(At the Woodbury Community Good Friday Service on March 25, 2016, I delivered my sermon entitled “T.G.I.F.” at Kemble United Methodist Church. I want to share a condensed version of my sermon as it relates to our celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection on Easter Sunday, which would not have happened without Good Friday when Jesus was crucified on the cross.)
Have you ever wondered where TGIF came from and who started it? I did. Here’s what I found online:
TGIF was coined by a DJ named Jerry Healy, who worked for WARK radio station in Akron, Ohio, way back in the 1970s. Later, TGIF became an expression to express relief at the end of work and the anticipation of relaxation over the weekend. (letsgreet.blogspot.com)
I also found a number of other things that refer to TGIF:
TGIF (cell biology), transforming growth-interacting factor
T.G.I. Friday’s, an American restaurant chain
TGIF (ABC), a former two-hour programming block on the American television network ABC
There are more on the list, but you get the picture. TGIF is more than just a common expression of relief, when after five work days, we go, “YEHEY TGIF, time to relax and go to TGIF (just make sure you call in first, the lines could be long on a Friday night!).”
For me, TGIF, especially on Good Friday, means a lot more than everything on the list I had just read. For me, TGIF, in connection with the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and last words, means three things.
First, TGIF means “It Is Finished.”
What IS finished? Literally, IT means Jesus’ earthly life is finished. He bowed his head and gave up his spirit. IT, meaning his life is over. But more than that, TGIF also means Jesus’ Mission has been completed. TGIF! Thank God It is Finished. Jesus has accomplished his mission on the cross. It – means the penalty/price of sin and death has been paid in full by Jesus because Jesus took all sin upon himself and paid the price with his life.
TGIF, Thank God It’s Finished!
That leads to the next because, Thank God, through Jesus, It is finished.
TGIF also means, “Thank God I’m Forgiven!”
“Those who repent and turn to Jesus in faith, believing in his death and resurrection, receive the gift of forgiveness and are reconciled with God. Thru the completed, finished work of Jesus, each one of us who believes in Jesus and trusts in Him as Savior and Lord have the joy and grace of beginning with a clean slate, no longer under penalty but released from the punishment of sin, which is eternal death/separation from God.
TGIF Thank God It Is Finished. Thank God I’m Forgiven!
And these lead to the third TGIF: Thank God I’m Free!
Thank God that because Jesus’ work is finished, I’m forgiven, and I’m free to follow Jesus as a disciple, taking up my cross daily and learning from Jesus how to live as part of the body of Christ, who brings this TGIF message to the world.
And although I, each of us, has to decide to receive God’s forgiveness and freedom from the penalty of sin, Jesus calls us to become a community of faith united in Him, who is the reason we can say TGIF!
TGIF is not just for Fridays or Good Fridays. It’s for every day of our lives. And although Jesus’ death on the cross is finished, our work as Jesus’ disciples continues.
On Easter Sunday, we celebrate our Risen Lord Jesus, who has commissioned his disciples, past and present, to continue God’s mission.
So even as we say TGIF – Thank God It’s Finished, our work as Jesus’ body here on earth is not yet finished.
Let us continue to unite in Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and serve as the hands and feet of Jesus, ministers of forgiveness and reconciliation, and ambassadors of God’s justice and peace here at Central Baptist Church, Woodbury and beyond.
Let us stay committed to love and serving the Lord until that day when Jesus finally returns, and we can all say TGIF – Thank God It’s Finished!
Have a Blessed Good Friday and a Glorious Celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection on Easter Sunday!
Yours and Christ’s,
Pastor Carla
An Invitation to Celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection: “What Are You Taking Up for Easter?”
During Lent, you may have heard people ask: “What are you giving up for Lent?” But, have you ever considered what you want to take up for the forty days of Easter?
N.T. Wright, a church historian and Bible scholar, raised this question in his book, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church.
He challenged the reader and the Christian church to take “steps to celebrate Easter in new creative ways: in art, literature, children’s games, poetry, music, dance, festivals, bells, special concerts, anything that comes to mind. This is our greatest festival…If Lent is time to give things up, Easter ought to be a time to take things up…The forty days of Easter season, until ascension, ought to be a time to balance out Lent by taking something up, some new task or venture, something wholesome and fruitful and outgoing and self-giving.” (N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope, pp. 255-257)
So what are you taking up for Easter for forty days?
For me, it will be going on a trip in May to Orlando, Florida, to be with women pastors for five days (no, I am not going to Disney World or Universal Studios; been there, done that), flying out on Pastor Dave’s birthday.
This is a new task and venture for me, and I ask that you pray for me as I take some time to listen to God and celebrate the resurrection power of Jesus. When I come back, I am eager to hear what you have taken up for Easter and how that energizes you in your continuing adventure as the hands and feet of Jesus, our Risen Lord!
Easter Blessings,
Pastor Carla
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