The Tragedy Of His Victory
Sermon
The Man From Galilee
Sermons and Orders of Worship for Lent and Easter
Some of you experienced the victory of World War II. Others of us have at least seen on television old newsreel footage of the celebration of victory in Europe. Then came victory over Japan and other victory parades. There were no such celebrations after the wars in Korea and Vietnam. But after the Allied victory in the Persian Gulf we attempted to make up for all of that with tremendous celebrations and victory parades. The attention of the entire nation was fixed on General Norman Schwarzkopf, who was the man of the hour.
It is an ancient custom dating back in history to other times and other places, where kings and warriors were welcomed home with victory celebrations and parades through city gates.
It happened in Jerusalem whenever a new king ascended the throne. The people turned out and lined the streets. They spread their garments on the ground and waved palm branches in the air shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."
Then one day long after the Israelite kings had gone and there was no more glory and nothing to celebrate, Jesus came. "Who is this?" the people in the street asked. Some of them answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."
He had come to Jerusalem from Galilee, down the Jordan Valley, through the streets of Jericho, up that long, winding road toward the city of Jerusalem. He and His disciples stopped out there at a little village called Bethphage, just before the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two disciples into the village to get a donkey. Then Jesus got on that donkey and rode over the Mount of Olives, heading toward the gate of the city of Jerusalem.
How did He know the donkey would be there? Someone left it for Him. How did the people know He was coming to the city? Someone let them know. How did they know it was Jesus, the man from Galilee, the one rumored to be the new king of the Jews? Someone told them who He was, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."
The man from Galilee had finally come. Now He faced Jerusalem. And all these people turned out to see Him, to give Him a victory parade. V-J Day, Victory in Jerusalem, had finally come. "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" But there was something wrong there. It was a hollow victory. There was an undercurrent moving through the crowd, in the minds of the disciples, into the heart of Jesus. Jerusalem was nothing like Galilee. There was a tension in the air.
This is not a real victory of any lasting duration. There is a great veil of tragedy which falls over this episode. It is a tragic kind of victory.
Today Palm Sunday is a reminder of this fact. Palm Sunday always stands as a great divider. It separates us into two groups of people who either simply have opinions about what a nice fellow Jesus must have been, or who dare to cast our lots with Him. It separates us into either those who follow public opinion and go along with the crowd, or those who are willing to leave the safety of the crowd and walk through the gates of the city with Him.
I would remind you that some of these who are shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David," on Palm Sunday will be shouting, "Give us Barabbas!" when Friday comes.
The tragedy of Palm Sunday always confronts us with a choice. As we think about Jesus going to Jerusalem and the people who greeted Him, remember this.
I.
The tragedy was their participation was nearly void. It was void of any real sincerity. Many of those people just turned out to watch Jesus go by. We know from the Gospels, as Matthew tells us, that "Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road." But what were these people doing? Did they really know? Did they really care who this person was and what He was all about?
There must have been many people in Jerusalem who were loyal followers of Jesus. It is true that by this time many people had fallen away from Him. But there were many who were still with Him. For so many in Jerusalem on that day, however, there must have been little meaning in what was going on. Their participation was void of any real commitment to Jesus and who He was, what He was all about, and what His entry into Jerusalem really meant. Many of those people had long ago lost the meaning of who they were and the spirit of their faith.
A woman was cleaning out her canary's cage when the phone rang. With the vacuum cleaner in one hand she answered the phone with the other, and before she could turn off the vacuum cleaner her little bird was gone. She told her friend she would call her right back. She pulled the bird out of the machine, washed him off in the sink, blow dried him, and set him back on his perch. When she talked with her friend she said, "I think he will be all right. But he just sits there with a funny look on his face, staring straight ahead, not singing anymore."
Jerusalem had been through the mill many times. And many of those people in Jerusalem must have been void of any real feeling.
One of the reasons they reacted to Jesus the way they did was that they could not accept the things He had been saying. They were looking for a new king who would free them from Rome. They wanted that kind of kingdom and its glory. But the kingdom talk they had heard from Jesus had to do with God's kingdom, a kingdom within them, a kingdom which had already come.
E. Stanley Jones, the great missionary, tells of being in South Africa on a preaching mission. The pastor who traveled with him said, "You preach a troublesome gospel. We preach a kingdom in heaven hereafter that upsets nothing now. But you preach a kingdom now on earth and that upsets everything."1
The preaching of Jesus upset everything because He preached that the kingdom of God is here all around us, within us, God ruling in our lives. On this Palm Sunday would you be willing to let that kingdom live in you? And would you be willing to participate in what that kingdom means?
