Good Friday, March 29th

Mar 28

Welcome to The Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion, a welcoming and diverse community seeking to walk in the Way of Jesus and to reveal Christ’s reconciling love in our city, nation, and world.

Get Involved: If you fill out a “Let’s Get Connected Card” found in your pew, or at the Welcome Table by the door where you came in the church, we’d be glad to keep you up to date with all that’s happening at Holy Communion. Or, simply scan the QR code below to visit holycommunion.net where you can share your contact information, find a worship bulletin, read the latest news, and more.

Communion: “These are the gifts of God for the people of God.”

At Church of the Holy Communion, we believe that it is Christ himself who invites us to meet him in the bread and the cup. Though it is known by many names - Communion, Mass, Holy Eucharist, The Lord’s Supper, the Sacrament of the Altar - it is the means by which Christ’s real presence abides with us by faith. Therefore, all are welcome to receive. When it comes time for Communion, please follow the directions of the Greeters. The bread is offered to all, with gluten free wafers available, upon request from the minister. If you would like to receive the wine, you may either drink from the cup, or intinct (dip) the wafer in the wine. Likewise, it is acceptable to receive only the bread, if for personal or health reasons you prefer to not consume wine. Those not receiving Communion, may also come forward. Indicate to the minister that you do not wish to receive Communion by simply crossing your arms across your chest, and the minister will offer a prayer for God’s blessing in your life.

Kids are expected! We believe that kids are welcome to "act their age" and encouraged to fully participate in worship. Options for households with kids are the "Pray Ground" , the carpeted area in the front near the chapel, best for children ages 1 - 5. Nursery Care, off the lounge, is open from 9-12noon. Godly Play is offered downstairs beginning at 10am. They return to their caregivers at 11am in time for the Peace. If you need assistance finding any of these options, just ask a Greeter.

Accessibility: “Priority Seating” is provided for caretakers of those with mobility needs. Our entrances have auto-open buttons, and our elevator is ADA compliant. Both the downstairs restrooms and one of the upstairs restrooms are accessible. If you have any questions about signage, please ask an usher or one of the ministers.

Hearing Assistance: Hearing assistance devices are available from the welcome table. Just ask a Greeter.

Donations: We welcome donations to support the mission and ministry of Church of the Holy Communion. Monetary donations can be placed in the offering plate that will be passed during the service, put in the wooden offering box found at the Welcome Table, by scanning the QR code below, or by electronic donations set up through your bank or on the church website,

holy communion.net. Thank you!

Liturgy of the Word

The ministers enter in silence; all kneel or rise in body or spirit for silent prayer

Blessed be our God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Let us pray.

Look graciously on this your family for which our Savior Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and to suffer death upon the cross; and grant us to grow into the fullness of new life in Christ who now is alive and glorified with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Lessons We hear the stories of the experience of God from our spiritual ancestors. Following an ancient pattern originally from Jewish synagogue worship, readings follow a calendar shared by Christians around the globe.

The Old Testament Reading Please be seated. Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Look, my servant will succeed. He will be exalted and lifted very high. Just as many were appalled by you, he too appeared disfigured, inhuman, his appearance unlike that of mortals. But he will astonish many nations. Kings will be silenced because of him, because they will see what they haven’t seen before; what they haven’t heard before, they will ponder. Who can believe what we have heard, and for whose sake has the Lord’s arm been revealed? He grew up like a young plant before us, like a root from dry ground. He possessed no splendid form for us to see, no desirable appearance. He was despised and avoided by others; a man who suffered, who knew sickness well. Like someone from whom people hid their faces, he was despised, and we didn’t think about him. It was certainly our sickness that he carried, and our sufferings that he bore, but we thought him afflicted, struck down by God and tormented. He was pierced because of our rebellions and crushed because of our crimes. He bore the punishment that made us whole; by his

wounds we are healed. Like sheep we had all wandered away, each going its own

way, but the Lord let fall on him all our crimes. He was oppressed and tormented, but didn’t open his mouth. Like a lamb being brought to slaughter, like a ewe silent before her shearers, he didn’t open his mouth. Due to an unjust ruling he was taken away, and his fate—who will think about it? He was eliminated from the land of the living, struck dead because of my people’s rebellion. His grave was among the wicked, his tomb with evildoers, though he had done no violence, and had spoken nothing false. But the Lord wanted to crush him and to make him suffer. If his life is offered as restitution, he will see his offspring; he will enjoy long life. The Lord’s plans will come to fruition through him. After his deep anguish he will see light, and he will be satisfied. Through his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, will make many righteous, and will bear their guilt. Therefore, I will give him a share with the great, and he will divide the spoil with the strong, in return for exposing his life to death and being numbered with rebels, though he carried the sin of many and pleaded on behalf of those who rebelled.

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Psalm 22:1-11 All sing the refrain after the choir, and where indicated

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? and are so far from my cry

and from the words of my distress?

O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not answer;
by night as well, but I find no rest. REFRAIN

Yet you are the Holy One,

enthroned upon the praises of Israel. Our forefathers put their trust in you; they trusted, and you delivered them. They cried out to you and were delivered;

they trusted in you and were not put to shame. REFRAIN

But as for me, I am a worm and not human, scorned by all and despised by the people.

All who see me laugh me to scorn;

They curl their lips and wag their heads, saying,

“You trusted in the LORD; let the LORD deliver you;

Let God rescue you, if God delights in you.” REFRAIN

Yet you are the one who took me out of the womb

And kept me safe upon my mother’s breast.

I have been entrusted to you ever since I was born;

You were my God when I was still in my mother’s womb.

Be not far from me for trouble is near,

And there is none to help. REFRAIN

The Epistle Reading Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may

receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to

save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

The Passion Gospel John 18: 1-19:42

The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.

Glory to you, Lord Christ.

After he said these things, Jesus went out with his disciples and crossed over to the other side of the Kidron Valley. He and his disciples entered a garden there. Judas, his betrayer, also knew the place because Jesus often gathered there with his disciples. Judas brought a company of soldiers[a] and some guards from the chief priests and Pharisees. They came there carrying lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus knew everything that was to happen to him, so he went out and asked, “Who are you looking for?”

They answered, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

He said to them, “I Am.” (Judas, his betrayer, was standing with them.) When he said, “I Am,” they shrank back and fell to the ground. He asked them again, “Who are you looking for?”

They said, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

Jesus answered, “I told you, ‘I Am.’ If you are looking for me, then let these people go.” This was so that the word he had spoken might be fulfilled: “I didn’t lose anyone of those whom you gave me.”

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) Jesus told Peter, “Put your sword away! Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?” Then the company of soldiers, the commander, and the guards from the Jewish leaders took Jesus into custody. They bound him and led him first to Annas. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. (Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it was better for one person to die for the people.)

Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Because this other disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard. However, Peter stood outside near the gate. Then the other disciple (the one known to the high priest) came out and spoke to the woman stationed at the gate, and she brought Peter in. The servant woman stationed at the gate asked Peter, “Aren’t you one of this man’s disciples?”

“I’m not,” he replied. The servants and the guards had made a fire because it was cold. They were standing around it, warming themselves. Peter joined them there, standing by the fire and warming himself.

Meanwhile, the chief priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered, “I’ve spoken openly to the world. I’ve always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews gather. I’ve said nothing in private. Why ask me? Ask those who heard what I told them. They know what I said.”

After Jesus spoke, one of the guards standing there slapped Jesus in the face. “Is that how you would answer the high priest?” he asked.

Jesus replied, “If I speak wrongly, testify about what was wrong. But if I speak correctly, why do you strike me?” Then Annas sent him, bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.

Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing with the guards, warming himself. They asked, “Aren’t you one of his disciples?”

Peter denied it, saying, “I’m not.”

A servant of the high priest, a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said to him, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?” Peter denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

The Jewish leaders led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Roman governor’s palace.[d] It was early in the morning. So that they could eat the Passover, the Jewish leaders wouldn’t enter the palace; entering the palace would have made them ritually impure.

So Pilate went out to them and asked, “What charge do you bring against this man?”

