Worship - April 5, 2009

*Dedication Hymn      "When I survey the wondrous cross"                         259
                                 (as we sing, you are invited to bring your palm forward
                                                     and lay it at the foot of the cross)

*Benediction

*Postlude "At the Cross, Her Vigil Keeping" Gesangbuch, Mainz

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Responsive Call to Worship

Left:      He's coming,
Right: he's coming,
All:      Line his pathway again with palms!
Left:      He's coming,
Right:   he's coming,
All:        clear the pathway again with palms!
                 He's coming:
                 Son of David,
                 Suffering Servant,
                 Savior,
                 Risen Lord!

Hymnal #667
adapted from the poem "He's Coming,"
by Linea Reimer Geiser
copyright © 1990 Linea Reimer Geiser.

Opening Prayer

Holy God, most awesome is your friendship, most wondrous is your self-giving.

We come with the sweet-sour mood of Palm Sunday in our minds and hearts.

We come not in spite of the looming shadow of the cross but because of it.

We come praising you for the grief-joy of your Christ, for the loving courage with which he fulfilled his terrible-wonderful mission to seek and save the lost.

We come adding our hosanna to the millions of voices, past and present, who have entered into the liberty which has come at such a high cost.

God of Jesus, we adore you; O give us grace to love your more! Through Christ our Savior.

Amen!

by Bruce Prewer, Uniting Church in Australia

For Children
"Hosanna!"

Today is Palm Sunday – a special day! We remember Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey. The people were excited to see Jesus. They waved their palm branches. They laid their branches and coats on the road for Jesus to ride on as he went through town.

The people said, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” The people were welcoming Jesus, because they knew he was special. We remember this special day by waving palm branches and singing.

This week I learned that there are 2 basic kinds* of palm trees: palmate and pinnate. A palmate leaf looks like this picture on the front of today’s bulletin. It has lobes which fan out from a common point. It looks a little bit like an opened hand, with fingers coming out from the palm. Do you see that? A pinnate leaf has individual leaflets branching out on both sides of a common axis. The palm branch you were given this morning, the kind we waved around this morning, is a pinnate leaf. It looks a little bit like a feather (the word pinna in Latin, means “feather”).

Many churches on Palm Sunday use a palmate leaf (like the picture on the bulletin cover), and they give out just a part of the leaf to each person. In our church, we have been using the pinnate leaf, which is what you hold in your hand. Some people call it a teppi palm. I like these branches better because there is more to them, you can really wave them around. I like that! Don’t you?

Look at the palm leaf you hold in your hand. What do you see? There is a center part to it, isn’t there? Off of that center ‘stalk,’ all these other leaflets branch out. These leaflets are like you and me. Let’s say this one here is you, Kinger, and this one on the other side is you, Beth, (etc.) and over here is me. We reach out and wave in the sun, but we are all part of the same leaf. We are connected at the center.

You are here today, waving your palm leaf with everybody else. Turn around and see what it looks like if everybody waves their palm leaves high in the air. Let’s do it. We are here because we love Jesus. Actually, we’re here because Jesus loves us first. In fact, Jesus is like the center stalk in this palm leaf. Each of us grows out of him. That’s what ties us together.

When we wave our leaves together, when we do good things that help people and we tell them about Jesus, a funny thing happens. It is like Jesus is riding right into where we are.

Okay, let’s wave our branches again, everybody. And as we do, let’s say out loud what all those people said on the first Palm Sunday: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” … Wow!

*(Technically, a third category also exists that’s a cross between the two, called costapalmate.)

greatly adapted from one written by Donna McKee Rhodes,
(primarily just the idea and the first 2 paragraphs)
in Even More Little Stories for Little Children,
©2000, Herald Press, Scottdale, PA., pp. 68-69,
with info on palm types derived from About.com.

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

Are some of us too big and mature to wave our palm leaves with childlike abandon? I hope not. Jesus spoke of how those who cannot see through the eyes of simple, trusting wonder will miss what God has in store for us. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)

As you return your offering this morning, I invite you to turn to the back of your bulletin and read the story found there. In it, a child at a church carnival reveals to the author a glimpse of the kingdom. Be prepared, after we sing, to pray in unison the prayer at the end.

For now, ushers – please lead us in sharing what we have.

on the back of the bulletin:

Whispering "Hosanna!"

            I met her while standing in line at a simple church carnival. Her dress was tattered; her face was filthy. Certainly her shoes were at least three sizes too big. Side by side we waited our turn for the nearby ring-toss game.
            "I like your fan."
            She grinned in response to my compliment.
            Beautiful cobalt eyes shimmered as she confided, "I won two of them."
            And then, a few minutes later, I watched as she joyfully shared one of her prized treasures with a younger sibling. She honored her sister by giving of what she had that was special; she gave from her heart.
            I watched and my smiling heart was filled with joy - "Hosanna!"
            Over 2,000 years ago, gathered throngs paused to acknowledge their leader. With straightforword gifts, they laid out their cloaks and palms so a parade could honor him. Hosannas resounded in the simplicity of that parade, as the king was welcomed on a colt.
            New hosannas were evoked within me as I watched the simple love of a child, a child who cared enough to share of what little she had.

by Yvonne Riege, ordained minister
Wakarusa, Indiana
Church of the Brethren Living Word Bulletin
Anchor/Wallace, Sleepy Eye MN 56085, "The Living Word Series"

Unison Prayer

Tender God of compassion, you have created us to live lives filled with joy. Yet sometimes we fail to see the simple beauty that is right before our eyes - in renewed relationships, in down-to-earth acts, in joy-filled moments. In the midst of this upcoming Holy Week, slow us down so we might with joy whisper "hosanna" when we gain a brief glimpse of your kingdom - right in our midst. Amen.

by Yvonne Riege, ordained minister
Wakarusa, Indiana
Church of the Brethren Living Word Bulletin
Anchor/Wallace, Sleepy Eye MN 56085, "The Living Word Series"

Visual Reminder
"From Palms to the Cross"

click here if you can't play the video above.

Pastoral Prayer

written closer to the time (if not at the moment)

Benediction

Go now and follow Christ in obedience.
Have the same mind as was in Christ Jesus;
Keep your ears open to God’s teaching;
Be humble, even in the face of hostility
and do not turn back.

And may God help you and keep you from disgrace;
May Christ Jesus lead you through the gates of justice;
And may the Holy Spirit keep you in God’s steadfast love
........and fill your mouths with praise to the glory of God.