Liturgy for Palm Sunday, April 5, 2020

Liturgy for Palm Sunday, April 5, 2020

April 5th, 2020 | April Karli

For Palm Sunday liturgy today, bring a house plant to use as a palm branch, or cut and color this palm frond coloring page. We will have Eucharist together, so be sure to have bread and wine (or juice, tortillas, chips, etc.) if you wish to participate.

Arise Shine For Your Light Has Come

by Jerred McKenna
Arise shine for your light has come and the glory of God is on you

Arise see though the earth grows dark that the Lord will arise upon you

The Lord will arise upon you

Nations will come to your light lift up your eyes and see

We’ll gather together and all come to you

And your love will be all that we know

Your love will be all that we know

Arise come to the open gates for the Lord is welcoming you

Fear not for the Lord brings peace and redemption to all who believe

And redemption to all who believe

The sun will not shine cause you’ll be all the light that we need

and violence will end all the wars that we wage will cease

Oh the sun will not shine cause you’ll be all the light that we need

and violence will end all the wars that we wage will cease

We will glorify your name, We will glorify your name

Call to Worship

As participants and hosts; passionate believers and hopeful skeptics,

We come together to turn our faces towards the city gates,

To see the One who is riding toward Jerusalem on a donkey.

He, knowing what is to come; is peacefully moving closer and closer,

to do that which we could not do for ourselves.

Let us pause together for a moment of quiet.

(Wait for a short moment of silence)

In the shouts and cries,

In the dancing and singing of the children of peasants,

and the waving of branches and flinging of coats

the tiny beast carrying, the Peace of God,

breathed deeply, plodding along,

willingly, and lovingly, focused on her burden,

the courageous One who would suffer,

and be killed for teaching love, and justice, and hope!

Children of God, Rejoice!

People of God, sing out in celebration!

Your King is coming to you!

Humbly riding on a donkey’s foal.

Let’s respond together waving our palm branches,
house plants, and colored paper palms as we do so!

(Host: Unmute all)

Hosanna!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the highest heaven!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

His love endures forever.

The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

the Lord has done this,

and it is marvelous in our eyes.

The Lord has done it this very day;

let us rejoice today and be glad.

Hosanna! Lord, save us! Lord, grant us success!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

From the house of the Lord we bless you.

__

We pray all these things

by the great empathy of the Son,

Who chose oneness with humanity

and has given us grace for another day.

Amen.

Kids Song

by Karen Jordan

Hosanna

by Brooke Fraser

I see the King of Glory, coming on the clouds with fire

The whole earth shakes, the whole earth shakes, yeah

I see His love and mercy, ashing over all our sin

The people sing, the people sing

Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest

I see a generation, rising up to take their place

With selfless faith, with selfless faith

I see a near revival stirring as we pray and seek

We’re on our knees, we’re on our knees

Heal my heart and make it clean

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like You have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks Yours

Everything I am for Your kingdom’s cause

As I walk from earth into eternity…

Prayer of Confession

Confession allows us a moment to honestly reveal our hopes and pains.

Let us cry out to God as a community.

Our response will be in bold.

We confess that we are not so different

from those who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem with palms

and yet later also shouted ‘Crucify him!’

or those who remained silent in the crowds of injustice.

Lord forgive us for the times we don’t see the oppressed and marginalized, and for the time we don’t stand against injustice.

By our sins known and unknown.

We have not lived the life of love you have wished for us

We confess that we feel the pain of our own nails

and we bear the burden of our own cross.

Lord forgive us for the times we carry the weight of our sin,

when you wish to carry it with us and for us.

You died for us and for all of humanity,

and you rose on the third day

that we might catch a glimpse of your glory

and participate in the work of redemption you have set in motion.

Lord forgive us for the times we participate in work

that doesn’t communicate the grace of your name.

We thank you Lord!

For the Kingdom of God is hear and now, in this moment and in this place

Jesus the Christ has expressed delight in our salvation

He has expressed his kindness by showing us that we are

loved by the Holy Creator of the universe.

Help us to see your glory, draw us closer to you

that we may become more faithful, and more joyful

and that we may know your love and kindness.

Amen

Prayers of the People

We now invite you into a time of prayer. This is an opportunity for us to support one another and participate by sharing our prayer requests.

Many may need to share. Please keep your prayers to a sentence or two so that everyone who wishes to share is able to.

We welcome any guests among us and welcome you to pray with us and share a prayer request as well.

