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Worship Order for
Sunday
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Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
April 1, 2007
Worship 10:00 am, Sunday School 11:10 am
Palm Sunday
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"Go into
the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will
find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie
it and bring it here." (Luke
19:30) |
Morning Praise (9:45 am)
Announcements
Prelude
"The
Palms"
Faure
Call to Worship
*Chorus
"He
has made me glad"
(sing through twice, wave your palm branches)
*Opening Prayer
Scripture
Psalm 118:25-29
Imagination Station with the
children
*Hymn
"Hosanna,
loud hosanna"
238
Returning our Tithes and Offerings
Offertory
"Chanson Triste"
Moussorgsky
(Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)
*Response
(refrain only)
"All
glory, laud, and honor"
237
*Dedication
Sharing a joy, a concern, a word of testimony or praise
Hymn
"Ride on, ride on in majesty"
239
Pastoral Prayer
Scripture
Luke
19:28-40
Message
"A
fool’s errand"
*Hymn
"Beneath
the cross of Jesus"
250
*Benediction
*Postlude
"Excerpt from Prelude to Parsifal"
Wagner
#'s are from Hymnal:
A Worship Book
Worship leaders - see basic
guidelines |
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Call to
Worship
"O give
thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures
forever! Let Israel say, ‘His steadfast love endures forever.’"
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So begins the 118th Psalm. We have gathered here
on this Palm Sunday, at the beginning of what many call
"Holy Week," to give thanks to the Lord and to
speak up about God’s goodness and love. Long ago, pilgrims
heading to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover would have been
familiar with these words from this Psalm. They may have
even sung these words in Hebrew as they approached the city
of David, coming to remember and celebrate how God rescued
the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt.
Hold
onto your palm branch as you listen to these words. Be
prepared to then stand and rejoice, to lift up your voice
and to wave your palm branch, to recall the steadfast love
of the Lord, and enter into worship. Listen. |
"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."
(Psalm 118:1-2,19-24 NRSV)
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Opening
Prayer
This is
the day you have made, O Lord... Today... This very moment is full
of your handiwork. As we journey through this time, may we become
more aware of your presence. Like at the opening of a city gate, we
crane our necks to see what lies around the next turn. May we be
drawn into what you are still building upon the cornerstone you have
laid in Jesus Christ. We come as pilgrims stepping into the awe and
wonder of this "Holy Week," to remember once again your
deliverance, and to celebrate your salvation.
This is
the day you have made, O Lord .. Today... This very moment... We
open the gates of our hearts and minds that you might enter into
what we are building every day. Some of the walls of our lives are
crumbling and falling because we have not paid as much attention to
the foundations as we should. Forgive us, Jesus, and help us to
rebuild, starting this very moment... today... for this is
the day you have made. We rejoice and are glad. Amen.
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Scripture
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The New Testament has drawn heavily from the well of this
particular section of Psalm 118, the verses I have already
read as well as the following verses. These next words
provide the backdrop for Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, a
story remembered in all four gospels. Verse 25 begins with
"Save us," which in Hebrew is "Hosi
anna" or "Hosanna." A cry for help, it is
also an affirmation of faith in God who saves - who passes
over the children of Israel, who parts the waters, who
provides a deliverer, and who brings home the exiles.
Listen. |
"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. O give thanks to the Lord,
for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever."
(Psalm 118:25-29 NRSV)
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Imagination
Station with the children
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Returning
our Tithes and Offerings
In
the gospel story behind Palm Sunday, the people gathered
around Jesus are remembered as laying their cloaks upon the donkey
he would ride into Jerusalem, and laying branches on the road ahead
of him. Can you imagine yourself doing that? Think of your offering
just now as a ‘saddle’ for our Lord which might soak up the
sweat of a pack animal. Or think of it as something that might get
trampled into the road underfoot. That adds a different flavor,
doesn’t it, to the placing of our gifts into a gold-plated
container as it is passed down each aisle by the ushers? Well, it’s
time to do just that. Ushers, would you help us to keep walking
beside Jesus as her enters into Jerusalem?
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Dedication
Lord God,
there is glory in the sweat of working with you. Help us not to be
afraid of putting our brawn as well as our brains into your tasks.
Likewise, it doesn’t matter where what we have to offer gets
used. Help us not to be afraid of letting go of our lives that we
might gain our souls. Hosanna, hosanna. Amen.
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Pastoral Prayer
written closer to the time (if not at the
moment)
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Benediction
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(para traducir a español, presione la bandera de España)
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