For Sunday April 9, 2017
Year A, Sixth Sunday in Lent, Palm Sunday
EASTER SPECIAL OFFERING FOR GENERAL MINISTRIES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (Disciples of Christ)
Sixth Sunday in Lent :: Purple ::
Isaiah 50:4-9a :: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 :: Philippians 2:5-11 :: Matthew 21:1-11
Call to Worship (Responsive)
Adapted from Psalm 118
L: O give thanks to God, for God is good;
P: God’s steadfast love endures forever!
L: Open the gates of righteousness,
P: That we may enter through them and give thanks to God.
L: The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
P: This is God’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
L: This is the day that the LORD has made;
P: We will rejoice and be glad in it!
Invocation:
Morning by morning we come, O God. You waken us and bid us to listen as those who are being taught. Grant those who speak the tongue of a teacher, and let them sustain the weary with a word. You who vindicates me and helps me are near; therefore I will not be disgraced. Guide our thoughts and reflections, O God, our words and actions, as we proclaim Hosanna to the King of Kings.
Stewardship Moment:
Today we begin a two week emphasis on a Special Offering for the whole church. Your gift to the Easter Offering helps bring life, love and learning through the general ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Ministries that receive funding from the Easter Offering include: the Center for Faith and Giving, Central Pastoral Office for Hispanic Ministries, Communication Ministries, Council on Christian Unity, Disciples Church Extension Fund / Hope Partnership for Missional Transformation, Disciples of Christ Historical Society, Disciples Home Missions, Disciples Women, Division of Overseas Ministries/Global Ministries, Higher Education and Leadership Ministries, National Benevolent Association, National Convocation, North American Pacific/Asian Disciples, and Treasury Services.
As you can see, that’s most of the ministries which support congregations. A huge part of their budgets come from this special offering. So, I ask you today, if you can make a gift in addition to your regular church offerings, please do so. It makes a difference in so many congregations which need our mutual support.
Offertory Prayer:
God of wonder and love, who calls together ministries of help and hope, we come before you offering our gifts. Inspired by those who learn and grow in vision, we pray our gifts will continue to bless the whole church. We pray that together we will continue to reach out to new generations. We pray that unity will one day be restored. We pray that you will lead us into newness of life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Communion Meditation:
A Cheering Chanting Crowd, anticipating the arrival of a new reign on earth. That’s what we encounter on Palm Sunday. Perhaps that crowd, and their assumptions about how the reign of God would come should also stop us short today. Perhaps it should cause us to think and reflect on God’s ways versus our anticipation. And perhaps it should force us to look deeply at the meaning of this table. This table, which NO ONE in that crowd anticipated; yet forever changed the world. We come to the table week in and week out because it changes the world, and because it changes us. Come to the table of transformation.
All material copyright 2017 The Jubilee Fund, Inc., and appears on this site via a partnership agreement with the Center for Faith and Giving. Permission granted to reproduce and use any of the above for Churches and Congregations to the glory of God without requirement of compensation or notification.
Scripture Quotations from the New Revised Standard Version. Online Scripture links a service of the Jean and Alexander Heard Divinity Library, of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. Check out all of the awesome resources there at http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu