Palm Sunday
+ In the name the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening prayer:
The large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” (John 12:12-13)
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All glory, laud, and honor to you, Redeemer, King, to whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring. You are the King of Israel and David’s royal Son, now in the Lord’s name coming, the King and Blessed One.
The company of angels is 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.
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, accept the prayers we bring, for you delight in goodness, O good and gracious King!
When my love to Christ grows weak, When for deeper faith I seek, Then in thought I go to thee, Garden of Gethsemane.
When my love for man grows weak, When for stronger faith I seek, Hill of Calvary, I go – To the scenes of fear and woe.
There behold His agony, Suffered on the bitter tree; See His anguish, see His faith, Love triumphant still in death.
Then to life I turn again, Learning all the worth of pain, Learning all the might that lies In a full self-sacrifice.
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A Reading from the Old Testament: Isaiah 50:4-7 (NLT)
The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will. The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me, and I have listened. I have not rebelled or turned away. I offered my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mockery and spitting.
Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will. And I know that I will not be put to shame.
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A Reading from the Psalms: Psalm 22
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A Reading from the Letters: Philippians 2:6-11 (NLT)
Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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A Reading from the Gospels: Mark 11:1-10 (NLT)
As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, ‘What are you doing?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it and will return it soon.’”
The two disciples left and found the colt standing in the street, tied outside the front door. As they were untying it, some bystanders demanded, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They said what Jesus had told them to say, and they were permitted to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it, and he sat on it.
Many in the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting,
“Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessings on the coming Kingdom of our ancestor David! Praise God in highest heaven!”
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Intercessions:
Brothers and sisters, let us pray to God who saves us.
+ For all who take up the cross as followers of Christ…. Lord, hear us.
+ For the courage never to be afraid to speak up for the least, the last, and the lost…. Lord, hear us.
+ For people who feel tired and weary from the struggles of life…. Lord, hear us.
+ For the sick and all who care for them…. Lord, hear us.
+ For the dead in Christ, especially those who have suffered martyrdom…. Lord, hear us.
God of our salvation, your love for the world has no end: hear the prayers your faithful people make, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Benediction:
(May) Christ dwell in your hearts through faith — that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19)
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
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