Worship Guide
March 29, 2026
Palm / Passion Sunday
Creating Disciples of Jesus
who Transform the World
ENTRANCE WITH PRAISE
Greeting:
Minister: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!
People: And also with you!
Special Music: Thank You Jesus - Stefanie
Centering Words:
Everyone loves a parade—until they don’t. Even as we wave our palms, we know that many lined the streets with jeers, not cheers. May our words of blessing and hope ring strongly, even when faced with the jeers and cruelty of the world.
*Call to Worship:
Leader: Give thanks to God, who is truly good.
People: Hosanna in the highest!
Leader: Praise Christ, whose love abounds with grace.
People: Hosanna in the highest!
Leader: Welcome the Spirit with songs of praise.
People: Hosanna in the highest!
Leader: Let us pray.
ALL: Christ of both celebration and sorrow, be with us in our time of worship today and in the week ahead. Help us embrace the fullness of your story, both the triumph and the tragedy. Strengthen us to proclaim blessing and hope, no matter the circumstances, that we may be children of your promise, both now and forevermore. Amen.
Hymn: “Open Our Eyes Lord”
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus,
to reach out and touch him, and say that we love him.
Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen.
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus.
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus,
to reach out and touch him, and say that we love him.
Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen.
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus.
PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD
Words of Assurance
Rejoice and be glad, for God’s steadfast love endures forever!
Amen.
Special Music: Redeemed - Charles
Old Testament Reading: Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29
1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God,
and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
up to the horns of the altar.,
28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will extol you.
29 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Leader: This is the Word of God for the people of God
People: Thanks be to God.
Special Music: Love Me Like I Am - Charles & Stefanie
WORD AND RESPONSE
Time with Young Friends: “Jesus Loves Me”
Children’s Message: Hosanna!
Hymn: “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus”
Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear;
things I would ask him to tell me if He were here;
scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea,
stories of Jesus, tell them to me.
First let me hear how the children stood round his knee,
and I shall fancy his blessing resting on me;
words full of kindness, deeds full of grace,
all in the love light of Jesus’ face.
Into the city I’d follow the children’s band,
waving a branch of the palm tree high in my hand.
one of his heralds, yes, I would sing
loudest hosannas, “Jesus is King!"
Sermon: “Marching Orders” - Matthew 21:1-11
1 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.” 4 This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet:
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 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.”
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
Hymn: “Cares Chorus”
I cast all my cares upon you,
I lay all of my burdens down at your feet,
and anytime that I don't know what to do,
I will cast all my cares upon you.
I cast all my cares upon you,
I lay all of my burdens down at your feet,
and anytime that I don't know what to do,
I will cast all my cares upon you.
Affirmation of Faith: “A Modern Affirmation”
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is the one true church, apostolic and universal, whose holy faith let us now declare:
We believe in God the Father, infinite in wisdom, power, and love, whose mercy is over all his works, and whose will is ever directed to his children's good.
We believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of man, the gift of the Father's unfailing grace, the ground of our hope, and the promise of our deliverance from sin and death.
We believe in the Holy Spirit as the divine presence in our lives, whereby we are kept in perpetual remembrance of the truth of Christ, and find strength and help in time of need.
We believe that this faith should manifest itself in the service of love as set forth in the example of our blessed Lord, to the end that the kingdom of God may come upon the earth. Amen
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father and to the son and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Amen.
Prayers of the People: Joys and Concerns
Silent Prayer, Pastoral Prayer
Special Music: Another in the Fire - Stefanie
SENDING FORTH
Hymn: “I Stand Amazed in the Presence”
I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene,
and wonder how he could love me,
a sinner, condemned, unclean.
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!
For me it was in the garden he prayed:
“Not my will, but thine."
He had no tears for his own griefs,
but sweat drops of blood for mine.
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!
In pity angels beheld him, and came from the world of light
to comfort him in the sorrows he bore for my soul that night.
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!
He took my sins and my sorrows, he made them his very own;
he bore the burden to Calvary, and suffered and died alone.
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!
When with the ransomed in glory his face I at last shall see,
’twill be my joy through the ages to sing of his love for me.
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!
Benediction
Hymn: “As We Go”
As we go, may your Spirit go before us.
As we go, may we follow where you lead.
May we live what we have learned,
share the message we have heard,
and be a light unto the world
as we go.
