Bulletin – Sunday, March 29, 2026 – Sixth Sunday in Lent / Palm Sunday

Sunday, March 29, 2026
Sixth Sunday in Lent
Palm Sunday

We Gather as People of Faith

Welcome

Tennebrae 6

One:        We gather here, week after week, sharing a common quest for deeper faith and experience of the divine. Listen to the soft voice of God among us! The time is drawing near. Jesus is preparing to enter Jerusalem. How will we greet him? Will we follow him all the way to the Cross and to the empty tomb? The way Jesus lived brought him to his death on a cross. He lived with an abiding awareness of God, radiating the light of God in all he said and did. But that light is often too much for the world. There are forces today, as there were in ancient Judea, that conspire to put it out. Are we willing to risk our security and comfort to follow Jesus into the darkness where God has called us? The place where reconciliation and peace will be found?

(Silent Time)

One:   As we extinguish this light, we acknowledge the pain, illness, violence, and disease in the world. We cry out for justice for the torched earth. We are called to be here within all of this, to be the sacred presence of God for one another.

(A candle is extinguished)

One:   Let us pray:
All:      Loving God, there are so many choices before us every day. Choices offered by our friends, our families, our culture, our own past. Some of these encourage the well-being of the earth, us, and our neighbours; others are destructive. Help us to distinguish between them. May our spirits be ever aligned with the risen Christ that we too will embody God’s compassion, justice, and inclusion in all we say and do. Amen.

Announcements

Call to Worship

Oh Loving Creator, you call us together in this holy place to honor the gift of your spirit here among us. Today we gather in anticipation of the coming of the Holy Spirit into our time together throughout this Lenten season, we opened our hearts to your coming and transformation. We waited with expectant joy and often anxious minds we are a discerning people and call for your guidance, wisdom, and love on this day. As we welcome you in, and walk with you, even to the cross, even as we await the resurrection spirit to come down upon us.

Please join in the singing of the hymn – “He Came Riding on a Donkey” (Voices United #124)

He came riding on a donkey, he came riding into town;
Slow and easy kind of lowly he came riding with the dawn.
His disciples walked beside him, staying close, a little shy;
Not too sure where he would guide them, on to live or on to die.
But all the morning sang his praises; waking birds and dancing wind,
Here he is, the Son of David; riding on to take his throne.

Then the children gathered, singing, shouts of laughter, bursting cheer;
In the streets their song was ringing, “Hosannas” filled the morning air.
Timid adults strained to see him, caught the Spirit, joined the song;
Spread their cloaks along before him, branches flashing in the sun.
So all the city sang his praises; waking street and dancing crowd;
Here he is, the Son of David; our Messiah, Son of God.

In our fasting, and our feasting, called to follow in his way;
Called to walk his road to Easter, called to live his cross today.
Hosanna to the Son of David, hosanna in the heavens above;
Blessed is he who comes to save us, blessed is he who brings his love.
Let us join to sing his praises; open hearts and souls to God;
He is with us, Son of David; God’s Messiah, Christ the Lord.

Prayer of Approach and Confession

One:   O Creator of love and care of all creation. If only we could embrace life with your strength and tenacity, conviction and love as Jesus did, triumphantly and with humility riding a donkey and colt to the praises of all. With our worries, and our own troubled histories, we too often fail to reach for you. As did the crowds who spread their cloaks on the road, cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road, help us to recognize you among us in our time and place that we might to, shout with confidence
All:      “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Words of Assurance

Let us be confident in the deep love that God has for all of creation as shown in the sacrifice of Jesus, who lived to assure us, that all who are hungry are fed, those who are thirsty will be given living waters, and the chains around the imprisoned and oppressed are loosed. Defying death on a cross, Jesus trusted God’s call, to act justly and to love mercifully and to walk humbly with God. May we do the same trusting and knowing that we too are loved and gifted with the Peace of God. As disciples of the risen Christ, agents of God’s love for all.

Sung Response – “How Deep the Peace” (More Voices #95)

How deep the peace, the confidence, of those whose wrongs are forgiven.
How deep the peace, the confidence, of those whose hearts are healed.

A Story for All

We Hear God’s Word

Scripture Readings

The first scripture reading is from the Book of Psalms 118:1-2; 19-29

¹ O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!
² Let Israel say, “His steadfast God’s love endures forever.”

¹⁹ Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
²⁰ This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.
²¹ I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.
²² The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
²³ This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
²⁴ This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it
²⁵ Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
²⁶ Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord.
²⁷ The Lord is God, and has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.
²⁸ You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.
²⁹ O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good, for God’s steadfast love endures forever.

