For those who want to recreate our Good Friday stations in their own home I've posted the text for each below.
BTW- If you want to make Resurrection Rolls for Easter, my wife reminded me we don't use olive oil, we use melted butter. Big difference!
Blessings,
kg
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GOOD FRIDAY INTERACTIVE MEDITATIVE STATIONS
Note: We also have a station for communion with a bowl or cup for the juice and matza or bread for dipping into the cup. You can set this up as a station, or you can have that in the room and share communion all together at the end as a way to dismiss and close the meeting.
[DICE]- Participants throw a set of dice against a cloth on the floor with a seamless garment laying next to the them, if possible.
Station Card:
Throw the dice against the cloth to consider the triviality of the distractions in your life. Remember the disregard the soldiers had for Jesus as He died for them.
“When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven with one piece from top to bottom.
“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” So this is what the soldiers did. “ – John 19:23-24
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[VINEGAR]- A cup of red vinegar is in a bowl. Participants taste it using a Q-tip they dip into the cup and dispose of later.
Taste the vinegar to experience the bitterness He tasted because of His amazing love for you and pray that your heart would not be embittered by the cares of this world.
“There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.” – Matthew 27:34
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[CROWN OF THORNS]- We have an actual crown of thorns but you can use just a rose stem with thorns on it if you need to.
Hold these thorns to remember the crown He wore for you.
“Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.” – John 19:1-3
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[DRIVING NAILS]- We have a thick chunk of wood and large nails with several hammers. The sound of the nails being driven will echo through the house throughout the evening. Very powerful.
Drive a nail into the wood to remember the price He paid to set you free.
“Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.” – John 19:16-18
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[TEARING CLOTH]- We cut up an old white t-shirt and slightly tear it in the top, center to get it started. Otherwise it can be very hard to tear.
Tear the cloth to remember that the veil in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom, and that we now have access to God’s Holy Presence in our daily lives.
"And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split.” – Matthew 27:50-51
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[DIP HANDS IN RED PAINT]- Use a water based red paint. Make sure to have hand wipes nearby and a trash can to drop used wipes into. Always ask Parents to go with their children through each station and supervise
Dip your hand in the red paint to symbolize the debt that He paid for you, personally, in His own blood.
"Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing." - Luke 23:34
[We usually also post this poem I wrote next to the station for dipping the hands in red paint. Optional, of course.]
BLOOD
by Keith Giles
There was rhythm in the air that morning
a seed-planting rhythm in a land
of broken ground. It traveled
from my heel to
my fingertips and
circled in my neck until
I bowed my head in submission. The beat
continued, echoed across
the arid stretch
of the hillside and all
of the faceless people stood
swaying to the rhythm
the compelling metronome
of hammer and nail and
the crescendo mounted until the blood
the blood gushed hot and wet onto the grass
we held our breath until they lifted
the crossbar over our heads, until the sky
turned to black cloud, until he whispered
that it was finished
and the soldiers took him down.
But the rhythm never left my feet
kept time with
the beating in my heart, turned
my blood to wine.
**
