Palm Sunday service 13 April 2025

Sunday 13 April 2025, Palm Sunday all age service
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse: 632143
Email: TPeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
Email Charlene, Parish Assistant: CMitchell (at) churchofscotland.org.uk

Today in the sanctuary is an all-age service …the online service is also informal with no script for the sermon. The story will be broken up through the sanctuary service as noted here, but read all in one go during the online service. Apologies for any confusion in the reading of the manuscript!

Prelude Music (praise band)

We Gather As God’s Family (As the Bible is brought in, we stand and sing)
A family gathered in love,
striving for justice and joy,
blessing the broken-hearted,
and sharing the hope of God’s kingdom.

Welcome

Sanctuary Call to Worship Hymn GWA114 Hosanna (Praise is Rising) (praise band)

Online Call to Worship

One: We come together here on holy ground,
All: proclaiming “blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
One: We come together as the cosmos aligns for this moment:
All: the moment the Prince of Peace comes in glory.
One: We come together remembering God’s past faithfulness and hoping for the future —
All: let those with eyes to see and ears to hear understand what God is doing now.

Online Prayer

Come, Lord Jesus —
into this unsteady world
surefooted even on an unbroken colt
wrapped in holiness yet surrounded by shouts and jeers
making too public your purpose
opposing the powers of this world
with the peace of heaven.
Come, Lord Jesus,
and make us ready to recognise this time
when God is with us.

You call us to follow you,
King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
But we confess that we are nervous, shy, afraid.
We want to keep our faith to ourselves,
personal and private, just between us.
We don’t want to look silly.
We don’t want to commit too much.
We don’t want to draw the attention of the empire.
So we pray quietly
and try not to rock the boat.
And the stones cry out,
for you have not left the world without a witness,
even when we are silent.
Forgive us, O God, for obeying the will of the empire before they even ask.
Forgive us for believing we can go along to get along.
Forgive us for thinking we can just substitute Jesus in their game without challenging the rules.
Expand our imagination to grasp the possibilities of kingdom life,
promised and embodied and sustained by your love,
yet so different than anything we’ve known.
Forgive us, and give us the courage
to lay down our cloaks
to raise our voices
to risk living your gospel of peace even here and now.
We ask in the name of the Holy One who comes to give his all, Jesus the Christ.
Amen.

God was in Christ reconciling the world — and entrusting us with this ministry. Know that you are loved, and called, and trusted to be about God’s work in this life, by the power of the Spirit. Amen.

Online Hymn: Praise is Rising (Hosanna)

Sanctuary Palm Prayer

Sanctuary Peruvian Gloria (a capella call and response)

Getting on the Road
(Luke 19.28-39)
Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” just say this: “It’s Master needs it.” ’ So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its masters asked them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ They said, ‘It’s Master needs it.’ Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,
‘Blessed is the king
   who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
   and glory in the highest heaven!’

Sanctuary: The Crowd Sings — Hymn 364: All Glory Laud and Honour vv 1, 2, 5

Rock Concert (Sanctuary Stone Painting)
(Luke 19.44)
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, order your disciples to stop.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.’

Sanctuary Hymn: Give Me Oil In My Lamp (praise band)

The Things That Make For Peace
(Luke 19.41-42a)
As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognised on this day the things that make for peace!’
(Sanctuary Palm Crosses)

Prayer including the Lord’s Prayer

The stones cry out with praise, Creator God,
witnesses to your power and your goodness,
and we join our voices with the choir of creation,
all earth and heaven declaring your purpose.
Indeed all things are yours,
coming into being through your Word
and fulfilling your vision, with nothing lost or wasted.
We give you thanks for your saving grace,
for the blessing of your presence among us,
for the peace you embody and offer.
We pray this day for your creation,
for its voice silenced by human greed,
for its groaning under our weight,
for its pain at being used and abused for our gain.
May we recognise our place in your created order,
and the beauty and value of its witness.
We pray this day for our neighbours who are also silenced,
those in the minority who know they will all pay for any one’s action,
those whose history leaves them afraid of repeating it,
those who no longer believe they will be heard.
Strengthen their heart and voice,
and give us ears to hear.
Set the world’s attention to justice,
to breaking cycles by choosing to listen with care.
We pray this day for those who buy in to the power structures,
hoping for a scrap of benefit to fall their way,
and so they participate in unjust systems
and silence even their own neighbours and friends to save their own hoped-for position.
Reveal to us all the things that make for peace,
and may your tears open our eyes to your way of truth and life.
On the 13th day of the month we join our hearts as your St John’s church family to pray
*For all who live and work along Shore Street to Eastern View.
*We pray for the staff of St John’s: for the minister, the organist, and the parish assistant.
*For the land, people, and governments of the nations of Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé & Principe, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Angola.