If you have a prayer request, let us know in the chat box. We’ll unmute your mic so you can share.

If you have something you’re thankful for, end your prayer with…

“Let us bless the Lord” and we’ll respond together, “Thanks be to God.”

If you have something you’d like prayer for, end your prayer with…

“Let us pray to the Lord” and we’ll respond together, “Lord, have mercy.”

(Start by sharing a prayer request of your own.)

(After all the prayers have been said, close by praying this together:)

“With the prayers that have been spoken, and those that are unspoken,

let us finish by praying this prayer together…”

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory. Forever and ever. Amen

Eucharist

(We now come to the center of our Liturgy, the Eucharist. Today we’ll receive the Eucharist in our homes, separated by space, but knitted together by God’s Spirit. Please examine your hearts and pray this prayer with me. Your responses will be in bold.)

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

And also with you.

All things come from you, O Lord,

And of your own have we given you.

Is God with us?

God is.

Is Christ among us?

Christ is.

Is the Spirit here?

The Spirit is.

We are God’s people.

We are redeemed.

—

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is truly right and our greatest joy to give you thanks and praise,

O Lord our God, creator and sustainer of the universe.

—

It is right to praise you, Sovereign God, for the acts of love by which you have set us free. On this day Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly to suffer and to die and was greeted with branches of palm.

—

Let these branches be for us symbols of martyrdom and majesty. May we who carry them follow Christ in the way of the cross which leads to life; through Christ who lives and reigns in glory with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.

—

For this great act we praise you, joining our voices with choirs of angels with prophets, apostles, and martyrs, proclaiming:

—

“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

—

On the same night that he was betrayed

he took bread and gave you thanks;

he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying,

“Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.”

Amen. His body was broken for us.

(Let us all take the bread together. Body of Christ, broken for you.)

Pause for everyone to take the bread
__

In the same way, after supper he took the cup

and gave thanks;

he gave it to them, saying,

“Drink this, all of you;

this is my blood of the new covenant

which is shed for you and for many

for the forgiveness of sins.

Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

We are brothers and sisters through his blood.

We have died together,

we will rise together,

we will live together.

(I invite us all to take the cup together. Blood of Christ, shed for you.)

Pause for everyone to take the cup

Let us finish our time of communion together by reading aloud this prayer:

Almighty God, eternal Father,

we have sat at your feet,

learned from your word,

and eaten from your table.

We give you thanks and praise

for accepting us into your family.

Send us out with your blessing,

to live and to witness for you in the power of your Spirit,

through Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead.

—

(The people accompany the first three responses with a sweep of the arm towards the cross on the screen, and their final response with a sweep towards heaven.)

All our problems

We send to the cross of Christ.

All our difficulties

We send to the cross of Christ.

All the devil’s works

We send to the cross of Christ.

All our hopes

We set on the risen Christ.

—

We now come to the time where we remember that nothing in this life is truly ours, but that all is a gift from God.

Giving is an act of love for God and for our community. We encourage you to celebrate God’s generosity and to give back as God has given to us online at austinmustardseed.org/giving).

If you are new or participating in our liturgy for the first time, please be our guest this morning.

We will sing one more song together as we prepare to close. This time is now yours, and we invite you to participate in worship.

We Will Feast

by Josh Moore & Sandra McCracken

We will feast in the house of Zion

We will sing with our hearts restored

“He has done great things,” we will say together

We will feast, and weep no more

We will not be burned, by the fire

He is the Lord our God

We are not consumed, by the flood

Upheld, protected, gathered up!

In the dark of night, before the dawn

My soul be not afraid

For the promised morning, Oh how long

O God of Jacob, be my strength

Every vow we’ve broken and betrayed

You are the faithful One

And from the garden to the grave

Bind us together, bring shalom!

Benediction

Austin Mustard Seed, as we leave today:

Blessed is the King who comes in the name of Lord!

Gracious God, as we stand at the gates of the city,

give us grace to recognize the king we proclaim,

and courage to be a part of your kingdom—

even when it goes against our ways and the ways of the world,

even when it leads us where we do not want to go.

Empower us to free ourselves from

the tempting alternatives of power and wealth and status,

and embolden us to live lives of thanksgiving and praise.

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven!.

We pray these things

by the grace of God,

the love of the Son,

and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Go in Peace,

Live the Church,

See you throughout the week at our online meetups.

Remember to you can join a community group if you haven’t already.

We hope to see you there.

Please take a moment to say hello before we sign off.