They answered, “If he had done nothing wrong, we wouldn’t have handed him over to you.”

Pilate responded, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your Law.”

The Jewish leaders replied, “The Law doesn’t allow us to kill anyone.” (This was so that Jesus’ word might be fulfilled when he indicated how he was going to die.)

Pilate went back into the palace. He summoned Jesus and asked, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others spoken to you about me?”

Pilate responded, “I’m not a Jew, am I? Your nation and its chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”

Jesus replied, “My kingdom doesn’t originate from this world. If it did, my guards would fight so that I wouldn’t have been arrested by the Jewish leaders. My kingdom isn’t from here.”

“So you are a king?” Pilate said.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. I was born and came into the world for this reason: to testify to the truth. Whoever accepts the truth listens to my voice.”

“What is truth?” Pilate asked.

After Pilate said this, he returned to the Jewish leaders and said, “I find no grounds for any charge against him. You have a custom that I release one prisoner for you at Passover. Do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?”

They shouted, “Not this man! Give us Barabbas!” (Barabbas was an outlaw.)

Then Pilate had Jesus taken and whipped. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple robe. Over and over they went up to him and said, “Greetings, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.

Pilate came out of the palace again and said to the Jewish leaders, “Look! I’m bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no grounds for a charge against him.” When Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here’s the man.”

When the chief priests and their deputies saw him, they shouted out, “Crucify, crucify!”

Pilate told them, “You take him and crucify him. I don’t find any grounds for a charge against him.”

The Jewish leaders replied, “We have a Law, and according to this Law he ought to die because he made himself out to be God’s Son.”

When Pilate heard this word, he was even more afraid. He went back into the residence and spoke to Jesus, “Where are you from?” Jesus didn’t answer. So Pilate said, “You won’t speak to me? Don’t you know that I have authority to release you and also to crucify you?”

Jesus replied, “You would have no authority over me if it had not been given to you from above. That’s why the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.” From that moment on, Pilate wanted to release Jesus.

However, the Jewish leaders cried out, saying, “If you release this man, you aren’t a friend of the emperor! Anyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes the emperor!”

When Pilate heard these words, he led Jesus out and seated him on the judge’s bench at the place called Stone Pavement (in Aramaic, Gabbatha). It was about noon on the Preparation Day for the Passover. Pilate said to the Jewish leaders, “Here’s your king.”

The Jewish leaders cried out, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

Pilate responded, “What? Do you want me to crucify your king?”

“We have no king except the emperor,” the chief priests answered. Then Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified.

The soldiers took Jesus prisoner. Carrying his cross by himself, he went out to a place called Skull Place (in Aramaic, Golgotha). That’s where they crucified him—and two others with him, one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a public notice written and posted on the cross. It read “Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. Therefore, the Jewish chief priests complained to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The king of the Jews’ but ‘This man said, “I am the king of the Jews.”’”

Pilate answered, “What I’ve written, I’ve written.”

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and his sandals, and divided them into four shares, one for each soldier. His shirt was seamless, woven as one piece from the top to the bottom. They said to each other, “Let’s not tear it. Let’s cast lots to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill the scripture,

They divided my clothes among themselves,
and they cast lots for my clothing.
That’s what the soldiers did.

Jesus’ mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene stood near the cross. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

After this, knowing that everything was already completed, in order to fulfill the scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was nearby, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it, placed it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When he had received the sour wine, Jesus said, “It is completed.” Bowing his head, he gave up his life.

It was the Preparation Day and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies to remain on the cross on the Sabbath, especially since that Sabbath was an important day. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of those crucified broken and the bodies taken down. Therefore, the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men who were crucified with Jesus. When they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead so they didn’t break his legs. However, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. The one who saw this has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he speaks the truth, and he has testified so that you also can believe. These things happened to fulfill the scripture, They won’t break any of his bones. And another scripture says, They will look at him whom they have pierced.

After this Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate if he could take away the body of Jesus. Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one because he feared the Jewish authorities. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and took the body away. Nicodemus, the one who at first had come to Jesus at night, was there too. He brought a mixture of myrrh and aloe, nearly seventy-five pounds in all.[h] Following Jewish burial customs, they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it, with the spices, in linen cloths. There was a garden in the place where Jesus was crucified, and in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish Preparation Day and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus in it.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Christ.

