Announcements

Easter Egg hunt at PG on Saturday at 12:00 PM

Easter Sunrise at PG on Sunday at 7:00 AM.

Easter Sunrise in Bailey on Main Street followed by Easter egg hunt - 7:00 AM

Bring flowers for Easter cross by 9:30 AM next Sunday.

Opening Prayer

Hosanna! Blessed is Jesus who comes in God’s Name! We stand at the gates of our Jerusalem and wave our branches high. We get caught up in the excitement of the parade. Jesus sits astride a donkey, a beast of burden bearing a most precious gift. Let the joy fill your hearts this day as we shout our Hosannas. Praise God for the wondrous ways in which our lives have been touched. Prepare our hearts to worship and celebrate this day!

Opening Songs

Pastoral Prayer

Through the shouts and branches, the Savior rides again into our hearts, our Jerusalems, the places that we have fortified, sometimes against even God’s truth and love. Patient God, be with us today as we witness again the entry of Jesus into the holy city. Remind us that our "holy cities", our souls, need to welcome Jesus, truly in celebration and in commitment to his witness to us. We can so easily get caught up in the noise and forget the Savior. We can get so focused on the celebration and colors that we look past the solitary figure on the small donkey. We stand at the gates this day to welcome Jesus. May our welcome of Jesus also be reflected in our welcome of others who come into our midst. Free us from judgment and prejudice, that we may be open to hearing your word through the ministry of Jesus and the disciples. As we have spoken the names of ones who are near and dear to us who need your healing love, O God, help us also to remember that we need a good measure of your grace and mercy. Bring us through this parade into the comfort of your love. [** ] Hosanna! Blessed is Jesus! Blessed is He who has come and who continues to come into our lives forever. AMEN.

Song of Praise

Scripture Reading

Mark 11:1–11 ESV

1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’ ” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” 11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

The Promise of a King

Introduction

The glory of the Lord leaves the temple.

Ezekiel 10:18–19 ESV

18 Then the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.

The glory of the Lord fills the temple again.

Ezekiel 43:1–5 ESV

1 Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east. 2 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. 3 And the vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and just like the vision that I had seen by the Chebar canal. And I fell on my face. 4 As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east, 5 the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

The king comes from the east.

Zechariah 14:4 ESV

4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.

1. The King is humble. (vs. 1-6)

Zechariah 9:9 ESV

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

2. The King will triumph over his enemies. (vs. 7-8)

2 Kings 9:13 ESV

13 Then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, “Jehu is king.”

Philippians 2:10–11 ESV

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

3. The King sits on the throne of David. (vs. 9-11)

Genesis 49:10 ESV

10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

1 Corinthians 15:24–27 ESV

24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.

Closing

Closing Song

Benediction

The road has been long. You have seen much on this journey, but it is not time to quit. There is much to be done. Go in peace, dear people of God. Go ready to proclaim with your lives that Jesus is Lord and Savior. Go to offer God’s love and peace to all. AMEN.