holy week at home
GOOD FRIDAY
Take a minute or two to center yourself by praying, again, Psalm 46:10 as you breathe:
—breathe in
Be still
—hold breath
and know
—breathe out
that I am God.
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader:
I lift my eyes up to the hills—
where does my help come from?
All:
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
OPENING PRAYER
Ask that God would reveal himself in this time and in this place.
If you’re in a group, consider asking different people to pray each day.
Today's scripture text:
MATTHEW 26:17-30
select one (or all) of the following formats:
Matthew 26:17-30 New Living Translation (NLT)
17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?”
18 “As you go into the city,” he told them, [“a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 At the house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ 15 He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal”] (Mark 14:13-15). 19 So the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there.
20 When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table with the Twelve. 21 While they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.”
22 Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one, Lord?”
23 He replied, “One of you who has just eaten from this bowl with me will betray me. 24 For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”
25 Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, “Rabbi, am I the one?”
And Jesus told him, “You have said it.”
26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.”
27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. 29 Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”
30 Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.
New Living Translation (NLT)Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Matthew 26:17-30 (NLT)
After the text is presented, someone says:
The Word of the Lord
and everyone responds:
Thanks be to God!
Response to the Word
Build Your Family Altar.
01.
MEMORY
Can you remember a meal you had with friends that ended up being better than you expected (and not because of the food)? What happened at the meal in addition to eating? If you’re in a group, share these answers out loud.
02.
SYMBOL
Find a pitcher and fill it with water. Place the pitcher on your family altar. May it symbolize God’s invitation to eat with him and fellowship with his followers.
03.
HOPE
Jesus said, “I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.” In Luke he also says, “I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God” (Lk 22:16). How does knowing that Christ will feast with us in the Kingdom of Heaven change how we live? In what ways can our meals today foreshadow this meal to come?
But before everyone goes their separate ways...
Cover Your Family Altar
I know it may seem odd, but to signify the sacrifice of Christ and the placement of his body in the tomb, find a piece of cloth, a bed sheet, or a blanket and cover your family altar and everything on it. Tomorrow, Holy Saturday, will be a different day than all the other days (so you might want to look ahead—because you might need to gather some materials in preparation). But the altar will remain covered until Easter morning when, together (even if remotely), we will celebrate our communion with the Life of Christ through the bread and the cup—or “Eucharist,” which is just a fancy way of saying, “Thanksgiving,” because on Easter morning we have a lot to be thankful for!
Want more to do?
Additional activities
WATCH CWC'S GOOD FRIDAY LIVESTREAM
Tune into the College Wesleyan Church’s livestream of the Good Friday service at noon as we journey with Christ as he offers himself as the ultimate sacrifice to redeem and restore all of creation.
A DEEPER LOOK
Jesus said, “This is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.” But what is the significance of blood and how does a blood-sacrifice forgive sin?
