Worship Resources for March 28th
Palm Sunday
Gathering
Call to Worship & Gathering
Wherever you find yourself this morning, and however you come, welcome to worship with us at 14th Street CRC.
Today is Palm Sunday, a day in which we remember Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, and thus the beginning of the end of his pilgrimage to the cross. Today also marks the beginning of Holy Week—the week in which we remember and celebrate the events at the heart of our faith, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Beginning even now, we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith, as he sets his face on Jerusalem and on the cross, for us and for our salvation.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Psalm 118:26
Hosanna in the highest!
The Lord your God is in your midst, Zephaniah 3:17
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
Amen.
Song
Our two opening songs this morning capture the events of Palm Sunday from two angles—first, from Jesus’s own perspective (Jesus Set His Face) and then, second, from the perspective of the crowds, as they respond to Jesus’s descent into Jerusalem (Hosanna, Loud Hosanna). If you don’t know this first song, feel free to listen to the verses and sing along as you learn the refrain. The lyrics are below the audio.
Refrain
Jesus set his face.
Jesus set his face like flint.
Jesus set his face up to Jerusalem,
up to Jerusalem.
Coming down from heaven above,
coming down to earth from glory,
coming down from heaven above,
coming down to grief and worry.
Refrain
Singing psalms, the pilgrims climb,
reenact the ancient story.
Singing psalms the people climb;
lamb and bread—redemption’s story.
Refrain
Crying for the children lost,
crying for the lonely, sorry.
Crying for a city lost,
crying for the pained and gory.
Walking down the lonely path,
footsteps fall with premonition.
Walking down the lonely path,
full of purpose, hope and vision.
Refrain
Rising up to Calvary’s hill,
up the mount of shame and glory.
Rising up Golgotha hill,
up to claim the final victory.
Refrain
Words and music (FLINT irregular): Gregg DeMey © 2012 Re:Create Music, admin. Faith Alive Christian Resources
Prayer of Invocation
O Lord Christ,
as you once came down from heaven above,
so descend by your Spirit into this place,
giving us the gift of your presence.
As you once entered Jerusalem,
enter our hearts this day afresh.
As you once set your face toward
rejection, betrayal, agony, and death on a cross,
help us this week to walk with you
through your Passion to the victory of Easter morn.
Let us begin today, even now.
As the children once cried “Hosanna” to bless you,
open our lips to echo their “Hosanna.”
Enable us to see you truly
and to confess you openly as Lord and Savior.
that our worship and our lives may honor you—the crucified King. Amen.
Song
Psalm 118:19-28
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God,
and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
up to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God, I will extol you.
Service of Confession & Assurance
Call to Confession Exodus 20:1-2, 17
Then God spoke all these words:
I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of slavery.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Prayer of Confession
Lord our God,
you are the giver of every good and perfect gift,
and give us everything we need for life and godliness.
Yet we are not content with the gifts you give,
instead hungering and grasping for more.
We compare ourselves with others.
We want what they have
and begrudge that they have it.
We yearn to live their lives rather than
embrace the people you have made us to be.
We have not learned the secret of contentment,
nor have we followed the way of your Son,
who sought not more but less,
emptying himself, taking the form of a servant.
Forgive us:
for doubting your goodness,
for grasping at others’ expense,
for forgetting that every blessing is already ours in Christ,
for not following the way of Jesus.
By the grace of your Spirit, help us find our true selves in you,
so that we may be renewed more and more into your image.
In Jesus’s life-giving name, we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon Psalm 118:4-5, 14, 17, 29
Hear the Word of the Lord from Psalm 118:
Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.
The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
The Peace
The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
And also with you.
Word
Prayer for Illumination
Eternal God,
whose Word silences the shouts of the mighty:
Quiet within us every voice but your own.
Speak to us through the suffering and death of Jesus Christ,
that by the power of your Holy Spirit
we may receive grace to show Christ’s love
in lives given to your service. Amen.
Scripture Reading
The gospel according to John 12:12-19.
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Sermon
An Understated Entry
Sacrament
Song of Response
Spiritual Communion
For us he also set a table—to remember him in his death, to be joined to him in his life, and to anticipate feasting with him in glory. For those worshiping with us online, and not able to partake of the sacrament, we invite you to pray the following prayer of Spiritual Communion, knowing that God himself is with you, that Jesus himself feeds you, and that your union with Christ remains unbroken.
O Christ, we love you above all things,
and we desire, at all times and in all ways, to be fed by you.
And since we cannot now come to your Table,
we ask you to come by your Spirit into our hearts.
Unite us to you, together with all your faithful people,
and help us to embrace you with all our affections, body and soul.
Never permit us to be separated from you.
By your goodness we pray, Amen.
Song
Offering
In addition to our various funds (General, Building, Mission, Benevolence, Christian Education), online giving is also now available for today’s special offerings (Good Samaritan Ministries, World Renew, Holland Free Clinic) through the Give button below.
Sending
Blessing
May our Lord,
who rode on a colt into Jerusalem,
who cleansed the temple,
who was betrayed by friends,
and accused by enemies,
whose arms were spread on the cross
to embrace the whole world,
and who did all of this
for us and for our salvation—
may our Lord send his Spirit into our hearts,
in this week of remembrance and renewal,
and help us to take up our cross and follow him,
and equip us to live as God’s own beloved children,
a people of cross and resurrection
before a watching world. Amen.