Cross – photo John Kingery (c) 2013
Welcome: This is the second virtual annual Walk of the Cross at Justice At The Table. Each day during Holy Week you will find the scriptures, reflections and prayers used in the Good Friday Walk of the Cross taking in Beaveton Oregon. The Walk has been going on for a number of years and is an invitation to ‘reflect together on how we can better understand and carry out Christ’s mission of Peace and Justice in our day.’
John
Call to Worship and Petitions: Pastor Kathy Boyes, First United Methodist Church
Leader: Who is this man who carries his cross, whose steps falter and who is wounded to death?
People: It is our Lord. Let us follow him and carry his cross today!
Leader: Who is this man looking beaten and hopeless, carrying his cross of shame through the streets of Jerusalem for all to see?
People: It is Jesus, the Christ! He is beaten, but not broken and he carries the cross of hope, not of shame. We carry his cross, today, through the streets of our city – a symbol of hope to all who see.
Leader: Who is this man who saved others, but cannot save himself, who proclaimed a kingdom, but who hangs on a cross for his throne?
People: This man is Jesus! He proclaimed a kingdom of love and grace where hunger and homelessness, disease and oppression will cease. We are his hands and feet. We carry his cross today!
Leader: Who is this man who came in “Power and Glory?” Where is his kingdom now?
People: He is the Christ, the Messiah, the King! His kingdom is in every hungry person fed, every homeless person sheltered, every sick person healed, and everydespairing person given hope. We will take up his cross! We will follow him! We will carry his cross today
Leader: Who is this man? May I follow him, too?
People: The whole world may follow Jesus, to Golgotha, and beyond. Today is not the end. He said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” We carry his cross today as a beacon of hope, into his streets, to his people
Station 1: Jesus is condemned to death
Scripture: John 19:14-18
Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover, and it was about noon. He said to the people, “Here is your King!” They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him! Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.” Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called the place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is Golgotha.
LET THE COMMUNITIES OF FIRST UNITED METHODIST AND BETHEL CONGREGATIONAL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST TAKE UP THE CROSS
Processional Song: Were You There?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord
Were you there when they crucified my Lord
Oh sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they crucified my Lord
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree
Oh sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree