Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / April 19, 1984, edition 1 / Page 25
Part of The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Thursday, April 19, 1984-KINGS MOUNTAIN HERALD-Page 1C BY HARWOOD SMITH JR. God Is Why Friday Is ‘Good’ It is the most gruesome and grisly day in the history of the world and yet we call it ‘good’-Good Friday. Were we not so used to hearing it called that we might think it was some kind of a sick joke, mightn’t we? What, after all, is good about a brutal execution? Three men killed in one of the most painful ways imaginable: tied to a beam and left to dangle until they died of exposure..and one of them...one of them nailed on. Sharp metal spikes piercing hands and feet, tearing flesh as he is lifted upright. Excruciating pain as the cross is dropped, central figure, the one singled out for such special cruelty, was no ordinary man. This was the love of the gracious God who made us...the incarnate Son of God who gives us all that we have and all that we are. This was the Holy God-head come in flesh to reach out to us and save us...and we did this to him, to him!! Good!!'What is good about that terrible act of rebellious in- gratitude? And of course the answer is, nothing! Nothing about our paricipation in Good Friday is good. But fortunately someone else was involved in tion, “What is good about Good Friday?” is “Why God is! God is Good!” That’s what’s good about Good Friday, God is, just as the name probably originally signified, for to the best of our knowledge Good Friday is pro- bably derived from the phrase God’s Friday just as our much used “good-by” is derived from “God be with you.” No! What we did on Good Friday was not good at all. But!, what we did is not the whole story of Good Friday. There in the midst of that awful scene there was also God, the gracious creator, the loving Savior, doing spare us the pain that we deserve!. And so Good Friday is good. It is good for those who know they have no other hope than the goodness of God...it is good for those who rely on that goodness and in gratitude allow it to penetrate and change their lives, making them new people in Christ; people who, in joyful appreciation, let the goodness of God flow through them into the life of the world. For this is a world that very much needs all the goodness, all the love and all the mercy it can get. mournful bent. Altars will be stripped, crosses draped in black. This above all days in the Chris- ' tian year is a penitential day! God’s son on this day so many years ago was stripped and whip- ped and hung upon a cross! That is not good. That bespeaks the evil of our sin. We should be penitent and know the sorrow of our crime! But we must also remember that the “Good” God was there that day too and so it is also, always, a day of hope as well. A day to look past the sin and death, to God’s victory over the cross, to Sunrise Service Slated For KM Community Traditional community-wide Easter Sunrise Services will be held Easter Sunday morning, April 22, at 6 a.m. in Memorial Park of Mountain Rest Cemetery. The service is sponsored by the Kings Mountain Ministerial Association. Ministers of the community will lead the service which is open to all interested citizens. Rev. George Simmons, pastor of East Gold Street Wesleyan Church, will deliver the sermon. Rev. Charles Davenport, pastor of Long Creek Presbyterian Church, will give REV. GEORGE SIMMONS Special Services Slated At First Presbyterian Special Holy Week services are scheduled Thursday and Fri- day at First Presbyterian Church. A ‘Maundy Thursday Com- munion service will be held Thursday at 7:30 p.m., led by Rev. Eric Faust, pastor. The scripture lessons will come from Psalm 89, Exodus 12:1-14, I Corinthians 11:23-26 ° and John 13:1-5. . The sermon topic will be “The Last Supper.” The church’s annual Tenebrae (The Darkness of Sin) Service will be Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Old Testament lesson will come from Isaiah 53:4-9 and the Passion Story of Christ from Mark Chapters 14 and 15 will be the New Testament lessons. Special musical selections will include “Go To Dark Gethsemane”, “Rock of Ages”, “O Come and Mourn”, “Ah Ho- ly Jesus”, “Old Rugged Cross”, “Were You There”, and “O Sacred Head Now Wounded.” Soloists will be Randy Patterson - and Andy Neisler. Tenebrae, the service of shadows, has been part of the Christian Church since the eighth century. Some sources tell of the tradition as early as the fifth century. ‘The service moves from light to darkness. It is a service of the gospel narrative of the Passion of Jesus. Candles are used to symbolize the agony that the sin of mankind caused Jesus to en- dure. The candles snuffed one by one reminds the worshipers of the flight of the disciples. The total darkness tells of the death of Jesus. The public is invited to attend. Communion And Sunrise Services Planned At Dixon Special Holy Week services are scheduled Thursday and Sunday at Dixon Presbyterian Church. - A Maundy Thursday Com- munion Service will be held Thursday at 7:30 and an Easter Sunrise Service will be held Sun- day at 6 a.m. Rev. Graham Wood, pastor,’ will lead both services. Following the Sunrise Service, breakfast will be served in the church fellowship hall. 9:45 and morning worship at 11 am. Special music during the worship service will be led by Nancy Hughes, music director. Also during the worship hour, the One Great Hour of Sharing Easter offering will be taken. The offering benefits the hungry of the world and persons facing crisis situations. Individual wor- shipers will have the opportunity to designate a part or all of their offering to help Tornado victims the invocation, Rev. Jesse Bailey, pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church, will lead the responsive reading, and Rev. Dewey Smith, pastor of Galilee United Methodist Church, will read the scripture. Rev. Kenneth Looney, pastor of Kings Mountain Church of God and president of the Kings Mountain Ministerial Associa- tion, will give the welcome. Rev. Allen Jolley, minister of music at First Baptist Church, will lead special music. Dr. Joel Jenkins, pastor of First Baptist Church, will pro- nounce the'benediction. CENTRAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH - Methodists are celebrating this year the 200th an- niversary and Kings Mountain's Central United Methodist Church, pictured. is joining in the celebration. KM’s Central Methodist “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoev- er believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”’ — John 3:16 Celebrates 110th Birthday Central United Methodist Church, 110 years old, is joining other members of their denomination in celebrating the church’s 200th birthday this year. In the early days of the Methodist Church here, a circuit riding preacher visited in the homes of the few members and ministered to their spiritual needs. Known as the Shelby Circuit, Central Methodist Church was grouped with El Bethel, Beulah- Concord, and at times other small churches and preaching services were held once a month. In 1881, with the minister, the Rev. J. T. Abernathy, Central Methodist Church became a part of the Kings Mountain Circuit. The church historian reported that in the midst of struggle and progress, in the heart of the Carolina ‘Industrial Piedmont, the year 1874 was a year of note for the organization and state chartering of the city of Kings Mountain and for the organiza- tion of Central Methodist Church by the Rev. J.W. North, a native South Carolinian, who served as pastor of the Shelby Circuit. In the early part of 1874, 1. W. Garrett and family, Richard Garrett and family, and Captain and Mrs. R. S. Sugg and Bennett R. Willeford came from Edgecomb county to make their home in the sparsely settled Kings Mountain.They bought property and erected store buildings. The Garretts also bought large tracts of nearby mountain land. Being of the Methodist faith, these newcomers attended ser- vices at El Bethel, the nearest church of that denomination. Since they were establishing per- manent homes they saw the necessity for a church in their immediate locality. Other members were soon added to the group of early worshipers. Though small in numbers the members overcame many obstacles and soon completed their church, a one room frame building which stood on the cor- ner of Piedmont Avenue and Mountain Street. This served as a place of worship for 30 years or more.During the ministry of Rev. J. W. Winkler the con- gregation began discussing long- range building plans. The years since has seen a spirit of progress which has included the elimina- tion of indebtedness for a hand- some educational building and after that the dismantling of the old sanctuary on July 4,1966 and the completion of the new sanctuary in 1967. Bill Russell, a member of the local congregation, calling atten- & thudding into the hole dug to Good Friday’s events and that in and through all of that terri- the resurrection...our Lord’s, and 3 Pastor, hold it! was God himself; the good and ble, spiteful, rebellious brutality, by God’s grace, our own. 0 St. Matthew's Lutheran Good!!! What is good about faithful and forgiving creator of his own great healing and restor- Our churches will continue.to ; Church that terrible scene? And then heaven and earth and of us! ing thing! Jesus on that cross commemorate Good Friday 0 there is the realization that this And so the answer to the ques- bore the pain that we inflicted to with services of a sad and Have a “Good” Friday! WE J 3 i te nl RE tion to the local history of the Methodists, said that early pioneers, and those that follow- ed, wanted their souls’ tent- stakes driven firmly and Chris- tian foundations laid for their Sunday School will begin at in eastern North Carolina. Musical Is Scheduled Sunday At Macedonia The Adult Choir of Macedonia Baptist Church will present “The Day He Wore My Crown”, a resurrection musical by David T. Clydesdale, Easter Sunday during morning worship services of the church. “The Day He Wore My Crown” is a beautiful expression of the ressurection story in song. Soloists are Kay Hambright, David Lawing, George C. Smith Jr., Bob Myers, Janice Glass, Gail Smith, Sandra Gillespie and Greg Moore. Henry Ford is nar- rator. The public is invited to attend. Sunday School begins at 9:45 am. and worship service at 10:45, 15 minutes earlier than usual. OLD SANCTUARY - The old sanctuary of Central United Methodist Church, pictured above. The local congregation is 110 years old. families and future generations. Other Methodist congrega- tions, including Grace United Methodist Church, El Bethel United Methodist Church and Galilee United Methodist Church have roots deep in history and these churches are also reporting their historical highlights in celebration of the 200th birthday of the Methodist Church. a
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 19, 1984, edition 1
25
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75