II.
Then remember this also. The tragedy was that their exaltation was merely verbal. They gave Jesus lip service on that first Palm Sunday. Many of them cried out, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" They gave Jesus lip service, and that is all many of them gave Him. Their exaltation was merely a verbal exercise.
Oh, they were willing to join in the chorus as long as it cost nothing. After all, there was no real risk in standing by the road watching the parade go by. But the call of Jesus had always meant more than that. It had always required the complete giving of a person's life to Him and what He was all about.
The truth is Jesus did not need that kind of exaltation. He did not require or want this kind of lip service. He did not try to stop it. But apparently the Pharisees did. Luke, in his version of the story, tells us that when the Pharisees saw what was happening and heard the shouts, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord," they said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." Jesus replied to them, "I tell you if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out." Jesus accepted what was being shouted and many were sincere in this, but for most of them their exaltation was merely verbal.
A few years ago a man and his wife came out of church and spoke to me. I knew they had been away on a month-long trip, and I asked them how it went. He said, "It was fine. And while we were gone we did not hear a preacher anywhere as good as you are." I straightened up a bit and was trying to think of some response when he said, "We didn't hear any preacher at all. We didn't go to church."
Just so many in Jerusalem were saying to Jesus, "We never heard anyone like you." Jesus had no trouble drawing a crowd. But it was not verbal support that He needed.
Still today it is not verbal support that Jesus needs. No, still today He needs men and women, young people and children who will step out of the crowd on the side of the road and walk with Him. That is the call of Jesus, to come follow Him, not just to cheer as He walks by alone. Always it means the commitment of a life to Him, something more than just lip service, something beyond a merely verbal exaltation.
A man had become very successful and was invited to come back to speak in the little church in the town where he had grown up. He told about many of his childhood experiences. He said that once he heard a preacher say we should give all we have to Jesus. Then he said, "As a boy I heard that statement and decided I would. I had $1.82, and I gave it all to Jesus. That has made a big difference in my life, and has caused me to be blessed. As you know, I now own a large company. Thousands work for me. I don't know what I'm worth, but it's a lot." He paused a moment and a little boy said, "Mister, would you do it again? Would you give all you have to Jesus now?"
On this Palm Sunday are you willing to give Jesus something other than just a good word? Would you give Him your life and join Him on the road?
III.
Finally, remember this. The tragedy was that their recognition was clearly visual. It was nothing more than that for so many of them. Matthew tells us that "All the city was stirred, saying, 'Who is this?' " So the multitude replied, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee." They recognized Him. But it was only a visual kind of recognition. They were not really recognizing Him as the ruler of their lives.
However, this is the call of Palm Sunday. That is the challenge Palm Sunday always causes us to face. This is true because the time comes when we simply have to choose.
As the week went on, the wave of popular approval died down. More and more Jesus was alone as less and less people supported Him. Finally, in the end He stands alone.
So, today we face a choice. It is the call to recognize Him for who He is, and to do that by making Him the ruler of our lives.
One Palm Sunday at Riverside Church in New York, Harry Emerson Fosdick preached a sermon called "An Unavoidable Choice Faces Our Jerusalem, Too."2
It is a choice we always face. Today on Palm Sunday that choice is before us. There are many ways we can make that choice by giving ourselves to Him and serving Him through His church. To recognize who He is compels us to serve Him.
In one of our great cities a minister served in a ghetto community. Once while talking with a friend he told him about his work, all the human suffering he saw, and how hard it was for him to face it every day. His friend said to him, "Why don't you just run away from it all?" He replied, "I would do just that, but a strange man on a cross won't let me."
Maybe there are times when some of us are tempted to take the easy way and live only for ourselves, with no concern about the hurts of the world, the challenge of Christ, the call of the church, the demands of the kingdom. But that strange man on a cross who went to face Jerusalem will not let us get away, or get off so easily, or disappear into some safe harbor of escapism. Always He calls us to meet Him in the road and go with Him.
Hugh Latimer was a great preacher in England. Once while he was preaching at Westminster Abbey he saw the King of England in the congregation. Hugh Latimer said, "Latimer! Latimer! Latimer! Be careful what you say. The King of England is here!" He paused a moment and then he said, "Latimer! Latimer! Latimer! Be careful what you say. The King of kings is here."3
Palm Sunday confronts us with this truth. The King of kings is here facing us in our own Jerusalem. He calls us never to be careful again, to be willing to give up safety and approval, to give up ease and escapism, to step out into the street and follow Him to the end -- and the beginning.
