Today we begin our journey through Holy week towards Easter. You are encouraged to go through this service with your family in your house or perhaps on the phone or computer screen.
Rev Gayle Taylor at Newbattle has been working with us in the Spill the Beans team and with Fischy Music to provide a daily resource for families throughout Holy Week from today through to Easter Sunday.
Worshipping at home we join with the whole church family of all ages and in all places at this key time in the Christian calendar.
Welcome, let us worship God.
Call to Worship
Say together:
We come to worship.
We follow the crowd,
shouting Hosanna!
Praise God!
We join in the triumph of today,
ready to sing,
to shout,
to act!
Praise
A traditional hymn for Palm Sunday:
Bible Reading
Read together Matthew chapter 21, verses 1-11 either from your own Bible or you can find the text here.
Reflection
Dramatised Reading
All-Age Prayer
Dear God,
we are here to say hello,
we are here to tell you
that we love you,
we are here to say thank you
for the world.
We thank you
for rainbows,
for shooting stars,
for palm trees,
for colts,
for colourful clothing
for people.
We thank you
for all the people
who love us
and for all the people who
make time to be with us.
We thank you for Jesus,
for sending him to teach us
how to live.
We thank you for the
sunshine and the rain
we thank you for holidays from our normal routine.
We are sorry for those times
when we fail you,
we are glad
that you promise to forgive us
when we say sorry.
Help us, Lord, to learn from Jesus
and to try to love people as he did.
Amen.
Fischy Song and Activity
Hosanna
You will need: paper or plastic cups (two per child, green would be good), dried beans or rice, sticky tape, paper to wrap round the cups if plastic, crayons or felt pens, ribbons, self-stick stickers anything you like to decorate it with.
Give the children two of the paper cups and some of the beans or rice and get them to put them into one of the cups and then place the other cup on top, rim to rim. Help the children to tape the two cups securely together around the rims to create a shaker type instrument. Then cover the sticky tape with paper (if using plastic cups) to conceal.
Let the children then decorate their instrument with the stickers and pens. Further decoration can be added by giving the children strips of green ribbon which they could attach to their shaker with double sided tape and let dangle from each end of their shaker.
Talk about the story and the crowds who gathered to welcome Jesus. Discuss the different ways they welcomed Jesus (with palms and cloaks and by shouting Hosanna and so on). Tell the story once more and let the children accompany the parts about the crowd with their shakers.
Then talk with them about the different ways Jesus welcomed people and discuss how we might welcome people today just as Jesus did.
Sending
Jesus rode into the city
to cries of joy and exaltation.
We too cry hosanna!
We too race alongside the Son of David.
As we leave this time today,
God goes with us,
from triumphant chorus,
to the agony of the cross,
God goes with us,
every step of the way.
Amen.
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