Order of service - below
Liturgy for Reflection and Prayers, 28 March 2021, Palm Sunday
(Adapted from Iona Community Palm/Passion Sunday) Opening responses
Jesus is coming, He’s riding on a donkey
SHOUT HOSANNA
Open the gates, Open the ancient doors
SHOUT HOSANNA
Wave the branches, Spread out your coats
SHOUT HOSANNA
Peace in heaven, Glory in highest heaven
SHOUT HOSANNA
Lead us into Holy Week
We tell your story
We follow in your footsteps LEAD US INTO HOLY WEEK
We walk towards the city
We wait in the garden
LEAD US ONTO HOLY GROUND
We journey towards death We hope for resurrection LEAD US INTO HOLY JOY
O Living God,
age after age the children of dust
make their way to holy places to seek you,
YET YOU ARE CLOSER THAN HANDS OR FEET.
In temples and in churches
people make sacrifices and offerings,
but what you seek
IS THE LOVE AND WELLâ€BEING OF YOUR CHILDREN.
Your Word promises
that those whose hands are clean and whose hearts are pure
can climb the heavenly hill;
but who are we to do that?
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Confession
On our journey through life
our hearts and our hands
have become stained and dirtied.
If we have stretched out our hands in greed, or lust, or love of money, LORD, CLEANSE US BY YOUR MERCY.
If our hearts have been sullied by pride or resentment,
LORD, CLEANSE US BY YOUR MERCY.
If we have turned aside from our pilgrimage to follow the world’s ways,
or to seek false gods,
or spirits other than your Holy Spirit,
LORD, CLEANSE US BY YOUR MERCY.
Lord, you forgive the sins of all who turn to you in sincerity;
you cleanse the penitent heart from all uncleanness.
LORD, SET OUR COURSE ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD
SO THAT WE MAY TAKE UP AFRESH THE CHALLENGE OF THE JOURNEY TO THE HOLY CITY.
Give us new strength to follow you on your way, so that even we may ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in the holy place.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
AMEN
Psalm 118
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
2 Let Israel now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them,
And I will praise the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD,
Through which the righteous shall enter.
21 I will praise You,
For You have answered me, And have become my salvation.
22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.
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23 This was the LORD’s doing;
It is marvellous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save now, I pray, O LORD;
O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.
27 God is the LORD,
And He has given us light;
Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I will praise You;
You are my God, I will exalt You.
29 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
Reading Mark 11, 1 †11
11 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples; 2 and He said to them, “Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it. 3 And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately he will send it here.”
4 So they went their way, and found [b]the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. 5 But some of those who stood there said to them, “What are you doing, loosing the colt?”
6 And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go. 7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it. 8 And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:
“Hosanna!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ 10 Blessed is the kingdom of our father David
That comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!”
11 And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Reflection
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Collect
Almighty and everlasting God,
who in your tender love towards the human race
sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ
to take upon him our flesh
and to suffer death upon the cross:
grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility, and also be made partakers of his resurrection;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Prayers
Loving God, at this time,
we remember that going up to Jerusalem cost Jesus his very life.
So we come before you,
conscious of the way religious words
and holy phrases
can slip so easily from our lazy lips
and our hardened hearts.
TURN US ROUND AGAIN, WE PRAY, BY YOUR HOLY SPIRIT,
ACTIVE WITHIN US AND AMONG US.
What do we really know
of your mountainous truth,
your rockâ€hard integrity,
the depth of your suffering
for love of us all?
Forgive us for the shallowness
of our faith,
and the timidity of our following: forgive us for the ready excuses we make for going our own way and claiming it as yours.
TURN US ROUND AGAIN, WE PRAY, BY YOUR HOLY SPIRIT,
ACTIVE WITHIN US AND AMONG US.
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Show us how to be open again to your faithfulness
and to your freedom,
that we may live
new lives
and be again bearers
of the seeds of the Kingdom of Jesus.
TURN US ROUND AGAIN, WE PRAY, BY YOUR HOLY SPIRIT,
ACTIVE WITHIN US AND AMONG US.
And now, as Jesus taught us, we say:
Our father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as in heaven, Give us today our daily bread,
Forgive us our sins
As we forgive those who sin against us, Save us in the time of trial
And deliver us from evil,
For the kingdom, the power
And the glory are yours,
Now and for ever. Amen.
In this special week, help us to leave aside our problems, To leave aside our wants and ambitions,
To leave aside our fears
And to focus on the One who was faithful to the end, Giving His life for our forgiveness.
BY YOUR HOLY SPIRIT GIVE US A NEW VISION OF OUR SAVIOUR, AND HELP US TO GIVE OUR LIVES MORE FULLY TO HIM.
The Blessing
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A closing thought
Welcome to the city (but one wee word of advice)
Lord Jesus,
if only you would come to our city like you did to Jerusalem. We’ve some great hymns to sing to welcome you!
Our guitars would be out to lead the singing;
we’d wave our scarves and dance.
You would get a real redâ€carpet welcome –
fiveâ€star treatment.
There would be a real religious revival. It would be wonderful.
If only you would come here
to our country
to rescue us.
But in case you do,
just one wee word of advice –
stick to religion, but be careful.
Don’t interfere with politics, or economics, or big business and all that, and be careful not to make unpopular changes in the way we worship.
How deep the Father’s love for us, How vast beyond all measure, That He should give His only Son To make a wretch His treasure. How great the pain of searing loss – The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One Bring many sons to glory.
Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders; Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life – I know that it is finished.
I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom; But I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart – His wounds have paid my ransom.
Save us from what might happen in the next life, yes, but leave us to go on our own way,
the way we are used to in this life.
If you get it wrong for our city,
who knows?
We, too, might have to liquidate you.
Ian Cowie
© The Iona Community
from {Palm/Passion Sunday, published by Wild Goose Publications, Iona Community
“How deep the Father’s love for us” by Stuart Townend Music by Celtic Expressions
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