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"And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again."
(2 Corinthians 5:15)
Today is Monday, but I am still rejoicing in all God did at our Good Friday and Easter services over the weekend. Our Good Friday service was special. Our church loves to gather each year on this day, and they show up in large numbers to come and worship Jesus and reflect upon His death on the cross. I will share with you, our devotional readers, how we approached Good Friday this year. It may spur you on to do something like this in the future. The format and flow for the service was born out of a planning meeting with our creative team at church.
First, we started with a song of praise to Jesus, Phil Wickham's powerful song, "I Believe." Next, I welcomed everyone and shared that the service would be different: we would spend time in small groups praying over some requests we would place on the screens. I explained that we were not trying to make anyone uncomfortable, but we were asking everyone to gather with family and friends and spend some time in prayer, and if they saw someone not in a group, invite them to their group. I asked everyone to pray over each of these requests, preferably a different person in each group leading the prayer over each item for 1-2 minutes:
- Ask the Lord to forgive us our sins and prepare us for the Lord's Supper.
- Ask the Lord to bless you and your family and any special needs in your family.
- Pray for your family and friends who do not know Jesus.
- Pray for our train rides and egg hunt on Easter Sunday at GHBC.
- Pray for the Resurrection Service, that God would move in power among us at Great Hills and Connect Church.
We then sang the song "O Praise the Name."
I shared a message titled, "Abundant Life," based on John 10:10-11, and then we did things a little differently again. I asked that families get back together, and be sure to invite anyone who is not in a small group, and then observe the Lord's Supper together as families. I asked that Dads and Moms lead out in this special time of remembering Jesus' death on the cross on this day almost 2,000 years ago. Because of His death on the cross, we can be forgiven of all our sins and have an abundant life!
We closed the service with the song, "All Sufficient Merit," a deeply doctrinal hymn of the faith.
It was wonderful! I am grateful to God for His favor upon us. Perhaps you may want to try and incorporate prayer and observing the Lord's Supper in this unique way in your church. I think it is good to mix things up a bit and not get stuck in a routine so that it only becomes a habit and loses its significance.
Tomorrow, I look forward to sharing with you from John 10:10-11.
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