“We are journeying together in God’s love . . to discover, nurture and share our gifts.”
April 5, 2009 “Palm/Passion Sunday”
This Sunday, observed in some churches as Palm Sunday and others as Passion Sunday, sets the stage of contrast that is Holy Week: jubilant crowds hail Jesus as God’s chosen one; angry crowds call for Jesus’ execution. The texts address the complexity of discipleship, yet assure that those who serve God and neighbour remain in the embrace of God’s unfailing presence.
If you would like to stay seated for any or all of the “standing” parts of the service, please feel free to do so.
Need a refuge? Our Nursery is located off Memorial Hall, has a speaker system through which to hear the service, and exists for all who may need this space. Memorial Hall approach is via the pulpit side exit.
Prelude / Sharing Announcements /A Time of Greeting
A time of silent preparation—Lighting the Christ Candle
Call to Worship (Responsive)
One: We join together as a community of faith. We have gathered to talk, and listen to, and care for each other.
All: We acknowledge this as privileged time.
One: Here we share a new covenant of promise and hope. Our failures become opportunities for learning.
All: So let us share and celebrate this life we live.
Spirit of Life, we gather for the companionship of hearts and minds seeking to speak the truth in love. And we gather for the gift of life itself, mindful that to respect life means both to celebrate what life is and to insist on what it can become. Amen.
Junior Choir Sings
Conversation Time
Prayer for Transformation & Words of Assurance
Jesus dared to live God’s way in the midst of all the ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ of life. We too are called to proclaim our faith faithfully by the way we live and treat one another. Jesus wanted his disciples to live passionate, justice-seeking lives. Jesus shared his life that others might sense the new signs of hope in their everyday lives…(A time for silent reflection.)
Words of Assurance (One)
Every day, every hour, every minute is new for us to sense new signs of hope. Amen.
Biblical Notes / Prayer of Illumination
The lessons for your personal consideration for today are: Psalm 31:9-16, Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29; Isaiah 50:4-9a; Mark 11:1-11; Mark 14:1 - Mark 15:47; John 12:12-16; Philippians 2:5-11.
Hymn #123 “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna” (Choir with Congregation)
Hymn #127 “Ride On! Ride On in Majesty!”
Offertory
Prayer of Dedication (One)
May these gifts be blessed to further the way of love, hope and justice. Amen.
Hymn #402 “We are One”
Our Palm Sunday Communion Litany
One: We thank you God, for in the beginning, you set the world on its course; you led your people into freedom, and gave them a way to walk in peace and justice. And so we say with all who have travelled this road before.
All: Holy, holy, holy God, Power of life and love! Heaven and earth are full of your glory! Hosanna through the ages! Blessed is the One who comes to bring your justice to the earth!
The Invitation (One)
Here today, through bread and wine, We renew our unity with one another, And with all those who have gone before us in this place. Here today, through bread and wine, we renew our communion with the earth and our interwovenness with the broken ones of the world.
The
story
One:
We are reminded again of the tradition that surrounds this
story long ago,
on the night of his arrest, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it:
All: ‘This bread is broken, as my body will
be’.
One: And he handed it to his friends, inviting
them to eat:
All: ‘Remember all that I have been to you’.
One: Long ago, on that same night, Jesus poured
a cup of wine, offered thanks for it, and gave it to his friends:
All: ‘This wine is poured out, as my life
will be. Remember me and give thanks for all I have given.’
Thanksgiving
One:
Creating God, Source of Life, we offer our thanks.
All: The smell of the land after rain,
One: The surprise of geese in flight,
All: The taste of peach and plum and
nectarine,
One:
in
country and city, in corral, or back yard or on lake: We give thanks.
All: We give thanks.
One:
We who hold all such good things in trust join in the praise of all who join
voice and say:
All: Holy! Holy! Holy!
One: Heaven and earth are holy and good.
Holy is peace.
All: Holy is truth. Holy is love.
One:
In this season of transition as the leaves begin their journey of
emerging and our hearts welcome the warmth as the days
lengthen,
All: once again we are reminded, that new
possibilities can rise from our failures or disappointments or what has come
to an end.
One: We give thanks for all the influences in our lives that have helped us to see beyond the present: that teach us to combine labour and rest, that bring us the cycles of time and season, that sustain us when we are in need.
All: God loves in us; God cares through us; God laughs in us; God cries in us, as nowhere else. (Morwood)
One:
Especially we give thanks for Jesus of Nazareth, gatherer of folk, teller of
stories, breaker of bread, pourer of wine, weaver of lives. In his life,
wisdom, stories and social vision we recall the words he
spoke to call forth in us love, care and respect for one another:
All: And we believe the same Spirit of God
that came to visibility in Jesus yearns for visible expression in us.
Bread
and Wine
So we
take this bread and this wine...this sacred meal that we now bless and share.
(The bread is broken... the wine poured, in silence).
Bread
broken…
“from the earth, for the world.”
Wine poured out… “for the life of the world.”
