St Clement Church Community Palm Sunday Service 2026

St Clement Church Palm Sunday Community Service

Good morning

Palm Sunday was and is a day of celebration - but who could have anticipated what the following week would bring.

Lent has brought us to the beginning of Holy Week, the most important week in the Christian year.

May we walk with Christ as He walks to the cross.

My love to you all

Liz

This is your day and we shall praise you!

This is your day and we shall declare your name!

This is your day and we shall worship a risen Saviour and King!

Amen

We say together:

Let us be still for a moment as we draw near to worship God … Take just a few seconds to remind ourselves why we are gathered here today.

Listen, God speaks even through the background noise of the world around us …

Lord God, in this short time together, open our ears and our eyes to see your vision for this place and our part within it.

Teach us, hear our prayers and enable us for service wherever you may take us, to your praise and glory.

Amen

Hymn: 580 Ride on, ride on in majesty

Prayer of Confession

Lord God, we have sinned against you; we have done evil in your sight.

We are sorry and repent.

Have mercy on us according to your love.

Wash away our wrongdoing and cleanse us from our sin.

Renew a right spirit within us and restore us to the joy of your salvation,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

The Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, who in your tender love towards the human race sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to take upon him our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross: grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility, and also be partakers of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen

Readings:

Isaiah 50. 4 – 9a

Philippians 2. 5 – 11

Passion – Matthew 26. 14 – 27. 66

Hymn: 9 All glory, laud and honour

Gospel: Matthew 21. 1 - 11

(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew. Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)

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.’

(This is the Gospel of our Lord. Praise to you, O Christ)

Reflection

Today is Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week. For Jesus, it is early in His final week. He has left Jericho and is walking towards Jerusalem. He is quiet. He doesn’t stop because He is on a fateful journey – His final journey.

We tend to think of Palm Sunday as the ‘Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.’ People line the roads, wave palm branches, and shout ‘Hosanna!’

Up until now, Jesus has spent His ministry outside Jerusalem. He has deliberately avoided, as far as possible, too much conflict with the Jewish religious leaders. But, now, the time has come. The opponents of Jesus understand the strong Messianic meaning of His entry into Jerusalem. The riding on a donkey and a colt, the garments and palm branches in the road, and the shouts of the people – all this points to Jesus as the Messiah. When He is told to quieten the people, Jesus replies, ‘If these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.’ (Luke 19 v. 40)

Palm Sunday fulfils prophecy – as Zechariah foretold (Zechariah 9 v. 9) and indeed in the Psalms (Psalm 118 v. 24 – 26)

Jesus’ triumphant entry is the first public acknowledgment of being the Messiah and it is a real challenge to His enemies. But, did you know that ‘Hosanna’ does not mean ‘Praise’ but it is a plea for help – in Hebrew it means ‘Come save us!’ It is a cry of desperation. It is the plea you make to a king who has the power to change things when everything is going horribly wrong. For many, it must be a real disappointment that He isn’t royally attired and He isn’t entering Jerusalem on a war horse; but Jesus is a humble man with no personal possessions or a place to call His home and He appears on this final journey as He always has, in simple, every-day clothes. BUT, for all that, Jesus IS the Messiah; He knows the end is near. He knows the finality of the Friday that is to come. Because of this, everything He does over this coming week is deliberate; everything He says is truths He wants to carefully teach; every step is calculated; every act premeditated.

Knowing He has just one week with the disciples, what will Jesus tell them? Knowing it will be His last time in the temple, how will He act? Conscious that there is little time, Jesus only does what matters.

So, as we begin Holy Week – let us follow Jesus on His final journey.

Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem is of vital significance for us to understand His Messianic mission.

Let’s just think about how prophecy is fulfilled; how the timing is so carefully planned – remember, until now, Jesus has NEVER admitted to being the Messiah; He has always side-stepped any answer to direct questions by saying, ‘Mine hour has not yet come.’ (John 2 v. 4)

Now, Jesus is acknowledging that ‘The hour is come, that the Son of Man should be glorified.’ (John 12 v. 23)

If we look at the Palm Sunday story, we can see Jesus’ humility. He rides into Jerusalem on a common donkey, as would any common man. With this donkey is an unbroken colt – it has not been trained in any way. However, it completely surrenders to the will of the master, Jesus. In spite of the importance of the donkey and the colt to fulfil prophecy, they have another role, to lift Jesus up so that He can be seen by the crowds.

If you think about it, this donkey and the colt remind us of how we were when Jesus found us. The colt has never been broken in; it has never found its right place until it is requisitioned for the use of the Lord, and none of us are in our right place until we are subdued to Him. We were destined for this purpose right from our birth. But, like the colt, not only have we been called, but there comes a time when the Lord requisitions us. As we have often seen, it is not so much that man needs God but that God needs man. So here, the Lord has need of not only the donkey but also the colt; it is requisitioned for a special purpose. The colt is subdued – who would trust himself to an unbroken colt? The fact that the Lord rides not only on the donkey but on an unbroken colt shows the power by which He is able to subdue all things to Himself.

As Holy Week progresses, perhaps we could look at each part of the Passion story.

On His arrival into Jerusalem, he went straight to the temple and He drove out all those buying and selling, the money-changers and the people who sold doves. He told them that the temple should be ‘a house of prayer; but you are making it a den of robbers.’ This story makes me stop and think – do we have ‘a house of prayer’ or does making money too often take precedence?

At the temple people flock to Him. Many people who have disabilities come to Him and he heals them.

Wouldn’t it be great if that could happen now; but interestingly, many people society calls disabled do not consider themselves so. To them, they are just like anyone else but they happen to be blind, deaf or have a particular condition. So, what would be truly wonderful is if everyone was accepted as equals; everyone was respected for their abilities. Let’s not forget that abilities cover every area, not just academic or sporting.

The story of the fig tree is all about faith – faith without doubt. Can any of us claim that we have that? That is something we all need to work towards.

Jesus is in the temple teaching and the chief priests and elders challenge Him. They question His

authority. They see Jesus as a threat to their standing and power. His interpretation of the scriptures

is not the same as theirs. The parables He tells are about them and they do not appear well in them.

Over this week, have a look at Jesus’ teaching and His parables.

Sometimes, I think about how I would fit in to some of the parables. Sadly, I would fall far short,

would you?

The Pharisees have had enough – it is time to get rid of this upstart who the people are listening to. They must trick Him so that the Romans will have to deal with Him, and they will appear blameless. It’s time for Him to have an ignominious death.

So, we come to Maundy Thursday as we know it – the Feast of the Passover; the ‘Last Supper’ held in the Upper Room where Jesus ‘served’ His disciples; a reminder to us all that it is more blessed to give than to receive. A reminder that we should always care for and put others first. It is also where we learn that one of Jesus’ disciples, Judas, is going to betray Him and Jesus knows it. He even tells him to go and do what he plans to do. We know that Judas was trusted with the disciples’ money. Did he love money so much that betraying Jesus was just a financial transaction? Was it a way of covering up some former transgressions? Was it that Judas thought it was easy money for just saying where Jesus would be at a particular time but he never thought of the consequences? Was it that Judas thought this was one way of making Jesus step forward as a ‘Mighty King’ to overthrow the Romans and give him a position of power? Each year I have pondered this.

The early hours of Good Friday - Peter’s denial of Christ – how often I have read and thought about

that and realised it’s 99.9% certain that I would have done exactly the same. Who am I kidding? It’s

100% certain that I would have done the same. How often self-preservation overcomes what is right.

How often we think of our own well-being rather than that of others.

If I had been in the crowd in front of Pilate, would I have cried, ‘Crucify Him.’ I would like to say –

‘No’ – but in a crowd, jostling and frenzied, would I have been caught up with the furore and have

joined in? I don’t know and won’t ever know, but there are many times in our own lives when we

must face situations where we need to step forward and be prepared stand up for what is right no

matter what the cost to us. May we have the courage to do so.

Good Friday – watching the procession to Calvary – the nailing of Christ and the thieves to the crosses

– was it really an entertaining spectacle? How would each one of us have felt? Would we have stood

at the foot of the cross and had breaking hearts like Mary, Jesus’ mother, or Mary Magdalene or John?

Would we have hidden away like the disciples trying to pretend it wasn’t happening, or would we

have gloated as the Pharisees no doubt did that finally their nemesis had been destroyed?

Holy Saturday – the desolation, the emptiness of not knowing………

During this so difficult time I have needed extra support and strength to get me through. This year,

more than any other year, Holy Week seems more poignant than ever before. I find myself, for the

first time ever, experiencing something of the reality of the loneliness, the solitariness, that Christ

must have felt. As a human He must have had concerns, worries about whether He would have the

strength to get through all that awaited Him in those few short days.

When I think of Christ’s cry ‘Why have you forsaken me?’ I realise the enormity of that moment.

Something we will NEVER have to face because it was that moment, when Jesus was totally alone;

He was abandoned so that we might have forgiveness and eternal life. No matter how grim, how

desperate, how horrendous life may get, we will ALWAYS have Christ with us. If we hold out our hand,

He will hold it. If we ask for His help, He will give it. So, unlike Christ we will never have to feel that

abandonment or total loneliness.

We need to hold fast to that.

I hope you will join me on the walk with Christ through this week and may we be stronger for it.

Amen

Hymn: 73 Christ is made a sure foundation

Our Intercessions

‘Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here; come bow before Him now with reverence and fear: in Him no sin is found – we stand on holy ground. Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here.’

As we sit here quietly remembering Your triumphant procession into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday and the events of the following week, we acknowledge our human frailty. How often we, in our lives, have succumbed to temptation; how often we have been led astray, sometimes by others, but mainly because we have not been true to our beliefs and faith.