Opening Prayer

Holy God, open our ears, our eyes and our hearts today as we re-tell the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem. We yearn to feel the excitement, the wonder and the expectation of those who greeted him with shouts of “Hosanna!”  Walk with us in this hour, as we welcome, as we remember Jesus in the Upper Room, and as we lean into the betrayal, the trial, and the fear of those wondering what was to come. In every moment, help us recognize your presence with us.  Amen.

Prayers of the People

Creator God: you give us days filled with parades, bands, and balloons; you walk with us through days when we are overwhelmed with pain, with doubt, with heartache. Help us empty ourselves

so we can make room for you in our hearts.

Rider of Humility: trusting God, you offer your life so we may no longer fear death; loving God,

you challenge the powers of the world; following God, you reveal faithfulness to us. Help us empty ourselves so we can make room for you in our hearts.

Wisdom's Tongue: you come to us with arms full of joy, spreading it in our path; you take us by the hand, to walk with us through this week. Help us empty ourselves so we can make room for you

in our hearts.

God in Community, Holy in One, we open our hearts to you, as we pray as Jesus has taught us, saying, (The Lord's Prayer)

Scripture

Mark 14:12-26

12 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

13 So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” 16 The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. 17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18 While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

20 “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 “This is my blood of the covenant, 

which is poured out for many,” he said to them.