"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"
Who is this Jesus? This is the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.
Would you go with Him? Would you dare?
____________
1. E. Stanley Jones, The Unshakable Kingdom and The Unchanging Person (Abingdon Press: Nashville and New York, 1972), p. 69.
2. Harry Emerson Fosdick, On Being Fit To Live With (Harper & Brothers: New York and London, 1946), p. 203.
3. William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke (The Westminster Press: Philadelphia, 1953), p. 192.
Morning Prayer
Palm Sunday
O God, as we gather here on this Palm Sunday we lift our voices as in days of old, "Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!" Enable us to open our lives to Him so that He would be able to come in and be the king of our lives.
Help us this week to watch and pray with our Lord. Enable us to remember His passion and to identify ourselves with Him, for in His passion He identified Himself with us and took upon Himself all the hurt, sorrow, pain, sin, and suffering that is a part of our lives. May we walk with Him down crowded streets, in lonely places, through deep valleys, and up hills of struggle.
We thank Thee today, O God, for the coming of Thy Son into the world and all He has done for us and for all the world. And we thank Thee for all Thy blessings upon us, for out of Thy hands of goodness and mercy every good thing has come to us. Accept our thanksgiving, gracious God.
Continue to make Thy ways known to us. Make Thy paths straight and help us to walk in them. Continue to be for us a light that shines in the darkness so that we would find our way into Thy will and good purposes for our living.
Strengthen our faith, confirm our hope, perfect us in love. Fill our lives with grace. Make us to be people of compassion and mercy. Forgive our sins. Mold us into the image of Thy Son.
Touch the lives of those among us who are sick, and those in sorrow, and those who struggle under great burdens.
Help people the world over who need Thy help, and do this through our hands, as much as we can. We pray these things in the name of Thy Son. Amen.
Children's Message
Palm Sunday
Welcome The King
Today is Palm Sunday, and this is a special day for us. I want to welcome you to our service today. I am so glad you are here. Make yourself at home. If you need anything, you let me know.
Now, you see, I have tried to welcome you today. And this is what Palm Sunday is all about. When Jesus went to the city of Jerusalem, all the people turned out to see Him and to welcome Him.
They did not welcome Him like they would any other person, for there was something different about Him and about that day. They welcomed Him as the new king of the Jews. For hundreds of years they had welcomed a new king into the city with shouts of "Hosanna!" But it had been a long time since they had been able to do that, for they had been ruled by other countries. There had been no king there for centuries, except they now had old King Herod, a mean king who worked for the Romans, really. There had been another King Herod earlier. But these kings were not like the good kings who had ruled. So the people were waiting for a good king to come and help them. Many people thought Jesus was that king, and that He would defeat the Romans and make them leave.
However, Jesus came to set up the Kingdom of God, a kingdom which is in our hearts. He came to be our King still today. Palm Sunday reminds us of this. You can welcome this king into your heart.
We do that by learning about Him, worshiping Him, serving Him, loving Him, and trying to live like Him. We let him be our king still today. I hope all of us will do just that.
Now, may we bow our heads as we pray. O God, help us to open our hearts and let our king Jesus come in. Amen.
Discussion Questions
Palm Sunday
1. Begin with a prayer led by a group member.
2. Have someone read Matthew 21:1-10.
3. Having asked them ahead of time, let members of the group share various sections of the chapter.
4. What forces awaited Jesus as He entered Jerusalem?
5. How was He able to face them?
6. What things in life oppose you?
7. How is it that you overcome them?
8. What does your struggle really mean?
9. Have someone read Psalm 22. Then, share sentence prayers and a benediction.
Order Of Worship
11:00 a.m.
Palm Sunday
WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD
Prelude
Chiming the Hour
Introit
Greeting
Leader: Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna in the highest!
People: Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hymn of Praise
"Hosanna, Loud Hosanna"
Affirmation of Faith
The Apostles' Creed
Welcome and Sharing
Children's Message
"Welcome The King"
WE TURN TO GOD IN PRAYER
Joys and Concerns
Morning Prayer and the Lord's Prayer
WE GIVE TO GOD
Prayer of Dedication
Offertory
Doxology
WE HEAR GOD'S WORD
Hymn of Preparation
"Tell Me The Stories Of Jesus"
Anthem
Reading of the Scriptures
Matthew 21:1-10
Leader: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
The Message
"The Tragedy Of His Victory"
WE RESPOND TO GOD
The Invitation to Christian Discipleship
Hymn of Invitation
"Lead On, O King Eternal"
Benediction
Congregational Response
WE DEPART TO SERVE GOD
Postlude
It is an ancient custom dating back in history to other times and other places, where kings and warriors were welcomed home with victory celebrations and parades through city gates.
