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Palm Sunday

Adult Object Lesson: Palm Sunday

bicycle manJesus Enters Jerusalem Riding A Colt

Matthew 11:1-11

Your object today is a model car or vehicle. Your choice should complement the slant of your message.

Today is Palm Sunday. There will be much talk about Jesus finally getting his due. He will be treated like royalty as he approaches Jerusalem.

Some spectators will sacrifice their garments to mark Jesus way.

Others will cut palm branches and use them to line the official route.

Word that Jesus is coming will precede his arrival. People will have eyes on the horizon. Some will climb towers or trees to get a better view.

Crowds will gather near the gate.

And then someone with a sharp eye and a good position will call out.

“Here he comes.”

The crowd is expecting the miracle worker who just raised Lazarus from death. Few will know him by sight. Most will be looking for some sign to set him apart.

Remember, Jesus looked like everyone else. When He is with the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, it will take the betrayer’s kiss to identify him.

Really, he’s not unlike most rulers. If they didn’t wear crowns or robes, we wouldn’t know them from the peasantry. That’s what crowns and sceptres and all the accoutrements of royalty and power are for! Jesus didn’t need them.

So everyone looks to the horizon to see the powerful man who can cure the blind and bring the dead to life. If no one else has crowned him, they just might. And that’s what the crowd watching from the terraces of the government buildings are worried about.

There is a crowd with Jesus. Which one is the miracle worker?

It must be that man in the center who is riding a colt. Not a majestic steed. Not an armor-clad team towing a chariot. There are no body guards, no legions cutting a way for him through the crowd. Just Jesus on a colt—the only record we have of Jesus using anything but shoe leather express!

This Messiah, this anointed one, this Savior is coming to the city in humility.

Now turn to your object—the toy car or vehicle.

Ask your congregation to change the setting of today’s lesson to modern times. Have them describe what the scene might include today.

They might describe a scene like the Oscars, with red carpet, velvet ropes and security holding back the crowd. They might include the paparazzi, elbowing for the best angles. They might include reporters sticking microphones in Jesus face asking about Lazarus. They might describe the media vans parked near the city gate. They might have security shouting at the crowd on bullhorns. The truly imaginative might have a few helicopters hovering overhead.

Then ask them what kind of vehicle might a modern Jesus use to mark his arrival.

Let yout congregation decide. It might be any kind of vehicle—from a Rolls Royce to a limo to a smart car or beetle—or maybe even a bicycle or skateboard! Ask them what message their choice conveys.

If they think they are being asked to overthink this, point out that God had thought this through long ago.

Palm Sunday didn’t just happen. It was planned. Jesus choices were foreshadowed in the Old Testament. It was just as scripted as the Oscars, but scripted in humility.

Then ask them what the people might have thought when they saw Jesus riding a borrowed colt.

They might not have realized at the time that they had already seen the trailer (but Jesus did?)

Zechariah 9:9
“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” So as king, Jesus requisitioned the donkey and its mother to carry him into the city.

Gentle and humble. Nothing to suggest power and might.

A true lesson in leadership!

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Slideshow: Palm Sunday

A Look at Palm Sunday through Artist’s Eyes

Here is a short slideshow that views Jesus entry into Jerusalem from various points of view.

Please Consider Subscribing to 2×2

2x2virtualchurch adds a slideshow and object lesson to our library each week. There are nearly 100 in our collection. If you like our easy, interactive approach to teaching adult learners, please consider subscribing.

You will receive a weekly slideshow (which you can use on your church website or during worship), an object lesson and many other church planning ideas—all geared for small church use.

Slides are in editable form.  Individual slides can be posted on websites or converted to jpgs for use in a bulletin or newsletter. (Please include appropriate credits.)

Thank you.

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Ambassadors Visit Reformation, Media, Pa.

Palm Sunday in Media

reformation:mediaRedeemer Ambassadors decided not to miss Palm Sunday. We hopped on the Blue Route and were in Media in less than 30 minutes.

Reformation, Media is the 57th SEPA congregation we visited.

We attended the second service and found a packed sanctuary. Empty seats were few. There were probably around 200 in attendance. As seems to be common these days there was a lot of moving around in the back of the church.

First Communion for six young people and the tradition of Palm Sunday brought people out.

