Welcome to Sojourn’s weekly worship music set list review & service recap. You’ll not only read a list of the songs we led, but also the readings and prayers from our liturgy. You can also watch the video stream of the whole service from our Facebook page, or here below (you’ll also see a video of the sermon alone).
Our liturgy is written by Worship Director Justin Shaffer, in collaboration with our Creative Team at Sojourn Church New Albany and worship staff at the other four Sojourn Collective churches in the Louisville area.
This Sunday Pastor Jonah Sage preached from Matthew 15:29-39 in our series Come Home: Full Life In A Whole Church. To learn more about Sojourn Church, click here. In the midst of the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic, we urged people to stay home and sing, pray, recite scripture, give, and listen to the sermon via our live stream on Facebook.
April 5 – Jonah Sage – Palm Sunday 2020 from Sojourn Collective on Vimeo.
—Prelude: “Instrumental” Key, Leader
CALL TO WORSHIP: Liturgist
Themes: Celebration/Salvation/Grace
Good morning and thank you all for joining us. No matter where you are right now, we encourage you to remember that you are not simply a spectator watching a service via technology. Rather, you are a member of the Church gathered, the body of Christ, and we are together in spirit worshipping the Lord as a family! Today we celebrate Palm Sunday, one week before Easter. It’s a day to remember Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. It’s a day to celebrate our salvation, though it came in an unexpected way–a humble man riding on a donkey.
Hear God’s word…
“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
-Zechariah 9:9
Typically we see the children in our church marching through the room waving palm branches as we smile and take out our phones for pictures. Some of you may have made “palm branches” at home with your kids… encourage them to stand and wave them… and post a picture of them on our wall. Let’s wave those palm branches as we sing of our righteous and victorious King!
—Song 2: “Hosanna (Palm Sunday Version)” Key, Leader
CONFESSION/LAMENT: Band Member
At the same time we sing and celebrate, we are also allowed to be sad. Especially in a time of extreme isolation, fear and uncertainty. God still welcomes us to bring our anxieties to Him. God still invites us to confess not just our sins, but our need for His grace. Take a moment, either aloud with loved ones near you, or alone in your heart, and tell God about your fears… your sadness, your anger. However you feel, bring it to God, knowing He hears us… (brief moment of quiet/music)
Hear how the Psalmist echoes our confession, and let’s read the underlined portions aloud together:
“I call to the Lord for help;
I plead with him.
I bring him all my complaints;
I tell him all my troubles.
When I am ready to give up,
he knows what I should do.
In the path where I walk,
my enemies have hidden a trap for me.
When I look beside me,
I see that there is no one to help me,
no one to protect me.
No one cares for me.
Lord, I cry to you for help;
you, Lord, are my protector;
you are all I want in this life.
Listen to my cry for help,
for I am sunk in despair.
Save me from my enemies;
they are too strong for me.
Set me free from my distress;
then in the assembly of your people I will praise you
because of your goodness to me.”
-Psalm 142
Amen. Let’s sing.
—Song 3: “Be Thou My Vision” Key, Leader
ASSURANCE & GIVING: Liturgist
Themes: Faith/God’s Work
Hear this assurance:
“The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.
The Lord upholds all who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and faithful in all he does.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.”
Psalm 145:13b-19
We can be assured that God hears each of us personally. He knows our needs and is faithful to provide. But He also calls us to look out for the needs of others. Those next to us at home, those in our city who are struggling, and those in our church family across the globe, such as our church planters and missionaries in France and Mexico.
We practice this generosity as part of our service. It’s one way our church contributes to the work of God’s Kingdom being done in our own neighborhood and across the world. You may give online at sojournchurch.com/newalbany, or on our app. If you’re connecting with us for the first time as a visitor today, please know we are not asking you to give… we pray this service is a gift to you.
As we continue in a spirit of generosity, let’s sing…
—Song 4: “There is a Fountain Filled With Blood” Key, Leader
PEACE: Band Member
God’s word reminds us of this:
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
-Philippians 4:7
It’s hard to understand how we can have true peace at a time like this. But God gives us lasting peace through Jesus. Let’s take a step of faith and embrace that peace by greeting whomever we are with now. You might even extend a message of peace on our Facebook feed.
—————————————— [SERMON & COMMUNION] ——————————————
—Song 5: “Come to the Feast” Key, Leader
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Reader
—Song 6: “Future/Past” Key, Leader
BENEDICTION: Liturgist
We end our services with a benediction, which is a “blessing for the road.” Our tradition at Sojourn is to extend a hand to God, and receive this benediction:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-5
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, peace be with you.