Bulletin Sunday, April 10 2022

Palm/Passion Sunday Veradale United Church of Christ An Open & Affirming Congregation Worshiping God in Christ – Welcoming All – Working for Justice & Peace “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!” Sunday, April 10, 2022 • 10:30 a.m. ___________________________________ 10:20 Gathering and Prelude Wayne Shull, Music Director Charlie Salt, Acolyte and AV Naomi Hanvey Facebook Monitor Scotty Patton, Zoom Monitor Rev. Gen Heywood, Pastor 10:30am Worship begins God is with us . . all the time! All the time . . . God is with us! GATHERING (We gather on Zoom, Facebook, and in person. Those in the sanctuary, we will have a palm parade from the sanctuary out to the church sign and back. For those with us at a distance, find a branch (bay leaf branch if you have a tree), scarf, or other way to remember the crowd that cheered on Jesus.) CALL TO WORSHIP Pastor: Hosanna to the Son of David, the Sovereign of the World! All: Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest! PROCLAMATION OF THE ENTRANCE INTO JERUSALEM Luke 19:28-40 After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” 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. BLESSING OF THE PALMS Pastor: God be with you. All: And also with you. Pastor: Let us give thanks to God Most High. All: It is right to give God thanks and praise. Pastor: Let us pray. All: Beloved Jesus, today we remember that you entered Jerusalem in peace and dignity, heralding a week of pain and sorrow. Be with us now as we follow. Remind us again that you have sealed the closeness of death and resurrection, of humiliation and exaltation. We thank you for these branches that become for us reflections of the past and visions of the future. Bless them and us that their use this day may announce in our time that Christ has come, Christ is here, and Christ will come again. Amen! Come, Christ Jesus! PALMS DISTRIBUTED Pastor: Let us welcome the Christ! All: Let us receive Christ with Praise! Processional Hymn: “Hosana, Loud Hosanna” 213 (NCH) Hosanna, loud hosanna the little children sang; through pillared court and temple the lovely anthem rang, to Jesus, who had blessed them,close folded to his breast, the children sang their praises, the simplest and the best. From Olivet they followed mid a cheering crowd, the victor palm branch waving, and chanting clear and loud. The one whom angels worship rode on in lowly state, and glad to see the children slowed down the donkey’s gate. "Hosanna in the highest!” That ancient song is ours, we hail the great Redeemer and sing with all our powers. “Hosanna, Christ, we praise you with heart and life and voice. Hosanna! In your presence forever we rejoice!” Silence Call to Confession One: Let us return to God. Prayer of Confession ALL: Holy One, we have travel through this season of Lent, opening up to your transforming love. We offer to you all that we have done and all that we have left undone. We return our life to your way of mercy and justice. We place before you the truth of ourselves. Set us free from our regrets. Let shame have no power over us. Help us begin anew. Help us to return to you. We ask following the way of Jesus. Amen Silent Confessions with God This is the last Sunday we bring rocks forward. Assurance One: God longs for our return and holds nothing agains us. All: We thank God with humble hearts. Rite of Membership Invitation Questions of the Candidate Pastor: Do you desire to affirm your baptized into the faith and family of Jesus Christ? Response: I do. Pastor Do you profess Jesus Christ as the one who governs your life, and the one who sets you free? Response: I do. Pastor Do you promise, by the grace of God, to be Christ’s disciple, to follow in the way of our Savior, to resist oppression and evil, to show love and justice, and to witness to the work and word of Jesus Christ as best you are able? Response: I promise, with the help of God. Pastor Do you promise, according to the grace given you, to grow in the Christian faith and to be a faithful participant in the community of Jesus Christ, celebrating Christ’s presence and furthering Christ’s vision of compassion and justice in all the world? Response: I promise, with the help of God. Address: Pastor: By your baptism, you were made one with us in the body of Christ, the church. Today, we rejoice that your journey of faith has brought you to be with us in this time and place. We give thanks for every community of faith that has been your spiritual home and we celebrate your presence in this household of faith. Question about Participation: Pastor: Do you promise to participate in the life and mission of this family of God’s people, sharing regularly in the worship of God and enlisting in the work of this local church as it serves this community and the world. Candidate/s: I promise, with the help of God. Welcome and Reception: Moderator: Let us, the members of the Veradale United Church of Christ, express our welcome and affirm our mutual ministry in Christ. All: We welcome you with joy in the common life of this church. We promise you our friendship and prayers as we share the hopes and labors of the church of Jesus Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit may we continue to grow together in God’s knowledge and love and be witnesses of our risen Savior. Greeting of Christian Love: Moderator: In the name of Jesus Christ, and on behalf of the Veradale United Church of Christ, we extend to you the hand of Christian love, welcoming you into the company of this local church. Prayer: All: O God, we praise you for calling us to faith and for gathering us into this church, the body of Christ. We thank you for your people gathered in this Veradale United Church of Christ and rejoice that you have increased our community of faith. Together may we live in the Spirit, building one another up in love, sharing ion the life and worship of the church, and serving the world for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen. Community Prayer Silent prayer (This is the last Sunday we bring our writting prayers forward) Spoken Prayer Lord’s Prayer Response: Sing Amen (Sing Amen) Amen, we praise your name, O, God (Sing Amen) Amen, we praise your name, O, God (Sing Amen) Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, we praise your name, O, God A Time of Offering An Invitation to Share Dedication Hymn: “Give Thanks” CCLI license #11038266 Give thanks with a grateful heart. Give thanks to the Holy One. Give thanks because God’s given Jesus Christ, the son. (Repeat) And now let the weak say, “I am strong!” Let the poor say, “ I am rich because of what the Lord has done for us!” (repeat) Give thanks. Give thanks. Dedication prayer: ALL: Holy One, you came to be among us to show us the way of life through compassion and justice and a heart open to the divine. Bless these offerings for the ministry of this congregation. May your vision of a just and compassionate world be known in us. Amen Listening for God Message to Young Hearts Thinking about disappointments Message: “The Crowd Gets it Wrong” Pastor Gen Entering Holy Week Choir: An Upper Room Luke 22:7-23: Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.” They asked him, “Where do you want us to make preparations for it?” “Listen,” he said to them, “when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks you, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.” So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it[c] until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!” Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this. Ringing bowl Luke 22:31- 34: “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” And he said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death!” Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow this day, until you have denied three times that you know me.” Ringing bowl Luke 22:39-53: He came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. When he reached the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.” Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground. When he got up from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping because of grief, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not come into the time of trial.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him; but Jesus said to him, “Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?” When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, “Lord, should we strike with the sword?” Then one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. Ringing bowl Luke 22:54-62: Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” Then about an hour later still another kept insisting, “Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. Ringing bowl Luke 23:26-38: As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are surely coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” Luke 23:44-49: It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.” And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. Ringing bowl Silence Announcements Our Light moves into the World God Loves Benediction with Hallelujah (new melody) Postlude