Palm Sunday / Sunday of the Passion April 2, 2023
As we gather for worship this Sunday
We’re almost there. The six weeks of Lent have all been leading up to this: Jesus in Jerusalem, pouring out his very best, and finally even his very life, in order to love us and honour his Father. Our main task in Holy Week (which lasts from this Sunday until Easter Sunday) is simply to watch him. See him give. See him care. See him serve. See him suffer. As we watch him doing all of this for us, the Holy Spirit will be hard at work, moulding us too into people who give, care, serve, and suffer—to love others and honour God. O come, let us worship him!
Readings: Isaiah 50:4-9a Philippians 2:5-11 John 12:12-19 John 12:20-43
Music: Hosanna Lift High the Cross Glorify Thy Name Go to Dark Gethsemane
LENTEN MID-WEEK WORSHIP
Maundy Thursday April 6
Jesus Comes to Feed My Soul
7:00 PM
Good Friday April 7
Jesus is Lord, Even Over My Death
10:00 AM
Easter Sunday April 9
Christ is Risen! In Him, We Rise
10:00 AM
UPDATE
Dear friends, My sincere thanks again to the many hundreds of you who have kept us so busy the last few days receiving your donations — may God bless you for your kindness in this moment of great need.
I’m emailing because we just received a video from our partners in Syria and I wanted to share it with you immediately.
But first, as we continue appealing for help to support our response to the earthquake in Syria and Türkiye, I ask that you please keep our partners in your prayers — so many of the people delivering this emergency response are themselves survivors of this tragedy.
Through ACT Alliance, we are in touch with our partners daily. These are local churches and organizations based right in the affected communities who are able to immediately deliver support. But they are also deeply touched by this catastrophe themselves. The death toll from this tragedy has risen to over 34,000 after a week and is expected to still climb significantly. And many of you are already aware that the people of northwestern Syria have already dealt with so much and were already in need of aid — this is crisis layered upon crisis. But your support is making a difference. (If you’ve been meaning to give and haven’t had a chance, you can do it now — visit clwr.org/earthquake or call 1-800-661-2597!)
Here’s the video I mentioned, captured by our partners at Middle East Council of Churches (MECC). Rogina Makhoul is a mother who survived the earthquake and made it to a shelter where MECC is providing emergency support, and she describes firsthand what it was like for her family when the earthquakes hit and how it’s been since. (Click below to watch it now:)
Please keep Rogina and the millions affected in the region in your prayers. And my thanks again to all of you who have already responded. It is making a difference! CLWR is appealing along with other leading Canadian aid agencies in the Humanitarian Coalition to support rescue efforts. If you’d like to give today to support people affected by this earthquake, please visit clwr.org/earthquake or call 1-800-661-2597 (office hours Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm), and please continue to join me in prayer.
Blessings,
Karin Achtelstetter
Executive Director, Canadian Lutheran World Relief
Important Links
