Why do we call Good Friday good,
(Use fingers to push mouth into smile)
Good Friday good, good Friday good?
When it seems so sad?
(Use fingers to pull mouth down into frown)
Isn’t dying bad?
Shouldn’t we feel sad?
Why do we call Good Friday good.
(Use fingers to push up mouth into smile)
When it seems so sad?
(Use fingers to pull mouth down into frown)

Jesus died. Oh yes, that is true.
(Hold arms to the sides, shoulder height)
Yes, that is true, yes, that is true.
Jesus died. Oh yes, that is true,
But it isn’t bad.
(Use fingers to push up mouth into smile)
Even though it’s sad
(Use fingers to pull mouth down into frown)
Jesus’ death’s not bad

Jesus died. Oh yes, that is true.
(Hold arms to the sides, shoulder height)
But it isn’t bad.
(Use fingers to push up mouth into smile)
By Christ’s death we can be set free.
(Sweep arms upward)
Can be set free, can be set free.
By Christ’s death we can be set free,
Free from Satan’s power.

(Fold arms tightly across chest)
In that sad, dark hour
Jesus broke sin’s power
(Thrust arms downward)
By Christ’s death we can be set free.
(Sweep arms upward)
Free from Satan’s power

Do you see why Good Friday’s good,
(Use fingers to push up mouth into smile)
Good Friday good, good Friday good?
Do you see why Good Friday’s good?
When it seems so sad?
(Use fingers to pull mouth down into frown)
Things that seem so sad
Are not always bad.
When Christ died, He rose from the grave.
We’re no longer sad.
(Use fingers to pull mouth into smile)

————————————————————-

This Easter song for little children helps to teach them about Good Friday. The song is from 100 Action Songs For School Kids by David C. Cook Publishing Co. Sing this Good Friday song to the tune of “I will make you fishers of men”.

Good Friday Wallpapers – 24 high resolution Good Friday wallpapers – are given above. Click on a thumbnail image to see the wallpaper in full dimensions. If you want to save a wallpaper, just right-click on the full sized image and select ‘save picture as’ to save the picture to your computer.

We call this day good but how can we? Yes, I know why we call it Good Friday, but when we call it good we ignore His suffering and His death. In our greed, selfishness, and ego we call this day good. Yet Christ died on this day not to preserve our greed, selfishness, and ego, but to save the best part of us.

Christ died to save the container within us that holds His love, His grace, His mercy, and His passion. This is the day of the year that I wish would end quickly for it is a day of mourning and grief. Every minute of this day I am constantly thinking about His suffering. We call this day good only because of ourselves. We are to die with Him on this day. Yet, He has spared us from knowing fully about all that He suffered.

We wish all of you, all the blessings of this Good Friday which comes up in 2 days time. And we hope that these Good Friday wallpapers are ideal to be set as our desktop wallpaper so that we remember the extreme to which our GOD has gone to save each one of us.

How might Good Friday lament look in practice?

Psalm 22

First, consider using Psalm 22 prominently, the very psalm that Jesus quoted on the cross. When Jesus spoke the words of Psalm 22, he identified with the sufferings of all the people of Israel who had spoken or sung that psalm before him. When we speak the words of Psalm 22, we identify with our Lord and Savior.

Many churches read Psalm 22:1-18 as a Scripture reading for Good Friday. Others sing a version of Psalm 22 following the traditional Good Friday Old Testament reading from Isaiah 53. (For musical settings of Psalm 22, see Psalter Hymnal 22, Trinity Hymnal 79, Methodist Hymnal752).

Alternatively, consider using Psalm 22 as part of an extended intercessory prayer. Begin Good Friday intercessions with Psalm 22:1-21, followed by extemporaneous prayers of intercession and lament. Then conclude the prayers with verses 22-31, a decisive song of hope that anticipates Easter praise (see also the example that follows on pp. 14-15).

Prayers of Intercession and Lament

In some congregations, an extended time of congregational prayer is the first thing to be cut in planning Good Friday worship. It actually should be one of the most important acts of Good Friday worship.

Prayers of intercession and lament on Good Friday should allow for two things: for those who suffer to express their honest lament and for all worshipers to identify and express solidarity with those who suffer, both in the congregation and in the world at large.

In part, Good Friday lament can be practiced through the use of the full traditional intercessory prayer for Good Friday, just like the one used by the medieval church. This is an example of a medieval liturgical practice that never should have been given up. If you look in most prayer books, you will find a long “solemn prayer” or “solemn intercessions” or “solemn prayer of the faithful” indicated for Good Friday (see, for example, Book of Common Worship [Presbyterian], 283-286 or The Book of Common Prayer [Episcopal], 277-280.) This is the modern-day version of this traditional medieval prayer. Some congregations may wish to use this same prayer in their Good Friday worship. Others may wish to use the comprehensive pattern of this prayer to structure more spontaneous prayers of lament and intercession.

Preaching

Many Good Friday sermons are—appropriately— sermons about salvation, about the way that the cross achieves victory from sin and death. But it’s also appropriate to preach about suffering, both Christ’s and ours. Consider, for example, sermons on the words of Paul that confer mysterious significance on the suffering of those who are united with Christ in death (Col. 1:24; 2 Cor. 1:5, 4:10; Phil. 3:10; also 1 Peter 4:12-16). Some sermons are intended to help people think correctly. But on Good Friday, consider preaching sermons that help worshipers pray more profoundly.

Songs and Hymns

Finally, look for hymns and songs not only about Christ’s passion, but also about the world’s pain and suffering. Many hymn texts explore the link between Christ’s suffering and ours in unforgettable ways. Consider this example:

No pain that we can share
but he has felt its smart.
All forms of human grief and care
have pierced that tender heart.

—O Perfect Lifee of Love, PsH 380, st. 3