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Woship Resources 2009-2010 — Year C: Live Generously, Love Courageously
Return to Year C: 2009-2010
Resource Index
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Proclaim that Jesus Christ Is Lord
Palm/Passion Sunday
Scriptures: Luke 19:28–40/19:27–39 IV; Psalm
118:1–2, 19–29; Isaiah 50:4–9a/50:4–6 IV; Psalm 31:9–16; Philippians
2:5–11;
Luke 22:14—23:56/22:14—23:57 IV; III Nephi 2:109; Doctrine and Covenants
26:1a
Pass out palm branches as people enter the sanctuary.
Prelude
Show a video of the Creation—the forming of the earth. See
www.kids4truth.com/creation.htm for an example.
“Created in God’s Image” Speech Choir
Our loving creator formed me—and me—and me!
We are created in God’s image and likeness.
God continues to shape and mold me each day.
In every circumstance and in every way I want to yield to my Creator’s
touch.
Transform me, O God, into a vessel for sharing your love with others.
—Vickey Eagleton, 2008
Call to Worship: III Nephi 2:109
Welcome
Invite the congregation to wave their palm branches whenever the word
“praise” is spoken.
Have children line the aisles waving branches as someone portraying
Christ walks through.
*Hymn: “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” HS 67
OR “Praise Him, Praise Him” HS 68
OR “Earth and All Stars” HS 49
*Opening prayer
*Response
Scripture for Confessional Reflections: Doctrine and Covenants 26:1a
Do we sometimes hesitate to proclaim Jesus as Lord? God, help us to know
and witness of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
Disciples’ Generous Response
Each Sunday, as part of the Disciples’ Generous Response, we ask you to
integrate the message of “share equally” between Local and World Ministries
Mission Tithes. Generosity stories are provided to keep the church in touch
with how contributions to Mission Tithes spread the peace of Jesus Christ.
Please use the stories, testimonies, and up-to-date contribution information
as part of your offertory ministry. Visit
www.CofChrist.org/generositystories to print a copy, or contact your
pastor, congregational financial officer, or worship coordinator for a copy.
Reflection
All things are formed by God; our response is how we choose to use
them. How is the offering used in our congregation to create hope,
peace, joy, and love?
Offer examples: Outreach International, Habitat for Humanity, women’s
shelters, local or international service organizations, camp
scholarships.
Prayer for Peace
Ministry of Music: “He’s Still Workin’ on Me” Children’s Choir
—This song is found on the I Am a Promise CD.
It’s written by Craig Adams and Rhonda Frazier.
Focus Moment
Show a video of someone forming a container out of clay,
papier-mâché, wood, etc., or display a worship setting showing tools
used to make them and a finished product. Explain the video or setting
to the children. Tell them God forms each of us, just like a bowl being
formed by an artist. God is the creator of everything.
Then give each child a plastic egg with Silly Putty (or modeling
clay) in it—the egg represents Easter and new birth; the putty
represents how God molds us as we listen and respond. Tell a story while
children form their clay into something that represents Christ to them.
Message
Based on Luke 19:28–40 and/or Philippians 5:2–11
Congregational Reading: “Have Thine Own Way, Lord”
Have thine own way, Lord; have thine own way,
Thou art the potter, I am the clay;
Mold me and make me after thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
—Brother Ramon prayer, The Power of Prayer around the World
by Glenn Mosley and Joanna Hill (Templeton Foundation Press, Nov. 2000), 76.
To the tune of “Beautiful Dreamer,” from a Christian hymn: lyrics by Adelaid H.
Pollard, music by George C. Stebbins
*Hymn: “Make Me a Servant” NS 35
OR “Here I Am, Lord” NS 12
OR Ministry of Music
*Closing Prayer
*Response
*Postlude
Sermon Helps
Scriptures: Luke 19:28–40/19:27–39 IV; Psalm 118:1–2, 19–29; Isaiah
50:4–9a/50:4–6 IV; Psalm 31:9–16; Philippians 2:5–11; Luke
22:14—23:56/22:14—23:57 IV
Exploring the Scriptures
In this Palm Sunday passage from Luke, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a young
donkey, a colt, to a cheering crowd of followers who proclaim him as the king
who comes in the name of the Lord. There is peace in heaven as this event
happens.
It is significant that Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey rather than on a
horse. A victorious general would enter in a chariot or at least on a war horse.
You cannot fight a war on the back of a donkey, particularly a young donkey.
Donkeys have a mind of their own and stop and start at their will—not always at
the will of the rider. So Jesus enters Jerusalem on a bicycle rather than in a
tank. A general would enter proudly. Jesus enters humbly. A general would have
gone to the temple to give part of his war gains as a sacrifice to the gods.
Jesus goes to the temple to make it a place where one can meet God again. At the
end of the march a general would be honored. Jesus will be crucified. The
kingdom of God is very different from the Roman Empire of Caesar.
The Philippians text provides a story of a king who dressed as a peasant and
traveled among his people to see what was really happening in the royal kingdom.
The rich and noble despised him seeing only his poverty. Their rank, status, and
pride prevented them from seeing beyond the tattered clothes and dirty hands and
face. It was the poor that were kind to him—a child, an old woman, a farmer.
They saw in the king (hidden in a peasant) a struggling fellow human who they
were in solidarity with and reached out to help. These were authentic people
extending an authentic relationship.
We could say that God in Jesus goes down the stairs from the top floor of
divinity to the bottom floor of being not just human but a slave, a human with
no rights. Jesus ends his life in the basement of human status as an executed
criminal. God in Jesus empties Godself of divinity to the lowest of human
status. The Greek word used here for emptying is “kenosis.”
A Japanese sister confessed recently that her loving father had once rebuked
her as a child, saying, “There is too much ‘I-ness’ in you!” It was on a day she
was being particularly full of herself. God in Jesus shows all “I-ness” emptied
out. What is revealed on the cross is God’s self-emptying or kenosis, God’s
humility. The God revealed in Jesus is completely humble and totally for others
in love. Jesus does not grasp at being God. God in Jesus is like the king who
becomes a peasant.
We admire wealth, we are fascinated by those in power, and we gape at
celebrities. In Jesus what is praised is humility—not wealth, power, or fame.
One day we shall see that the name of Jesus will be the highest of all. One day
everyone will bend their knee and confess that Jesus is Lord, the greatest.
The passage from Philippians is thought to have been a hymn sung in the early
church. Paul, the author of the letter, has a very close relationship with this
congregation. He writes at a time of great vulnerability, for he is in prison
and faces possible death. He, too, knows what it means to empty himself. By
doing this, he is following Jesus.
Bringing these two passages of scripture together helps each illuminate the
other. Jesus enters Jerusalem praised and lifted up on Palm Sunday, and by the
end of the week he is crucified. Yet he will also be glorified, and all shall
see it one day. Evil does not overcome humility. Humility overcomes evil. It is
humility that wins the victory to create heaven, not hell. Humble people are
much easier to live with.
Central Ideas
1. Jesus Christ is Lord, but in a very different way than we normally
understand an emperor, monarch, or president to be.
2. You need a great deal of ego to run for president or any political
office. In Jesus there is no ego, for Jesus is empty of “I-ness.”
3. In the journey of discipleship those who take the lowest place of
service, in the upside down kingdom of God, are the greatest.
Questions for the Speaker
1. Who have you met who is genuinely humble in a Christian way?
2. How can you let the Spirit in to disarm your ego and let go of “I-ness”?
3. As you meditate on these passages and the gospel story of this last
week in the life of Jesus, what can you learn for your own discipleship
journey?
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