Communion
Come, taste of this same bread and wine...Gifts of the earth. Work of human hands.
(Distribution of bread and wine.)
After Communion (One as the congregation is invited to stand)
May the bread and the wine and the sharing and the remembering be a blessing on us all.
Commissioning (One)
Time has come for us to leave this sacred place. As we do, may we embrace the challenges of our lives and our world. Remember this: within and all around us is our Source. May we return to it, heed it, honour it and celebrate it.
Choral Amen
Hymn #298 “When you Walk”
Postlude
The Life And Work Of The Congregation
Holy Week at Westminster (April 5-11)
|
Sun. |
Music & Worship |
9:00 a.m. |
Lounge |
|
|
Jr. Choir Sings |
9:50 a.m. |
Lounge |
|
|
Hymn Sing |
10:15 a.m. |
Sanctuary |
|
|
Palm Sunday/Communion/ Local Food Needs |
10:30 a.m. |
Sanctuary |
|
|
Ministry & Personnel |
12:00 |
Shalom Room |
|
|
UCW Executive |
12:00 |
Nursery |
|
Mon. |
Property |
7:00 |
Westminster Room |
|
Tues. |
Prayer Shawl Ministry |
1:30 p.m. |
Lounge |
|
Wed. |
Bible Study |
9:30 a.m. |
Nursery |
|
|
Wii Fun |
2-4 p.m. |
Memorial Hall |
|
|
Lenten Study |
7:00 p.m. |
Sanctuary |
|
|
Square Circle UCW |
7:30 p.m. |
Lounge |
|
Thurs. |
Sr. Choir Practice |
7:00 p.m. |
Sanctuary |
|
Fri. |
Good Friday Service |
7:00 p.m. |
Sanctuary |
Next Week at Westminster (April 12-18)
|
Sun. |
Easter Worship |
10:30 a.m. |
Sanctuary |
|
Tues. |
Prayer Shawl Ministry |
1:30 p.m. |
Lounge |
|
|
Board of Elders |
7:00 p.m. |
Lounge |
|
Wed. |
Bible Study |
9:30 a.m. |
Nursery |
|
|
Wii Fun |
2-4 p.m. |
Memorial Hall |
|
Thurs. |
Sr. Choir Practice |
7:00 p.m. |
Sanctuary |
Friendship Rosters: Please sign the Friendship Roster this morning. It is a helpful record of your worship presence and a way to share special concerns (ie. Prayer requests, name tag requests, etc.)
Ushers, Greeters, and Coffee hosts: If you can make a commitment, please volunteer your time on the sign-up sheets by Memorial Hall. And please remember to mark the date on your calendar! In the event that you cannot keep the commitment, please contact Lil Iwanicki at 403-527-8430 and Sharon Clay at 403-527-5681, so replacement volunteers may be obtained.
Congregational Life and Work Committee is appealing to you, the congregation. The freezer is empty. On Sunday mornings most of us enjoy snacks with our coffee. We are asking for donations of loaves, muffins, cookies and fruit bread (only suggestions). Bring baking to the church anytime and place items in the Auxiliary Kitchen freezer. Please mark all items with ‘date’ and as ‘Sunday coffee’. Thanks to all of you.
The church will be decorated for Easter on Saturday, April 4. Please call Jane for details. You are invited to attend a Maundy Thursday Pot-luck Supper at 5:30 p.m. on April 9 at Fifth Avenue Memorial, followed by a short service.The UCW is holding an EASTER GET-TOGETHER on Wednesday,
April 8, at 1:00 p.m. All women of the congregation are invited to attend. The Edythe Hewitt UCW will meet following this tea.
The Mission and Service Garage Sale will be held on May 9. Please set aside items for donation and watch for further details.
The ministry of Westminster United Church was extended into the community this week as James conducted the funeral service forDoris Gibson. Our condolences go out to the family.
Birthdays: Daniel Maier, Jamie Hancock, Leslie Berg, Ruth Patrick, Derek Skogen, Corlaine Gardner, Jaci Fox, Tanya Hoffarth, and Claude Skogen.
Anniversaries: Jackie & Brent Carlson
Flowers are placed in the Sanctuary this morning by the UCW
South Alberta Presbytery: This week’s prayers are requested for Duchess Pastoral Charge and Yvonne Terry, DLM.
Our Order of Ministry This Morning
Sunday School Co-ordinators Jackie Schlenker, Kim Hanson
Greeters & Ushers Gerald & Dallas Weiss, Charlene Andreas and Jeannette Zollner
Acting Nursery Convenor Jackie Carlson
Coffee Hosts John & Betty Sidlick, Irene Fekete and Alice Felesky
Scripture Reader Jeannette Zollner
Elder-in-Charge Doug Pearson
Next Week’s Readings from: Acts 10:34-43 or Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 or Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18 or Mark 16:1-8
Stewardship Thought for Today
Stewards give thanks and shout “Hosanna!” every day, knowing that God’s steadfast love endures forever. By Sheila Campbell