Palm Sunday
April 5, 2020

Good morning!
 
First, I join you in being disappointed that we aren’t able to gather this morning to observe Palm Sunday. Entering into Holy Week together, particularly with some sort of pageantry that marks Jesus’ “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem, helps us experience the week before Easter as an act of our community, not just something we observe individually.
 
Rather than offering a worship service outline as I did last week, I am encouraging you to watch and “participate” in one of many services being streamed by churches this morning. My hope is that live music and a sermon actually being preached will contribute to a sense that we are entering Holy Week experientially and doing so connected to the broader Christian community.
 
I am most familiar with San Clemente Presbyterian church, because I spent 15 years there in various capacities, and I know and trust the pastor and worship leaders. Here is the link to their web page:
 
https://www.scpres.org/
 
Like every other church (including ours) it won’t fit your tastes perfectly – perhaps not at all. But as I said it is the church I’m most familiar with and the only one I really know enough about to suggest (I am inevitably too busy on Sunday mornings to keep up with what other churches are up to). Of course feel free to “tune in” to whatever church’s streamed service you prefer.*
 
I will offer my thoughts about Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week in my devotions tomorrow and the rest of the week.
 
Of course take time to pray (suggestions below) and to phone/text/email friends and family & offer one another the peace of Christ.
 
Also, please be intentional about continuing to support our church financially. We are quite behind in terms of our budgeted income, and this is a terrible time to cash out any of our investments to cover a shortfall.
 
May the peace of Christ be with you.
 
Charlie
 
Prayers:
 

• for whatever has your attention right this moment, so that you know God joins you in your concerns/interests, and so that you can set them aside and pray for other things as well
•  for the Holy Spirit to bring you comfort and assurance in the middle of these days, in the middle of the particular pains of your life and the lives of those you love
• for the ability to be fully present in your life and in the world as it is today, and at the same time to be fully present in the transcendent, earthy realities of Holy Week
• for yourself and your loved ones
• for our church, our community, and our world, particularly in light of the pandemic
• Thank God for meeting you, for the opportunity to sit, read, and pray, and pray for an awareness of God's presence through the day

 
*(You may wonder why we are not offering a streamed service of our own. The short answer is that given our current capacities and competencies, it has seemed wise to spend time and energy keeping us connected in other ways. We haven’t given up on providing some online “live action” content, but we just aren’t there yet. We hope you understand.)
 
Note: If you don’t have access to a bible, you can find an online version here:
https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/, or here; https://bible.oremus.org/