The second reading is from the Gospel of Matthew 21:1-11

¹ When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ² 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. ³ If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” ⁴ This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying:

⁵ “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.”

⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; ⁷ they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. ⁸ A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ 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!”

¹⁰ When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” ¹¹ The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

May God speak to us through these readings of scripture.
Thanks be to God!

Anthem – “Do You See That Man?”

Do you see that Man, the one the Prophets called Emmanuel?
Do you see that Man they’re calling Lord of all?
Do you see that Man, the one who calls himself the Way?
I want to see Him! He’ll be here today!

Hosanna! Wave your branches high,
Throw your garments before Him as He passes by.
Hosanna! Come and hear what He’ll say.
Hosanna!  He’s coming our way!
Hosanna! He’s coming today!

Do you see that Man, the one the Baptist called the Lamb of God?
Do you see that Man they’re calling to be King?
Do you see that Man, the one who calls himself the Son?
I want to see Him! He must be the One!

Hosanna! Wave your branches high,
Throw your garments before Him as He passes by.
Hosanna! Come and hear what He’ll say.
Hosanna!  He’s coming our way!
Hosanna! He’s coming today!

Sermon

Please join in the singing of the hymn – “From the East the Poor are Marching”

From the east the poor are marching, spreading branches as they come;
From the west the sound of soldiers marching, marching far from home.

Jesus on a colt come riding down a dusty city street,
With a ragtag peasant chorus – hopeful, shouting as they meet.

Pilate comes imposing order on the festival each year-
Warhorse, drumbeat, armoured soldiers. Silent crowds look on with fear.

Two processions to the city – shepherd staff and Roman spear –
Blessed is the Son of David who will bring God’s kingdom here.

We Respond to God’s Word

Invitation to Share

Offering Sung Response – “These Lenten Gifts We Bring”

These Lenten gifts we bring,
Our living faith expressed,
We offer them, most lovingly,
And thus our hearts are blessed.

O loving God receive
These gifts we gladly give,
That show our faith and hope and trust;
Your way we seek to live.

Offering Prayer

Holy breathing of God, [accept these gifts we offer today]. We feel you stirring. Warmed by this breath good things start to grow. Even in strong, wealthy lands, fresh, mobilizing calls evoke planetary piety, winning the hearts and the hands of the caring: each in her chosen path, each with his special gift, take their stand to create a world more fit for living more just and more humane.

(adapted from “It’s Midnight Lord,” Don Helder Camara – Brazilian Liberation Theologian)

Prayers of the People

Invitation to the Passing of the Peace

Please offer one another the peace of Christ in a way that you feel comfortable and respects others’ space.

The Prayer that Jesus Taught

One:   Please join me in praying the prayer Jesus taught us to pray: Our Creator who is like…
All:      Our Mother and 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 trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

We Go Into God’s World

Please join in the singing of the hymn – “Let It Be Said of Us”

Let it be said of us that the Lord was our passion
That with gladness we bore every cross we were given
That we fought the good fight, that we finished our course
Knowing within us the power of the risen Lord

Let the cross be our glory and the Lord be our song
By mercy made holy, by the Spirit made strong
Let the cross be our glory and the Lord be our song
‘Till the likeness of Jesus be through us made known
Let the cross be our glory and the Lord be our song

Let it be said of us we were marked by forgiveness
We were known by our love and delighted in meekness
We were ruled by his peace, heeding unity’s call
Joined as one body that Christ would be seen by all

Let the cross be our glory and the Lord be our song
By mercy made holy, by the Spirit made strong
Let the cross be our glory and the Lord be our song
‘Till the likeness of Jesus be through us made known
Let the cross be our glory and the Lord be our song

Commissioning

With the courage of Jesus who faced death on a cross who walked through the streets of Jerusalem to ultimately face his persecutors with love and forgiveness. Let us open our hearts and minds to the wisdom of God that all our decisions and actions are reflected in a spirit of love, and care for each other and the world.

Benediction

Let us go now out into the world to bear witness to the love of God revealed to us in the crucified Jesus and the risen Christ. Led by Holy Wisdom, Sophia our guide and our help, now and forever. Amen.

Sung Response – “May the Christ Who Walks on Wounded Feet”

May the Christ who walks on wounded feet
Travel with you all your journey through.
May you see Christ’s face in all you meet
And may all you meet see Christ’s face in you.