Dear Leaders,

On the Good Friday service that Bishop Stallings, myself and other key ACLC clergy are working on.

We would like to see the following:

1. Good Friday, Joint Service in your city with 10 - 12 pastors: One service to remove the cross. We request that every region have one joint service.

2. The majority of ACLC pastors will already have their own Good Friday service, we are going to ask them to alter their liturgy to include removing the cross.

3. Please identify by name and Church name all the pastors that committed to taking down the cross by Tuesday April 15th at noon.

The New Era of Resurrection, Life and the Blessing of the Family.

The SEVEN LAST WORDS are the seven last phrases that Jesus spoke from the cross. Traditional Christian service has walked through these seven steps with a short explaination of each. With our ACLC service we want to add the Principle point of view to each phrase enhancing our understanding of Jesus victory in Love on the cross.

Here is the liturgy that Bishop Stallings outlined for Good Friday.

There will be more explanation of it.

Prayer Host Pastor - Reviews the Holy Week (From Palm Sunday to Good Friday) Seven Last Words

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)

Soldiers have just driven nails through his hands and feet and hoisted him up by those nails. He does not fear those who kill his body; he pities them and prays for them. If they knew how much this hurts, they could not do it to anyone. They are unwitting instruments of the higher purpose that brings him here.

ACLC: JESUS LOVE WAS THE VICTORY. Mark:12:31: And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46)

But physical torment takes its toll. He suddenly discovers that he cannot hear the still, small voice; he has lost his two-way communication with God. His lifeline is not working, so he must face the the narrow gate of death alone.

ACLC: I CORINTHIAN 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. Adam forsook God even though God gave him everything, therefore the true Adam had to be faithful to God while God abandoned him.

He said to his mother, "Woman, behold your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" (John 19:26-27)

Not quite alone. He looks down. Which hurts worse: the pain of being crucified, or the pain of a mother watching her son be crucified, or the pain of a boy whose beloved teacher hangs bleeding before his eyes? He understands their pain in the midst of his own, and tells them to care for each other.

ACLC: Almost everyone left Jesus at his hour of tribulation. Gethsemane was the same.

"I thirst!" (John 19:28)

Time passes slowly. His spring of living water runs dry. He reaches the end of his strength. This is the moment the Tempter has been waiting for: through the voices of cynical men, Satan tries again, as he did in the wilderness: "If you are the Christ, prove it! Save yourself and impress the people."

ACLC: At the moment of trial Satan tempts Jesus to save himself. Jesus overcomes.

"Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43)

But a dying thief says, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." What the cynical voices suggest is not the way to prove he is the Christ. His kingdom is not of this world. He ignores them and reassures the thief.

ACLC: The thief on the right was the only one who acknowledged Jesus role as the Savior. Because of the thief on the right Jesus still could work upon the earth in the resurrection.

"It is finished!" (John 19:30)

He has defeated the Tempter again. Despite the agony, he has rejected temptation and cared for those around him. His temporary duty on earth is complete. He has shown the way God wants us to live. He has demonstrated the fact that faith and hope and love cannot be destroyed by anything men can say or do.

ACLC: The work of spiritual salvation was finished. The atoning blood has the power to cleanse all sins. Next the resurrection is necessary to bring life. Life came because Jesus resurrected. Then at pentecost the believers were saved through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

"Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit." (Luke 23:46)

Like a trusting child, he turns to the Father and takes the next step. He has bound himself by love, to both God and the human race. Soon he will begin his long-term ministry by demonstrating the fact that human beings survive physical death. Then he will continue to draw to himself, and thus to heaven, everyone he can ... for as long as it takes ... until whosoever will has come.

ACLC: Jesus is faithful to God. John 1:11 He came to his own and his own received him not. Though man betrayed Jesus, Jesus did not betray God.

MUSIC: TO BE DETERMINED

VENERATION OF THE CROSS: This is a traditional part of the Good Friday Service. We will focus on the power of the "WAY" of the Cross.

Mt:16:24: Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

There is an internal "WAY" of the CROSS. Not the physical object but rather the "WAY" that Jesus spoke of is the "Way" we must walk. We must bear the cross for humanity.

MUSIC: TO BE DETERMINED

Sermon on Jesus: The Historical Jesus: He died at calvary. He was rejected He was scorned and rediculed. All thought it was over at the cross.

The Jesus of Faith: The living Lord. His resurrection makes him different from Moses and the Prophets. The Curtain was Torn: Calls us to be faithful and true. To be like Jesus. To walk the way of the cross and LOVE all people. The Jesus of Faith brings spiritual salvation. This brings LIFE. We are Born AGAIN !!! Without this we are not living as sons and daughters of God.

Yet Paul said in Romans 7 21-25 He delights in the law of God in his mind but his body is a war with the law of his mind. He serves the law of God with his mind but serves sin with his body.

Therefore the second coming is the only solution to this historical thorn in our flesh.

Romans 8:23 together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Therefore we are entering the time of the redemption of the body. This comes through the power of the blood being shared by the married couple from ONE CUP. The blessing of marriage, the blessing of family breaks the curse of the thorn in the flesh.

On this basis we are to receive our CROWN. I Peter 5:4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

OLD RUGGED CROSS - READ

THE OLD RUGGED CROSS

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown

EXCHANGE YOUR CROSS FOR A CROWN:

The removal of the Cross Ceremony:

We will be ending the era of the cross. The era of martyrdom and bloodshed. The end of war. This is the time of transition. The resurrection brings life. The Blessing brings Life, Love and Lineage.

If the pastor cannot remove the cross as of yet we want to drape it in such a way as to symbolize the end of the era of the cross - the beginning of the era of the crown.

(Dr. C. Phillip Johnson is having a ceremony to carry the cross and exchange it for a crown. Rev. Jesse Edwards is having all the members turn in their crosses for a crown. )

Ceremony to exchange crosses for a crown. We are now a blessed family entering into the Kingdom of God.

EASTER SUNDAY: This should be a great celebration of the resurrection and the life giving power in Jesus return. If possible we should include a blessing - family communion service. (The author of the content concerning the traditional Seven Last Words - Ben Swett)

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