Open Arms Good Friday Vespers, April 10, 2020

Good Friday Vespers

April 10, 2020

Welcome to Open Arms Lutheran Church.  God bless your worship today, as you contemplate Jesus' death on Calvary's cross, His life given, for you.

Here is the video link for this service:   Good Friday Vespers   

Opening Song:    King of Kings

Invocation

V:  In the name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C:  Amen.

Opening Verses

V:  O Lord, open my lips,

C:  and my mouth will declare Your praise.

V:  Make haste, O God, to deliver me;

C:  make haste to help me, O Lord.

      Praise to You, O Christ, Lamb of our salvation.

Psalm 22

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,  and by night, but I find no rest.

      Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.

To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.

All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;

      “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.

On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.

Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me;

      they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint;

      my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;

      my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.

For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—

      I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me;

      they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!

Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!

Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

      You who fear the Lord, praise him! 

      All you, offspring of Jacob, glorify him,

      and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted,

      and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.

From you comes my praise in the great congregation;

      my vows I will perform before those who fear him.

The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;

      those who seek him shall praise the Lord!  May your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord,

      and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.

For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.

All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;

      before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive.

Posterity shall serve him;   it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;

      they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

V:  This is the Word of the Lord.

C:  Thanks be to God.

Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh,

      my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;

      though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after:

      that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

      to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.

For He will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble;

      He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will lift me high upon a rock.

And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me,

      and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;

      I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!

You have said, “Seek my face.”

      My heart says to you,   “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

Hide not Your face from me.

      Turn not Your servant away in anger, O You who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation!

For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lordwill take me in.

Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.

Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;

      for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence.

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

V:  This is the Word of the Lord.

C:  Thanks be to God.

The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. John, the 19^th chapter

Passion Reading:     John 19:1–16

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him.  And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe.  They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands.  Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”  So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”  When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.”

The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”  When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.  He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.  So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?”  Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”  So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic, Gabbatha.

Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”  They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”  So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

     

Passion Reading       John 19:17–30

So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.  There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.  Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”  Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek.  So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’”  Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,

“They divided my garments among them,
     and for my clothing they cast lots.”

So the soldiers did these things, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”  Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”  A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.  When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Passion Reading       John 19:31–42

Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.  So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him.  But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.  But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.  He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe.  For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”  And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission.  So he came and took away his body.  Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.  So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.  So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

V:  This is the Word of the Lord.

C:  Thanks be to God.

Sermon Song     Wonderful Cross 

Sermon

Reproaches     

These are words of the Lord, to whom we plead for mercy, spoken against His people, the Church.

Reproach

V:  Thus says the Lord: What have I done to you, O My people, and wherein have I offended you? Answer Me. For I have raised you up out of the prison house of sin and death, and you have delivered up your Redeemer to be scourged. For I have redeemed you from the house of bondage, and you have nailed your Savior to the cross. O My people.

 C: Holy Lord God, holy and mighty God, holy and most merciful Redeemer;

            leave us not to bitter death.     O Lord, have mercy.

Reproach

V:  Thus says the Lord: What have I done to you, O My people, and wherein have I offended you? Answer Me. For I have conquered all your foes, and you have given Me over and delivered Me to those who persecute Me. For I have fed you with My Word and refreshed you with living water, and you have given Me gall and vinegar to drink. O My people.

 C: Holy Lord God, holy and mighty God, holy and most merciful Redeemer;

            allow us not to lose hope in the face of death and hell.      O Lord, have mercy.

Reproach

V:  Thus says the Lord: What have I done to you, O My people, and wherein have I offended you? Answer Me. What more could have been done for My vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? My people, is this how you thank your God? O My people.

 C: Holy Lord God, holy and mighty God, holy and most merciful Redeemer;

            keep us steadfast in the true faith.      O Lord, have mercy.

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven,

     hallowed be Thy name,

     Thy kingdom come,

     Thy will be done on earth

          as it is in heaven;

     give us this day our daily bread;

     and forgive us our trespasses

          as we forgive those

          who trespass against us;

     and lead us not into temptation,

     but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom

     and the power and the glory

     forever and ever. Amen.