Palm Sunday – katyandtheword

Narrative Lectionary, Luke, Year 3, Lent 6

April 13
Lent 6
Passion/Palm Sunday
Luke 19:29-44
Psalm 118:19-23
Triumph Entry, Jesus Weeps
Lost Peace? God weeps with you

Call to Worship
Let God open the gates of Equity
Whenever God opens them, I give thanks
When God opens the gates Justice will enter
I thank God who answers prayers—and becomes Liberation
The stone that the builders reject will become the chief cornerstone, it is God’s doing
God’s steadfast love endures forever, Praise God!

Call to Worship
When God opens the Gates, we shall know
Equity, Justice and Liberation will flow in the form of Lovingkindness
All that seemed marginal and rejected before, will become marginal
In God’s world, everything will be upside down, and peace will finally be prioritized
We love God who is all about love, salvation and redemption.
How can you no praise that kind of God? Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Prayer of Confession: God, we confess that we get tangled up in our words, thinking that this story is all about judgement instead of empathy. We confess that too often we are looking for the bad guys, instead of the purveyors of peace. Forgive us, teach us how to plant, sow and understand peace we pray. Amen.

Prayer of Confession: Jesus, we confess that sometimes we want to weep without stopping. We feel stuck in the Good Friday moment, and we do not feel like a resurrection people at all. Sit with us when we cry, and teach us how to get up, walk and take the next steps we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News: Nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ, nothing in the present, past or future. No angels, demons, laws, rules, governments, powers, principalities, churches or anything else. So hear and know in your hearts the Good, Good News. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God send us into the world, remembering that Jesus became fully human to walk and be with us. May we try to be fully present in love with one another too. Amen.

Children: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Viorst (bad things don’t take away from the good things, but good things don’t take away from the bad things in life) https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/alexander-and-the-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-day_judith-viorst/253652/?resultid=b18ddc0d-6f7a-42ac-81a1-e6f4798e79ad#edition=2284278&idiq=4130587

Paperback Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Book

Palm Sunday walk

Enter Jerusalem by the back door
Be Greeted by children
Proclaim Peace
Accept Hosanna as the Call to Liberation
Scare the Powers and Principalities
Through Healing
And Preaching if the Good News

Do not stop the Parade
Let us add to the pile Good things

This week, Holy Week, Human Extremis Week

Ride on on a Neutered, Baby Horse
Towards the Temple

Instead of the Palace
Beginning an Apocalypse
The Revealing

To turn the word upside down

Hosanna
Save Us
Blessed

is the
One
(Save us)
Who comes
In the Name of
(Hosanna, Lord knows we need saving)
the Lord

Are you coming
Prince of Peace?
Where is the backdoor anyway?

Feel free to adapt/share/use with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”

Hosanna: A Dangerous Prayer https://katyandtheword.com/2023/03/28/15347/

Lent 6: Palm Sunday Lord Teach Me To Pray/Give Your Heart to God

Lent 6 Prayers of the People & Lament, Hosanna, Save me, Giving space for real sadness and deep lament for the pain that comes with living is a gift that God gives us so that we do not have to suffer lonely or unheard. When the children say “Hosanna” Save us, it is because our suffering deserves to be named. Imprecation prayer is a type of prayer that exists to name all of the injustices of the world and to call God forth to fix them.

Hosanna: A Dangerous Prayer (Anti Gun Violence)

Psalm 23 as a Lament or James 5:1-6
Revelation 21:1-6 or Mark 11:12-14
*Imprecation: Psalm 55 or Psalm 58

Breath Prayer

Inhale: Hosanna
Exhale: Save Us

Inhale: I hurt too much
Exhale: God, take my pain

Inhale: There is too much injustice
Exhale: I will not stand for it

Inhale: God hear my anger
Exhale: God let me be ok with being angry

Call to Worship:
Let us come to God who comforts us
God is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega
God is present, even when we feel abandoned
Sometimes, we feel alone in the pit, God
God be with us even when we yell at the empty air
Come, let us lament together today.

