GO | Good Friday

On Friday, April 19th, at 7:00 in the evening, DOWNTOWN CHURCH will host our first ever Good Friday Service. Before you start following the glimmer of this shiny new thing we're doing, you might want to hear what makes this Friday so good. 

Good Friday is a deceptive name, because it is the day Jesus was killed. Doesn't seem very good to kill God, am I right? It's a dark day of mourning. In fact, it is the peak of the darkness in this Lent season when we are most aware of our sin as humans to deny and kill Jesus. 

All of that seems like sound reason for writing off the day altogether and not observing it, but it is good to be together on this day and tell the story because without it, Easter will not be fully known. In order for Jesus to rise from the dead, he has to die. Good Friday is the day when we remember that part of the story together. 

For our first Good Friday ever, we have decided to do one of the oldest services in Christendom called the Service of Tenebrae. The name "Tenebrae" comes from a Latin anthem "Tenebrae Facae Sunt," which means "there was darkness." The service is like other services we do - there will be scripture and music uniquely designed to the meaning and message of the day. 

The symbolism of the service is not difficult to understand. As the Passion story unfolds, the darkness increases as light after light is extinguished. With the death of the Lord, only one light is left burning: the light of God’s love. For a little while, even this light will be extinguished. The complete darkness will symbolize the darkness of Christ’s three days in the tomb. Like God’s love, however, this light cannot be put out forever. It returns in anticipation of Easter and our Lord’s joyous resurrection from the dead.