Welcome and Announcements
Introit, Ride On King Jesus, Spiritual, arranged by Robert Shaw and Alice Parker
Ride on, King Jesus, No man can hinder me.
King Jesus rides on a milk-white horse,
The river of Jordan He did cross.
If you want to find your way to God,
The gospel highway must be trod.
Call to Worship
Awake to the day of triumph for our Savior!
Give thanks for this day that leads to the cross!
Come with your branches, hosannas, and songs!
Fill the air with welcome to the Lord!
BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. LET US WORSHIP GOD!
Hymn, All Glory, Laud and Honor, 196
Prayer of the Day
Moment for One Great Hour of Sharing, Rev. Myra Kazanjian
Prayer for Illumination
Let Your Word, O God, break open our hearts this day through the power of the Holy Spirit, that we may enter into the coming Holy Week with the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. AMEN.
Time for Children, Megan Fogt
Hebrew Reading, Isaiah 50:4-9a
4 The Lord God has given me
the tongue of a teacher,[a]
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens—
wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught.
5 The Lord God has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious,
I did not turn backward.
6 I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.
7 The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
8 he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.
9 It is the Lord God who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
All of them will wear out like a garment;
the moth will eat them up.
Epistle Reading, Philippians 2:5-11
5 Let the same mind be in you that was[a] in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Gospel Reading, Matthew 21:1-17
21 When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.[a]” 4 This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,
5 “Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7 they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8 A very large crowd[b] spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”
12 Then Jesus entered the temple[c] and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 He said to them, “It is written,
‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’;
but you are making it a den of robbers.”
14 The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard[d] the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became angry 16 and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise for yourself’?”
17 He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.
Sermon, “The Day Jesus Destroys the Church,” Rev. Vincent Kolb
Hymn, My Song Is Love Unknown, 209
Affirmation of Faith, from a Brief Statement of Faith
In life and in death we belong to God. We trust in Jesus Christ, fully human, fully God. Jesus proclaimed the reign of God: preaching good news to the poor and release to the captives, teaching by word and deed and blessing the children, healing the sick and binding up the brokenhearted, eating with outcasts and calling all to repent and believe the gospel. We trust in God the Holy Spirit, everywhere the giver and renewer of life. The Spirit sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor. In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to unmask idolatries in Church and culture, and to work with others for justice, freedom and peace. We rejoice that nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Litany of Repentance
Let us pray.
Holy and merciful God, we confess to You and to one another, and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth, that we have sinned by our own fault in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others as we have been forgiven.
Have mercy on us, O God.
We have not listened to Your call to serve as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved Your Holy Spirit.
Have mercy on us, O God.
We confess to you, O God, all our past unfaithfulness: the pride, the hypocrisy, and impatience in our lives,
We confess to you, O God.
Our self-indulgent appetites and ways and our exploitation of other people,
We confess to you, O God.
Our anger at our own frustration and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves,
We confess to you, O God.
Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in our daily life and work,
We confess to you, O God.
Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to commend the faith that is in us,
We confess to you, O God.
Accept our repentance, O God, for the wrongs we have done. For our neglect of human need and suffering and our indifference to injustice and cruelty,
Accept our repentance, O God.
For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us,
Accept our repentance, O God.
For our waste and pollution of Your creation and our lack of concern for those who come after us,
Accept our repentance, O God.
Restore us, O God, and let your anger depart from us.
Favorably hear us, O God, for your mercy is great.
Anthem, Ave Verum Corpus, William Byrd
Ave, verum corpus natum
ex Maria Virgine:
vere passum, immolatum
in cruce pro homine:
cuius latus perforatum
unda fluxit et sanguine:
esto nobis praegustatum,
in mortis examine.
O dulcis, O pie, O Jesu, Fili Mariae.
Miserere mei. Amen.
Hail the true body, born
of the Virgin Mary:
You who truly suffered and were sacrificed
on the cross for the sake of man.
From whose pierced flank
flowed water and blood:
Be a foretaste for us
in the trial of death.
O sweet, O merciful, O Jesus, Son of Mary.
Have mercy on me. Amen.
Benediction
Choral Mediation, for a time of silence as we prepare for Holy Week
Announcements
* The Session has closed the building through April 30 to observe the governmental restrictions of social distancing.
* Many thanks to Greg Winner, Rev. Myra Kazanjian, Megan Fogt, Rev. John McCall, and Rev. Susan Rothenberg for being part of the service this this week!
* Want to join Pastor Vincent’s Wednesday morning Bible study on the lectionary texts? Contact the office to get on the email list for connection to the Zoom meeting.
* Zoom confused? Set up a call with Amy, and we’ll work through it together.
* It’s not the same as the thrill of putting the envelope in the plate, but you can still pay on your pledges either through eGive (click here!) or by mailing your check to the church. We continue to need your support in this challenging time!
* If you make your One Great Hour of Sharing offering through eGive, please be sure to use the drop-down menu to properly designate it. If you give by check, please make sure to write the designation on the memo line. Undesignated gifts automatically go to the general fund.
* Weekly Sunday school lessons and other resources are on Jenny’s Children and Youth blog (click here!)
* The Sixth Church Mouse Returns! For congregants who would like to participate in an email form of prayers of the people, please contact sixthchurchmouse@gmail.com to be added to the list. You can submit prayer requests to the same email address by Thursdays at 5 pm to be included in an email sent each Friday. Please remember that confidentiality still applies; we want this to be a safe place for both participants and those we love.
* We will have a Maundy Thursday service available later this week. Check the homepage on Thursday for the link.
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