Prelude  

Call to Worship  (Psalm 118: 24-29 NRSV)

One:   This is the day that the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Many: Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!

One:   Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord.

Many: The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches up to the horns of the altar.

One:    You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.

Many: O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Call to Confession 

Prayer of Confession – Unison

O Lord our God, you are the giver of light. Let your face shine upon us and save us in your steadfast love. For though you call us to have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus, we have rebelled rather than obeyed and closed our ears to your teaching. We shrink from suffering, and left to ourselves, would rather retaliate than turn the other cheek. Forgive us, O God, save us from all our sin and selfishness. Let your face shine upon us and save us with your steadfast love. (silence is kept) Amen.

Assurance of Pardon & Peace

Welcome Rev. Alice Tebi!

Please remember to stay online with us after worship for virtual fellowship!

 

Welcome Song

We welcome you in the name of the Lord.

We welcome you in the name of the Lord.

We can see in you the glory of the Lord,

We welcome you in the name of the Lord. 

Joys and Concerns

Due to our Zoom format we will share our joys and concerns through the chat option at the bottom of the screen. Just click on the chat symbol and type in your joy or concern. 

 Prayer of Illumination 

Matthew 21:1-11

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 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. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,

“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.”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.  A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 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!”

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

 

Message from Rev. Alice Tebi

 Music

An Encouraging Message from Pastor Deborah from her blog 

In the midst of scary news around the world, a rush on basic necessities like toilet paper, loss of income and livelihoods for many, and interruption of educational and all other “normal” activity, we continue our journey through the Lenten quarantine.  Perhaps God is speaking to us all:  learn to cooperate, pay attention to the most vulnerable, spend your time on people you love, learn to walk without fear, but trust in the Lord for all things.

In these days we are getting a taste of what others in our world experience on a daily basis and we don’t like it!  Perhaps the experience of empty shelves in the grocery stores, the shortages of medical supplies for hospitals, etc. can give us a greater empathy for our brothers and sisters in nations like Cuba, where one never knows when a particular product may be available, where ingenuity and a “make do” attitude is a must due to ongoing scarcity of resources.  Perhaps when we find that “developed” and “less developed” nations alike are being brought to their knees, we see more clearly the commonalities among all of God’s children who share this globe.

 Offertory       Friends, please take this time to make an on-line contribution or prepare an offering to mail.

Music

Prayer of Dedication  

An Out of the Ordinary Holy Communion for an Extraordinary Time

Today we will share this poem by Anne Weems, Holy Communion, keep it with us through the day and let it sanctify us as Christ’s body as we engage in our meaningful action in the world. Let us read Holy Communion together.

Eat. Drink. Remember

   who I am.

Eat. Drink. Remember

   who I am

   so you can remember

   who you are.

Eat. Drink. Remember

   who I am

   so you can remember

   who you are

   and tell others.

Eat. Drink. Remember

   who I am

   so you can remember

   who you are

    and tell others

    so that all

   God’s people

   can live

   in communion…

   in holy communion.

 

Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer

Through Jesus Christ you have come to us and shared our fragile mortality. Mold us into people who show mercy and keep us obedient to him whose name is above all other names – Jesus Christ in whose name we pray the prayer he taught us…

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but

deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.

 Benediction

Go to celebrate all that God has done as Christ breathes new life into you, sending you out with the spirit of servanthood and faith for the life of the world. Now may the grace of God, the love of Christ, and the friendship of the Holy Spirit go with us all.

 

Postlude