Good Friday 2026

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Lead Pastors, Philip & Kayla Keller
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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Ever free. I think the last day. I think the save. Come on, give him another hand clap of praise this evening. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. And we're just so honored that you are here with us this evening for our Good Friday communion service. And we promise not to hold you for a long time tonight, but we're gonna get right into God's word and right into this time of communion. I want to say welcome to you if you're not a regular around here. We're so glad that you joined us tonight. I'm Pastor Philip and that beautiful lady that was up here earlier. That's my wife, Pastor Kayla, and we're the pastors here at Family Worship Center. We're just so honored that you're here with us tonight. God is good. Amen. And all the time, amen. And so the worship team is going to uh go ahead and go down for a few moments while we share about communion. But I want us to just kind of be in an atmosphere of worship tonight because the whole service is just gonna kind of flow together, okay? And so if you'll give us your attention, we'll get through this uh pretty quickly. I'm just so blessed to see everyone tonight and thank you for being here on a Friday evening. Um it's always an interesting thing, just like Kayla mentioned, because during the time in Scripture and everything that took place, like she said, it was not a good Friday. It was when our Savior was arrested and tried and beaten, and when that cat of nine tails whipped his back, and that crown of thorns pierced his head. It was not a good day. I could only imagine what his followers and the disciples and his family and close friends were thinking as they watched Jesus carry the cross of Calvary. Surely something would happen. I'm sure they were thinking, surely he's going to perform another miracle. If he could do all these things for all of these people, casting out demons and raising the dead and healing the blind and the sick and all of these things and teaching them wisdom beyond their comprehension. Surely he will help himself. Surely God would intervene on his behalf. But yet there was silence. In Matthew 26, 56, it says, Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. Peter follows at a distance, scripture says, but he ends up denying Jesus three times. While Jesus was being faithful, his closest friends and followers were being fearful. There was nothing good about that day. Jesus went through the worst pain and agony that someone could imagine, and still, 2,000 years later, the history books say it was still one of the most brutal executions in history. The cross. Not just because of what was physically happening to him, but because he bore our sins, the scripture says, He was crushed for our iniquities. He was nailed to the cross, but it was his love for you and for me and for every man and woman and every boy and girl that held him to that cross. While the devil and his demons thought they were winning, we were on the mind of Jesus. Being beaten, he was taking our punishment. Being mocked, he was securing our identity as sons and daughters of God. Being abandoned, he was reconciling us to the Father. Being crucified, he was crushing sin and death once and for all. While everyone else was reacting, Jesus was redeeming. While others were confused, Jesus was completing his mission. When he took his final breath, they thought it was over. When they put him in that tomb, it seemed like all was lost. And while it looked like the end, it was just the beginning of his grace. Amen. Friday is good because Sunday is coming. Come on, church. And so it's because of these events of Good Friday that we can receive communion. It's because of what Jesus did physically and spiritually that we remember Him this way. Yes, it's a ritual, it's a religious ceremony in some ways, but it's a necessary one. I believe in communion. I believe we should do it as often as we feel led to do. I believe you can receive physical and spiritual healing during a communion service. Charles Spurgeon said this the table of the Lord is the place where the past sacrifice and the present grace meet. If I could just read 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 27 through 29 for you, it says, So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. And this is why you should examine yourselves before eating the bread and drinking the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God's judgment upon yourself. See, communion is a sacred moment and it invites self-examination. When Jesus mentions that there was one at the table who was going to betray him, the disciples questioned, Is it I? We too should pause and ask the Holy Spirit to help us search our hearts. It's not about being perfect, it's about being honest before God. Sometimes we fall short. Sometimes we feel like we've betrayed Christ and our relationship with Him, and sometimes we feel like we've denied Him in our life. And wherever you are at this evening, think of communion as a mirror. It reflects what's inside of our heart. It invites us not to pretend, but to prepare our hearts in humility. And so as we prepare to receive the communion, I'm gonna ask that you do like the scripture says in First Corinthians chapter 11, verse 28. We just read that examine yourselves and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. So what we're going to do here is we have in these black baskets up here at the front, and there's also a container here in the middle. We are going to take a moment of reflection, and if you don't mind, if you're able to, to step out of your seat if you're going to be receiving communion and come up and grab your cup that has the drink and the bread in it, and then you can go back to your seats. If you are not able to come up to the front, if you will wave your hand, someone, one of our ushers, one of our board members, someone on our staff will help get you communion and the elements for that, okay? So I want us to pray, and then we're going to come up and get ready as we're examining our hearts. Father, this is a moment of us being honest before you. God, we pray that as we make our way up here to get the the juice and and and the bread, God, that we would examine our hearts and make sure that we're doing this for the right reasons and we understand why we are doing this so that we can honor you, so we can remember. Father, help us make this a holy moment in our lives and in this service tonight, God. We thank you for everything that you've done for us in Jesus' name. We're just gonna have music softly playing. If you're able to, go ahead and come up and grab your elements. Don't open them yet, but just go back to your seats and then we're going to uh begin our communion service. There's some there in the middle. If you're not able to come up, please raise your hand, kind of wave at us, and and one of these gentlemen over here on the side will make sure that you get your communion elements.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

