Worship

Prayers of the People

We invite you to pray with us this week.

God of Palm Branches and Hosannas,
We love a good Palm Sunday celebration.
We love the sound of a joyful parade.
We love the cheers of “hosanna” in the streets. 
We love waving our palm branches.
All of it helps us believe that change will come.

So for the joy of this day, we give you thanks.
Thank you for modeling what resiliency looks like.
Thank you for riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and for painting a picture of a better world in the face of an oppressive empire.

We need the raw hope of this day, so for your example, we sing hosanna.

However, the emotions of this day also make us wonder-
Would we have been there, at the parade?
Would we have laid down our coats?
Would we have followed you with resilient spirits?
Or would we have clung to the walls?
Hid in the shadows?
Turned our faces away from your dream?

In a world that needs persistent hope,
In a world that is desperate for joyful parades,
In a world that is constantly bumping up against corrupt and oppressive leaders, we ask that you would infuse us with the same courage you gave Jesus.

And if our arms shake, then may they shake with palm branches in them.
And if our voices break, then may they break over cries of “hosanna.”
And if our spirits doubt that change will ever come, then make us resilient in all the ways we need to be.

God, we believe.
We are waving palm branches.
We are singing hosanna in the street.
Meet us here.
Help us hold onto hope when the world needs it most.

With gratitude and openness, we lift our voices together to pray the words your courageous son taught us to pray, saying…

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 debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

The Rev. Sarah A. Speed, Associate Pastor, offered these prayers of the people on Sunday, March 17, 2024.