good Friday
Part One: Good Friday Resource Overview
Before celebrating the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday, we take time to remember the death of Jesus on Good Friday. It might seem strange, calling a day like this “good.” After all, Jesus was betrayed on this day. He was tortured on this day. He was unjustly tried, cruelly sentenced, and killed on this day.
Who in their right mind would call this day “good”?
But what Jesus did on Good Friday is what makes Easter so incredible. On this day, he was rejected so we could be accepted. On this day, he was wounded so we could be healed. On this day, he took on our sin, our shame, and our punishment so we could receive his forgiveness, his freedom, and his salvation.
On this day, Jesus died so we could live.
This year, The Hope Collective is remembering Good Friday not around a formal service, but around tables. Just like Jesus gathered with his disciples before going to the cross, communities can gather to eat a meal, tell stories, and worship before heading into the weekend. This resource will guide them through a time of reading Scripture, sharing communion, and remembering the life, death, and promised return of Jesus.
Part Two: Gathering Instructions
When you gather:
- Have one member or family in your community host the gathering.
- For the meal, you could do one of the following:
- Have one member or family in your community provide the entire meal.
- Have different members or families in your community provide different dishes for the meal (i.e. one person bring salad, another an entrée, another a side, etc.)
- Ask everyone to pitch in and have food catered or delivered.
- When you gather, have some questions ready for your time together, like:
- How did your family celebrate Good Friday/Easter growing up?
What is a memory you have about Good Friday/Easter? - How many Good Fridays/Easters have you celebrated with HopeCo?
- How did your family celebrate Good Friday/Easter growing up?
- After the meal, have someone from your group lead the time of sharing communion
Part Three: Communion Guide
What you’ll need:
- One large loaf of bread, sliced or torn into pieces.
- One plate or basket.
- One bottle of grape juice or wine.
- Enough cups or glasses for everyone in your group.
- A Bible.
What to do:
- Set the loaf of bread on the platter or basket in the middle of your group. Have grape juice or wine pre-poured into glasses and placed in the middle of the table.
- Have someone from your group read Ephesians 2:1-10:
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
3. With everyone sitting at the table, have everyone take a piece of bread and a glass or cup.
4. Have someone else from your group read the following text:
When Jesus shared communion with his disciples, he gave them three things to remember him by: the bread, the cup, and the expectation. When we take the bread, we remember the life of Jesus. It represents his body and reminds us that the God of the Universe became human – flesh and blood – identifying with us so that he might represent us before God.
When we take the cup, we remember the death of Jesus. It represents his blood, the shedding of which symbolizes the sacrifice of a life. Through his sacrifice, Jesus makes a new relationship with God possible. He dies for us so that we might live with God.
And every time that we take the bread and the cup, we remember that Jesus is coming back. Just like we have shared a meal together, we are waiting for the day when Jesus returns – a day which is described as a wedding feast fit for the King of Kings.
Jesus lived. Jesus died. Jesus rose from the dead and he is coming back. We remember these things as we share communion together.
5. As you hold the bread, ask each person in the group to take a brief moment (5-10 seconds) to answer the question, “What is one of your favorite stories or moments from the life of Jesus?”
6. Have someone else from the group read 1 Corinthians 11:23-24:
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
7. Have everyone eat the bread.
8. As you hold the cup, ask each person in the group to take a brief moment (5-10 seconds) to answer the question, “Why is Jesus’ death meaningful to you in this season of your life?”
9. Have everyone take the glass or cup and read 1 Corinthians 11:25-26
In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
10. Have everyone drink their juice or wine.
11. After everyone has finished the cup, ask each person in the group to take a brief moment (5-10 seconds) to answer the question, “What are you looking forward to about Jesus’ return?”
12. Conclude your celebration of communion with a prayer of thanks to God, by singing a song most people know, or by singing the Doxology.
Praise God from whom all blessing flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.