Good Friday Communion Service 2025

Good Friday Communion Service

April 18th, 2025

Welcome:

Good evening friends. Welcome to Eastern Shore Baptist Church. Thank you for joining us this solemn Good Friday. Tonight is a day of remembrance. Roughly 2000 years ago, it was a day of darkness. This day 2000 years ago was the darkest moment in human history. 

Jesus is dead. 

Gone with Him is the hope of humanity. Gone with Him is the bridge to God the Father. Gone with Him is the expectation of heaven. The disciples have lost their Master, their Teacher, their Rabbi. His Mother has lost far more than a son. Mary must have questioned the very promise of the Angel. The story captured in Luke 2. 

Luke 1:30-33 NLT

"Don't be afraid, Mary," the angel told her, "for you have found favor with God! [31] You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. [32] He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. [33] And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!"

Mary follows the angel’s proclamation with a question, “but how can this happen? I am a virgin”. 

I’m sure that Mary’s question was much different on this day, the day of her son’s execution. How could the angel’s promise ring true when Jesus was now dead?

For all those whose lives had been touched by Jesus: Mary, Martha, Lazarus, Mary Magdalene, the Roman Centurion, the Samaritan woman, the woman drug into the street to be stoned, for them they lost their connection to the divine. The miracle maker has passed. 

It appears Satan has won. The demons danced with joy. God, their Creator, had been defeated. 

Even creation testified to the truth of Jesus’ death. Upon Jesus giving up His Spirit, there was an earthquake, rocks split, a deep darkness covered the land, and the tombs were opened. 

A dark day indeed! 

But friends, Sunday is coming! 

Sunday will bring victory.

Sunday will restore hope to its rightful place.

Sunday will silence the lies of the enemy.

Sunday will shake the foundations of death itself.

Because on Sunday… the stone will be rolled away.

On Sunday… the tomb will be found empty.

On Sunday… the Risen One will walk among the broken and breathe peace into their fear.

On Sunday… Mary will cry tears of joy instead of sorrow.

On Sunday… the disciples will run, not in fear, but in faith.

On Sunday… the promises of the angel will make perfect sense.

The King is not gone—He is alive.

The cross was not the end—it was the beginning.

Sin has been defeated.

Death has been swallowed up.

Hope is no longer hanging on a tree—it’s risen, and it’s reigning.

And so tonight, we remember the weight of His death…

Because in remembering Friday, we fully appreciate the glory of Sunday.

Let us prepare our hearts to take the bread and the cup—symbols of His body broken and His blood poured out—not as mourners with no hope, but as worshipers who know…

Sunday changes everything.

Instructions:

Before we partake in Communion this evening, I want to share with you a few instructions. First, communion is one of two ordinances that we share here at Eastern Shore Baptist Church. The other being believer’s baptism. These two ordinances are the cornerstone of our church. Ordinances that we take seriously. Ordinances that we believe point to Jesus’ obedience, His life, His death, His resurrection and His return. 

Eastern Shore Baptist Church practices “open communion”. If you are visiting with us today and you have professed Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, if you are living in obedience to Christ’s commands, and if you are active in a local fellowship of believers, you are invited to partake in Holy Communion. We are grateful for your presence and glad that you are with us this evening. 

Lastly, Scripture tells us that before we share in the Lord’s table, we should examine ourselves, confessing sin, and recognizing Christ’s authority over our lives. This is seen in Paul’s words to the Corinthians in I Corinthians 11:26-31

1 Corinthians 11:26-31 NLT

For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes again. [27] 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. [28] That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. [29] 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. [30] That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. [31] But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way.

So, let’s take a moment to do just that. Let us offer a collect prayer, asking for God’s unmerited grace and thank Him for His unearned goodness. 

Prayer:

Heavenly Father,

We pause in this sacred moment to examine our hearts.

Search us, O God, and know our thoughts. Reveal anything in us that is unworthy of the name of Jesus.

We confess our sins before You—not to earn forgiveness, but to acknowledge our deep need for it.

Thank You for Your mercy that meets us in our weakness,

for Your grace that covers our failures,

and for the cross that makes communion possible.

As we prepare to take the bread and the cup,

we do so with humbled hearts and grateful spirits—

remembering the price You paid,

honoring the body of Christ,

and proclaiming His death until He comes again.

In the mighty name of Jesus we pray,

Amen.

Message:

This evening we are going back to I Corinthians 11. These are Paul’s words to the church. The purpose for Paul writing this church is because they were taking the Lord’s Supper in a flippant manner. They were eating in a gluttonous way and they were drinking to drunkenness. Paul was wanting them to understand the importance of what they were doing and he wanted to warn them of God’s coming judgment if they did not stop their sinful ways. Remember friends that Paul was not in the upper room with Jesus and His disciples. Most likely what Paul is sharing with the church came from first hand accounts of that evening. Paul spent a great deal of time with Jesus’ apostles, especially Peter. No doubt Paul asked these apostles and disciples what happened that evening. So Paul is going to transport us, almost like a time machine, to that moment when Jesus broke the break and shared the cup. So, let’s read from Paul and imagine ourselves there with Jesus, Peter, James, John, and the rest of the group. 

I Corinthians 11 starting in verse 23. 

