Jesus is coming!
From the mountainside, from the seaside,
from the homes of the rich
and the company of the poor,
from the bedside of those who are sick,
Jesus is coming!
Along dusty roads,
with a ragged band of travellers,
Jesus comes to Jerusalem,
Jesus comes to worship.
Will we greet him with Hosannas?
Let’s pray:
We have come to meet you today, Jesus.
The crowds offered you their coats to walk on,
they waved palm branches, honouring your presence.
Today we honour you, Lord,
with our faithful tithes and offerings.
We lay these gifts before you,
humble tokens of our love,
a public display of affection for our King of kings. Amen.
Thank you God for your triumphal entry into our world each and every day.
The slow motion explosion of buds on the trees proclaim “Hosanna!”
Rushing water, falling from heaven, gurgling to the sea, proclaims “Hosanna!”
The fragrance of spring in the morning air proclaims, “Hosanna!”
And the beauty of a baby’s fingers, the softness of their cheek proclaims your praise!
We long to join this chorus, giving you thanks and praise for who you are,
for all you have created, all you are creating.
Thank you for sending Jesus, who showed us your love for all creation,
your love for us….
My brothers and sisters,
as we enter into this holy week,
let us keep our eyes on Jesus.
He will show us where we need to go.
Consider the clothes of our congregation,
how they glow!
Clothes of every color, light and dark, bright and muted,
a rainbow of raiment as varied as the lilies of the field.
Thank you, Lord, for clothing us;
we all have something to wear.
This despite the fact
that some of us have stood at our closets
lamenting, “I have nothing to wear.”
We come to worship with expensive Italian shoes
and twenty-year-old Birkenstocks
The earth is God’s and all that is in it:
the earth’s crust, the earth’s surface,
the earth’s atmosphere.
From molten rock to glaciers,
all this, everything is God’s.
The world belongs to God.
The working world, the academic world,
the old world and the new world order,
the worldwide web, the real world,
the whole world is God’s.
The world and those who live in it:
all creatures great and small,
Oh God, you are my God! I seek you!
I am feeling heavy and tired,
I am troubled and empty.
From this place of pain I cry out to you!
I have never felt so sad,
I am totally overwhelmed,
I am facing despair.
People around me say,
“You’ll feel better tomorrow.”
They say I lack faith,
they are irritated with me and say,
“Pull yourself together!”
I crave silence like water.
In this noisy non-stop fast-paced high-powered
injection-fuelled people-filled emotion-packed
day, I say,
“I crave silence like water.”
Drop, drop, drop
into my soul, soul, soul.
I will listen for the drip and the echo.
I will look, look, look
for the dropper of silence
and wait, wait, wait to be filled.
Silence expands noiselessly.
It blossoms unexpectedly,
God, we stand at the door of this New Year,
thankful for the year behind us,
a gift through which we’ve lived and moved.
At this timely threshold,
with our feet poised to walk into ____,
we turn to you with our prayer of hope.
Hope springs eternal when we walk with you.
Help us walk this year with you.
We hope that this will be a year filled
with joy, with love, with laughter,
a year filled with plenty and abundance,
with purpose and fulfillment.
But if the year brings hard times and hurt,
pain and sorrow, tears and trials,
we know that your care and comfort
I am a Mennonite pastor currently teaching theology at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. I’ve served congregations in Ontario and most recently, Alberta.
I love to write and to lead worship! If you are finding my writing helpful, I would love to hear from you! Feel free to use or adapt the material here, it is all written by me. If printing material, please credit “Copyright Carol Penner www.leadinginworship.com” (and say whether you modified it). If publishing, please contact me for permission. Contact me at carol@leadinginworship.com
Get regular resource updates and special announcements!
