Palm Sunday, 2025
What follows is a worship service which, I pray, you can participate in at a time(s) that are convenient to you. This 'service' will take about forty five (45) minutes.
I pray that you will feel called to ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE in this service.
The text that is in regular typeface (that is what you are reading at the moment) is to be read quietly, while the text that is in bold face (like you are reading right now) is meant to be read aloud.
Opening Hymn:
Let us continue by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we commence our praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
A Call To Worship:
We meet in the name of God,
Creator of the universe,
source of true humanity,
mother and father of all. Amen.
An Assurance of Forgiveness:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
The Sentence For Today (let us say aloud):
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his mercy endures for ever.
The Special Prayer For Today (let us pray aloud):
Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Our first reading for today:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
Our second reading for today:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
Gradual Hymn:
Let us continue by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we raise out voices in praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
A reading from the holy gospel according to Saint Luke.
Listen to David speak to this gospel.
or, if you prefer, you can read the sermon, below:
Sermon for Palm Sunday, 2025
Welcome friends and peace be with you. MAY the words of my mouth and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. <Amen>
It is “Palm Sunday” and, as we do every year, we take our place in the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Christians around the world will be singing hosannas and lifting high their palm crosses. Hosannas and palm crosses have, in many ways, come to characterise the beginning of Holy Week.
However, that’s not, what I want to speak about right now. Today I want to talk with you about a different entry into Holy Week. I want to talk about tears and weeping as MY entry into Holy Week this year.
You probably were not expecting to hear about tears and weeping and some of you might be quietly asking yourselves, “That’s strange, why not the palms and the hosannas? Why focus on tears and weeping?”
Well, let me share with you these three things from our gospel today:
What does Luke say about palms? Nothing! True, the people spread their cloaks on the road but there is no mention of palms.
What does Luke say about the hosannas? Nothing! True, the people praise God with a loud voice but there is no mention of hosannas.
What does Luke say about tears and weeping? Everything!
Let’s look again at verses 41 and 42 of Luke’s nineteenth chapter as Jesus says:
“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! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”
Luke’s account of the gospel is the only one in which Jesus sees the city and weeps.
Luke is not describing the entry that we are used to. What Luke describes might be more accurately called “a tear-stained entry”. <PAUSE>
Please don’t mis-understand, I’m not saying we are wrong to sing our hosannas and carry the palms but in the context of this passage from St. Luke’s gospel tears and weeping just seem to be a more authentic, meaningful, and faithful entry into Holy Week.
A tearful entry into Holy Week means we must first see and name the reality of our lives and our world. We cannot turn away from the painful reality of our human frailty, our inhumane treatment of one another, war, violence, abuse and more. This knowledge and these experiences are the sources of our tears.
Personally, as I pray and write about this, it’s clear that if I am to tread this way into my 2025 Holy Week walk - - - it is going to be a difficult, painful, and tear-filled journey.
All tears, mine or yours, express the same truth; our heart aches and has been pierced.
Jesus’ heart ached and was pierced when he saw “the city” - what a powerful metaphor for our human world that is.
Sometimes our heart is pierced with sorrow, grief, and death. Sometimes it’s guilt, regret, or disappointment that pierces our heart. Other times our heart is pierced by the pain of the world and the suffering of other human beings. Some hearts are pierced with the loss of what could have been, dreams that didn’t come true, wishes unfulfilled, or promises unkept. Other hearts are pierced by burdens and the weight of life. Fear, change, and the uncertainty of life in an ever-increasing secular and selfish world.
Whatever it is and however it happens we’ve all had our hearts pierced. We’ve all wept. <PAUSE>
My tears this week will be shed as Christ leads me to The Cross. I will feel my heart pierced once again. I will weep over brutal death. I weep for grief and loss. I will weep that I am powerless to fix it and make things better. I will weep for refugees. I will weep for the outcast. I will weep for the abused. Like St Peter I will weep again over my broken promises, things done, and things left undone. <PAUSE>
These aren’t just my stories. They are your stories as well. I don’t think I am all that different from you. I think you know exactly what I am talking about. The facts or circumstances may be different but our tears are shared.
So, as YOU journey through Palm Sunday and this Holy Week - by all means, remember the shouts to The King; recall and cry out ‘Hosanna’; lift high your palm crosses - but do not forget the tears of Jesus, shed for Jerusalem and our world.
Think about your tears; the ones you’ve cried and the ones you’ve denied, the ones that never seem to end and the ones you need to weep but just aren’t there, the ones that scare you and the ones you can’t explain and don’t understand.
