Trinity-St. Andrew’s United Church
Order of Worship
Sunday, April 13, 2025 – Palm Sunday
Prelude
Words of welcome, announcements
Lighting the Christ Candle
As we journey towards the darkness of the cross, we light a candle to remind us of the Light that can not be put out. May this light remind us that we are not alone, in all the changing scenes of life. We do not make this journey from death to resurrection alone, for God is with us.
Choral Introit
Call To Worship
This is the day that the Lord has made
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Open wide the gates of your hearts.
And Let the Savior enter!
Shout with joy, all you people.
The Savior has come bringing peace. AMEN.
Hymn Hosanna, Loud Hosanna VU 123
- Hosanna, loud hosanna
the happy children sang;
through pillared court and temple
the joyful anthem rang;
to Jesus, who had blessed them
close folded to his breast,
the children sang their praises,
the simplest and the best.
- From Olivet they followed
‘mid an exultant crowd,
the victory palm branch waving,
and singing clear and loud;
the Lord of earth and heaven
rode on in lowly state,
content that little children
should be on his bidding wait.
- “Hosanna in the highest!”
That ancient song we sing,
for Christ is our Redeemer;
earth, let your anthems ring.
O may we ever praise him
with heart and life and voice,
and in his bumble presence
eternally rejoice!
Prayer of Approach
Loving God, today we remember and celebrate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. We join with his followers by waving our palm branches to welcome him in. Even as we wave our branches and shout “Hosanna!”, we recognize we have not always behaved as disciples. Like the early disciples who abandoned Jesus during the events of this terrible week, we too have wandered away from the path of Christ. We have done and said things that do not live up to this calling. Yet, here we stand, in the parade route, waving our branches. Forgive us, Lord. Help us to turn our lives around and truly serve you. May Jesus enter our hearts and transform our lives today, for we ask this in his holy name. AMEN.
Welcoming of a new member: Danah-Lee Krieger
Scripture Reader: Barbara Moogk
First Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9a
Special Music
Gospel Reading: Luke 19:28–40
Hymn Ride On! Ride On in Majesty! VU 127
- Ride on! Ride on in majesty!
Hark! All the tribes hosanna cry;
O Saviour meek, pursue thy road
with palms and scattered garments strowed.
- Ride on! Ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
O Christ, thy triumphs now begin
o’er captive death and conquered sin.
- Ride on! Ride on in majesty!
The wingèd squadrons of the sky
look down with sad and wandering eyes
to see the approaching sacrifice.
- Ride on! Ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
bow thy meek head to mortal pain,
then take, O God, thy power, and reign.
Homily “Weighing the palms against the silver”
Special Music
The offering
We give thanks for everyone who continues to support TSA and our many ministries. Your gifts of support and encouragement mean a lot to us. You can get more information about making a donation by contacting the church office or by visiting our website. There are also many opportunities to volunteer in our different ministries. For all the gifts you share, for all the people you bless by your serving and giving as a disciple of Jesus, we give thanks.
Offering Song Know That God is Good MV 104
Know that God is good, (3x)
God is good, God is good.
Offering Prayer
Holy Jesus, on the first Palm Sunday, the crowds offered you their coats to walk on, they waved palm branches as a way to honour your presence. Today we honour you, with our faithful tithes and offerings. We offer the gifts of our hands and our hearts to your service. We lay these gifts before you as humble tokens of our love. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of our God. May these gifts and those who give them share in your blessing. Amen.
Hymn Tell Me the Stories of Jesus VU 357
- Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear,
things I would ask him to tell me if he were here:
scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea,
stories of Jesus, tell them to me.
- First let me hear how the children stood round his knee,
and I shall fancy his blessing resting on me;
words full of kindness, deeds full of grace,
all in the lovelight of Jesus’ face.
- Tell me, in accents of wonder, how rolled the sea
tossing the boat in a tempest on Galilee!
And how the Master, ready and kind,
Chided the billows and hushed the wind.
- Into the city I’d follow the children’s band,
waving a branch of the palm tree high in my hand;
one of his heralds, yes, I would sing
loudest hosannas! Jesus is King!
- Show me that scene in the garden of bitter pain;
and of the cross where by Saviour for me was slain.
Sad ones or bright ones, so that they be
stories of Jesus, tell them to me.
Pastoral Prayer
Lord’s Prayer VU 910
Hymn All Glory, Laud and Honour VU 122
Refrain: All glory, laud and honour
to you, Redeemer, King,
to whom the lips of children
made sweet hosannas ring.
