Fayetteville
Community Good Friday Service.
This sermon is preceded by a drama, which was presented by our youth.
Please see the drama in short form at the end of this sermon.
The main scripture reading will be substituted by the drama itself.
Scripture Text:
Mat. 27:33 (KJS) And when they
were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,
34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted
[thereof], he would not drink. 35 And they crucified him, and parted his
garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they
cast lots. 36 And sitting down they watched him there; 37 And set up over
his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
1.
Were you there? Were
you there when Jesus died? Today
you have seen the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord.
We may not have been there, but we are here and today we have seen a
small reproduction of what he did for us.
Did Jesus know your name when he died?
Did the creator of the universe remember who you were to be?
When He died you were there in his heart.
He knows you. He died for
you. He wants you to know Him.
You can know Him and not just know about Him.
2.
Did you have a nail? The
nails are there because of the sin of the world.
If you have sinned and if you are a sinner then you should have a nail.
Everyone should have a nail.
“ For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
It was because of our sin the nails were there in his hands and feet.
No sin, no nails. But,
wait a minute, if Jesus was without sin why did he have the nails?
He took ours. He died so
that we may live.
3.
What did you do with your nail? The soldiers there that day could have run out of nails
or forgotten them. If they would
have asked you for a nail would you give them one?
Why should you? If you
gave them your nail then you have recognized why they are necessary.
We are sorry that Jesus was crucified.
But, are we sorry for our sin? We
don’t want to see them hurt him any more, but will we?
Give or keep your nail it is your choice.
But if you don’t give your nail to Jesus then you will have to
keep it. If you give your nail
then you are recognizing his sacrifice for you.
Then you will not have to die without him.
Giving your nail to the soldiers says that you believe that He was
nailed for you and in your place. What
did you do with your nail? What
will you do with your nail? The
second reason you should give the soldiers your nail is because you can.
He made it possible to give your nail away.
The nail represents your death. He
died in your place. Will you let
Jesus be your sacrifice?
4.
Would you crucify Jesus again?
There
are some who would crucify Him again. Hebrews 6:4 (NLT) For it is
impossible to restore to repentance those who were once enlightened—those
who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who
have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to
come—6 and who then turn away from God. It is
impossible to bring such people to repentance again because they are nailing
the Son of God to the cross again by rejecting him, holding him up to public
shame.
There are the churchgoers who would crucify Jesus
again. How could church people do
that? It is the group of
people who say that they are Christians, but do not allow Jesus to change
their lives. It is the people who
go to church and have their names on the rolls but do not have Jesus in their
hearts. It is those who want to
be forgiven, but do not forgive others. It
is those people who want God’s love for them, but do not want to love others
as He did. They just want to love
those who they like. These people
are putting God to shame all over again. They are publicly humiliating Him and
causing him the pain of the cross all over again.
If you decide to come to God, then don’t come as these do, but come
as one who knows their sinful condition and allow God to change you from the
inside out. These are the
Judas’ of the world. These
pretenders cannot be changed because they believe that they are right even
though they are very wrong. As
one of my friends said “they are so wrong they think they are right.”
Jesus said if you have done it unto one of the least of these my
brethren you have done it unto me. When
you have crucified a brother or sister in the Lord then you have done it unto
the Lord.
5.
Have you believed and
have you acknowledged him as your Savior.
Are
you following Him? Would you give
the soldiers your nail? Would you
follow Him? Would you let the
Lord save you? Would you let him
baptize you with the presence of his Holy Spirit?
Receive him today and be saved. There
is opportunity for the Judas’ of the world.
Jesus did wash Judas’ feet. There
is time to change. But, we have
to be willing to admit that we have sinned and come short of the glory of the
Lord. We need to repent and come
back to God as Peter did. Don’t
do as Judas did and go away from God further into perdition.
Come home. Don’t hurt
Jesus any longer, but turn around. He loves you and took your nail.
His grace and love was not just limited to a select few, but it says
that He died for the sin of the world.
Feel the Nails
Soldiers
will be stationed at each door into the sanctuary handing out nails to each
older child and adult.
Cast of Characters:
Jesus
4 Roman Soldiers
3 Marys
Crowd
Everyone will be in vestibule at back of sanctuary.
Jesus and soldiers enter and proceed up center aisle.
Jesus stumbles and appears very weak.
Soldiers are stern and taunting. (Soldiers
need to be in front and behind Jesus so the side view is not blocked from the
congregation.)
The 3 Marys follow at a moderate distance behind the rear
soldiers. They are crying and
visibly upset. They should be
clinging to each other.
The crowd follows at a short distance behind the Marys.
They are rowdy and loud. They
shout phrases such as, “Crucify Him”, “You don’t look so powerful
now”, “This is God’s Son?” etc.
Jesus and soldiers go to the stage.
They make Jesus lie down. Two
soldiers should be on the stage facing the congregation while the other two
are on the floor in front of the stage. They
get their hammers to begin the nailing. One
of the soldiers asks who brought the nails.
The others question each other. The
soldiers then run into the congregation asking for their nails.
They must go all over the congregation, even if they get several
immediately. They then return to
the stage and appear to nail Jesus to the crossbeam. Actually hit the wood with the hammers. The sound is very effective.
The soldiers will then carry/drag Jesus to the side and
attach the crossbeam to the rope. Jesus
will not be pulled off the ground, just to a standing position.
Song “Feel the Nails” by Ray Boltz.
During the song, the lights will be turned off.
The soldiers will then remove Jesus and carry Him into the back
vestibule.
After the song is finished, the lights will come one and
the 3 Marys will come up the aisle from the rear, carrying their spices and
talking among themselves. They
will say things such as, “That stone is very large”, I hope to soldiers
are still there to roll the stone away” etc.
They will walk to the door to the vestibule.
Jesus will meet them there saying who are you looking for; He is risen
and no longer here. The Marys
will run to the front of the congregation saying He’s alive; He’s not
there. They will then run back
down the aisle and out.
Song “I’ve Just Seen Jesus.”