PALM SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 2020
April 5, 2020
Worship
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PRELUDE (VIDEO)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om5lK0DiA90
CALL TO WORSHIP (Zacharia 9:9,11 The Message)
If you are worshiping with others, you may read this responsively.
Shout and cheer, Daughter Zion!
Raise the roof, Daughter Jerusalem!
Your king is coming!
a good king who makes all things right,
a humble king riding a donkey,
a mere colt of a donkey.
And you, because of my blood covenant with you,
I’ll release your prisoners from their hopeless cells
Raise the roof, Daughter Jerusalem!
Your king is coming!
a good king who makes all things right,
a humble king riding a donkey,
a mere colt of a donkey.
And you, because of my blood covenant with you,
I’ll release your prisoners from their hopeless cells
CHILDREN'S MESSAGE "A Joyful Celebration"
Source:: sermons4kids.com
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
~ adapted liberally from a prayer written by Annabel Shilson-Thomas (UK). Posted on RevGalBlogPals. https://revgalblogpals.org/2008/03/16/palm-sunday-prayer/
**GIVING THANKS Even though we are not able meet together, please continue to financially support the mission of God and the ministry of Christ through your gifts and offerings by contributing either through the mail or by electronic giving. Thank you.
HYMN "All Glory Laud and Honor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3a8fTTrAdE
PRAYER
Blessed Lord, we surrender our lives to your prophetic message of salvation. You have given us the gift of enduring steadfast love. Multiply these gifts so that we may share the magnitude of your joy-filled message throughout our community and world. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the Highest. Amen.
GOD'S WORD Mark 14:3-9 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
MESSAGE "Between the Palms and the Passover Meal, There Was ..."
Pastor Lane Van
Between the palms and the Passover Meal, there was -- well, there was, according to all four Gospels, a whole lot of things going on. Jesus raised a ruckus at the temple when he drove out the buyers, sellers and money changers. He preached, prophesied, told some parables and engaged in a few rounds of "stump the Messiah" with the Pharisees and Scribes.
While the high priests and Pharisees were plotting and scheming against him, Jesus was spending a quiet evening in Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem, with his disciples at the home of Simon the Leper, a man who regained his life because Jesus healed him.
While they were at table, a woman entered the room. We aren't told her name and we know nothing about her story, but maybe, like Simon, she had experienced the mercy and redemptive power of Christ's transformational love. She brought with her the most costly and precious thing she owned -- nard. Nard was a very expensive ointment used a perfume and to anoint the bodies of the dead. It was made from Spikenard, a plant which grows in the Himalayan mountains.
We're told by biblical historians that the nard was in a small alabaster jar that she probably wore around her neck. The amount of nard that the woman poured over the head of Jesus was worth a year of Roman wages.
The disciples were shocked and angry over the waste of money, but why did they react so strongly? Was it because the woman confirmed through her act of personal sacrifice that what Jesus had been telling them the last few weeks, that he was to die, was actually going to happen? They had entered Jerusalem to a crowd welcoming Jesus as a king, but the woman had welcomed him as a savior, a sacrificial lamb who would pay humanity's debt for our sins and bring healing and wholeness to the world.
Like the disciples, we don't want to think about Jesus dying. Maybe that is why we want to skip from Palm Sunday, ignoring the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, straight to Easter Sunday. But, we are also like Simon the Leper and the unknown woman with the alabaster jar. We, too, have experienced mercy and second chances, healing and hope through Jesus Christ. The eventsof Holy Week remind us of the preciousness of the gift Christ gave us.
Created in God's image to love and to be loved, when we rejected God's love for us, God has never given up on us. Unable on our own to earn God's love and forgiveness, God in his unconditional love for us, gave us worth, mercy and hope when he offered up his one-of-a-kind Son as a sacrifice for our debt load of sin and brokenness. To not acknowledge our need for and cost of such love is to open ourselves to entitlement and cheapen the gift we have been given.