Call to Confession: God hears us, God can take our anger. Let us confess our laments today.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that anger and lament do not fit well into polite society. Too often they are used by bullies and power brokers, instead of expressions of true injustice and pain. We confess that Christianity does not leave much room for lament at church, we like to shuffle it off to certain times and places. Even though we have a Jesus who called out hypocrites, squelched storms and condemned fig trees—not to mention our favorite flipping tables story. Help us to find healthy ways to express and support lament we pray—in the name of our fully human and sometimes grumpy Jesus. (Silent Prayer) Amen.

Prayer of Confession: God, I confess that some days I am so full of emotion, I do not know how to express it. I feel like I am shouting into the void, trying to fix all the things that are wrong with my community, the universe and me. And then I confess, I feel ashamed, because I think that all of this: my feelings, the lack of perfection, the feeling of aloneness are thing to feel guilty over. Remind me that we are supposed to be building a community where these things can be safely expressed and held, and help us to find support on these days we pray. (Silent Confession) Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Jesus cries when we are crying, and walks with us in our anger and hurt. Jesus loves us in all of our emotions, thus we know the comforting Good News In Jesus Christ we are Forgiven.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God, sendyour Holy Spirit to tend to us, so that when we feel overwhelmed by emotions, we might remember that you are here to walk with us, to cry with us, to lament with us, and sometimes just to sit with us. Help us when we feel like we are in the pit of the despair, to find the connection and community we need, each and every time. Amen.

Taize: My Soul finds Rest in God Alone

Prayer Activity: Option 1: Cry with those who cry, take a rock and meditate over those prayers you are lamenting, drop the rock into a bowl of water

Option 2: Write Down all of your Prayers of Concern and add them to/make a new woven prayer cloth https://theresaecho.com/2012/09/20/interactive-way-to-pray-in-worship-part-ii/

*For information on imprecation see This Here Flesh by Cole Arther Riley’s chapter on Anger

Feel free to Email KatyandtheWord at Gmail for Text version for easy Copy/Paste Formatting
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Narrative Lectionary, Year 2, Lent 6

March 24th, Lent 6
Mark 11:1-11 Triumphal Entry
Mark 14:3-9 woman anoints Jesus
Psalm 118:25-29

Kneeling with Christ
The Promise of a New Kin-dom
Breaking [A World Beyond] Capitalism

Lent 6 : Anointed King by a Serving, Simple Woman or Throw him a parade instead of serving the poor, humans never change–Love and Serve the Lord, Jesus wants sacrifice of praise through loving and serving one another not a show of glory.

Breath Prayer Option
Inhale: Christ is King
Exhale: Hosanna

Inhale: Blessed is the One
Exhale: Bless all who come in God’s Name

Inhale: the Lord is God
Exhale: Let us Greet Jesus Christ

Call to Worship
You are my God, I give thanks to you
You are my God, I will extol you
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord
Save us, we beseech you, Hosanna, Hosanna in the High
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good
Come, let us praise God whose steadfast love endures forever

Call to Confession: Come let us cry out our confession to the Lord together.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that we cry out Hosanna, even when we are uncertain whether or not we want to serve you today. We are uncertain how to anoint you as King. Yet here we are, crying out to be saved, from something. because deep in our hearts we know that you are our savior. Hosanna, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, come and teach us how to be a people of Christ we pray. (Silent Confession) Amen.

Prayer of Confession: Jesus we confess that we do not always know how to serve you. We would rather throw you a parade, then give away all of our possessions and go out and work with the immigrants, the poor, the hungry and the naked. Hossana, help us to learn how to serve you better, so that we may kneel beside you when you return to serve we pray. (Silent Confession) Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the good new, Jesus Christ came to save us, so we know the truth, In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God may we go into the world remembering that you will always be our God, and we will alway be your people. May we hold this in our hearts always. Amen.

Hymn Suggestions: Hosanna Loud Hosanna, All Glory Laud and Honor

Taize Option:Adoramus te Domine, Magnificat

Children’s Activity: Smell perfumes/Scents talk about anointing Kings and how revolutionary it was for a woman to anoint Jesus as King
Color a Palm https://www.illustratedministry.com/2020/palm-frond-coloring-page/

Children’s Book: Mother God talk about all the ways God is in the World

Entire Liturgy

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Palm Sunday April 2nd Triumphal Entry

April 2nd
Triumphal Entry, Cleansing the Temple
Matthew 21:1-17
Psalm 118:25-29

Hosanna: A Dangerous Prayer

Call to Worship
Hosanna, Blessed is the One who comes in the Name of the Lord
Hosanna, Lord, Jesus
The Lord has given us Light, Come Lord Save us
Hosanna Lord, Save us
Bind the festal procession with branches! The Lord is God!
Hosanna, Hosanna in the Highest!

