Service Video
Order of Service
Good Morning everyone. Welcome to our Palm Sunday service. You know that the Palm Sunday service is different in nature to a regular Sunday. During the service we listen to the passion narrative – this year it is the Passion according to Saint Mark. I want to explain that this reading is included in this service as a video using pictures to illustrate the narrative, not acted scenes. We begin by focussing on Christ’s entry into Jerusalem.
GREETING
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
and also with you.
Dear friends: during Lent we have been preparing by words of love and self-sacrifice for the celebration of our Lord’s death and resurrection.
Today we come together to begin this solemn celebration with the church throughout the world. Christ enters his own city to complete his work as our Saviour, to suffer, to die and to rise again.
Let us go with him in faith and love, so that united with him in his sufferings,
we may share his risen life.
God our Saviour,
Whose Son Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem as Messiah to suffer and to die;
let these palms be for us signs of his victory
and grant that we who bear them in his name
may ever hail him as our King,
and follow him in the way that leads to eternal life;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God now and forever.
Amen.
THE PALM GOSPEL
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark
Glory to you, O Lord.
Mark 11:1-11
When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, “Why are you doing this?” just say this, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.”’ 4 They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, 5 some of the bystanders said to them, ‘What are you doing, untying the colt?’ 6 They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. 7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. 9 Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
‘Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!’11 Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve
This is the gospel of Christ
Praise to you, O Christ.
Let us praise Jesus our Messiah!
HYMN: All glory laud and honour to thee, Redeemer King.
THE COLLECT
True and humble king,
hailed by the crowds as Messiah;
give us the faith to know you and to love you,
that we may be found beside you
on the way of the cross
which is the path of glory.
Amen
HYMN: My Song is Love Unknown
THE READING OF THE PASSION – MARK 14:1-15:47
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory.
Christ humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every name.
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory.
The passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark
This is the passion of the Lord.
HYMN: When I survey the wondrous Cross
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
We stand with Christ in his suffering.
For forgiveness for the many times we have denied Jesus,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For grace to seek out those habits of sin which mean spiritual death,
and by prayer and self-discipline to overcome them,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For Christian people,
that through the suffering of disunity
there may grow a rich union in Christ,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For those who make laws, interpret them, and administer them,
that our common life may be ordered in justice and mercy,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For those who still make Jerusalem a battleground,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For those who have the courage and honesty to work openly for justice and peace,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For those in the darkness and agony of isolation,
that they may find support and encouragement,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For those who, weighed down with hardship, failure, or sorrow, feel that God is far from them,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For those who are tempted to give up the way of the cross,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
That we, with those who have died in faith,
may find mercy in the day of Christ,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
Holy God,
holy and strong,
holy and immortal,
have mercy upon us.
Let us pray with confidence as our saviour has taught us
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, the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
THE PEACE
Once we were far off,
but now in union with Christ Jesus we have been brought near
through the shedding of Christ’s blood, for he is our peace.
The peace of the Lord be always with you
and also with you.
Let us offer one another a sign of peace.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ,
you humbled yourself in taking the form of a servant,
and in obedience died on the cross for our salvation:
give us the mind to follow you
and to proclaim you as Lord and King,
to the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
HYMN: Ride on, ride on in majesty
THE BLESSING
Christ crucified draw you to himself,
to find in him a sure ground for faith,
a firm support for hope,
and the assurance of sins forgiven;
DISMISSAL
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ. Amen.
Gloria, laus et honor
Gloria, laus et honor interprété par le Deller Consort (1972)