Order of Worship for Sunday, March 24th 2024

One: This is no ordinary day…and it is the most ordinary of days —
All: the Messiah is in our midst!

One: Bring your whole self to welcome him!
All: We offer all we have and lay it at his feet, shouting Hosanna to the One who can save us.

Your love is extravagant and invites us to love without limit. We confess that we do have limits, and they are much smaller and narrower than your vision. We have expectations, too, that you will change things only in the way we want them to be changed. We come out to see you, with wonder, and hope, and anxiety too, calling out our prayers for help and our praise in anticipation of your answer.

Forgive us, O God, when we have decided the correct way for others to worship you. Forgive us, too, when we have decided the correct way for you to act in accordance with our desires, and so narrowed your love, your power, and your presence to fit you more neatly in our boxes. Have mercy on us, Lord.

We ask in the name of Jesus, who disappoints our expectations in order to save us from them, setting us free to recognize your presence right in front of us. Amen.

The Lord is God. The Lord brings light to those in darkness, forgiveness to those who truly confess, and pardon to all who seek to follow Jesus. Rejoice that the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever and ever. In the name of Jesus the Christ, receive the love that never dies and never fails. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, as we bring our gifts and lay them at your altar, we remember the crowds in Jerusalem who laid their cloaks on the road, shouting “Hosanna” as Jesus passed. We know they were looking for a Messiah who was different from who you sent Jesus to be – not one of political power and military might, but one who came in compassion and mercy to heal, love, and save. Search our hearts that we might be confident that the Messiah for whom we long is the one you know we need – Jesus Christ, your anointed one, in whose name we pray. Amen.