- You are the King of Israel,
and David’s royal son,
now in the Lord’s name coming,
our King and blessed one. Refrain
- The multitude of pilgrims
with palms before you went;
our praise and payer and anthems
before you we present. Refrain
- To you, before your passion,
they sang their hymns of praise;
to you, now high exalted,
our melody we raise. Refrain
- Their praises you accepted;
accept the prayers we bring,
great author of all goodness,
O good and gracious king. Refrain
Benediction
Jesus is on a journey, and the way leads through opposition and misunderstanding. Jesus invites us to follow him. This journey leads through the shadows of betrayal, the night of Gethsemane, the afternoon darkness of Golgotha. May we have the grace to follow this Christ, and to give to him our very lives. For in giving away our lives, we find them, and in dying we live. May God bless the journey. Go now in peace.
Choral Amen Go Now in Peace VU 964
Go now in peace, go now in peace.
May the love of God surround you everywhere,
everywhere you may go.
Postlude
“Weighing the palms against the silver” Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025
Preached by Rev. James Murray at Trinity-St. Andrew’s United Church, Renfrew.
When Jesus rides into town, it is quite the sight. Here is a man claiming to be the new King. But he isn’t leading an army of thousands of well-trained fighting men. His followers have no weapons of violence with which to overthrow the government or take over the temple. In fact they have no swords of any kind. Jesus isn’t riding a big white war horse. Instead, Jesus rides in on a common grey donkey. He is leading a small group of men and women and children. They carry palm branches to wave…symbols of joy and hope…and of life. This small group of powerless people are determined to change the world by the power of love. Joy, hope, and new life are their tools to build God’s new kingdom.
This is not the kind of change most people look for. It is not what many expected. Even some of the disciples wonder if it could actually work. But it is the only way to make lasting change, to build real peace. Peace doesn’t come from holding a sword or a gun. Peace doesn’t come when we have all the money we want. It comes from sharing the abundant gifts of God, the gifts of joy, hope, peace and love.
Today is Palm Sunday and the parade continues. We are invited to join in Jesus’ arrival, and to share in the Kingdom he comes to establish. It is time for us to raise our palms too. Today we have brought in palm branches to help us be a part of the parade. But we don’t need a palm branch if we want to join in. That’s not what God is asking us to do.
Hold out your hands…there they are…there are the palms God really wants us to raise…
So raise your palms, your hands in praise to this Christ, this king who rides a donkey. God wants us to raise our palms, stretch them out to receive him, to touch him, to accept the love and grace and peace and joy and forgiveness which comes from the very heart of God…
Once we have praised God and have received this gift, then we are to stretch our palms out and offer to the world all the love and grace Jesus has given to each of us. The story of the palms teaches us that the more love we give to God and to others, the more we will get in return.
It is a struggle to believe that the power to change the world does lie in the palm of our hands. Some want to trust in something stronger. They want to hang on to the worldly power that things like money can bring. We cling to these other forms of power, even though the Bible clearly says that the Love of money is the root of all evil. Sometimes we talk as if it is the money itself which is evil. In all truth, money can’t be good or evil at all. All the money can do is what we tell it to do. John Wesley once told people make as much money as they can, so they could do as much good as possible.
Money does end up playing a role in the story of Jesus because of Judas. Judas goes to the ruling council and asks what they would give him for betraying Jesus. They offer him 30 pieces of silver, which is the going rate for a common slave. Judas sells Jesus’ freedom, like a slave master does when he sells another human being. For Judas to treat Jesus like a slave, shows how badly their relationship has been broken. They are no longer brothers or friends. Judas is not doing this because he is tempted by the money. It is merely the outward sign of an inward closing off of the heart. Before he even goes to the authorities, Judas has rejected Jesus’ peaceful revolution. He wants something more radical. We can only speculate what Judas ultimate goal was. Maybe he thought Jesus’ death would spark a political revolution. He may have sold Jesus out because he had given up all hope of Jesus’ way leading to something.
Regardless of the motive, the relationship is broken. Where Jesus has rejected violent force, Judas the Iscariot is quick to embrace it. Where Jesus believes love and compassion are the keys to lasting change, Judas looks to a backroom deal with the political powers-that-be to change things. Judas weighs the palm branch against the silver and as a result Judas puts down his palm branch. He breaks his relationship with Christ and with God. He works towards his own ends at the cost of a human life. He sells Christ out for the price of a slave. In doing so Judas strips Jesus of his freedom, his dignity, and his very life.
Yet the end result of all of this, the resurrection, shows how the powers and principalities of this world do not have the final say. The power of silver coins cannot win over the human heart. Money and governments and violence are not the greatest powers of all. It is the power of love, compassion, forgiveness and peace and joy which do triumph in the end. The palm branch is weighed out against the silver, and the palm branches do triumph. The power of the money, the violence and the fear is defeated so soundly that we can forgive Judas for what he has done. We still remember what he did, but we know that in the end, only kindness matters. Only love will prevail. God will triumph.
This is why we hang on to our droopy palm branches. They remind us of the greatest power in the world. A power that God has planted within the palms of your hands. Amen.
