Lent 6
28th March, 2021
The Promised King
Prepared by Rev. Ian Gardner
Call to Worship
Psalm 118: 1-2 – 1O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever! 2Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures for ever.”
Hymn StF 264 (Graham Kendrick)
1 Make way, make way, for Christ the King
in splendour arrives;
fling wide the gates and welcome him
into your lives.
Make way, make way,
for the King of kings;
make way, make way,
and let his Kingdom in.
2 He comes the broken hearts to heal,
the prisoners to free;
the deaf shall hear, the lame shall dance,
the blind shall see.
3 And those who mourn with heavy hearts,
who weep and sigh,
with laughter, joy and royal crown
he’ll beautify.
4 We call you now to worship him
as Lord of all,
to have no gods before him,
their thrones must fall!
Scripture: Psalm 118: 1 – 2 and 19 – 29
Reflection
This week of the Passion. What does it mean? Well you have to go back a number of years to the old meaning of the word but quite simply it means the Sufferings of the Christ. Today we continue to reflect on God’s Promises to us as we consider what it means when we think of Jesus entering Jerusalem as the Promised King. What did it mean for the people then and what does it mean for us today?
Let us pray … Lord Jesus, we’re about to hear how the people welcomed you thinking that you were coming as a king to free them from the rule of the Romans. So free us we pray from all the earthly constraints we have that rule our lives and thereby preventing us from truly seeing you as our Saviour King. Free our hearts and minds to worship you. Amen
Scripture: Mark 11: 1 – 11
For you to think about:
Our journey through Lent now takes a dramatic turn with a day of exultation and joy as Jesus arrives in Jerusalem. Yet, what kind of king comes riding into Jerusalem on a lowly donkey rather than the majestic white charger horse that the people expected?
Many saw Jesus as the long-awaited deliverer of Israel in a political sense. Jesus rejected this interpretation because it was too narrow. He had come to set people free from everything that dehumanized them and kept them away from God. And he still does that today.
If you have access to a palm cross or a branch/leaves of any kind hold it in the air as we pray:
God of glory, whose son Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem to suffer & to die:
may these palms be for us signs of his victory;
and that we may honour you by acclaiming him as our king
and following him in the way that leads to eternal life; for his sake. Amen
Prayers of Intercession
Suffering, servant God, as we listen again to the story of your Passion,
move our hearts within us to weep over Jerusalem and all places of conflict,
to mourn those who die unnoticed and to lament the damage done to your world.
Stir our wills to stand firm when we meet injustice, to work for reconciliation at home and in the world, and to transform what is, to what shall be. Embolden our lives to stand up for the voiceless, to be advocates for the bullied and to protect all of your creation. Lord, you know the dusty road, the fickle crowd, the pushing and pulling of everyday life. Be beside us as we journey on. Lord, you know the pain and loneliness, the insults and betrayal of those in power. Be near to those who are hurting. Lord, you know the power of love over hate, of hope over despair, of light over dark. Fill our lives as we go from this place to be witnesses to your truth in the world. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven …….
Hymn StF 277 (Samuel Crossman)
1 My song is love unknown,
my Saviour’s love to me,
love to the loveless shown,
that they might lovely be.
O who am I,
that for my sake
my Lord should take
frail flesh and die?
2 He came from his blest throne,
salvation to bestow;
but they made strange, and none
the longed-for Christ would know.
But O my Friend,
my Friend indeed,
who at my need
his life did spend!
3 Sometimes they strew his way,
and his sweet praises sing;
resounding all the day
hosannas to their King.
Then ‘Crucify!’
is all their breath,
and for his death
they thirst and cry.
4 Why, what has my Lord done?
What makes this rage and spite?
He made the lame to run,
he gave the blind their sight.
Sweet injuries!
Yet they at these
themselves displease,
and ’gainst him rise.
5 They rise, and needs will have
my dear Lord made away;
a murderer they save,
the Prince of Life they slay.
Yet cheerful he
to suffering goes,
that he his foes
from thence might free.
6 In life no house, no home,
my Lord on earth might have;
in death, no friendly tomb
but what a stranger gave.
What may I say?
Heaven was his home;
but mine the tomb
wherein he lay.
7 Here might I stay and sing,
no story so divine:
never was love, dear King,
never was grief like thine!
This is my Friend,
in whose sweet praise
I all my days
could gladly spend.
Blessing
Let us go in peace to follow Jesus on the way that leads to the cross and onward to eternal life.
Hosanna in the highest!
And the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be amongst us and remain with us always. Amen