CHRIST THE KING LUTHERAN CHURCH
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH - MISSOURI SYNOD
440 STONEVILLE RD. 485-4432
Pastor Thomsen Amanda Stacy, DCE
(906) 250-2132 (402) 650-3132
WORSHIP SERVICE
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Saturday Evening Worship 5:00 p.m.
Sunday Early Worship 8:30 a.m.
Sunday Late Worship 10:45 a.m.
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PALM SUNDAY
April 2, 2023 10:45 Worship Service
WELCOME & GREETINGS OF PEACE
PALM SUNDAY PROCESSION: John 12:12-19
Pastor: The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
People: “Hosanna! “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!”
Pastor: Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,
People: “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
Pastor: 16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
OPENING HYMN: “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna”
Hosanna, loud hosanna
The little children sang;
Through pillared court and temple
The lovely anthem rang.
To Jesus, who had blessed them,
Close folded to His breast,
The children sang their praises,
The simplest and the best.
From Olivet they followed
Mid an exultant crowd,
The victor palm branch waving
And chanting clear and loud.
The Lord of earth and heaven
Rode on in lowly state
Nor scorned that little children
Should on his bidding wait.
"Hosanna in the highest!"
That ancient song we sing;
For Christ is our Redeemer,
The Lord of heav’n, our King.
Oh may we ever praise Him
With heart and life and voice
And in His blissful presence
Eternally rejoice!
INVOCATION
Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
CONFESSION & ABSOLUTION
Pastor: Lord Jesus, on this day when we remember Your entry into Jerusalem as King and Savior, we walk with You to Your cross, where Your righteousness is given to all who believe. Search our hearts and minds that we may receive Your Word, share in Your Spirit, and be renewed in our relationships with You and with one another.
We take a moment of silence for personal prayers of confession.
Pastor: With humble hearts, let us pray together.
People: Lord Jesus, the Father’s only Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords, hear us as we pray.
Pastor: You reign over all things and yet humbled Yourself for our salvation.
People: We confess that our rebellion against You in thought, word, and action is the reason why You entered into this world.
Pastor: It is why You passed through the gates of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and why You laid down Your life upon Calvary’s cross on Good Friday—
People: to forgive our sins, to redeem our lives, and to cancel the debt we owe to God.
Pastor: With hearts that are humble and lives that are grateful, help us to receive Your grace and bow before You in worship,
People: confessing that You alone are Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Pastor: Almighty God, our heavenly Father, shows His mercy to us in the sending of His only Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords. The One who entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday was handed over to death upon the cross so that we may be reconciled to the Father and granted His remission, full and free.
As a called and ordained servant of Christ, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
Pastor: Because of our King’s mercy, the gates of righteousness are opened to us.
People: “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”
SALUTATION
Pastor: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Pastor: Let us pray.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Pastor: Almighty and everlasting God, You sent Your Son to take upon Himself our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross. Rejoicing in Your mercy to us this day, enable us to follow our Savior, walking with Him to His cross and sharing with Him in His resurrection. We pray this in the name of our humble King, Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen
OLD TESTAMENT READING: Isaiah 50:4–9a
The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. 5 The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. 6 I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. 7 But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. 8 He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. 9 Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty?
Reader: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
EPISTLE READING: Romans 7:15-25
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Reader: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
RESPONSIVE PSALM: Psalm 118:19-29
Pastor: Blessèd is He who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.
People: Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
Pastor: This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.
People: I thank You that You have answered me and have become my salvation.
Pastor: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
People: This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
Pastor: This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
People: Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!
Pastor: Blessèd is He who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.
People: The Lord is God, and He has made His light to shine upon us.
Pastor: Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!
People: You are my God, and I will give thanks to You; You are my God; I will extol You.
Pastor: Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures for- ever!
All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Pastor: Blessèd is He who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.
THE NICENE CREED
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And he will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end. And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 27:1-22
When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. 2 And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor. 3 Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” 5 And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. 6 But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. 8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, 10 and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me.” 11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” 12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. 15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16 And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17 So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. 19 Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” 20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!”
Pastor: This is the Gospel of Our Lord.
People: Praise to You, O Christ
CHILDREN’S SERMON
SERMON HYMN: “My Song Is Love Unknown”
My song is love unknown,
My Savior's love to me,
Love to the loveless shown
That they might lovely be.
Oh, who am I
That for my sake
My Lord should take
Frail flesh, and die?
He came from His blest throne
Salvation to bestow;
But men made strange, and none
The longed-for Christ would know.
But, oh, my friend,
My Friend indeed,
Who at my need
His life did spend!
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.
Why, what hath 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.
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 suff’ring goes
That He His foes
From thence might free.
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?
Heav’n was His home
But mine the tomb
Wherein He lay.
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!
SERMON
THE GIVING OF OUR OFFERINGS TO THE LORD
PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven;
give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory
forever and ever. Amen.
WORDS OF INSTITUTION
COMMUNION HYMN: “Behold the Lamb”
“Behold the Lamb who bears our sins away,
Slain for us - and we remember
The promise made that all who come in faith
Find forgiveness at the cross.
So we share in this bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of peace
Around the table of the King.
The body of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
Torn for you - eat and remember
The wounds that heal, the death that brings us life
Paid the price to make us one.
So we share in this bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of love
Around the table of the King.
The blood that cleanses every stain of sin,
Shed for you - drink and remember
He drained death’s cup that all may enter in
To receive the life of God.
So we share in this bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of grace
Around the table of the King.
And so with thankfulness and faith we rise
To respond, - and to remember
Our call to follow in the steps of Christ
As His body here on earth.
As we share in His suffering
We proclaim Christ will come again!
And we’ll join in the feast of heaven
Around the table of the King ”
DISTRIBUTION
BENEDICTION
Pastor: The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.
People: Amen.
CLOSING HYMN: “Ride On, Ride On in Majesty”
Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
Hark! All the tribes hosanna cry.
O Savior meek, pursue Thy road,
With palms and scattered garments strowed.
Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die.
O Christ, Thy triumphs now begin
O'er captive death and conquered sin.
Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
The angel armies of the sky
Look down with sad and wond’ring eyes
To see the approaching sacrifice.
Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
Thy last and fiercest strife is nigh.
The Father on His sapphire throne
Awaits His own anointed Son.
Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die.
Bow Thy meek head to mortal pain,
Then take, O God, Thy pow’r and reign.
DISMISSAL
Pastor: Go in peace. Serve the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God!