02 April 2023
10:00 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
Palm Sunday today and a dry morning! We started off our service in the Church Hall with a reading of the Gospel and the distribution of palm crosses. Those who could not manage the walk up from the hall started in Church. Father Chris blessed the crosses and we set off up the lane to church with palms singing 'All Glory Laud and Honour, lead by the choir. On arrival in church we joined up with those who were there and our Eucharist began.
The Passion gospel was read by Seth, his sister Anna read the part of Pilate and Father Chris the words of our Lord. The whole congregation was the crowd!!
The choir sang 'O Saviour of the World' setting by John Goss as the anthem, and we ended our service with 'Ride on, ride on in Majesty.
So we enter Holy Week looking forwards to Easter next Sunday. There will be the following services this week
Wednesday 7pm Stations of the Cross a contemplative service
Thursday 7pm Maundy Thursday service with stripping of the alter and the Gethsemane Watch
Friday 2:30pm Good Friday Liturgy
Saturday 7:30 pm Easter Vigil
Sunday 10 am Easter Sunday Eucharist.
Every one is welcome at all or any of these services, following the story of the events of the trial and Crucifixion at one or more of the weekday services makes the joy of Easter Sunday morning all the greater.
8am Holy Communion
Isaiah 50:4-9a
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
The servant of the Lor said:
The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens—
wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.
The Lord God has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious,
I did not turn backwards.
I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.
The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.
It is the Lord God who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
10 am Family Eucharist
Matthew 21:1-11
When they had come near Jerusalem
and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives,
Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them,
‘Go into the village ahead of you,
and immediately you will find a donkey tied,
and a colt with her;
untie them and bring them to me.
If anyone says anything to you, just say this,
“The Lord needs them.”
And he will send them immediately.’
This took place
to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,
‘Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them;
they brought the donkey and the colt,
and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.
A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road,
and others cut branches from the trees
and spread them on the road.
The crowds that went ahead of him
and that followed were shouting,
‘Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!’
When he entered Jerusalem,
the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who is this?’
The crowds were saying,
‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’
8am and 10am
Philippians 2:5-11
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Philippians.
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Matthew 27:11-54
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mathhew.
Now Jesus stood before the governor;
and the governor asked him,
‘Are you the King of the Jews?’
Jesus said, ‘You say so.’
But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders,
he did not answer.
Then Pilate said to him,
‘Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?’
But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge,
so that the governor was greatly amazed.
Now at the festival
the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd,
anyone whom they wanted.
At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas.
So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them,
‘Whom do you want me to release for you,
Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?’
For he realized that it was out of jealousy
that they had handed him over.
While he was sitting on the judgement seat,
his wife sent word to him,
‘Have nothing to do with that innocent man,
for today I have suffered a great deal
because of a dream about him.’
Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas
and to have Jesus killed.
The governor again said to them,
‘Which of the two do you want me to release for you?’
And they said, ‘Barabbas.’
Pilate said to them,
‘Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?’
All of them said, ‘Let him be crucified!’
Then he asked, ‘Why, what evil has he done?’
But they shouted all the more,
‘Let him be crucified!’
So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing,
but rather that a riot was beginning,
he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying,
‘I am innocent of this man’s blood;
see to it yourselves.’
Then the people as a whole answered,
‘His blood be on us and on our children!’
So he released Barabbas for them;
and after flogging Jesus,
he handed him over to be crucified.
Then the soldiers of the governor
took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters,
and they gathered the whole cohort around him.
They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,
and after twisting some thorns into a crown,
they put it on his head.
They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him
and mocked him, saying,
‘Hail, King of the Jews!’
They spat on him,
and took the reed and struck him on the head.
After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe
and put his own clothes on him.
Then they led him away to crucify him.
As they went out,
they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon;
they compelled this man to carry his cross.
And when they came to a place called Golgotha
(which means Place of a Skull),
they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall;
but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.
And when they had crucified him,
they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots;
then they sat down there and kept watch over him.
Over his head they put the charge against him, which read,
‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.’
Then two bandits were crucified with him,
one on his right and one on his left.
Those who passed by derided him,
shaking their heads and saying,
‘You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days,
save yourself!
If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.’
In the same way the chief priests also,
along with the scribes and elders,
were mocking him, saying,
‘He saved others; he cannot save himself.
He is the King of Israel;
let him come down from the cross now,
and we will believe in him.
He trusts in God;
let God deliver him now, if he wants to;
for he said, “I am God’s Son.” ’
The bandits who were crucified with him
also taunted him in the same way.
From noon on, darkness came over the whole land
until three in the afternoon.
And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice,
‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’
that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’
When some of the bystanders heard it, they said,
‘This man is calling for Elijah.’
At once one of them ran and got a sponge,
filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink.
But the others said,
‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.’
Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice
and breathed his last.
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two,
from top to bottom.
The earth shook, and the rocks were split.
The tombs also were opened,
and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
After his resurrection they came out of the tombs
and entered the holy city and appeared to many.
Now when the centurion and those with him,
who were keeping watch over Jesus,
saw the earthquake and what took place,
they were terrified and said,
‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’