It happened in Jerusalem whenever a new king ascended the throne. The people turned out and lined the streets. They spread their garments on the ground and waved palm branches in the air shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."
Then one day long after the Israelite kings had gone and there was no more glory and nothing to celebrate, Jesus came. "Who is this?" the people in the street asked. Some of them answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."
He had come to Jerusalem from Galilee, down the Jordan Valley, through the streets of Jericho, up that long, winding road toward the city of Jerusalem. He and His disciples stopped out there at a little village called Bethphage, just before the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two disciples into the village to get a donkey. Then Jesus got on that donkey and rode over the Mount of Olives, heading toward the gate of the city of Jerusalem.
How did He know the donkey would be there? Someone left it for Him. How did the people know He was coming to the city? Someone let them know. How did they know it was Jesus, the man from Galilee, the one rumored to be the new king of the Jews? Someone told them who He was, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."
The man from Galilee had finally come. Now He faced Jerusalem. And all these people turned out to see Him, to give Him a victory parade. V-J Day, Victory in Jerusalem, had finally come. "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" But there was something wrong there. It was a hollow victory. There was an undercurrent moving through the crowd, in the minds of the disciples, into the heart of Jesus. Jerusalem was nothing like Galilee. There was a tension in the air.
This is not a real victory of any lasting duration. There is a great veil of tragedy which falls over this episode. It is a tragic kind of victory.
Today Palm Sunday is a reminder of this fact. Palm Sunday always stands as a great divider. It separates us into two groups of people who either simply have opinions about what a nice fellow Jesus must have been, or who dare to cast our lots with Him. It separates us into either those who follow public opinion and go along with the crowd, or those who are willing to leave the safety of the crowd and walk through the gates of the city with Him.
I would remind you that some of these who are shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David," on Palm Sunday will be shouting, "Give us Barabbas!" when Friday comes.
The tragedy of Palm Sunday always confronts us with a choice. As we think about Jesus going to Jerusalem and the people who greeted Him, remember this.
I.
The tragedy was their participation was nearly void. It was void of any real sincerity. Many of those people just turned out to watch Jesus go by. We know from the Gospels, as Matthew tells us, that "Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road." But what were these people doing? Did they really know? Did they really care who this person was and what He was all about?
There must have been many people in Jerusalem who were loyal followers of Jesus. It is true that by this time many people had fallen away from Him. But there were many who were still with Him. For so many in Jerusalem on that day, however, there must have been little meaning in what was going on. Their participation was void of any real commitment to Jesus and who He was, what He was all about, and what His entry into Jerusalem really meant. Many of those people had long ago lost the meaning of who they were and the spirit of their faith.
A woman was cleaning out her canary's cage when the phone rang. With the vacuum cleaner in one hand she answered the phone with the other, and before she could turn off the vacuum cleaner her little bird was gone. She told her friend she would call her right back. She pulled the bird out of the machine, washed him off in the sink, blow dried him, and set him back on his perch. When she talked with her friend she said, "I think he will be all right. But he just sits there with a funny look on his face, staring straight ahead, not singing anymore."
Jerusalem had been through the mill many times. And many of those people in Jerusalem must have been void of any real feeling.
One of the reasons they reacted to Jesus the way they did was that they could not accept the things He had been saying. They were looking for a new king who would free them from Rome. They wanted that kind of kingdom and its glory. But the kingdom talk they had heard from Jesus had to do with God's kingdom, a kingdom within them, a kingdom which had already come.
E. Stanley Jones, the great missionary, tells of being in South Africa on a preaching mission. The pastor who traveled with him said, "You preach a troublesome gospel. We preach a kingdom in heaven hereafter that upsets nothing now. But you preach a kingdom now on earth and that upsets everything."1
The preaching of Jesus upset everything because He preached that the kingdom of God is here all around us, within us, God ruling in our lives. On this Palm Sunday would you be willing to let that kingdom live in you? And would you be willing to participate in what that kingdom means?
II.
Then remember this also. The tragedy was that their exaltation was merely verbal. They gave Jesus lip service on that first Palm Sunday. Many of them cried out, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" They gave Jesus lip service, and that is all many of them gave Him. Their exaltation was merely a verbal exercise.
