Palm Sunday March 25, 2018 11 am April 9, 2017 St. John s Lutheran Church St. John s Salisbury NC Lutheran Church Salisbury, North Carolina
Welcome to St John s! For more information about today s worship, please refer to the pew card found in the hymnal. The congregation s responses are in bold. Palm Sunday is the final Sunday of Lent, the beginning of Holy Week, and commemorates the triumphant arrival of Christ in Jerusalem days before he was crucified. In the Gospels, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a young donkey to the lavish praise of the townspeople who threw clothes, palms, and small branches in front of him as a sign of homage a customary practice for people of great respect. Palm branches themselves are a widely recognized symbol of peace and victory, which makes them even more appropriate on a day like today. As it turned out, the people were confused about the kind of king they were honoring that first Palm Sunday. They wanted a king of victory who would conquer the Roman aggressors. What they got was a humble, vulnerable king riding a donkey a king who would die a brutal death on a cross, dashing their hopes and dreams. A week later, Jesus would rise from the dead and prove that he is King of all kings who conquers the gravest of aggressors: sin and death itself. Hosannah to the King! + Holy Week at St John s + Maundy Thursday, worship at 7 pm (Sanctuary). Worship centers around Jesus last supper with his disciples, inviting us to share in the profound gift of Holy Communion. Worship ends with the stripping of the altar. St John s leads worship for the homebound at 3:30 pm Thursday at Trinity Oaks. Good Friday, worship at noon (Chapel) and 7 pm (Sanctuary). A service of darkness, focused on the twelve last words of Christ. The altar is draped in black as we consider Jesus great sacrifice, his gift of grace. Easter Sunday, worship at 8:30, 9:27 and 11 am. The 8:30 and 11 am services will be in the Sanctuary. Easter breakfast will be served in the Fellowship Hall from 8:30 until 11 am. Easter worship is festive, joyous, and filled with energy as we give thanks for new life sins forgiven new beginnings Christ s triumph over the grave! 2
Gathering The Holy Spirit calls us together as the people of God Welcome Please sign the Friendship Pad and pass it to your neighbor in the pew. Prelude Call to Worship The Litany of the Palms and the Gospel Processional Please stand and turn to face the cross, near the front entrance of the sanctuary. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And also with you. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest heaven! Reading: Matthew 21:1-11 following the reading: Thanks be to God. We remember how men and women, boys and girls welcomed Jesus to the city of Jerusalem so long ago, and, like them, our hearts are filled with hope and expectation. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Let us pray: We thank you, Lord, for your great gift of love, and for your son, Jesus Christ, who was acclaimed Son of David and King of kings by those who scattered their garments and branches of palm in his path. Bless these branches and those who bear them. Grant that we may ever hail Jesus as our Lord and King and follow him with perfect confidence. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Hymn 344 All Glory, Laud and Honor VALET WILL ICH DIR GEBEN Wave your palm branches during the refrain. Please be seated 3
Word God speaks to us in scripture reading, preaching and song The Passion Reading Today we read the ancient story of Jesus passion, retold in narrative form. Our readers are Sam Goodman, Rhodes Woolly, Donna Beilfuss, Franco Goodman, Jill Connery and Gerrie Blackwelder. Within the reading, the choir and congregation join in several songs and anthems, each listed below: Acclamation 1 Hosanna! Rachel and Jacob Weber Cherub Choir, Ondria Witt, Director Hosanna! Blessed is the King, Who comes in the name of the Lord; Salvation he brings. Acclamation 2 Hosanna! Christian Gregor Epic and Kingdom Kids Choir and Ladies of the Chancel Choir, Rosemary C. Kinard Director Hosanna! Blessed is He that comes, He that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! Solo Around the Table of the King Keith and Kristin Getty Ondria Witt, soloist Within an upper room they gathered round, Jesus Christ, and his disciples. A final meal, a sacrament of love, bread and wine prepared for us. The body of our Savior, Jesus Christ, torn for you: Eat and remember; The wounds that heal, the death that brings us life paid the price to make us one. So we share in this bread of life; and we drink of His sacrifice As a sign of our bonds of love, around the table of the King. The blood that cleanses every stain of sin, shed for you: Drink and remember. He drained death s cup that all may enter in to receive the life of God. 4
Choir and Congregation O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, verse 1 ELW 351 O sacred head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down, Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, thine only crown; O sacred head, what glory, what bliss till now was thine! Yet, though despised and gory, I joy to call thee mine. Anthem Thy Will Be Done Craig Courtney Our cup was filled with darkness. Our cup was filled with death. Christ took our cup and drank it, and gave us life, and gave us hope, and gave Himself. My Father, let this cup pass from me; Yet not my will, O Lord, yet not my will, O Lord, but Thine be done. In blackest night we hear Him in dark Gethsemane. Pleading with the Father for one more way, For one more hope, for one more day. My Father, let this cup pass from me; Yet not my will, O Lord, yet not my will, O Lord, but Thine be done. Then they took the Savior, and led Him to a tree; And there they broke His body, poured out His life, put Him to death, to rise again! My Father, let this cup pass from me; Yet not my will, O Lord, yet not my will, O Lord, but Thine be done. continued... 5
Congregational Hymn There In God s Garden Norman Sloop - Soloist 1. Soloist 2. All Women 3. All Men 4. Choir 5. All This is my ending 6. All All heav n is singing, This my resurrection; standing Thanks to Christ whose passion Into your hands, Lord, offers in mercy I commit my spirit. Healing, strength, and pardon This have I searched for; Peoples and nations, Now I can possess it. Take it, take it freely! This ground is holy. Amen! My Master! Please be seated 6
Collection of our Tithes and Offerings Offertory Solo Written in Red Gordon Jensen Luke Brown - Soloist In letters of crimson, God wrote His love on the hillside so long, long ago; For you and for me Jesus died, and love's greatest story was told. (Refrain) I love you, I love you, that's what Calvary said; I love you, I love you, written in Red. Down through the ages, God wrote His love with the same hands that suffered and bled; Giving all that He had to give, a message so easily read. (Refrain) Please stand Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. (Refrain) Prayers of Intercession Each petition ends: Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer. The Lord s Prayer Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; 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. continued... 7
Sending God blesses us and invites us to help advance his kingdom Because worship during Holy Week is considered a single, unified service, there is no recessional this morning, allowing us to set our eyes toward Maundy Thursday. Benediction Response Lamb of God Twila Paris (sing as led) Sending Your only Son no sin to hide, but You have sent Him from Your side To walk upon this guilty sod and to become the Lamb of God. Refrain O Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God, I love the holy Lamb of God. Oh, wash me in Your precious blood, My Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Your gift of love they crucified; They laughed and scorned Him as He died. The humble King they named a fraud and sacrificed the Lamb of God. Refrain I was so lost I should have died, But You have brought me to Your side To be led by Your staff and rod, And to be called a Lamb of God. Refrain Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Thanks be to God. 8