Worship Focus 

�Chris Kennedy on creationswap
 Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church

April 13, 2014

 
Scripture Passages

  

Questions for
Reflection
 
What are some ways that God's love seems simple and clear to you?

 

What examples in Jesus' life are easiest to follow?

When is it hard to understand the depth of God's love for us?

What examples in Jesus' life are hardest to follow? 
 

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Sunday's Message

Who Is This?

The Rev. Dr. Jim Bennett, preaching

 
�DTCCHC on Flickr Much like the recent change in seasons noted on our calendars, our church calendar also points us to a change of season. Palm Sunday signals the arrival of Holy Week and the impending end of Lent. Palm Sunday is a brief interruption into the solemnity of Lent. It is a moment of joy and celebration before the events of the week to come. I invite you to make the services of Holy Week a priority, beginning with Palm Sunday. We will receive the One Great Hour of Sharing offering, and will open our worship with palms waving and children singing as we celebrate our humble King. 

Grace and Peace,
Jim 

Theme for the Day
 

Church Front Showing Cross & Fall Tree Nov 2010

The story and meaning of Jesus' life is both straightforwardly simple and confusingly complex. Its simplicity is love. From start to finish, Jesus' life is the expression of God's unwavering love for us. But the way Jesus lived out that love confounded his contemporaries. Even today, trying to understand Jesus' sacrifice and trying to follow his example can confound us. The shouts of "hosanna" that ring loudly on Palm Sunday before the devastating change of events in the days that follow, invite us to consider the both the simplicity and the complexity of God's love for us.

Scripture Passages

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 fulfill 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."

 
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

 

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, "His steadfast love endures forever." Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.