prepared by Deacon Nigel Perrott – 13th April 2025
Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;
praise his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favour lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Thanksgiving Prayer
Loving and Listening God
we come before you with thanksgiving as we celebrate Palm Sunday, a time when we give thanks for Jesus. It’s the day we commemorate Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem on a mission to pay for our sins and to give us eternal life. Jesus you knew the anguish awaiting you and you still proceeded so that your father’s will would be fulfilled. Your love and obedience saved us, and now we are the children of God.
Amen
Prayer
Triumphant Lord, we rejoice in your entry into the world and into our lives!
Joining with the crowds, we sing your praises and exalt your reign
Amen
Jesus Christ, we glorify you and we exalt your holy name. You are our redeemer. You are the ransom paid for our freedom. Thank you. As we honour you on Palm Sunday, the day you set out to save us, we ask for humility; the kind of humility you displayed when you rode on a donkey on your way to Jerusalem. Crush the pride in our hearts. Let our hearts be filled with gratitude for all you have done for us, and for who you are.
Loving God, we have also to confess that so often our hearts are far from true worship, our minds are distant from true understanding. We can so often drift from understanding your humility. We forget the selfless sacrifice you made. Our actions and words do not reflect the love you have shown us through the ultimate sacrifice and unlimited grace you gave us.
Help us to reflect in our lives the glory of your Son
and to live faithfully here and now.
Have mercy on us, Saviour of all,
find us in these forsaken places.
Forgive what we have done and who we have been.
Bring us home again and impart within us a new song of joy and celebration.
All this we ask through your Son Jesus Christ
Amen
Please read John 12:12-19
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna![a]”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[b]
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”[c]
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
Short Reflection
So, This Sunday, the 12 of April, we mark another Plam Sunday. Our journey through lent is slowly coming to an end. Within this short passage from the Gospel of John, eight words really stood out. “Only after Jesus was glorified did they realise”
Each year our church calendar gives us different opportunities to reflect on different parts of God’s story. Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Pentecost to name the main ones. Yet, as we travel with these special points in the life of Jesus, what do we recall? When we look back, we often see where God was working, and we may not have seen it at the time. This was true of the disciples, only when they had seen Jesus go into glory did they look back and understand what he had said to them at the time. It had started to make sense. We, however, have the full story and we know how it ends.
After three months away, I have had time to reflect on the past and pray about future plans. Lent is a time to review our lessons learned. Recently, I reunited with an old friend after 14 years. He asked me, “What have you learned over the last 14 years?” That was not easy question to answer but gave me a lot to think about. 14 years is a long time, and maybe a bit of a struggle. Lent is an annual opportunity to reflect on the past and pray for the future. It serves as a reminder of the journey to the cross and encourages us to reflect on our own journey going forward.
We are all on a journey, some of us are further on but nonetheless it is a journey. What we learn on the way is so important. John Wesley was passionate about lifelong learning and his attention to the need for this was unstoppable. Centuries later there is still a need for us to learn and keep on learning. It can be easy to think we are on a journey but in fact on a roundabout!
What the Disciples learned from Jesus, especially after he was raised to glory, spurned them onto spreading the good news all over the world. We too can be spurned on to spread the news as we are encouraged by a lifetime of learning from the past.
Amen
Hymn STF 276 – Lift high the cross
Lift high the Cross, the love of Christ proclaim
till all the world adore his sacred name.
1 Follow the path on which our Captain trod,
our King victorious, Christ the Son of God:
2 Each new-born soldier of the Crucified
bears on their brow the seal of him who died:
3 Led on their way by this triumphant sign,
the hosts of God in conquering ranks combine:
4 From farthest regions let them homage bring,
and on his cross adore their Saviour King:
5 O Lord, once lifted on the glorious tree,
as thou hast promised, draw the world to thee:
6 Set up thy throne, that earth’s despair may cease
beneath the shadow of its healing peace:
Michael Robert Newbolt (1874–1956) and George William Kitchin (1827–1912)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 276
Words: © Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd <www.hymnsam.co.uk>
Prayers of Intercession
Heavenly Father
In whose face we see both the suffering of the world and the love of God, we bring to you the world’s pain, the anguish of your children
in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, Palestine, on the African continent. Help us to build a peaceful world, a world of love, compassion and respect, a world where your face will be seen, respected and loved in the faces of all your children We pray for your church, that its voice will be one of peace, justice and reconciliation.
Help us, as members of your body, to seek your face in the crowd to hear your voice calling us always to love our neighbour, to reach out and take the hand of our sisters and brothers in need. We pray for all who are ill in hospitals and care homes,
those who are living with chronic illness, those whose days and nights are full of pain. O God, you know the depths of human suffering:
be with all who suffer, and take the dying by the hand, leading them gently to paradise.
In this coming Holy Week, help us to be faithful, to walk with you the way of sadness,
not averting our eyes from suffering, finding your love, even for those who do their worst, and knowing the salvation you bought for us
by your suffering love on the cross.
Amen
We pray the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray:
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.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.
Hymn STF 263 – Hosanna, Hosanna
1 Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
Lord, we lift up your name, with hearts full of praise;
be exalted, O Lord, my God!
Hosanna in the highest!
2 Glory, glory, glory to the King of kings!
Glory, glory, glory to the King of kings!
Lord, we lift up your name, with hearts full of praise;
be exalted, O Lord, my God!
Glory to the King of kings!
Carl Tuttle (b.1953)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 263
Words and Music: © 1985 Shadow Spring Music / Music Services
May the blessings of the Lord be with you this Palm Sunday & Always
Amen.