We spoke with two people and found we had something in common with both. The first woman we spoke with told us about her mother’s work in a mission hospital in Madras, India, in the late 1920s and 1930s. One of our Ambassadors was born in the southern India mission fields at the same time. His parents were missionaries there for 25 years. The second woman we spoke to was introduced as being from the western part of Pennsylvania. Two Ambassadors have roots in the same town. She knew the pastor of our church. In fact, we lived in the same house as her friends!

Try as they do, SEPA cannot disconnect Redeemer from our heritage.

The adult choir was strong and led the traditional singing of The Palms. It’s our tradition, too. Our organist always balked at playing it. He considered it unsingable. One of our former leaders, not known for her voice, finally told him, “If I can sing it, you can play it.” He played it.

Their music director chose excellent music for two choirs. Their adult choir did a dramatic anthem —almost theatrical.

A five-member children’s choir — all girls — did a nice Natalie Sleeth number. We used a lot of Natalie Sleeth anthems as hymns at Redeemer. She was a great church musician.

Reformation did an abbreviated version of the Passion Story but left out the Psalm and Epistle. The voice of Isaiah was heard, though.

They used three Palm Sunday hymns. The version of Ride On, Ride On in Majesty in the new Lutheran hymnal is deadly and the congregation sat it out along with us!

It was explained to us afterward that some elements of the service are traditional for them and were not included in the bulletin. We understand the importance of tradition and miss our own.

Reformation has a “bridge” pastor, the Rev. Arden Krych. We encounter interim pastors, mission pastors, and bridge pastors. Bridge pastors, it seems, are post-interim pastors — a second stage of “interimness.” We continue to believe that the interim minister process is a symptom of a growing clergy body seeking flexibility in their careers. Their needs are in contrast to the needs of congregations who are encouraged to seek “settled” relationships with pastors.

Redeemer was not part of any such process. Not our choice. Bishop Almquist broke the contract we had with an interim pastor in 1997. We were left on our own for most of the next decade. We found our own “between calls” pastors.

We know now that this neglect was intentional. A step toward closing our congregation. It is actually a stated policy of Bishop Burkat who advises church leaders to not waste time and resources on congregations that will close in TEN years. Ten years of neglect will close a lot of churches!

We hope Reformation has better luck with “the process.”

Reformation owns a nice tract of land. They acquired adjacent property and cleared some old homes.

We liked the flexible seating—chairs, not pews. We also liked that name tags were available for members and a good number were wearing them.

Someone introduced us as from a closed church. We corrected them. Redeemer is not closed; we are locked out of God’s House by SEPA Synod. It’s time for SEPA Synod to revisit their thinking in regards to Redeemer and our community as we have continued to grow even under oppression.

Locked out and shunned by SEPA, we took our ministry online. We are experiencing exponential growth. We doubled and then tripled our growth over the last six weeks. Redeemer now has a greater reach than any SEPA congregation. We now have almost 1400 visits to our website every week (nearly twice the average weekly attendance of SEPA’s largest church). We continue to grow — just as we were in 2008 when SEPA coveted our property.

There is more economic potential in open churches than in closed churches. (Click to Tweet)

If there were ever any questions about our ability to survive (and this was never discussed with US), they are now debunked. Had SEPA worked with us (as they have falsely claimed) we’d have money to share and a new model for ministry that might help other congregations.

A lot of churches talk about transformation. We have done it!

SEPA’s actions in East Falls and Roxborough have resulted in almost no Lutheran presence in the largest geographic neighborhood in Philadelphia. In addition, they leave a horrendous legacy for future Lutherans to overcome.

Reconciliation is the only answer, but reconciliation takes dialog. There has been no dialog with our congregation since 2007.

Now would be a good time to resume.

And so we continue to visit all the congregations who voted (against their own governing rules) to take our property. We meet a lot of good people who are generally unaware of their churches actions. That’s a shame.

Where Has Palm Sunday Gone?

palm2Ambassadors Weigh Palm Sunday Options

Palm Sunday was always a big day for Redeemer. In some ways, we looked forward to it more than Easter. Our congregation had many young families who traveled on holidays to visit the grandparents.

Palm Sunday was always a joyous celebration complete with a congregational ham dinner. We collected food to deliver to needy families for Easter at this event.

We celebrated Palm Sunday—purely Palm Sunday. We were joyful as were the people gathered in the streets of Jerusalem. Our new East African members added to our tradition, teaching us Swahili chants.

We could concentrate on Palm Sunday readings and sing several Palm Sunday hymns—not just one. We entered Holy Week the way Christians are supposed to enter Holy Week.