Whatever your tears and weeping may be about let them become your entry into, and walk through, Holy Week. To push back our tears or to wipe them away is to deny ourselves a part of what we share with Jesus, a part of the power of this Holy Week and the joy of Easter life. <PAUSE>
Let this Holy Week transform your tears into the holy waters of baptism; waters of cleansing and release, waters of forgiveness and healing, waters of rebirth and new life … because,
Palm Sunday and Good Friday are NOT the end of the story … they are just the beginning.
I runga e te Ingoa o te Atua, te Matua, te Tama me te Wairua Tapu. AMINE
Pause and Reflect
Just take a moment now to pause. Bow your head, close your eyes.
Allow these words of Holy Scripture and this interpretation of them today to speak to you.
An Affirmation of Our Faith
Let us affirm our faith by saying aloud, and together, "The Apostles Creed":
... and now let us pray for the Church, the World, and Ourselves, giving thanks for God's goodness.
Let us pray aloud, and together:
In response to the call today “Lord, in Your mercy” Our plea is, “hear our prayer”
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy : Hear our prayer.
God in highest heaven, how humbly You enter to reign in Christ Jesus - on dusty road, through narrow streets, riding a donkey, shedding tears for Jerusalem and a broken world. Help us to pave the way for Your eternal realm with our prayer and praise, with our service and love, until the coming of Your new creation. AMEN.
<longer silence for personal reflection>
God our Saviour, Your Son Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem as Messiah to suffer and to die, let the palms we wave, or think on, today be for us signs of His victory; and grant that we may ever hail Him as our King, and follow Him in the way that leads to eternal life for us and all in our communities.
<short silence> Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer
Holy God, teach us to be generous. Teach us to serve You as You deserve; to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labour and not to ask for reward.
<short silence> Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer
Merciful God, we pray today for those living in places lacking basic human dignity and justice. Touch world leaders with Your loving heart and grant them wisdom to govern respectfully and to make decisions for the benefit of all.
<short silence> Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer
Gracious God we recognise that sometimes we put off prayer and thanksgiving as we give way to our human frailty. We thank you for those who pray and intercede on our behalf both in heaven and here on earth.
<short silence> Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer
Merciful God, we pray for all who are troubled this day in body, mind or spirit. Those who are laid low by sorrow and illness, or by fear and weakness; breathe new life into them as we name them before You now.
Give the song of joy to all who are now on the road to recovery and recuperation and the song of thanks to all who helped them on that road.
We especially raise before You now all those who have asked for our prayers from around the world … those we know in New Zealand, in Singapore, in Argentina, in France, in Australia, in the US, in Canada, in Austria, in Ukraine, in China, in Germany, in the Czech Republic, and any others we now name aloud, or in the silence of our hearts, and those who are known only by You.
<short silence> Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer
Father God, as we move into Holy Week we commend ourselves and all those whom we live amongst, for whom Christ suffered, to His mercy and protection.
We pray for all the faithful departed, may they now rest in eternal peace as they most surely have risen in glory.
<Short silence> Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer
In a moment of silence we pray for ourselves, our families, friends, for all whom we love and for our personal ministries.
May we always remember the tears of Jesus in which we share and may they remind us of baptismal water which bring us to new life and hope.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Everlasting God we thank You for having heard us and, confident that all is safely in your hands, wherever we may be, confined to home or restricted in any way we know that we are surrounded by Your love and care in all that we do in the coming week.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Forth in the peace of Christ we go; Christ to the world with joy we bring; Christ in our minds, Christ on our lips, Christ in our hearts, the world’s true King.
Merciful father: accept these prayers for the sake of Your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN.
Remembering that we are confident to pray this day, and every day, because Jesus Christ continues to teach us:
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.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.
Let us conclude our prayers by praying together and aloud:
God of mercy,
you have given us grace to pray with one heart and one voice,
and have promised to hear the prayers
of two or three who agree in your name,
fulfil now, we pray,
the prayers and longings of your people
as may be best for us and for your kingdom.
Grant us in this world to know your truth,
and in the world to come to see your glory. Amen.
The Blessing
May The Risen Lord Christ turn His face towards each and every one of you.
May He cause His light to shine upon you, and
may He grant you His peace, and
The blessing of Almighty God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
be with you and all of those whom you love,
on this day and forever more.
A Closing Hymn:
Let us conclude our worship today by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we unite in another hymn our praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
The Dismissal
Go now, go out into the world
to love and serve The Lord.
Go in peace.
AMEN, we go in the name of Christ.