Oh, they were willing to join in the chorus as long as it cost nothing. After all, there was no real risk in standing by the road watching the parade go by. But the call of Jesus had always meant more than that. It had always required the complete giving of a person's life to Him and what He was all about.
The truth is Jesus did not need that kind of exaltation. He did not require or want this kind of lip service. He did not try to stop it. But apparently the Pharisees did. Luke, in his version of the story, tells us that when the Pharisees saw what was happening and heard the shouts, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord," they said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." Jesus replied to them, "I tell you if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out." Jesus accepted what was being shouted and many were sincere in this, but for most of them their exaltation was merely verbal.
A few years ago a man and his wife came out of church and spoke to me. I knew they had been away on a month-long trip, and I asked them how it went. He said, "It was fine. And while we were gone we did not hear a preacher anywhere as good as you are." I straightened up a bit and was trying to think of some response when he said, "We didn't hear any preacher at all. We didn't go to church."
Just so many in Jerusalem were saying to Jesus, "We never heard anyone like you." Jesus had no trouble drawing a crowd. But it was not verbal support that He needed.
Still today it is not verbal support that Jesus needs. No, still today He needs men and women, young people and children who will step out of the crowd on the side of the road and walk with Him. That is the call of Jesus, to come follow Him, not just to cheer as He walks by alone. Always it means the commitment of a life to Him, something more than just lip service, something beyond a merely verbal exaltation.
A man had become very successful and was invited to come back to speak in the little church in the town where he had grown up. He told about many of his childhood experiences. He said that once he heard a preacher say we should give all we have to Jesus. Then he said, "As a boy I heard that statement and decided I would. I had $1.82, and I gave it all to Jesus. That has made a big difference in my life, and has caused me to be blessed. As you know, I now own a large company. Thousands work for me. I don't know what I'm worth, but it's a lot." He paused a moment and a little boy said, "Mister, would you do it again? Would you give all you have to Jesus now?"
On this Palm Sunday are you willing to give Jesus something other than just a good word? Would you give Him your life and join Him on the road?
III.
Finally, remember this. The tragedy was that their recognition was clearly visual. It was nothing more than that for so many of them. Matthew tells us that "All the city was stirred, saying, 'Who is this?' " So the multitude replied, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee." They recognized Him. But it was only a visual kind of recognition. They were not really recognizing Him as the ruler of their lives.
However, this is the call of Palm Sunday. That is the challenge Palm Sunday always causes us to face. This is true because the time comes when we simply have to choose.
As the week went on, the wave of popular approval died down. More and more Jesus was alone as less and less people supported Him. Finally, in the end He stands alone.
So, today we face a choice. It is the call to recognize Him for who He is, and to do that by making Him the ruler of our lives.
One Palm Sunday at Riverside Church in New York, Harry Emerson Fosdick preached a sermon called "An Unavoidable Choice Faces Our Jerusalem, Too."2
It is a choice we always face. Today on Palm Sunday that choice is before us. There are many ways we can make that choice by giving ourselves to Him and serving Him through His church. To recognize who He is compels us to serve Him.
In one of our great cities a minister served in a ghetto community. Once while talking with a friend he told him about his work, all the human suffering he saw, and how hard it was for him to face it every day. His friend said to him, "Why don't you just run away from it all?" He replied, "I would do just that, but a strange man on a cross won't let me."
Maybe there are times when some of us are tempted to take the easy way and live only for ourselves, with no concern about the hurts of the world, the challenge of Christ, the call of the church, the demands of the kingdom. But that strange man on a cross who went to face Jerusalem will not let us get away, or get off so easily, or disappear into some safe harbor of escapism. Always He calls us to meet Him in the road and go with Him.
Hugh Latimer was a great preacher in England. Once while he was preaching at Westminster Abbey he saw the King of England in the congregation. Hugh Latimer said, "Latimer! Latimer! Latimer! Be careful what you say. The King of England is here!" He paused a moment and then he said, "Latimer! Latimer! Latimer! Be careful what you say. The King of kings is here."3
Palm Sunday confronts us with this truth. The King of kings is here facing us in our own Jerusalem. He calls us never to be careful again, to be willing to give up safety and approval, to give up ease and escapism, to step out into the street and follow Him to the end -- and the beginning.
"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"
Who is this Jesus? This is the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.
Would you go with Him? Would you dare?