Call to Confession: God we are longing for you to save us, so we come to confess to you, full of hosannas, come let us confess ourselves to God.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that we forget that right after we cry Hosanna, Jesus save us! We do not Jesus coming in and flipping over the tables of the sanctuary. Yet here we are and it turns out the Palm Sunday and Flipping Tables Sunday are one and the same. Because you save us, by turning our worldviews upside-down. Remind us that Jesus is with us and for us, remind us that Jesus loves us no matter what and that Jesus continues to walk with us.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good news: God is good, God’s steadfast love endures forever, let us proclaim the truth to one another: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Palm Sunday, a Prayer

Jesus as the apostles went to get the colt

Did you have to psych yourself up

As you rounded the corner to enter the gates did you think

“This is going to suck”

When people threw their cloaks—did you focus on the children and try to think of how real their joy was?

Jesus did you laugh on Palm Sunday?

Did you steal your victory moment—because it was in peace.

Did you think of unions and BLM and Trans kids and all of the unnamed saints who live quietly.

Did they all flash before your eyes when you sighed and took a deep breath to continue your march into Jerusalem?

Did a tear of weariness and joy trickle down your face at the end of the day?

Did you rub your forehead, and smell the remnants of Nard and remind yourself that you too were beloved after a full and important day?

Jesus the longer I live—

The more human you become.

The more I see how you took on Sarc (flesh) for us so that our emotions are real to you–

Real and valid; thank you for celebrating Palm Sunday with us.

Thank you for it’s flashes of joy and humility and peace.

Hosanna.

Amen.

Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

Image: https://i.swncdn.com/media/800w/cms/CCOM/65029-thinkstock-azerberber-palmbranch.800w.tn.jpg

If you enjoy my work, please consider contributing to my writing by supporting my Doctorate in Ministry in Creative Writing for Public Theology at Pittsburgh Seminary

Apocalyptic Prayer

God,

as things seem to collapse

and people leave

and give up.

I can’t tell

Is this the end of the apocalypse?

Or the beginning?

What are we uncovering?

Will things change?

Or will we trundle along,

insisting that everything is

has been

and will be normal.

Is this how it was on Palm Sunday Jesus?

When people were welcoming you

with open arms.

Was everyone saying,

I can’t wait til Israel

gets back to normal.

Did you bother to tell them

That’s not what I’m here for?

Or did you answer,

like to Pilate–

You say that is what I’m here for

More or less agreeable.

God, I find that I am agreeable

these days,

as I don’t know

what is happening next–

I agree that this might happen

or that

and then I always end the day

in prayer

God’s will be done

God’s kin(g)dom come.

Because heaven knows,

I’m just another human

living in apocalyptic times.

God, I don’t have a bigger prayer

than this–

your will be done

your kin(g)dom come.

Amen.

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

April 10th Palm/Passion Sunday: Lament & Hope

The Crucified Messiah: Lament & Hope

Sermon Ideas, Pile of Good Things

Psalm 24

John 12:12-27

Call to Worship

The earth is God’s, and all that is in it; the world and all those who live in it!

God has founded it on the seas and established the world on the rivers.

Let us lift our heads, and seek God, to the gates, so that the King of glory may come in!

Come, we know who the King of Glory is! Let us worship Jesus!

Call to Confession: God, we all have things to confess, Hosanna, save us as we confess together.

Confession: God, we confess that we are always crying Hosanna, Save us! Help us! We confess that our best selves are our Palm Sunday selves knowing we need help and willing to do the work. Our worse selves are our Passion Sunday mob selves angry that things are not fixed and lashing out from our own internal pain. Forgive us, remind us that we no longer have to choose to be a Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday People—you have transformed us into a resurrection people. Help us to hang onto that we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Christ has already saved us, so we can proclaim the good news again and again: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God bless us as we go, remembering that you love us, every single day. On our best days, on our worst days, and every day in between. Help us to hold fast to that love we pray. Amen.

