Worship at home for Passion and Palm Sunday

Worship at home for Passion Sunday and Palm Sunday

Please keep this liturgy to use for the next two weeks – prayers, hymn suggestions and readings will be provided with the pewsheet each week.

If you’d like a hymnbook, Rod can drop one off to you.

 

 

Preparing for worship

– if possible, beginning at 9am or 10.30

 

You’ll need a table, a piece of bread, a glass of wine or juice.

A cross.

A candle, ready to light on the table.

 

 

 

WELCOME

 

Christ became obedient, even to death on a cross

Therefore, God has highly exalted him

Giving him the name above all names

That at the Name of Jesus, every knee should bow

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us

and with all our sisters and brothers, near and far.

 

HYMN

 

CALL TO THE FEAST

 

Light your candle with these words:

 

We all like sheep had gone astray,

turned each to our own way,

 and the Lord has laid on him the sins of us all.

 

He was pierced for our transgressions

and bruised for our iniquities

 and to bring us peace, he was punished

 and paid for the guilt that was ours.

 

 

 

PENITENCE

The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart God will not despise.

Let us therefore bring our sins before God and confess them in penitence and faith.

 

After a moment of quiet reflection, we confess our sins to God with this prayer;

 

Most merciful God, we confess to you,
before the whole company of heaven,
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed
and in what we have failed to do.
Forgive us our sins,
heal us by your Spirit
and raise us to new life in Christ. Amen.

O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

 

THE ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS

 

God of love, you forgive us and free us from our sins, you heal and strengthen us by the Holy Spirit,

and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord.  Amen

 

In place of the Gloria during Lent, we say the Song of Lament

 

Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,

Which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger.

For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears;

for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my courage.

Remember my affliction and my bitterness, the wormwood and the gall!

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;

They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

It is good that we should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

For the Lord will not reject for ever; though he causes grief, he will have compassion,

According to the abundance of his steadfast love;

for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone.

 

THE COLLECT and the two readings for today are printed on the pewsheet

 

The first scripture reading

 

 At the end, there may be a short period of silence followed by this response:

 

For the word of the Lord.       Thanks be to God.

 

 

 

                 We say the Psalm or Canticle, printed on the front of the pewsheet

 

 

THE GOSPEL   

 

Praise to you O Christ, king of eternal glory!

Worthy is the lamb who was slain, for by his blood he has ransomed us for God.

 

                         The Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ according to …      Glory to you, O Lord.

 

At the end       for the Gospel of the Lord,                                                    Praise to you, O Christ.

 

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH

 

Let us affirm our faith in Jesus, the Son of God:

 

All:  Though he was divine, he did not cling to equality with God

   but humbled himself, taking the form of a servant.

   Born as a human being, he became obedient;

   even to death – death on a cross.

   And so God has raised him up high,

   giving him the name above every other name;

   that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

   and every voice proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord,

   to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

 

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION

 

Let us offer our prayers to God our Father, who has promised that He will hear us when we ask in faith:

 

The cross of Christ is our everlasting theme.

We rejoice today, Lord, in the encouragement, fellowship and example of all your saints. We thank you for the faithful service of those who have shared in the fellowship of St Andrew’s in the past and ask you to sustain each of us in our calling. As we now turn to the story of your Passion, give us faith to know you and courage to love you more.    O Lord, hear our prayer

 

The cross of Christ is our life and peace.

We pray, Lord, that our world may find Christ’s peace in the midst of this terrible crisis, and that we might have patience as we wait in hope for your kingdom. We hold in our prayers the peoples nations far less able to battle this disease than we, and all who are filled with fear and anxiety. We pray for the message of the cross – of hope in the deepest adversity – may shine out in our time of need. O Lord, hear our prayer

 

The cross of Christ is his people’s hope, his people’s wealth.

We pray, Lord, for the gift of kindness that transforms lives and for the goodness that can reveal Christ to our neighbour. Be with all those who we are in touch with by phone or email and may we be given ways to lift each others spirits. Bless our families and those we love, our enemies and those whom we find it hard to love. Strengthen the churches of our diocese and the ministry of our clergy and leaders.       O Lord, hear our prayer

 

To us, the cross of Christ with all its shame and all its grace, is given.

We pray, Lord, for the strength to be faithful in adversity and for the gentleness that brings hope to those who are suffering. Hold in your embrace, all who are in pain, darkness or fear today; may those who we name in our hearts know your healing touch and your renewing presence.    O Lord, hear our prayer

 

The head that once was crowned with thorns is crowned with glory now.

Rejoicing in your call to each one of us to follow you and work for your kingdom; we pray, Lord, for the determination to amend our lives and to follow Christ to the last. May we know the perfect freedom that is ours as your children, and come to the glory of your kingdom. Be with those who are close to death, their families and all who grieve, especially those unable to kiss their loved-one goodbye or to hold their hand. May those whose mortal life is ended, who we remember before you, wake to the joy of heaven.

Merciful Father, may these and all our prayers come before you as we cry to you in our need.

May we, walking in the way of the cross, find it to be the path to life and peace through Christ our Lord.

 

THE PEACE

Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God

through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whose grace alone we are saved.

 

May the peace of our Lord be with us always.

   and with all our sisters and brothers, near and far.

 

We share a sign of peace with all people of faith throughout the world, by clasping our hands together and bowing our heads saying the word “Shalom”, peace.

 

 

 

HYMN

 

SHARING THE FEAST

 

Gracious God, we welcome your presence with us.  May the table at which we share, nourish our bodies, hearts and minds, and may our spirits be refreshed.  As we live in the light of your presence, with us now and at all times and places.  Amen.

 

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Those who come to me will never hunger,

those who believe in me will never thirst.”

 

O taste and see that God is good!

blessed are all those who put their trust in him.

Take and eat a piece of the bread and drink a sip of the wine or juice. If you are with another, give the bread and the wine to each other. As you give and receive the bread, say this prayer:

 

PRAYER

As we break this bread, and as we share it, we thank you, God, that you give us this day our daily bread.

For the food which delights and nourishes us and for the companionship that sustains us as your people.

 

And as you give and receive the wine:

We thank you for drink to quench our thirst and for the Living Water with which you surprise and enrich and transform our lives.

We give thanks for this feast at which all can share, though separated now. A foretaste of the kingdom of heaven. Amen.

 

        As our Saviour taught us, so we pray:

        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.

 

HYMN    

 

BLESSING

May Christ, our crucified redeemer, draw us to himself.

To find in him a sure ground for hope, and the assurance of sins forgiven

Blessed be all who now turn in worship towards the time of Christ’s passion.

              May we know the fullness of his presence in all our sorrows and all our joys.