The Homily The Rev. Julie Graham

Gospel Hymn “Go to Dark Gethsemane” H171

Solemn Collects

Presider: Dear People of God: God sent the Savior into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through Christ’s self-offering love might be saved. We pray, therefore, for people everywhere according to their needs.

Silence

Intercessor: Let us pray for the one holy catholic and apostolic Church of Christ throughout the world: for unity in witness and service, for all bishops and other ministers and the people whom they serve, for Deon our bishop, and all the people of this diocese, for all Christians in this community,

for those about to be baptized, that God will confirm the Church in faith, increase it in love, and preserve it in peace.

Silence

Presider: Faithful and compassionate God, your Spirit guides the Church and makes it holy; hear the prayers we offer, that in the particular ministry to which you have called us, we may serve you faithfully, through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Intercessor: Let us pray for all nations and peoples of the earth, and for all who govern and judge; especially our Joseph president, Michael our governor, and our elected representatives, for all who serve the common good, that by God’s help they may seek justice and truth, that all might live in peace and harmony.

Silence

Presider: Faithful and compassionate God, kindle, we pray, in every heart the true love of peace, and guide with your wisdom those in authority, that justice, peace, and freedom may increase, until the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Intercessor: Let us pray for the Jewish people who possess an eternal covenant with the Lord, who delivered them from bondage to freedom; For continued faithfulness to God’s covenant with them; For their flourishing in peace as witnesses to God’s sustaining love; For safety from all malice and harm; For the fullness of redemption for the sake of God’s Name. That unity and concord may exist between Jews and Christians, in obedience to God’s will. Silence

Presider: O God of Abraham, you planted your people Israel as the root and grafted Gentiles as wild branches into a single olive tree of praise to you: As we come near to the cross, we lament Christian acts of prejudice and violence against your faithful people, of whom Jesus Christ was born. Bless the children of your covenant, so that together we may attain the fullness of your blessing for the world. Amen.

Intercessor: Let us pray for all who suffer: for those who are hungry and homeless, those who are ill or disabled in body, mind or spirit, for those in loneliness and in fear, for those who face temptation, doubt, and despair, for those who are sorrowful and bereaved, for those who are persecuted for the sake of Christ, for prisoners, refugees and captives, for victims of war, genocide, and trafficking and all those in mortal danger, that God’s love will comfort and sustain them, and that we may be stirred up to minister to their needs.

Silence

Presider: Faithful and compassionate God, the comfort of all who sorrow, the strength of all who suffer, hear the cry of all who call on you in any trouble, grant them the joy of receiving your help in their need, and give us, we pray, the strength to serve them, through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Intercessor: Let us pray for all who have not embraced God’s redemptive love: for those who have never heard the word of salvation, for those who have lost their faith, for those who are indifferent to Christ, for those who actively oppose Christ by word or deed, and persecute Christ’s disciples, for those who in the name of Christ have persecuted others, that God will open their hearts to the truth, and lead them to faith and obedience.

Silence

Presider: Merciful God, the source of life and fountain of mercy, let the Gospel of your Son Jesus Christ be preached with grace and love; turn the hearts

of the followers of Jesus who have harmed others in his name; lead all to repentance and amendment of life; and sustain by your loving grace all who lift their eyes to you. Amen.

Intercessor: Let us commit ourselves to God, and pray for the grace of a holy life, that with all who have died in the peace of Christ, and with those whose faith is known to God alone, we may enter the fullness of life in the joy of Christ’s resurrection.

Silence

Presider: God, our refuge and strength, accept the fervent prayers of your people, and bring to fulfillment your plan for all creation, through Jesus Christ your Firstborn, who is alive with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Meditation on the Cross of Jesus

A wooden cross is brought into the church in silence.

Behold the cross, on which hung the Savior of the world.

Come let us worship.

My people, what wrong have I done you? How have I offended you? Answer me! Through baptism, I led you from slavery to freedom, but you led your savior to the cross.