In recent years, the Church revisited Palm Sunday. Theologians despaired that Holy Week services were not attended as they once were. So they decided to combine all of Holy Week into Palm Sunday. “Captive audience” was the thinking. Consequently, there is now 10-minute nod to the celebration of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem before the Old Testament, Psalm and Epistle lessons are glossed over or skipped so we can read 114 verses of Luke. It’s long no matter how you try to break it up—way past the modern attention span.

The faithful, who observe Holy Week, are cheated out of their observance.

The Ambassadors are looking for a church where we can celebrate—truly celebrate—Palm Sunday. We may end up staying home tomorrow.

photo credit: kreg.steppe via photopin cc

3 Programming Ideas for Small Churches (Holy Week-Pentecost)

Worship Resources for Post-Easter

The Easter play we published last year has been downloaded about 3000 times this year. We are grateful for your interests in the content we are providing aimed to enrich the worship experience of even the smallest churches.

As Holy Week approaches, we point you to three other ideas that we tested in our small congregation. Two of them work best in small churches with as few as a dozen in attendance.

Maundy Thursday

This Maundy Thursday service combines the Passover Tradition with the Christian tradition drawn from the Pennsylvania Dutch observance of Green Thursday — a term drawn from the English pronunciation of the German word for grief. It involves the serving of a ceremonial and symbolic meal (like the Seder) but with the symbolism pointing to the Resurrection. It can be used with larger groups, but it is quite easy to do with small groups.

Palm Sunday

Florists supply dried out palm fronds but small churches must purchase far more than they need of these token palms. Actual palm plants are usually available at this time of year for about $10. Have your congregation cut their own fully branched palm to wave during your Palm Sunday celebration. One large palm plant will easily provide for a congregation of 20 or 30. (We often had a nice palm plant left over even after we “pruned” it pretty well.

After Easter (Pentecost or Ascension Sunday)

The Roman Catholic tradition celebrates the Stations of the Cross. The stations chronicle the scenes of Jesus as he heads toward Calvary.

The same idea can apply to the interactions of Jesus post-Resurrection. This service (easily adapted to your liking) celebrates the 14 Stations of the Risen Christ. It follows the  sightings of Jesus between the Resurrection and the Ascension with scripture, prayer, commentary (supplied by your worship leader) and hymns.

This service can be used in one setting. It fills an hour easily. It can also be broken up over the long Pentecost season with each scene acted out.

Palm Sunday in Pakistan

Our sister church in Pakistan sent us many pictures of their fellowship’s Palm Sunday celebration, witnessing in the city streets. Here is just one!

Our congregations correspond weekly and pray for one another.

Blessings for their ministry.

It is time to bring back Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is a favorite Church Holiday at Redeemer—perhaps even more than Easter. Many of our young members traveled to visit family on Easter. Palm Sunday was our day to celebrate with Christian family with a stirring worship service, followed by a festive congregational dinner.

Our members love Palm Sunday music and joyous Hosanna anthems and the singing of the old relic hymn, The Palms (over the protests of our youthful organist).

We enjoyed our Hosanna Day, an important psychological part of the Holy Week saga.

This year, Palm Sunday falls on the first Sunday of the month, when Redeemer members, while locked out of our church, worship in our own neighborhood.

But our Ambassadors want to be with others on Palm Sunday.

We set about looking for a church that did more than hand out palms fronds and sing All Glory, Laud and Honor before plunging into the Passion Story for 90 minutes—a pshychological mood swing that doesn’t really work in the worship setting, no matter how hard we try.

This is a new development in liturgical practice—the brainchild of theologians who asked,”Why not combine Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday?” but didn’t take the time to answer their own question.

This was probably an attempt to compress the Holy Week experience into one worship service for the vast numbers of people who do not attend Holy Week services.

The triumphant entry into Jerusalem is now given a few opening minutes of worship. The Passion Story overshadows it by its sheer length. When we leave church on Palm Sunday, we are already experiencing the agony of Good Friday.

There are many good reasons to keep Palm Sunday pure.

We need Palm Sunday. We need the joy and the longing for salvation. We need to revel in the day—the whole day. Musicians need to have time to soar with anticipatory excitement. Children need the physical expression of joyous movement. We all need to sing and pray Hosanna! We need to enter Holy Week in joy! It’s part of the Passion Story!

So we vagabond Lutherans of East Falls may end up celebrating Palm Sunday by ourselves. But at least we will be celebrating Palm Sunday!

photo credit: Lawrence OP via photopin cc