If you want someone to bring you the communion elements, they'd be glad to do that for you. Just raise up your hand. We'll make sure everybody gets the opportunity to participate that wants to. Luke 22, 19 says, For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. In First Corinthians 11, 26. It's so easy for us to forget everything that Jesus gave up for us. It's easy for us to make it feel like a Hollywood movie or just something that we've heard a hundred times. But communion causes us to consider the brutality of what happened to our king on our behalf. When he was beaten, when his flesh was ripped from his body, it was us he was thinking of. It was you, it was your face that was flashing in his mind, making it so he didn't just get up and leave, so that he didn't cause angels to stop everything that was happening because you were worth it, and that's what we're remembering tonight. Luke 22, 19 says, and he took the bread, gave thanks, and he broke it, and he gave it to them, saying, This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Let's pray, Father. Thank you for loving us enough. Jesus, thank you for your body. Thank you that every lash that you took, every ounce of pain you endured, you still endured it for us. Thank you for being the pure and spotless sacrifice. Thank you for loving us so completely beyond what we could ever understand or pay back. Thank you for your body. We glorify you, we remember you, and we won't take for granted this sacrifice in Jesus' name. Will you take of the bread and eat it?

SPEAKER_01 13:52

Luke 22, verse 20 says, In the same way after supper, he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. Let's pray. Father, we're so thankful for your blood. Tonight, God, no matter what we try to do to match the sacrifice that you've given, we can't even come close. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. God, we know how precious Jesus was to you. And you still gave your very best. And Jesus, you poured it all out for us. God, I just pray right now, if there is someone under the sound of my voice that's needing healing, someone under the sound of my voice that is needing a touch spiritually or physically, God, that we can claim that blood because you took those stripes and you poured out your blood and you sacrificed as the ultimate sacrifice for us, God, not just for our salvation, but also for our healing. And so, Father, we believe and we receive and we stand in faith, and we thank you for the blood. We ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You may receive the juice. Now, just take a moment. If you want to close your eyes, if you want to lift your hands, if you want to just begin to pray in your own way, just take the next few moments just to worship him, just begin to thank him. Let this moment of communion and remembering him soak into your mind and your heart tonight. And in just a few moments, we're gonna talk about moving into worship, and the worship team will come back here in just a moment. But take the next two minutes and just begin to thank him for the blood, thank him for the body, thank him for that sacrifice. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah, thank you, Father. If you love him, would you just lift your hands for a moment? The Spirit of God is in this place, just worship him. No one's shaming anyone, no one's judging anyone. This is just between you and God. This is an intimate holy moment, Father. We thank you so much. We thank you for Jesus. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. We're going to continue in this atmosphere, and I just want to talk to you for a few moments as we get ready to worship. A few points as the worship team begins to come back up. I don't want this to be a distraction. I want you to continue right where you're at in your worship and your honoring him. But the first point I want to make to you tonight is we worship because he took our place. He took what we deserved. And so that makes the cross personal. I don't know about you, but I know my sin, I know my mistakes, I know my bad habits, I know my thoughts, and he died for my sin. All of sin, but he died for me. Isaiah 55, 53, 5 says, and we read it earlier, he was pierced for our transgressions, and by his wounds we are healed. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us. So we worship because he took our place. The second point that we want to make is we worship because he paid it in full. The cross wasn't a partial payment, he wasn't making interest payments, he wasn't making a deal, he paid it in full, it was complete. I tell people all the time he doesn't have to crawl back up on that cross and die for you all over again. Colossians 2.14 says, He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Can we put our hands together and thank him for that? God is saying to someone tonight, John 19 30, it is finished. And our response is worship. The third point is this: we worship because he defeated sin, death, and the enemy. Good Friday looked like defeat, but it was actually victory. This is victory worship tonight, not sorrowful worship. The cross was for our freedom from the things that bind us. Those who the Son has set free are free indeed. Declare your freedom as we worship. And the fourth and final point is this: we worship tonight because we've been redeemed. The cross didn't just forgive you, it brought you into the family of God. Ephesians 1 7 says, In him we have redemption through his blood. So worship him tonight as Savior. Pray to him as Father. Because of the cross, we don't stay silent, we worship. Because of the cross, we don't stay distant, we pray. Because of the cross, we don't stay bound, we declare freedom. How do we respond to Good Friday? We worship, we pray, we live for him because he died for us. Because I owed a debt I could not pay, and because he paid a debt he did not owe. Can we put our hands together and praise him one more time? And I want us to go ahead and stand to our feet as we start this next worship song. And I want you to, if you're comfortable lifting your hands or however you worship, if it's just talking to him, if it's just closing your eyes, just give him the best worship you have all night tonight. Can we do that? Can we lift up holy hands as the scripture says? Father, we thank you, we praise you for the sacrifice that you made for us, God, for that redemption we worship. That's our response tonight. We worship, and so let your Holy Spirit fill this place tonight as we sing these songs and as we celebrate and honor you. In Jesus' name we pray. Just enter into a moment of worship with Him as we sing these next couple of songs.

SPEAKER_02 21:49

I was a