Family Worship Guide | Good Friday

Note: You will need to have bread (dinner rolls work well) & grape juice available for communion. We will walk through how to lead your kids in taking this meal (for those who are believers) or in not taking this meal (for those who are not yet believers).

Click HERE for the full youtube playlist or select songs/videos individually below.

PRAY

As we spend time reflecting on the cross of Jesus, ask God for grace to remember both His holiness and your sinfulness that made the cross necessary.

TALK

  • What comes to mind first when you think about the cross of Jesus?
  • What's the greatest sacrifice you've ever had to make for someone else?
          Was it worth it? Why or why not?
  • Do you think Jesus views the cross as "worth it"? Why or why not?

SING

READ (or WATCH)

For younger kids, watch "A Dark Night in the Garden" &  "The Sun Stops Shining" from The Jesus Storybook Bible.
  • For older kids, assign 3 readers in your family to read the following texts from Isaiah 53 & the Gospel Accounts. [Note: There are a few big words for Reader #1, so that would be better suited for an adult or older child. Also, we recommend THIS for background music as you read.]

Scripture Reading for Good Friday

Reader #1:

 "Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?  For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.  He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not." (Isaiah 53:1-3)

Reader #2:

 "The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.  He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him." (John 1:9-11)

Reader #3:

"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil." (John 3:19)

Reader #1:

"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted." (Isaiah 53:4) 

Reader #2:

"He said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.'  And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.'" (Matthew 26:38-39)

Reader #1:

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
(Isaiah 53:5-6)

Reader #3:

"Pilate said to them, 'Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?' They all said, 'Let him be crucified!'  And he said, 'Why? What evil has he done?' But they shouted all the more, 'Let him be crucified!'  Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified."
(Matthew 27:22-23, 26)

Reader #1:

"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;" (Isaiah 53:7)

Reader #2:

"And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him" (Matthew 27:28)

Reader #1:

"Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. (Isaiah 53:7)

Reader #3:

"and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand...And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head." (Matthew 27:29, 30)

Reader #1:

"By oppression and judgment he was taken away" (Isaiah 53:8) 

Reader #2:

"And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!'  And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him."  (Matthew 27:29, 31)

Reader #1:

"And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?  And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.  Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief..." (Isaiah 53:8-10a)

Reader #2:

"Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,  since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him." (John 17:1-2)

Reader #3:

"Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.  Father, glorify your name.' Then a voice came from heaven: 'I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." (John 12:27-28)

Reader #1:

Reader #1:

"By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. ...He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:11b, 12b)

Reader #1, #2, & #3 in Unison:

"It is finished!" (John 19:30)

Responding To The Gospel

TAKE COMMUNION

To celebrate the Lord's Supper as a family, give every family member who believes the gospel a dinner roll and a cup of grape juice. For those who do not yet believe, make sure they know that you love them and want them to witness what you're about to do, but that they don't yet get to take this meal (see 1 Corinthians 11:27-32).
Remind your kids that "the Lord Jesus on the night when 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.”  In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." (1 Corinthians 11:24-26)
  • For kids who believe the gospel:
    • Challenge them to repent of any known sin;
    • Encourage them to rest in the grace of Jesus;
    • Invite them to respond to Jesus in joy as they take and eat in faith.
       
  • For kids who don't yet believe the gospel:
    • Challenge them to repent of any known sin;
    • Encourage them to run to the grace of Jesus;
    • Invite them to respond to Jesus in faith, asking Him for faith to know, love, & follow Him with their whole lives for the rest of their lives. 

READ

"He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.  When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.  He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.  For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." (1 Peter 2:22-25)

SING

PRAY

Thank God that while His holiness and your sinfulness made the cross necessary, His great love and grace made the cross possible.