You are trustworthy in the smallest detail,
now teach us to trust your transformative grace
riding into our lives in the most awkward and yet powerful way,
demanding our all.
We give you glory, O God,
praying in the name of Jesus the Christ, who taught us to pray together: 

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

*Sanctuary Hymn 279: Make Way

Sending

Don’t leave it to the stones — go from this place to proclaim joyfully and with a loud voice the saving grace of the Lord, whose power is not what you might expect and yet changes everything. And as you go may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you. May the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion. May the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way, and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone. And may the Spirit of God go within you, to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.

Sung Benediction Response (John L Bell, tune Gourock St John’s)
Now may the Lord of all be blessed,
Now may Christ’s gospel be confessed,
Now may the Spirit when we meet
Bless sanctuary and street.

Postlude Music

Announcements

* We worship in the sanctuary on Sundays at 11am, and Sunday worship is also online. If you are able, please enter by the front door in Bath street, and only those who need step-free access should use the back door. If you feel unwell, please worship online, to protect both yourself and others in our community.
The Sunday evening service is on a break for Lent so that we can focus on the Monday evening book group (more info below). The Sunday evenings will re-launch after Easter.

* The first Sunday of the month at 11am(except this month, when it’s today for Palm Sunday!) is now an all-age service, with different ways of encountering God’s word without a traditional sermon. All people — young and old, different personalities and learning styles, are welcome! You’ll find a more informal service with a variety of music, a Bible story, prayer, and some more interactive elements. The online service for the first Sunday will therefore also be different — there will still be a reading, prayers, and music, but usually not a sermon.

*****Holy Week and Easter services******

* Wednesday 16 April at 7pm, we are invited to St Margaret’s for a service led by the Connect Singers, focused on the story of the anointing of Jesus at Bethany.
* Maundy Thursday, 17 April 7pm, cafe-style communion service in St John’s.
* Good Friday, 18 April cross-walk leaving from St John’s (Bath Street) at 10:30am and ending with a service at the pierhead around 11.
* Good Friday, 18 April 7pm, evening service in OGA.
* Easter sunrise service, 20 April 7am at the top of Tower Hill followed by breakfast communion in the large hall.
* Easter morning family service, 20 April at 11am in St John’s.

* Starter Packs are in need of bathroom/kitchen cleaner, handwash, shampoo, deodorant, soap, teabags, as well as Easter Eggs.
The FoodBank are in need of UHT milk, microwave rice, instant noodles, tinned tomatoes, and tinned soup.
You can bring donations to the church and place them into the boxes in the vestibule. Thank you!

* Teri is leading a Lent book group on Monday evenings in the Spinnaker at 7pm. The book is Jesus For Everyone, Not Just Christians. All are welcome — come along and have your dinner, or a drink, or just come for the discussion!

* We are having a Smarties fundraiser this season — pick up your tube of Smarties, enjoy them, then fill the tube with £1 or 20p coins, and bring it back at Easter!

* Did you know that the ministry we do at St John’s costs about £3000 per week? Everything we do is funded by your generous giving — all our support for young people, older people, bereavement care, community outreach, worship, study, spiritual growth, and community work is because of your offering. If you would like to set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online by clicking here. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Teri and she can give you the treasurer’s details. You can also send your envelopes to the church or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received. 
It is also possible to donate to the work of the parish assistant, speak to Anne Love about how to go about directing new donations to that item in the budget.

* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email newsletter! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. 

* Wednesday Evening Bible Study is at 7:30pm in the Manse and we are reading Luke!

* Free period products are available in the church toilets for anyone who might need them, thanks to Hey Girls and Inverclyde Council.