Church Family, this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! Hosanna in the Highest! What a blessing it is to be with you on this Palms to Passion Sunday. Today we hear stories of Jesus, hear powerful questions, and continue on our journey with Jesus to Holy Week. Today marks the beginning of Holy Week and there are many ways to connect this week to join us in-person. May God bless you on this journey and may worship today help you begin in a meaningful way! Let us worship the Lord!
Prelude - I’ve wandered far away from God [by W. J. Kirkpatrick] - Sarah Park
We are a community seeking to have open minds, open hearts, and open arms, building community in a fragmented world.
Ministry Leaders and congregants are welcome to come forward to the mic, to give a mission update or share ways for people to get involved in missions and ministries.
We believe in a God who walks headfirst into the world’s suffering,
who lights a candle in the darkest night,
who pulls back the curtain so we can see the stars.
We believe in a God who does not shy away from the truth,
who is bold in seeking justice, and humble in taking power.
We believe in a God who sees our hurt and wraps love around it,
cocooning us in hope, tethering us to one another.
We believe in a God who is always carrying us
from the pain of the world into the hope of a new day.
That is where God is headed. That is where we follow.
May it be so. Amen.
*CALL TO WORSHIP - Carol Buzbee
ONE: Where is Jesus going? Isn’t he from Nazareth? Can anything good come from Nazareth?
ALL: Is Jesus headed to Jerusalem?
ONE: Do you think Jerusalem is safe? Does he know that Pilate is here? Where is he going?
ALL: Does Jesus know the city is dangerous?
ONE: Does he see the Pharisees watching? Is this the one we’ve been waiting for? Could this be the Messiah?
ALL: Where is Jesus going?
ONE: The crowds are singing, “Hosanna!” Should we lay down our cloaks? Is this the beginning of the end?
ALL: Should we follow?
ONE: Should we watch? Should we sing, “Hosanna"”?
ALL: Stay Awake! He’s on the move!
ONE: Where is Jesus going? Listen. Watch. Stay close.
ALL: Sing, “Hosanna!” Hosanna! Amen.
*OPENING HYMN - All Glory, Laud and Honor #192, v.1-3
1 All glory, laud and honor to you, Redeemer, King,
to whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring.
You are a child of Israel, Great David’s greater son;
you ride in lowly triumph, Messiah, blessed One!
2 The company of angels are praising you on high,
and, we with all creation in chorus make reply.
The people of the Hebrews with palms before you went;
our praise and prayer and anthems before you we present.
3 To you, before your passion, they sang their hymns of praise;
to you, now high exalted, our melody we raise.
As you received their praises, now hear us as we pray.
Since you delight in goodness, rule in our hearts today.
Invitation to Give
Invitation to Give - Carol Buzbee
Offertory - “Are Ye Able,” Said the Master [by H. S. Mason ] - Sarah Park
Response - “Pass It On” #477, v.1
It only takes a spark to get a fire going
and soon all those around can warm up in its glowing.
That's how it is with God's love once you've experienced it,
you spread God’s love to everyone, you want to pass it on.
Offertory Prayer - Carol Buzbee
Children's Moment Rev. Chad Delaney
- Owl and Binoculars & Flashlight
- One of the ways we seek God is looking for ways to help others
Pastoral Prayer
O Holy One, we are too distressed to notice that you join us in the parade.
We are too deeply grieved to be aware that you sit beside us at the table.
We are too busy sighing. We are too busy talking.
We have insisted upon our own answers.
We proclaimed our own knowledge to why bad things happen,
to why the rich get richer to why the world feels so broken.
We have assured ourselves that this is the way that things must be,
but this life is in your hands.
Our lives are in your hands.
God of life there are many on our hearts today. We give them to you in silent prayer…
Unite us together in your spirit as we pray the prayer Jesus taught us…
Seeking: Honest Questions for Deeper Faith
Meditation - Where are you headed? Rev. Chad Delaney
This Lent we have been Seeking God through prayer, devotion, biblical reflection, and asking questions.
The visual of the Seeking Eye has been present each week with new parts added to it.
- What do you see?
- There is a Veil to acknowledge our confusion and mystery
- The brown for the mud and garden soil
- The drop of water as we are born of water and spirit, Jesus’ tears at his friend’s tomb, and when Jesus washes the Disciples feet.
- There is the vessel in the center representing the chalice, the cup we bless each week
- A star representing a kernel of recognition as our seeking continues
- A leaf for the Palms of Palm Sunday and the hint of hope of what is to come.
What do you see? In this piece of art there are many stories to be told, many lessons to be learned, many questions to be asked.