Children: God does not keep score. Talk about forgiveness and how God does not judge like humans or keep grudges like humans. God’s grace washes it all away. Discuss how this is a really hard concept for humans, because we are really good at judging and holding grudges, but Jesus promises that is not how it works for God.

Hymns: Great is Thy Faithfulness, Be Thou My Vision, All Glory Laud and Honor, Hosanna Loud Hosanna, O Love How Deep How Broad How High

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For Word versions of the Liturgy email me at Katyandtheword at gmail

From Lament to Hope Full Resources

Conspiring with God: A Prayer

As rumors of microchips and aliens and kidnapped sex workers abound.

I hear you whispering that you are the God of the Conspiracy theorists too.

You hear their cries for a world that makes sense, you feel their arms when they reach out for someone/anyone to go along with what they are proclaiming, you take their anger when the world does not go the way it should.

You hold their hands, even when they think guns are the answer.

You continue to tell them the truth, even if their hearts are hardened with entrenched racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism and other forms of bigotry.

Only you know, God, what conspiracies abounded when Jesus rode the small colt, you are the one who knows what the palms and cloaks symbolized for those who threw them.

You alone understand what poisonous lies, or world bending truths were whispered in Judas’s ear, to sell you out.

And still, the Truth is God’s, I can’t believe in any conspiracy but your love.

We humans are too clumsy, too small minded, too telltale to conspire.

I believe there are gross inequities, there are systems that run and thrive on corruption, I believe that there is, indeed, real evil manifest in the world.

But though I believe that power seeks out and protects power, and that small lies can lead to big lies, that there is no grand scheme.

Because evil is niggling and sneaky.

It hurts in micro-agressions and permission-giving for bad behavior, and in letting those who are in power believe their own lies. It’s not systemized, but all too often, it’s allowed to become prevalent.

So that bad decision stacks upon bad decision leading to the mistreatment of immigrants, the white supremacy becoming cultural, to faith being inseparable from the very flag that corrupts it and weighs it down.

And that’s why, I believe you conspire and inspire for good–all the time and every time.

This is why you said “Tell Herod that fox that I’m going to keep healing and preaching til I breathe my last.” This is why on your last day on earth, you had a ginormous good meal with your closest peeps, and then spent time loving on them and washing their feet.

You will never stop. Jesus. Jesus who meets us by the well, in a tree, and even upon a cross as we lay dying. Even then, you conspire for good.

And if I blink, I can see the co-inspiring works of the Holy Spirit.

If I blink: I can see how you make it so that babies remain impossibly cute and a couple of droplets of baptismal water are enough to start the flood of your never-ending grace

If I blink, I can see how the stars still sing out Abrahamic promises and rainbows still speak of a weaponless future of love,

If I blink I can feel your presence “your church” in all of the communities and all of the neighborhoods in the world, and its then I can taste how bread and the cup are enough to tie us to every one of your beloved: those who have come before, and those who have yet to be.

Holy Spirit, help me to conspire with you, and only you.

Stand with me as I work to find the threads of truth and love and hope.

Imbue in me, imbue in us, a faith that we humans can be beloved into a better being, and help me to talk and walk in ways that blot out the evils of the world. I pray in your most Holy Name, Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Feel free to use/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

Palm Sunday: Waiting for the Stones

Jesus, I don’t know how much shouting of Hosanna will happen on Sunday.

I’m uncertain who will be there and how we will parade,

And Lord, you know, there will not be any singing. We miss it, God, but are trying to do right.

And though we may be sighing “Hosanna: Lord Save Us” we also know that we have to take some responsibility and help to save ourselves.

And, most days I doubt we actually want peace on earth, we are so bad at enacting and supporting true peace.

And Jesus is not going to come in guns blazing; Thank God!

What does the Lord require for Jesus to come? What humble entry can we cede to the Son of God?

What videos or drivethrus or palm crafts might come?

God, I confess this might be the week that there will be few shouts. We will be sticking well to your humility and simplicity this year.

So I will be listening to the stones.

For the truth cannot be stopped.

“Blessed is the one One who comes in the name of the Lord, Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven.”

Amen.

Hosanna.

Amen.

Feel free to share/use/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

More Holy Week Prayers: https://katyandtheword.com/2021/03/24/holy-week-easter-prayers/