This morning, we would have been in church, waving palm fronds and singing and shouting "Hosanna to the King! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord," and looking forward to the celebration of Easter of our risen Savior. There are plenty of people in this world who are more than willing to rule over our lives whether we want or need them to, but we all need a savior, Jesus, who loves us, from one nail scarred hand to the other.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
HYMN "Lamb of God"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QGNUDsQ6fI
BENEDICTION
May the love of God surround you, the peace of Christ surround you, and the Holy Spirit Guide your way as the journey to Easter morning takes us through Maundy Thursday and Good Friday with their reminders of the width and depth of God's love for us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
HYMN "God will Take Care of You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijytLs96yig
"GO NOW IN PEACE"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T_KSLqIAcM
ANNOUNCEMENT
Please join us this Thursday and Friday for Maundy Thursday and Good Frday worship experiences.
Source:: sermons4kids.com
Scripture:
Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" Mark 11:9-10 or Matthew 21:9 (NIV)
I really enjoy a great celebration, don't you? What are some things that people like to celebrate? A birthday party...a holiday...or a sporting event? How do they celebrate? Well, one way people celebrate is by making a lot of noise. Look, I have some noisemakers for some of you this morning. (Pass out noisemakers.) Another way people celebrate is by waving flags or pennants. I have some of those too. (Pass out flags and pennants.) Still another way people celebrate is by shouting and cheering.
This morning, let's have a celebration. Let's celebrate that we are here today to worship and praise Jesus. Let's all give three cheers for Jesus while those of you who have noisemakers make some noise and those of you who have flags wave them high! Are you ready? Here we go! "Hip, Hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray!"
Wow! That was great and I think this is good day for us to celebrate Jesus, because today is a very special day. Today is Palm Sunday. It is a day when we remember how people celebrated when Jesus entered into Jerusalem on a Sunday some two thousand years ago. You've probably heard the story, but let me tell it again.
Jesus was walking with his disciples toward Jerusalem. As they came near to the city, Jesus told two of his disciples to go on ahead into the town. He told them that they would see a young donkey tied there that had never been ridden. "Untie the donkey and bring it to me. If anyone asks you what you are doing, just tell them, 'The Lord needs it. He will send it back to you soon.'"
The disciples did what Jesus told them to do and it happened just as he had told them. They found the young donkey, untied it, and started to lead it away. Some men were standing nearby, and they said to the disciples, "Where are you taking that young donkey?" They told them what Jesus had said and the men let them take the donkey.
The disciples brought the young donkey to Jesus and they put their coats on it to make a soft place for Jesus to sit. As they made their way into the city of Jerusalem, people went ahead of Jesus shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" Others followed behind and they were also shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna in the highest!" All the while, people lined the streets cheering and waving palm branches.
It was a wonderful celebration, but it was a bit noisy! Do you think Jesus liked all that noise? I do! The Bible says "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Just as those people celebrated two thousand years ago, we have come here today to celebrate Jesus. What better day to do that than on Palm Sunday?
Father, we celebrate today just as those people celebrated in Jerusalem two thousand years ago. This is the day that You have made; we will rejoice and be glad in it! In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Jesus, you set your face towards Jerusalem
and walked alongside those who suffer.
Be our vision,
that we too may walk the way of compassion
and extend a hand to those we meet.
Lord, hear our prayer,
and in your love, answer.
and in your love, answer.
Lord, you stopped to heal the sick
and tend to those broken in body, mind or spirit.
Be our vision,
that we too may be a source of healing to all in need of your grace.
Lord, hear our prayer,
and in your love, answer.
and in your love, answer.
Jesus, you said,
“The first shall be last and the last first.”
Be our vision,
that we too may work towards your realm –
when the marginalized and oppressed will be raised up
and know that they are indeed beloved children of the Holy.
Lord, hear our prayer,
and in your love, answer.
and in your love, answer.
Jesus, you took the time to pray and to be silent.
Be our vision,
that through our prayers, meditation and reflection
we may draw closer to you and find our way on this journey of faith.
Lord, hear our prayer,
and in your love, answer.
and in your love, answer.
Lord, you entered Jerusalem with peace in your heart.
Be our vision,
that we too can live as people of peace
in the face of the world’s many conflicts.
May we hold your vision of justice and peace ever before us.
Lord, hear our prayer,
and in your love, answer.
and in your love, answer.