We have taken this same imagination and curiosity to the scripture readings this Lent as we’ve walked with Jesus to Holy Week. Each week we had a scripture reading and driving question to evoke our curiosity, questions, and new awareness of ourselves, our neighbors, and God among us. In the stories of Christ we read today we will hear those questions again. Each one pressing us on how we will respond to Christ’s call to take up our cross and follow him. So…Where is Jesus headed? Will we go with him?
Here on Palm to Passion Sunday it will come into clearer focus that there are more than a few paths to choose from. Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity reminded us of this in our Devotional this week.
“There were two parades in Jerusalem on this day of Palms. From the east, Jesus entered on a donkey. From the west, the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, entered with an imperial guard. Borg & Crossan write: ‘Jesus’ procession proclaimed the Kingdom of God; Pilate’s procession proclaimed the power of empire.’ Pilate’s power processes with a pompous display of armor and soldiers. Power is displayed by superiority, elitism, and weaponry. Meanwhile, Jesus enters the city on a donkey, wears no armor, only soft linens, in vulnerability.”
She asks, “Which parade you would join has a lot to say about your definition of power…When have you, when will you embody power through vulnerability and love for your neighbor?”
A different kind of power beckons us every day. One embodied by Christ…Which path will we go down, where are we headed?
Holy God,
Sometimes it’s hard to hear you over the hosannas.
Sometimes it’s hard to hear you over the noise of city streets.
Sometimes it’s hard to hear you over our racing thoughts,
our mental to-do lists, or our desire to fit in.
Sometimes it is hard to hear you in this noisy world.
So just as you stopped traffic in Jerusalem, stop traffic here.
Pause the rush. Open the gates. Dwell among us, until your Word is all we can hear.
We are listening. We are laying down our cloaks. Amen.
I. Voices in the Wilderness
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ 4But he answered, ‘It is written,
“One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ’5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’
7Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; 9and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ 10Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written,
“Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ’
11Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
Question: There are voices in the wilderness…Who will you listen to?
HYMN - Have Thine Own Way, Lord! #588, v.4
4 Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway.
Fill with thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!
II. Seeking Redemption…
SCRIPTURE - John 3:1-17
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ 3Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ 4Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ 5Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” 8The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ 9Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ 10Jesus answered him, ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
11 ‘Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16 ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
17 ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Question: All of us are seeking redemption….How do we begin again?
HYMN - Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” #517, v.1
1 Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven, to earth come down,
fix in us thy humble dwelling, all thy faithful mercies crown;
Jesus, thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation, enter every trembling heart.
III. The World is Asking…
SCRIPTURE - John 4:7-15
7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. 8(His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ 11The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ 13Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ 15The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’
Question: The world is asking all us…Will you give me a Drink?
HYMN - Fill the World with Love #467, v.4
4. Let us hesitate no longer in our doubt and our dismay
There’s a power at work within us that has promised a new day
And the time will surely come, it will not be long delayed
When God fills the world with love. When God fills the world with love.
IV. Looking for Reasons…
SCRIPTURE - John 9:1-12
As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ 3Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. 4We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ 6When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ 9Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ 10But they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ 11He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.’ 12They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’
Question: As we look to blame, as we look for reasons why things are…will we look inside ourselves as we ask…who sinned?
MCCC Choir - “Blessed are They” by Joel Raney
V. We Want to Believe…
SCRIPTURE John 11:17-27
17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’ 23Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ 24Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ 25Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ 27She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’
Question: In the face of hurt and grief…is their hope? Can these bones live?
SPECIAL MUSIC - There’s Not a Friend [by Joseph Prentiss] - Jan Green
VI. Palms to Passion…
SCRIPTURE - Matthew 21:1-11
When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, “The Lord needs them.” And he will send them immediately.’ This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,
‘Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,
‘Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!’
When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who is this?’ The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’
Question: As we go from Palms to Passion…where are you headed?
Communion Meditation - Ally Bozeka
Hymn - Take our Bread #413, v.1
[Refrain] Take our bread, we ask you; take our hearts, we love you.
Take our lives, O Father, we are yours, we are yours.
1 Yours as we stand at the table you set; Yours as we eat the bread, our hearts can't forget.
We are the signs of your life with us yet, we are yours, we are yours. [Refrain]
Prayer & the Lord’s Prayer - Ally Bozeka
Distribution Music - “Lenten Medley” - Jan Green
BENEDICTION
A Cheering, Chanting, Dizzy Crowd
A cheering, chanting, dizzy crowd had stripped the green trees bear,
and hailing Christ as king aloud, waved branches in the air.
They laid their garments in the road and spread his path with palms
and vows of lasting love bestowed with royal hymns and psalms.
When day dimmed down to deep’ning dark the crowd began to fade
‘til only trampled leaves and bark were left from the parade
Lest we be fooled because our hearts have surged with passing praise,
remind us, God, as this week starts where Christ has fixed his gaze.
Instead of palms a winding sheet will have to be unrolled,
a carpet much more fit to greet the king a cross will hold.
POSTLUDE - Always Remember [by Greg Sewell] - Jan Green