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 NLT

For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread [24] and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." [25] In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant between God and his people-an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it." [26] For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes again.

The Bread:

It was December 4th, 2006 in the small village of Adhamiyah (Add-ham-e-yah). Adhamiyah is located in Iraq. Private First Class Ross McGinnis and his regiment were patrolling the streets. This may have been a small village, but it was one of the most violent places in all of the country. McGinnis was manning the gunner’s hatch in his Humvee, riding with four fellow soldiers. As the group was making their way through the streets, an insurgent tossed a grenade into the vehicle. McGinnis saw the grenade but no one else did. 

Ross has a split second to make a decision. Does he leap from the vehicle, saving himself. That is what most would do. 

Instead, he yelled “GRENADE”! McGinnis threw himself onto the explosive. The grenade denoted with McGinnis on top. His body absorbed the full impact of the blast. 

His body shielded the others in his unit. He died so that others could live. 

The other men in his regiment never forgot what Ross McGinnis sacrificed for them. 

John 15:13 NLT

There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.

Two years later, Ross McGinnis was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration for valor. His citation reads:

“McGinnis’ gallant action directly saved four men from certain serious injury or death. His heroic act was a display of selfless service above and beyond the call of duty.”

I bet you see the correlation coming. I just bet that you see the connection that I am about to make. That grenade is just like our sin. Deadly. Explosive. Sin ripples out, damaging and destroying anyone and everything in its proximity. Jesus saw our sin. He saw all the sin of every human being that had ever lived or who would ever live. He could have stayed away, far, distant. He could have said, “no” and He would have been justified in His righteous judgement and condemnation. 

Instead, Jesus cast Himself into our world. He didn’t just throw Himself on our sin, He became our sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21 reminds us that, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 

Jesus put His body in the way of His Father’s judgement. He became our sin so that He would be punished. He died so that we would not have to perish. He didn’t just absorb the blast, He Himself for the very wrath of God, the punishment meant for us. 

He became our Hero. He became our Savior. He became our Substitute. 

Oh friends, aren’t you thankful for the substitution that Jesus offers to all us? His substitution leads us to transformation. Transforming us from aliens, outside of God’s family, to adopted and loved by the Father. 

His bread will satisfy ever need of your life.  

Matthew 5:6 ESV

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

The Bread Passed

Luke 22:19 (NIV)

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.  

The Cup:

Give credit where credit is due—this idea came from my friend Scooter McKnight, and once you hear it, you’ll never look at the crown of thorns the same way again.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, creation itself was cursed. Everything that was once in harmony—man with God, man with nature, man with man—was fractured. God looked at Adam and said in Genesis 3:17–18 (NLT):

“The ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you…”

Thorns were not just weeds—they were a visible symbol of the curse of sin. Every thorn that pierced the flesh of a farmer, every sticker that tore through the skin of a wandering sheep, was a reminder:

Sin is painful. Sin brings death.

And then—fast forward to Calvary.

Jesus, the sinless Son of God, is stripped and mocked. The Roman soldiers don’t just make fun of Him—they fashion a crown of thorns and press it deep into His head. They didn’t know what they were doing… but Heaven did.

The very curse that God pronounced over Adam—the thorns—are now being pressed into the brow of the Second Adam. And what happens next?

Blood flows.

Blood, not just from His back or His hands, but from the crown of the curse.

And that blood—the blood of Jesus—doesn’t just cover sin. It cleanses it. It removes it. It redeems us from the curse.

Galatians 3:13 (ESV) says:

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us…”

Every drop that fell from His thorn-pierced head was declaring, “The curse has been conquered.”

Every crimson stream cried out, “You are no longer condemned.”

His blood did what no animal sacrifice, no good deed, and no priest ever could—it opened a new and living way to the Father.

Oh, brothers and sisters—aren’t you grateful for the cleansing, curse-breaking, soul-redeeming blood of Jesus?

His blood doesn’t just remove the stain of your sin. It removes the sting of death. It washes you white as snow.

Isaiah 1:18 says:

“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…”

The cup we hold tonight reminds us that Jesus’ blood poured out wasn’t spilled by accident. It was shed on purpose. With love. With power. With eternal purpose.

He drank the cup of God’s wrath, so we could lift the cup of grace.

The Cup Passed

Luke 22:20 (NIV)

In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

Closing Prayer:

Heavenly Father,

Tonight we have stood in the shadow of the cross. We have felt the weight of sorrow, the silence of death, and the ache of a world drenched in sin. But we have also seen Your mercy on full display—body broken, blood poured out, love poured in.

Thank You for Jesus—our Substitute, our Sacrifice, our Savior.

Thank You that the curse of sin was crowned on His brow so we could be crowned with grace.

Thank You that the bread reminds us of the body that absorbed the wrath, and the cup reminds us of the blood that erased our stain.

Though Friday is dark, we do not despair.

Because Sunday is coming.

And with it, light breaks through the tomb.

With it, hope takes its rightful place.

With it, we are made new.

So we leave this place not in mourning, but in reverent awe—

humbled by the cross,

healed by Your wounds,

and hopeful for the resurrection.

In the precious and powerful name of Jesus we pray,

Amen.