____________
1. E. Stanley Jones, The Unshakable Kingdom and The Unchanging Person (Abingdon Press: Nashville and New York, 1972), p. 69.
2. Harry Emerson Fosdick, On Being Fit To Live With (Harper & Brothers: New York and London, 1946), p. 203.
3. William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke (The Westminster Press: Philadelphia, 1953), p. 192.
Morning Prayer
Palm Sunday
O God, as we gather here on this Palm Sunday we lift our voices as in days of old, "Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!" Enable us to open our lives to Him so that He would be able to come in and be the king of our lives.
Help us this week to watch and pray with our Lord. Enable us to remember His passion and to identify ourselves with Him, for in His passion He identified Himself with us and took upon Himself all the hurt, sorrow, pain, sin, and suffering that is a part of our lives. May we walk with Him down crowded streets, in lonely places, through deep valleys, and up hills of struggle.
We thank Thee today, O God, for the coming of Thy Son into the world and all He has done for us and for all the world. And we thank Thee for all Thy blessings upon us, for out of Thy hands of goodness and mercy every good thing has come to us. Accept our thanksgiving, gracious God.
Continue to make Thy ways known to us. Make Thy paths straight and help us to walk in them. Continue to be for us a light that shines in the darkness so that we would find our way into Thy will and good purposes for our living.
Strengthen our faith, confirm our hope, perfect us in love. Fill our lives with grace. Make us to be people of compassion and mercy. Forgive our sins. Mold us into the image of Thy Son.
Touch the lives of those among us who are sick, and those in sorrow, and those who struggle under great burdens.
Help people the world over who need Thy help, and do this through our hands, as much as we can. We pray these things in the name of Thy Son. Amen.
Children's Message
Palm Sunday
Welcome The King
Today is Palm Sunday, and this is a special day for us. I want to welcome you to our service today. I am so glad you are here. Make yourself at home. If you need anything, you let me know.
Now, you see, I have tried to welcome you today. And this is what Palm Sunday is all about. When Jesus went to the city of Jerusalem, all the people turned out to see Him and to welcome Him.
They did not welcome Him like they would any other person, for there was something different about Him and about that day. They welcomed Him as the new king of the Jews. For hundreds of years they had welcomed a new king into the city with shouts of "Hosanna!" But it had been a long time since they had been able to do that, for they had been ruled by other countries. There had been no king there for centuries, except they now had old King Herod, a mean king who worked for the Romans, really. There had been another King Herod earlier. But these kings were not like the good kings who had ruled. So the people were waiting for a good king to come and help them. Many people thought Jesus was that king, and that He would defeat the Romans and make them leave.
However, Jesus came to set up the Kingdom of God, a kingdom which is in our hearts. He came to be our King still today. Palm Sunday reminds us of this. You can welcome this king into your heart.
We do that by learning about Him, worshiping Him, serving Him, loving Him, and trying to live like Him. We let him be our king still today. I hope all of us will do just that.
Now, may we bow our heads as we pray. O God, help us to open our hearts and let our king Jesus come in. Amen.
Discussion Questions
Palm Sunday
1. Begin with a prayer led by a group member.
2. Have someone read Matthew 21:1-10.
3. Having asked them ahead of time, let members of the group share various sections of the chapter.
4. What forces awaited Jesus as He entered Jerusalem?
5. How was He able to face them?
6. What things in life oppose you?
7. How is it that you overcome them?
8. What does your struggle really mean?
9. Have someone read Psalm 22. Then, share sentence prayers and a benediction.
Order Of Worship
11:00 a.m.
Palm Sunday
WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD
Prelude
Chiming the Hour
Introit
Greeting
Leader: Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna in the highest!
People: Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hymn of Praise
"Hosanna, Loud Hosanna"
Affirmation of Faith
The Apostles' Creed
Welcome and Sharing
Children's Message
"Welcome The King"
WE TURN TO GOD IN PRAYER
Joys and Concerns
Morning Prayer and the Lord's Prayer
WE GIVE TO GOD
Prayer of Dedication
Offertory
Doxology
WE HEAR GOD'S WORD
Hymn of Preparation
"Tell Me The Stories Of Jesus"
Anthem
Reading of the Scriptures
Matthew 21:1-10
Leader: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
The Message
"The Tragedy Of His Victory"
WE RESPOND TO GOD
The Invitation to Christian Discipleship
Hymn of Invitation
"Lead On, O King Eternal"
Benediction
Congregational Response
WE DEPART TO SERVE GOD
Postlude
