24A – Palm Sunday

23A Lent 5A OR 24A - Passion Sunday25A - Monday in Holy Week
 
See also my posts from 2014, 2017, 2020, 2023

 
Psalm 118:1-2,19-29 (a version for today)
Give thanks to the LORD, who alone is good,
and whose lovingkindness is everlasting.
Let all God’s faithful declare:
Indeed, everlasting lovingkindness is the LORD’s
Open for me the gates of justice,
so that I may enter and give thanks to the LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD,
where those who live justly may enter.
I give thanks because you have answered me
and became my rescuer.
The stone which the builders scorned
has become the first, the cornerstone.
The LORD has brought this about,
and it is astounding.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
LORD, save us; let us enjoy 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 has given us light;
join in celebratory procession up to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I give you thanks;
You are my God, and I praise you with great joy.
Give thanks to the LORD, who alone is good,
and whose lovingkindness is everlasting

PRAYER OF PRAISE AND THANKS (from Psalm 118:19-29)
We thank you LORD God, for you alone are good,
and your lovingkindness is everlasting.
With the faithful of every time and place we declare,
everlasting lovingkindness is yours alone.
Open for me the gates of justice,
so that I may enter and give thanks to the LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD,
where those who live justly may enter.
I give thanks because you have answered me
and became my rescuer.
The stone which the builders scorned
has become the first, the cornerstone.
The LORD has brought this about, and it is astounding.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
LORD, save us;
let us enjoy 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 has given us light;
join in celebratory procession up to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I give you thanks;
You are my God, and I praise you with great joy.
Give thanks to the LORD, who alone is good,
and whose lovingkindness is everlasting

OFFERING
Gracious and holy God,
accept what we offer today:
our cheques and cash, our faltering steps,
our brokenness, our leftovers,
our hope, our risking, our lives.
Bless and transform all that we offer
and all that we hold back,
that new life may be ours,
to celebrate and share in Jesus’ name. Amen

For use in worship, with acknowledgement. © Jeff Shrowder 1999, 2014.


A CREATIVE MOMENT – Matthew 21:1-11
Continue using the purple cloth from last week. It could form a “back-drop” for several palm branches (real or made for the occasion).

Begin with a procession, with everyone waving “palm braches” and singing an appropriate hymn or song.

Yet again, as people arrive for worship provide everyone with a sheet of paper (e.g. A5 size) on which is drawn a simple cloak/garment. At an appropriate point in worship, explain that in Jesus’ time – and for centuries before – a person’s cloak was their most valuable possession; throwing on the ground, or putting it on the donkey on which Jesus rode, expresses the significance of what Jesus was doing. Offer the opportunity for the congregation to write on the “cloak” (drawing) what they consider their most valuable possession, and then have them throw these “cloaks” into the aisles or open areas of the worship space during the singing of a hymn e.g. Jesus comes with all his grace; When his time was over, the palms lay where they fell; Ride on, ride on in majesty. Leave the “garments” strewn about until after Good Friday worship.

Click here for some ideas for worship in Lent and Easter gleaned from the pages of “On the Move” (now out of print) originally published by the Joint Board of Christian Education, Melbourne, Australia.


THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
(A prayer, usually with connection to one or more of the lections for the day, to gather the spoken and silent concerns/joys/thanks expressed by the congregation and lead into a more structured Intercession. Sometimes this prayer also borrows lightly from other sources e.g. Uniting in Worship 2 or publications of the Iona Community.)

God of all grace,
in you is hope: hope which has endured throughout every age.
In that hope we remember before you now
those we have named on our lips and in the silence of our hearts…
Stir us by your mysterious Spirit
to be the word and deed of Jesus
to bring consolation to those know to us,
and to be present to those who have no-one …
         (The Prayers of the People continue)


Looking for contemporary music and song resources?
Try David MacGregor’s Together to Celebrate
Or metrical psalms? Try Dale A. Schoening’s Sing the Psalms

HYMN SUGGESTIONS FOR PALM SUNDAY – YEAR A
Isaiah 50: 4-9a
God has spoken to his people, hallelujah TIS 636
O breath of God, breathe on us now TIS 408
Sing praise and thanksgiving, TIS 107
Thank you for giving me the morning TIS 162
Psalm 31:9-16
Great God, we sing that mighty hand TIS 124
Have faith in God, my heart TIS 619
Philippians 2: 5-11
A spendthrift lover is the Lord TIS 676
At the name of Jesus TIS 231
Come to be our hope, O Jesus TIS 688
Come, Holy Spirit, come! TIS 422
Come, your hearts and voices raising TIS 297
Faith will not grow from words alone TIS 691
Filled with the Spirit’s power, with one TIS 411
God, we praise you, God, we bless you TIS 99
He became poor that we may be rich TIS 721
Jesus shall reign where’er the sun TIS 207
Jesus the name high over all TIS 218
King of glory, king of peace TIS 201
Let all together praise our God TIS 298
Let earth and heaven combine TIS 305
Lord, You are the light of life to me TIS 261
Morning glory, starlit sky
My heart is full of Christ, and longs TIS 214
O Spirit of the living God TIS 405
Praise the God who changes places TIS 178
Praise to you, O Christ our Saviour
Matthew 21: 1-11
All glory, praise and honour TIS 333
Hark the glad sound! the Saviour comes TIS 269
Lift up your heads, you mighty gates TIS 267
Prepare the royal highway TIS 346
Ride on, ride on in majesty TIS 348
The King of glory comes, the nation rejoices TIS 279
The glory of our King was seen TIS 353
Trotting, trotting through Jerusalem TIS 244
Ye gates lift up your heads TIS 12

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