anything but. So we'll use darkness, drama, Scripture, song and video to help us understand the depth of our sinfulness. In that way I hope we will understand the depth of Christ's loving sacrifice.

Moment of Meditation “Hurt” Johnny Cash (we're running a ppt of sins appearing then fading behind this audio)

“Come Ye Sinners” Bunny and Sean (art of Christ and the crucifixion runs behind this)

“How Deep the Father’s Love” -Video Fernando Ortega ( Passion of the Christ video background)

Reading One Craig Bryan (audio from the Passion behind this)

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face.

Pilate came out and said to the Jews, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him." When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!"

They shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

"Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked.

"We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

Pouring Out of God’s Wrath

We built a cross which sits in a plastic tub, covered to look as if it sits on a rocky hill. At each pouring, a slideshow runs with Scriptural and other quotes (Jonathan Edwards, A.W. Tozer etc) describing the penalty for sins - the cup of wrath in other words) Audio from the Passion CD

“When I Survey” - Video (from iWorship DVD with Kathyrn Scott singing)

Reading Two Kristen Morton

Bearing His own cross, the soldiers led Jesus to the place called the Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.

As they crucified Jesus, the soldiers stripped His garments making four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece.

The soldiers said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be"; that the Scripture might be fulfilled, "They divided My outer garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."

And they put up above His head the charge against Him which reads, "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS." Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."

Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

Pouring Out of God’s Wrath

“Alone” – Peter’s Monologue John Anderson (off the Lifeway site)

Reading Three Doug Fannon

And those who passed by hurled abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, "Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!"

And one of the criminals hanging beside Jesus hurled abuse at Him, saying, "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!"

But the other answered, and rebuked him saying, "Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?”

"And we indeed justly, for we received what we deserve for our
deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And the thief pled, "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!"

And Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."

“Nothing But the Blood” Praise Team (Matt Redmon updated version)

Reading Four Pastor David Wilson

The third hour was upon Jesus and darkness fell over the whole land until the final hour.

Jesus cried out “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

And some of those who stood around us there, when they heard it, said, "This man is calling for Elijah."

And immediately one of them ran, and took a sponge, filling it with sour wine, and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. But the rest of them cried out, "Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him."

And about the ninth hour when he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. At that moment, the curtain in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

Pouring Out of God’s Wrath

“Were You There” Congregation and Praise Team (traditional - first two verses, video of the crucifixing from the Passion)

Invitation to the Table Pastor David Wilson

Communion Deacons

“The Last Painting” – Video (very powerful video of a painter doing a figure of Christ on the cross)

Thank you. Please depart in silence and return Sunday Morning to experience the JOY OF EASTER!

We'll leave in darkness and silence and await Easter's light.

Good Friday

“The Cup”

New Hope Baptist Church

Good Friday 2008 @ New Hope

One of the amazing things about this time in which we live is that ministries across the globe can be used by God to help others preach the gospel and impact their communities. While working on Good Friday 2008, I came across worshiptrench.com and found they had made their Good Friday 2007 service available on the internet with explicit instructions - everything you needed. So with their permission, I have adopted "The Cup" as our framework for this years' Good Friday.

We'll use most of it, but add some elements I think will make it fit our "service of shadows" theme. The Johnny Cash version of "Hurt" with the list of sins rolling down in the darkness should fix the understanding in our hearts of how unworthy we are to receive God's grace.
Come Ye Sinners is a plea to - in the light of what we are and what we deserve - to draw near to God. The "Cup" is the cup of God's wrath poured out for our sins on Christ for our benefit and to His pain.

As William Willmon said somewhere "If the church doesn't tell people who they really are, who will?"

Well, we are going to tell.

Here's the lineup, if you have any questions just let me know.

21-Mar-08 New Hope Baptist Good Friday 2008

1 Explanation - sin, wrath, price-paid!
2 Video: "Hurt" - Johnny Cash (runs with a stark background ppt of sins listed)
3 Come Ye Sinners (runs with video from the passion)
4 Video: How Deep the Father's Love (More video from the passion)
5 reading 1
6 pouring and screenshots
7 When I Survey video with Fernando Ortega
8 reading 2
9 pouring and screenshots
10 Alone: Peter's Monologue - from Lifeway's site
11 reading three narrator
12 Nothing but the blood (redmon) praise team
13 reading four narrator
14 pouring and screenshots
15 Were You There congregation (video backdrop)
16 Communion directions
17 Communion Taken deacons
18 the Last Painting (great ending of a painting of the crucified Savior)

We depart in silence to await the Hope of Easter.

Many thanks to our brothers at worship trench for sharing with us.

Wrath and Mercy

I've been working feverishly today to try to wrap up the details of our Good Friday service. In past years, we've done a pretty traditional Tenebrae or "Service of Shadows" where the congregation is led through the Scripture readings of the last day of Jesus' life on earth from betrayal to crucifixion and death. We've used hymns as breaks in the readings, and gradually lowered the lighting as we progressed.

Since in our run up to Easter we've spent Sunday nights worshiping in a more interactive and symbol filled way, I decided to try to make this Good Friday service in that mold. I was fortunate to find another church's efforts from last year.

In this service, called "The Cup", the object is to get the participant to FEEL just how distant our sin had drawn us from God's ideal - into the wrath of God, and just what the cost of the price that was paid to satisfy our debt was.

We're hoping that the Holy Spirit will use this worship experience to draw people to the Truth, the Way, and the Life.

Prayers gratefully accepted. :)