____________________________________________________

Call to Worship:
L: Hosanna to the Son of David
P: Hosanna in the Highest
L: Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.
All: Hosanna in the highest

Call to Worship (based on Psalm 118):
L: The Lord is my strength and my power!
P: The Lord has become my salvation!
L: There are joyous songs of victory in the tents of the righteous
P: The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
All: this is the day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Call to Worship (based on the passion theme of Psalm 31)

Reader 1: Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also.
Reader 2:: For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away.
People: I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.
Reader 1: I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.
Reader 2: For I hear the whispering of many-- terror all around!-- as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.
People: But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.

All: Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.

Collect

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but
first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he
was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way
of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and
peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Palm Sunday Prayer

Almighty God, on this day, your son Jesus Christ entered the holy city of Jerusalem and was proclaimed King by those who spread garments and palm branches along his way.  Let those branches be for us signs of his victory, and grant that we who bear them in his name may ever hail him as our Lord, and follow him in the way that leads to eternal life.  In his name we pray. Amen.

Prayer for Illumination

Assist us mercifully with your help, O Lord God of our
salvation, that we may enter with joy upon the contemplation
of those mighty acts, whereby you have given us life and
immortality; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Palm Sunday Blessing (Book of Common Worship)--palm branches needed

C: The Lord be with you.
P: And also with you.
C: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
P: It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is right to praise you, Almighty God, for the acts of love by
which you have redeemed us through your Son Jesus Christ
our Lord. On this day he entered the holy city of Jerusalem in
triumph, and was proclaimed as King of kings by those who
spread their garments and branches of palm along his way.

Let these branches be for us signs of his victory, and grant that
we who bear them in his name may ever hail him as our King,
and follow him in the way that leads to eternal life; who lives
and reigns in glory with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

Prayer for a Walk in Christ's Passion.

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the
human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take
upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross,
giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant
that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share
in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.

Closing prayer:

Almighty God, your Son came to us humbly on a donkey's back and now he sits exalted by your right hand.  As we enter into Holy Week contemplating your his path of suffering, help us to become loyal and steadfast disciples, that we may always hear his word, follow his teachings, and live in his Spirit. And prepare our hearts for that day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord and King, to your eternal glory. Amen.