Fairlawn Christian Reformed ChurchPalm Sunday The Sunday of the Passion of Jesus Christ March 16, 2008 10:15 A.M. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Preparation And Praise Upon entering the sanctuary please maintain silence and turn off all electronic devices for the sake of the congregation’s preparation for worship. Prelude: “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna” Nelhybel “All Glory, Laud, and Honor” Nelhybel Welcome and Announcements Silent Prayer and Preparation * Call to Worship: Zechariah 9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See your King comes to you, righteous and endowed with salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, the foal of a donkey. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. * Hymn: PH 376 “All Glory, Laud, and Honor” St. Theodulph Children’s Choir Anthem: “Filled with Excitement” Avila * God’s Greeting: Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Lord be with you. And also with you. Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. * Prayer of the Day: Lord Jesus Christ, as your faithful disciples blessed your coming, and spread their garments before you in the way of your entrance into the city of Jerusalem, covering it with palm branches, make us ready to lay at your feet all that we have and are, and to exalt you, the One who comes in the name of the Lord. And grant that after having confessed and worshiped you upon the earth, we may be among the number of those who shall hail your eternal triumph, and bear in our hands the palms of victory, when every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that you are Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Amen. * Response: PH 635 “Gloria Patri” Meineke 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. Confession and Prayer The Reading of the Passion of Jesus Christ from the Gospel of John (listed below) Prayer of Confession: Lord Jesus Christ, looking on you whom we have pierced, we mourn for our sins of thought, word, and deed which we have committed against your holy majesty. We have not loved you with all of our heart, nor have we humbly served one another as you have taught us. In the midst of our earthly comforts, we have forgotten the pains and mortal anguish that you endured for our salvation. Grant us a true vision of all that you suffered; in your betrayal, your lonely agony, your false trial, your mocking and scourging, and your shameful death upon the cross. O Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us. Forgive us for all of our sins, and as you have given yourself utterly for us, may we give ourselves entirely to you as the Lord of our lives. Silent Prayer and Confession Minister: Amen. Assurance of Pardon: Psalm 103 Choral Anthem: “Hosanna! Sing Praises!” Schrader Congregational Prayer The Service Of The Word * Hymn: PH 378 “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna” Ellacombe [Children age 3 - grade Pre-K may leave during the hymn.] * Reading from the Gospel: Luke 22:54-62 Sermon: And the Lord Turned and Looked at Peter Prayer * Hymn: Bulletin page 4 “Ride On, Ride On, in Majesty” Winchester New The Offering of Tribute * Offertory Prayer Offering: Fairlawn General Fund Offertory: “The Palms” Fauré Blessing and Dismissal * Blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. * Doxology: “Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation” Regent Square Laud and honor to the Father, laud and honor to the Son, laud and honor to the Spirit, ever Three and ever One, One in might, and One in glory, while unending ages run. Postlude: “In the Cross of Christ I Glory” Carter *Indicates congregation stands _____________________________________________________________________________________
John’s Account of the Passion of Jesus Christ John 18:12—19:37 (The congregation is asked to read the parts indicated with bold print.)
Narrator: Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people. The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. Jesus: “I have spoken openly to the world. I always taught in the synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.” Narrator: When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” Jesus: “If I said something wrong, testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” Narrator: Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and asked, Pilate: “What charges are you bringing against this man?” All: “If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” Pilate: “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law. All: “But we have no right to execute anyone.” Narrator: This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled. Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, Pilate: “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus: “Is that your own idea, or did others talk to you about me?” Pilate: “Am I a Jew? It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?” Jesus: “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” Pilate: “You are a king, then!” Jesus: “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” Pilate: “What is truth?” Narrator: With this he went out again to the Jews and said, Pilate: “I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?” All: “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Narrator: Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion. Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, All: “Hail, king of the Jews!” Narrator: And they struck him in the face. Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, Pilate: “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” Narrator: When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, Pilate: “Here is the man!” Narrator: As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, All: “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate: “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.” All: “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” Narrator: When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. He asked Jesus, Pilate: “Where do you come from?” Narrator: But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate: “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
Jesus: “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” Narrator: From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, All: “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” Narrator: When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. Pilate said to the Jews, Pilate: “Here is your king.” All: “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate: “Shall I crucify your king?” All: “We have no king but Caesar.” Narrator: Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, All: “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.” Pilate: “What I have written, I have written.” Narrator: Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.” The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. All: Thanks be to God!
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