Palm Sunday

Opening response

Hurry, God, to deliver us.
LORD, come quickly to help us.

Let your way may be known on earth,
and your salvation amongst all nations.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation,
to you be glory and praise forever.
As we behold your Son, enthroned on the cross,
stir up in us the fire of your love,
that we may be cleansed from all our sins,
and walk with you in newness of life
singing the praise of him who died
for us and our salvation.
Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.

That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful,
let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As our evening prayer rises before you, O God,
so may your mercy come down upon us
to cleanse our hearts
and set us free to sing your praise
now and forever.
Amen.

Hymn

Peace, doubting heart! My God’s I am

Charles Wesley

Peace, doubting heart! My God’s I am;
Who formed me man, forbids my fear;
The Lord hath called me by my name;
The Lord protects, forever near;
His blood for me did once atone,
And still He loves and guards his own.

When passing through the watery deep,
I ask in faith his promised aid,
The waves an awful distance keep,
And shrink from my devoted head;
Fearless, their violence I dare;
They cannot harm, for God is there!

To him mine eye of faith I turn,
And through the fire pursue my way;
The fire forgets its power to burn,
The lambent flames around me play;
I own his power, accept the sign,
And shout to prove the Savior mine.

Still nigh me, O my Savior, stand!
And guard in fierce temptation’s hour;
Hide in the hollow of thy hand,
Show forth in me thy saving power,
Still be thy arms my sure defense,
Nor earth nor hell shall pluck me thence.

Since thou hast bid me come to thee,
Good as thou art, and strong to save
I’ll walk over life’s tempestuous sea,
Upborne by the unyielding wave,
Dauntless, though rocks of pride be near,
And yawning whirlpools of despair.

When darkness intercepts the skies,
And sorrow’s waves around me roll,
When high the storms of passion rise,
And half overwhelm my sinking soul,
My soul a sudden calm shall feel,
And hear a whisper, “Peace; be still!”

Though in affliction’s furnace tried,
Unhurt on snares and death I’ll tread;
Though sin assail, and hell, thrown wide,
Pour all its flames upon my head,
Like Moses’ bush, I’ll mount the higher,
And flourish unconsumed in fire.

Confession of sin

When we cry out to the LORD in our trouble,
he will save us out of our distresses.

God will bring us out of darkness
and out of the shadow of death.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

May the Father forgive us
by the death of his Son
and strengthen us
to live in the power of the Spirit
all our days.
Amen.

Let us praise the LORD for his loving kindness,
and his wondrous deeds for all people.

Let us offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and declare God’s deeds with singing.

cf Psalm 107

Psalm 80

Refrain:
Turn us again, God of Armies.
Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock,
you who sit above the cherubim, shine out.
Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, stir up your might!
Come to save us!
Turn us again, God.
Cause your face to shine,
and we will be saved.

LORD God of Armies,
how long will you be angry against the prayer of your people?
You have fed them with the bread of tears,
and given them tears to drink in large measure.
You make us a source of contention to our neighbours.
Our enemies laugh amongst themselves.
Turn us again, God of Armies.
Cause your face to shine,
and we will be saved.

You brought a vine out of Egypt.
You drove out the nations, and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it.
It took deep root, and filled the land.
The mountains were covered with its shadow.
Its boughs were like God’s cedars.
It sent out its branches to the sea,
its shoots to the River.
Why have you broken down its walls,
so that all those who pass by the way pluck it?
The boar out of the wood ravages it.
The wild animals of the field feed on it.
Turn again, we beg you, God of Armies.
Look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vine,
the stock which your right hand planted,
the branch that you made strong for yourself.
It’s burnt with fire.
It’s cut down.
They perish at your rebuke.
Let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
on the son of man whom you made strong for yourself.
So we will not turn away from you.
Revive us, and we will call on your name.
Turn us again, LORD God of Armies.
Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:
Turn us again, God of Armies.
Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

Psalm prayer

Faithful shepherd of your people,
as we look for the light of your countenance,
restore in us the image of your glory
and graft us into the risen life of your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Isaiah 5:1-7

Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard.
My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.
He dug it up,
gathered out its stones,
planted it with the choicest vine,
built a tower in the middle of it,
and also cut out a wine press in it.
He looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.

“Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
please judge between me and my vineyard.
What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?
Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?
Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.
I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up.
I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled down.
I will lay it a wasteland.
It won’t be pruned or hoed,
but it will grow briers and thorns.
I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.”
For the vineyard of the LORD of Armies is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah his pleasant plant.
He looked for justice, but behold, oppression,
for righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Matthew 21:33-46

“Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country. When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers to receive his fruit. The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first; and they treated them the same way. But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But the farmers, when they saw the son, said amongst themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and seize his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, then killed him. When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”

They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers who will give him the fruit in its season.”

Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,
‘The stone which the builders rejected
was made the head of the corner.
This was from the Lord.
It is marvelous in our eyes’?

“Therefore I tell you, God’s Kingdom will be taken away from you and will be given to a nation producing its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke about them. When they sought to seize him, they feared the multitudes, because they considered him to be a prophet.

Silence may be kept.

The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Luke 1:46-55

Refrain:
God commends his own love towards us,
in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.

My soul magnifies the Lord.
My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,
for he has looked at the humble state of his servant.
For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed.
For he who is mighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
His mercy is for generations and generations on those who fear him.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down princes from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things.
He has sent the rich away empty.
He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and his offspring forever.

Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:
God commends his own love towards us,
in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.

Brief silence.

The Apostle’s Creed

Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Thanksgiving and intercession

Thanksgiving may be made for the day.

Intercessions are offered
for peace
for individuals and their needs

Prayers may include the following concerns:

The persecuted church
The oppressed peoples of the world
All who are lonely
All who are near to death
All who are facing loss

Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.

Response

In faith we pray
We pray to you, our God.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty and everlasting God,
who in your tender love toward the human race
sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ
to take upon him our flesh
and to suffer death upon the cross:
grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility,
and also be made partakers of his resurrection;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Standing at the foot of the cross, as our Savior taught us, so we pray

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.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.

Conclusion

May Christ, who bore our sins on the cross, set us free to serve him with joy.
Amen.