Bless us, O Blessed One,
as we enter into the days ahead of us.
We will need your power and presence to sustain us
as we move through these difficult days together.
Spirit of Love and Life, stay close.
These and all the prayers of our hearts we offer in faith,
as we pray the way you taught us to pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen.
~ adapted liberally from a prayer written by Annabel Shilson-Thomas (UK). Posted on RevGalBlogPals. https://revgalblogpals.org/2008/03/16/palm-sunday-prayer/
**GIVING THANKS Even though we are not able meet together, please continue to financially support the mission of God and the ministry of Christ through your gifts and offerings by contributing either through the mail or by electronic giving. Thank you.
HYMN "All Glory Laud and Honor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3a8fTTrAdE
PRAYER
Blessed Lord, we surrender our lives to your prophetic message of salvation. You have given us the gift of enduring steadfast love. Multiply these gifts so that we may share the magnitude of your joy-filled message throughout our community and world. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the Highest. Amen.
GOD'S WORD Mark 14:3-9 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
3 While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. 4 But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”
Pastor Lane Van
Between the palms and the Passover Meal, there was -- well, there was, according to all four Gospels, a whole lot of things going on. Jesus raised a ruckus at the temple when he drove out the buyers, sellers and money changers. He preached, prophesied, told some parables and engaged in a few rounds of "stump the Messiah" with the Pharisees and Scribes.
While the high priests and Pharisees were plotting and scheming against him, Jesus was spending a quiet evening in Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem, with his disciples at the home of Simon the Leper, a man who regained his life because Jesus healed him.
While they were at table, a woman entered the room. We aren't told her name and we know nothing about her story, but maybe, like Simon, she had experienced the mercy and redemptive power of Christ's transformational love. She brought with her the most costly and precious thing she owned -- nard. Nard was a very expensive ointment used a perfume and to anoint the bodies of the dead. It was made from Spikenard, a plant which grows in the Himalayan mountains.
We're told by biblical historians that the nard was in a small alabaster jar that she probably wore around her neck. The amount of nard that the woman poured over the head of Jesus was worth a year of Roman wages.
The disciples were shocked and angry over the waste of money, but why did they react so strongly? Was it because the woman confirmed through her act of personal sacrifice that what Jesus had been telling them the last few weeks, that he was to die, was actually going to happen? They had entered Jerusalem to a crowd welcoming Jesus as a king, but the woman had welcomed him as a savior, a sacrificial lamb who would pay humanity's debt for our sins and bring healing and wholeness to the world.
Like the disciples, we don't want to think about Jesus dying. Maybe that is why we want to skip from Palm Sunday, ignoring the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, straight to Easter Sunday. But, we are also like Simon the Leper and the unknown woman with the alabaster jar. We, too, have experienced mercy and second chances, healing and hope through Jesus Christ. The eventsof Holy Week remind us of the preciousness of the gift Christ gave us.
Created in God's image to love and to be loved, when we rejected God's love for us, God has never given up on us. Unable on our own to earn God's love and forgiveness, God in his unconditional love for us, gave us worth, mercy and hope when he offered up his one-of-a-kind Son as a sacrifice for our debt load of sin and brokenness. To not acknowledge our need for and cost of such love is to open ourselves to entitlement and cheapen the gift we have been given.
This morning, we would have been in church, waving palm fronds and singing and shouting "Hosanna to the King! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord," and looking forward to the celebration of Easter of our risen Savior. There are plenty of people in this world who are more than willing to rule over our lives whether we want or need them to, but we all need a savior, Jesus, who loves us, from one nail scarred hand to the other.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
HYMN "Lamb of God"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QGNUDsQ6fI
BENEDICTION
May the love of God surround you, the peace of Christ surround you, and the Holy Spirit Guide your way as the journey to Easter morning takes us through Maundy Thursday and Good Friday with their reminders of the width and depth of God's love for us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
HYMN "God will Take Care of You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijytLs96yig
"GO NOW IN PEACE"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T_KSLqIAcM
ANNOUNCEMENT
Please join us this Thursday and Friday for Maundy Thursday and Good Frday worship experiences.
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