Palm Sunday Worship Experience
Reading: John 12:12-19 Preacher: Phil Swain
This Sunday we begin the journey into Holy Week — and you’re invited to step into the story. We encourage you to be there by 9am (or at least 9:05am) as we’ll gather in the foyer for our first reflection and and then move together into worship, recreating Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem with palm waving and praise.
Then we will be bringing together all that we have been exploring during lent as Phil leads us through a mix of reflections, stillness, and interactive prayer stations – all designed to give to space to engage personally with the themes of Lent — prayer, repentance, alms-giving, and Scripture … as well as some other activities to engage the kids. We’ll finish by sharing communion together. Come and be part of a meaningful, hands-on worship experience as we start Holy Week.
Sermon Text
1 Triumphant Entry
Today is Palm Sunday … the first day of Holy Week. On that first Palm Sunday, a huge crowd gathered at the gates of Jerusalem to welcome Jesus. They waved palm branches, shouted praise, and celebrated as he entered the city.
Why such excitement?
Partly because it was Jesus. People had heard the stories. They knew he was a teacher, a healer, a compassionate and caring person. Some had even seen his miracles firsthand. The crowd gathered because they wanted to see Jesus.
But it was more than that. Many were beginning to believe that Jesus was not just a teacher or prophet, but the Messiah — the one God had promised. And as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, people saw echoes of the old prophecies coming true before their eyes.
And underneath all of this was another hope — the hope that Jesus might bring freedom, peace, justice, and a future. The people longed for God to do something new. So all of these hopes and expectations came together and overflowed into praise.
And perhaps that same question is worth asking this morning: what hope have you brought with you today? What are you longing for Jesus to do in your life?
Maybe you come full of praise today. Maybe you come weary, worried, or uncertain. Either way, Jesus welcomes you. Just like on that first Palm Sunday, Jesus is here. So let’s open our hearts. Let’s praise God.
2 The End of our Lenten Journey
On our first Sunday of Lent I did an introduction to what Lent is all about using the metal cross and a story about Bec buying her unit. Do you remember that? The end result was a cross full of thoughts or prompts of the spiritual practices that Lent can encourage within us as we journey towards the cross. They included things like:
• Preparation
• Reflection
• Sacrifice
• Making Room for God
• Confession
• Prayer
• Response
As we enter Holy Week, I wanted to give us all an opportunity to ponder how we have gone embracing some of these practices over the past 6 weeks … and to give us an opportunity to engage with some of them this morning as Holy Week begins.
So today’s worship is going to be more experiential than listening, more participatory than sermon-based. And we are go to this in three ways.
Firstly, we are going to start with a short time of meditation … a Lent practice to allow us to focus our hearts and minds on God. I’ll explain this more in a moment.
Then I going to invite us to get up and move around the room where we will find a number of stations based on Lenten Spiritual practices.
I am going to run through them now because I don’t want to break the moment after our meditation to do explanations.
So up the up the front here we have a prayer station based on candles. As you come to this space, you are invited to light a candle (or multiple candles) as a simple act of prayer. Take a moment to be still and become aware of God’s presence with you. And then I encourage you to follow the pattern of prayer that we learnt last week from John 17 … begin by praying for yourself, then pray for those around you – your family, church and community, and finish by praying for the world.
Across here we have a practical table – making Palm Crosses. This is a tradition that happens in many churches around the world on Palm Sunday. The idea is that you make a cross out of a Palm Prong and then you carry it with you all year … place it in your bible at home, or in your briefcase or school bag. It reminds us of the invitation of Jesus to daily pick up our cross and follow him.
Next to that is another practical prayer station … this one focused on repentance and forgiveness. When you come to this space you are invited to hold a stone in your hand and reflect on what you may be carrying – worries, guilt, unconfessed sin? When you’re ready, gently drop the stone into the water and watch the ripples spread outward. As the ripples move, be reminded that God’s forgiveness doesn’t just meet you in that moment, it continues to flow in a way that brings peace, renewal, and restoration beyond what you can see.
