PALM SUNDAY
The Mind of Christ
March 29, 2026
AS WE GATHER
Today we enter the Great and Holy Week of our faith, the very heart and center of God’s greatest act since the Creation itself—the salvation of mankind by the overthrow of sin, death, and the devil, and the restoration of all creation through the power of the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. As we join the crowds welcoming Jesus, the one who comes in the name of the Lord, we plan to get swept up in the drama of the story many know so well.
Peter wrote, “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13). On this day “preparing [our] minds for action” makes us as contemplate and consider what was in the mind of Jesus as He entered Jerusalem to the cheers of adults and children waving palms and shouting praise. What was our Lord thinking as He gathered His disciples for the Last Supper of Passover? As He prayed in Gethsemane’s garden? When He was arrested, falsely tried, beaten, abused, and sentenced to death by crucifixion? What was in the Savior’s mind as He hung on that cross? For the obvious impossibility of our ability to know the depths of the God who says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways” (Isaiah 55:8), there is one thing we can know for sure—He had you in mind. We know that “God so loved the world” (John 3:16).
+ PREPARATION +
GREETING
Pastor: The grace of our Lord + Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
People: Amen.
Pastor: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
People: Hosanna to the Son of David.
HYMN All Glory, Laud, and Honor TLH 160
All glory, laud, and honor To Thee, Redeemer, King,
To whom the lips of children Made sweet hosannas ring.
Thou art the King of Israel, Thou David's royal Son,
Who in the Lord's name comest, The King and Blessed One.
All glory, laud, and honor To Thee, Redeemer, King,
To whom the lips of children Made sweet hosannas ring.
The company of angels Are praising Thee on high,
And mortal men and all things Created make reply.
All glory, laud, and honor To Thee, Redeemer, King,
To whom the lips of children Made sweet hosannas ring.
The people of the Hebrews With psalms before Thee went;
Our praise and prayer and anthems Before Thee we present.
All glory, laud, and honor To Thee, Redeemer, King,
To whom the lips of children Made sweet hosannas ring.
To Thee, before Thy Passion, They sang their hymns of praise;
To Thee, now high exalted, Our melody we raise.
All glory, laud, and honor To Thee, Redeemer, King,
To whom the lips of children Made sweet hosannas ring.
Thou didst accept their praises; Accept the prayers we bring,
Who in all good delightest, Thou good and gracious King.
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
People: O almighty God, merciful Father, I a poor miserable sinner, confess unto Thee all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended Thee and justly deserved Thy temporal and eternal punishment. But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, and I pray Thee of Thy boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor sinful being.
Pastor: Upon this your confession, I, by virtue of my office as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
COLLECT
Pastor: Let us pray. Lord God, as the people in Jerusalem gathered to welcome Your Son, our Lord, when He came into His holy city, so we sing of Your coming among us today with songs of praise. Keep us steadfast in our hope and confession of faith throughout our lives that we may meet Him with grateful hearts when He comes again in glory; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Pastor: Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, You sent Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross. Mercifully grant that we may follow the example of His great humility and patience and be made partakers of His resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
+ WORD +
OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 50:4–9a (The servant’s obedience)
4 The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. 5 The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. 6 I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. 7 But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. 8 He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. 9 Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty?
EPISTLE Philippians 2:5–11 (Christ’s example of humility)
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
HOLY GOSPEL Matthew 21:1-11 (The Triumphal Entry)
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE
SONG The King of Glory
Refrain: The King of Glory comes, the nation rejoices;
Open the gates before Him, lift up your voices.
Who is the King of Glory; how shall we call Him? He is Emmanuel, the Promised of ages. (Refrain)
In all of Galilee, in city or village, He goes among His people curing their illness. (Refrain)
Sing then of David’s son, our Savior and Brother; In all of Galilee was never another. (Refrain)
He gave His life for us, the Lamb of salvation, He took upon Himself the sins of the nation. (Refrain)
He conquered sin and death, He truly has risen, And He will share with us His heavenly vision. (Refrain)
SERMON
CREED Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made: who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And he will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
GREETING/ANNOUNCEMENTS
OFFERING
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
Pastor: O God, for all the joy with which the people in Jerusalem greeted Your Son that day when He entered the holy city for the final time and for all the joy we feel this day as we gather before You in praise and worship, we recall His goal that week and our great need for His accomplishment of Your will of salvation. Grant that the remembrance of His innocent suffering and death draw us nearer to You in true repentance of our sin. Give us faith that the door of mercy is still open to us with the deliverance He won on the cross, bestowing forgiveness of sin and eternal life in His name. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer. Hosanna in the highest.
Pastor: Grant that the Good News of Your work of salvation through Your Son for the life of the world be proclaimed throughout our world today by Your holy church through faithful pastors and witnesses in every place, that many turn to You and hear Your invitation for reconciliation with You through faith in Your great goodness. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Pastor: Grant Your blessing and guidance to all servant-leaders in our country and in all nations, that righteousness and peace may prevail. End all conflicts or wars. Bless all institutions of learning and research. Grant success to farmers and producers of food for all. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer and grant Your blessing.
Pastor: As we all contend with the challenges of living still in a fallen world, we pray for Your help and healing of all who are sick, injured, troubled in any way, those who are lonely or afraid, [especially . . .], and all we name in our hearts before You. Be the strength of the weary and the great physician of soul, mind, and spirit. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: Remembering the saints that have gone before us, especially our loved ones nearest us who now rest from their labors and are with You, when our last hour comes, admit us with them into Your blessed and eternal peace and presence. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, through Your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Amen.