Palm Sunday - 28th March 2021
Eileen Williams will be preaching at our church on Palm Sunday. Eileen let Julie have a note of the readings and her hymn choices, to which Julie has added the You Tube links and prepared an alternative service for those whom will be unable to attend the Sunday service.
Welcome and Notices:
Opening Sentences: Psalm 118: 1 – 2, 19 – 29
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.”
HYMN MP 564 Praise to the Lord the Almighty
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Lord of all, when Jesus entered into Jerusalem, the people welcomed him with praise and gave him the best they could offer. As we gather here, we ask you to fill our hearts with joy and love. Help us to understand what it means to give freely and extravagantly of our time, our treasure and our talents. Most of all, inspire us to give you our praise.
Father, enshrined in mystery, we adore you. Closing our eyes, we seek you within, and praise you for meeting us there. Son, riding on a colt, we adore you. We praise you for your generous love, one with us. Holy Spirit, guiding and inspiring us, we adore you. Through you we praise the mystery and the majesty that manifested in frail flesh, yet overcame it. Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in adoration we celebrate your victory.
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 50: 4 – 9a
Talk Part One – The Servants’ Obedience
HYMN MP 9 All glory, laud and honour
New Testament Readings: Philippians 2: 5 – 11, Matthew 21: 1 – 11
Talk Part Two – Humility and Obedience
Alternative sermon
Eileen did not give me any information regarding her talk, so I have found this information on the website via Roots the site that the church subscribe too. It is called – read out in place of a sermon. So here it is …..
A teacher asked some students to suggest some modern-day heroes. After a thoughtful silence, one student ventured, ‘It’s difficult, because today we have celebrities rather than heroes’.
As he rode into Jerusalem Jesus seems to be both of those things. He was well known and acclaimed – like one of today’s celebrities. He was also recognised as a preacher, teacher and a healer – someone who is worthy of praise.
At the time when Jesus entered Jerusalem there would have been plenty of other preachers, teachers and healers hoping to gain attention. So, what was it about Jesus that attracted the crowds to him with such fervour? We can make same informed or intuitive guesses, although we cannot know for certain. We were not there!
But we can ask: How do people today see Jesus? Some people may say that he was a good person from history. Some may indeed think of him as something of a celebrity from the past. But what about us – how do we see Jesus?
Or perhaps, since that’s quite a big question, let’s focus it down to the events that we recall today:
Where would we have been in that Palm Sunday crowd?
Would we have been on the edge and hanging back…watching, and wondering what’s going on (the sort of people who, in today’s world, would probably film it on their phones)?
Would we have been with those who came to Jerusalem with Jesus, with those the crowd that acclaimed him by throwing down their coats, and palm branches?
And whichever group today – would we have been with those who turned on him just a few days later?
In today’s world, how do we show that Jesus is someone whose life, death and resurrection have meaning for us now?
Amen
HYMN MP 580 Ride on, ride on in majesty
Prayers of Intercession:
We praise and thank you for the progress that has been made in the Covid vaccination programme, and we pray for those in our health services who have been put under additional pressure as a result of the pandemic; for those preparing for a third wave; and those working in care homes.
Praise the Lord: Hosanna.
We praise and thank you for the churches that have been able to reopen for worship, and for creative ways which have been found to unite people in prayer and worship. We pray for those who feel isolated; who long to gather with others; who cannot access online worship.
Praise the Lord: Hosanna.
We praise and thank you for signs of spring; for crocuses and daffodils, and all the green shoots of growth.
We pray for gardeners; for those who look after parks and public verges; for those who keep our streets clean and make our communities more pleasant.
Praise the Lord: Hosanna.
We praise and thank you for the message of hope, encouragement and peace that Jesus brings. We pray for those who are fearful for the future, those who have lost direction in life and those whose lives are troubled. We especially pray for…
Praise the Lord: Hosanna.
Lord Jesus, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord – blessed for all you are; blessed for all you do. Receive our prayers and speak to the needs of all your children, we pray. Amen.
Communion
HYMN MP 59 Blessed assurance Jesus is mine
Blessing and Grace said together
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