Up the back there is a table for Almsgiving – a traditional Lenten practice of sharing our blessings to bless those in need. Here you – if you wish to participate in the Sunday offering, you can you may place your offering in the bag as an act of worship. (We will not be collecting our offering in the normal way … this is it).
You are also invited to take one of the “Love in Action” cards and choose a simple, practical way to show generosity this week — through your time, resources, or care for others. Look over the options and see what jumps out to you? Then carry that response with you as part of your journey into Holy Week.
Then up the back there is another practical prayer station – where there is some colouring and other creative materials to allow your mind and heart to slow down. You don’t need many words here. Simply create space to be with God.
And lastly we have a station for study and reflection. There is a few options for you, simply take a sheet with a passage from John’s Gospel and the reflection questions, and find a quiet place in the church or back in your seat and read the passage and reflect on the questions.
We will have about 20 minutes to visit the stations … which means you might not have enough time to visit all of them but you should get to 3 or 4 … or maybe all of them. You don’t have to do them in order, just go where you feel drawn. When the band starts playing a song you will know it is time to come back where we will finish with the spiritual practice of communion. All make sense? Let’s start together with some meditation…
Meditation
Take a moment to get comfortable in your seat. Place both feet on the floor. Take a slow breath in … and a slow breath out. Allow yourself to become still. You do not need to rush. You do not need to think about what is next. Simply be here, in this moment, with God.
As we come to the end of our Lenten journey and prepare to enter Holy Week, we remember that this is a story of love. A love that comes close. A love that serves. A love that suffers. A love that does not let go.
I am going to read a few short verses from John’s Gospel. After each one, leave a little silence. I invite you to simply sit with the verse, maybe say it over in your mind. Allow the words to settle within you. There is no need to analyse them or figure them out.
Jesus said “I am the resurrection and the life.” — John 11:25
“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain.” — John 12:24
“Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” — John 13:1
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” — John 13:34
“Abide in my love.” — John 15:9
Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me” — John 14:1
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.” — John 14:27
In the quiet, notice what stays with you. Which word, phrase, or image is God gently drawing your attention toward today? Hold onto that as we sing together, “Be Still and Know.”
After we finish singing … when you are ready I invite you to move to a station and engage with the spiritual practices that are around the room.
Be still…
As the song continues, you are invited, when you are ready, to quietly move to one of the stations around the room.
Communion
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Loving God,
today we have remembered Jesus entering Jerusalem with humility and peace.
We have reflected, prayed, confessed, listened, and opened our hearts again to you.
As we gather around this table, we remember that your love does not stay distant.
Your love comes close.
Your love serves.
Your love suffers.
Your love welcomes us home.
And so with the crowds who cried “Hosanna”,
with the disciples who followed Jesus,
and with your people in every time and place,
we join our voices in praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
On the night before he died,
Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:
“Take and eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, after supper, he took the cup and said:
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.”
And so we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts of bread and cup, that in sharing them we may know the presence of Christ with us. Strengthen us to love as Jesus loved,
to serve as Jesus served, and to walk with Jesus through the cross and into the hope of resurrection.
And now with the confidence of the children of God, we pray together:
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.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and forever. Amen
Benediction…
Just before I give a blessing, I want to remind us of the invitation that Holy Week places before us. It is not simply an invitation to remember the story of Jesus, but to step into it. To draw close. To walk with Jesus. To allow his love, his suffering, his sacrifice, and his hope to shape our lives.
You see, the Easter journey was never one that Jesus intended to walk alone. On Palm Sunday he invited people to follow him. At the table on Maundy Thursday he invited people to remain with him. At the cross he drew people close. And on Easter morning he called people by name into new life. The invitation is still there for us today.
We stand at the beginning of Holy Week and Jesus invites us to walk this journey with him.
The missionary David Livingstone once wrote this prayer:
“I will go anywhere, as long as it is forward with you.
I will endure anything, if you stand by me.
I ask only to know that you are near
and to remain close to your heart.”
We have been preparing all Lent for this. So let us enter Holy Week with open hearts, ready to walk with Jesus.
And may the blessing of God Almighty,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
go with you, hold you, and sustain you this week,
today and always.
Amen.