Morning Worship

We offer you a warm welcome, and as is our practice, we remember that the land on which we meet is, was, and always will be native land. We acknowledge those indigenous tribes to Oklahoma: the Wichitas, Caddos, Plains Apaches, and the Quapaws, as the original custodians of the land in this place. We grieve the violence done to native language, culture, and personhood, and seek to honor the sovereignty and dignity of native peoples.

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Make Me a Channel of Your Peace
Sebastian Temple arr. Lloyd Larson
Glenda Stansbury

One: Let us begin Holy Week with a prayer for illumination: If we have heard this story before, Holy One, the one of Jesus entering Jerusalm riding on a donkey, then help us to hear it again. And if we’ve never heard this story before, the one of palm branches and “hosannas,” give us the wisdom to follow along.

All: Grant us understanding, Holy One. Strengthen our resolve to act on the truth we hear. Speak, for we are listening. With courageous hearts we pray, Amen.

One: Good morning and welcome from Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ, where no matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey . . .  

All: You are welcome here!

One: We hear a story this day about people laying down their coats, shouting “Hosanna,” and following Jesus ever more closely. And we cannot help but ask:

All: Will we, too, lay down something important? Will we sing with our whole hearts? Will we follow Jesus ever more closely?

One: Who here will let the good news inspire them to justice, mercy, and love?

All: We will! We come to sing, to pray, and to take action. So let us begin!

How Firm a Foundation, Hymn 407
New Century Hymnal

[Please rise in body or in spirit.]

One: "May the peace of Christ be with you."
All: "And also with you!"

Type your new text here.

One: The very first Palm Sunday was a day of action. It was a day of movement, of crowded city streets, of cries of “Hosanna!” It was a day of peaceful protest and dreams for a better world. The first Palm Sunday was a day of peaceful, hopeful action. So friends, on this Palm Sunday, let us join the saints before us in an act of faith. Let us begin with an act of prayer, honesty, and transformation. Let us begin by drawing close to God and sharing the truth of our lives, Join me in this prayer of confession:

All:  We know, Holy One, that Jesus spent his days teaching and healing. He marched through the streets, laid hands on the sick, and broke bread at crowded dinner tables. He did not limit the good news to conversation, but made it alive in the world.

One: Oh, we long for a faith like that. Forgive us, Holy One, for the times when we confine our faith to something we only think about, as opposed to something we act upon.

All: Inspire us to love as Jesus loved and to make the good news alive in the world with our actions. With hope for tomorrow we pray, Amen.

Today we think about the places in our world and in our own lives where justice and mercy are needed: our neighbors in Palestine, Iran, and Ukraine, and for the beloveds in our community who are sick, who are getting treatment and who are moving to hospice, who are grieving, who are waiting, and those who are uncertain. We pray for those among us who are looking for home, those who need a break, and those trying to make ends meet.

And we also look for the good news unfolding all around us. We celebrate the birthdays of Kelly Holst and Keith Hazelton. Last week, Kelly Moore and Kevin Salter celebrated their first wedding anniversary and 25 years together. Yesterday we gathered for Women’s History Month to remember and celebrate women who paved the way, broke glass ceilings, and demanded justice and equality. Some of us are welcoming healthy babies and giving thanks for successful procedures. We are grateful for joyful moments big and small that we hold in our hearts on this day.

And now we weave our voices together to pray as Jesus taught the disciples:

All: Our Creator, who is in heaven, holy is your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For you reign in the power that is love, now and always, Amen.

One: God wouldn't bring you this far to leave you. God wouldn't bring you this far to let you go.
God wouldn't bring you this far to leave you. No height, nor depth, nor anything else can separate us from the love that God will show.

All: God wouldn't bring you this far to leave you. God wouldn't bring you this far to let you go.
God wouldn't bring you this far to leave you. No height, nor depth, nor anything else can separate us from the love that God will show.

[excerpt from God Wouldn't Bring You This Far to Leave You by Tom Trenney]

When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this: ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus had said, and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

“Hosanna!
    Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
     Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple, and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

Rev. Dr. Lori Walke

I'm Pressing on the Upward Way, Hymn 442
New Century Hymnal

[Please rise in body or in spirit.]

When you meet anger, speak with love.
When you meet fear, speak with hope.
When you meet pain, speak with gentleness.

The good news is alive in the world, as long as we embody it,
so go in peace, pray for peace, wage a little peace, and love one another . . .

All: Every single other.

What Does the Lord Require?
Jim Strathdee

Part 1: What does the Lord require of you? What does the Lord require of you?

Part 2: Justice, kindness, walk humbly with your God. Justice, kindness, walk humbly with your God.

Part 3: To do justice, and love kindness and walk humbly with your God. To do justice, and love kindness and walk humbly with your God.

[Sung in a round, Part 1 begins the response, joined the second time by Part 2, then by Part 3, and then a fourth time through. For those in-person, it is our tradition for the congregation to stand and turn towards the center aisle during the benediction response so that we might "send each other forth" to embody what we sing.]