Led by Revd Barry Lotz

THE CROSS OF CHRIST

A Meditation in Words and Music for Palm Sunday

Choir:   Hosanna to the Son of David
Thomas Weelkes

Blessed be the king that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna, though that sitteth in the highest heavens. Hosanna in excess Deo.

Bidding:   Revd Barry Lotz

Lord Christ, you did enter into your triumph by the hard and lonely way of the Cross. May your courage and devotion to the Father’s will inspire and strengthen us. May we tread firmly and with joy the road that love bids us to take, even if it leads through suffering. Be with us in our worship this afternoon. May our whole lives show you strength and love as we accept you
as our redeemer, now and always. Amen.

Hymn:   ‘Take up thy cross,’ the saviour said,

’Take up thy cross,’ the saviour said,
‘if you would my disciple be;
deny thyself, the world forsake,
and humbly follow after me.’

Take up your cross! Let not its weight
fill thy weak spirit with alarm;
his strength shall bear thy spirit up,
and brace thy heart, and nerve thine arm.

Take up thy cross, nor heed the shame,
nor let thy foolish pride rebel;
thy Lord for thee endured the cross
to save thy soul from death and hell.

Take up thy cross, then in his strength,
and calmly every danger brave;
’twill guide thee to a better home,
and lead to victory o’er the grave.

Take up thy cross and follow Christ,
nor think till death to lay it down;
for only he who bears the Cross
may hope to wear the glorious crown.

To thee, great Lord, the One in Three
All praise for evermore ascend:
O grant us in our home and see
The heavenly life that knows no end.

THE CROSS OF PENITENCE

Reading:  1 John 1, 5-9

Choir:   Lord how long wilt thou be angry?
Henry Purcell

Lord, how long wilt Thou be angry?
Shall thy jealousy burn like fire for ever?
O, remember not our old sins,
but have mercy upon us, and that soon.
For we are come to great misery.

Help us, O God of our Salvation, for the glory of Thy name.
O deliver us, and be merciful unto our sons for Thy Name’s sake.

So that we are Thy people and the sheep of Thy pasture
shall give Thee thanks for ever, and will always be shewing forth Thy praise,
From one generation to another.

THE CROSS OF SUFFERING

Reading: Suffering and Discipleship
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Choir:   Ah Holy Jesu
Johann Cruger

Ah, holy Jesu, how hast thou offended,
That man to judge thee hath in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by thine own rejected, O most afflicted.

Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesu, hath undone thee.
Twas I, Lord Jesu, I it was denied thee: I crucified thee.

Lo, the good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered;
For man’s atonement, while he nothing heedeth, God intercedeth.

Hymn:   Faithful Cross, above all other

Faithful cross, above all other: one and only noble tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom, none in fruit thy peer may be:
sweet the wood and sweet the iron, and thy load, most sweet is he.

Bend, O lofty Tree, thy branches, thy too rigid sinews bend;
and awhile the stubborn hardness, why thy birth bestowed, suspend;
and the limbs of heaven’s high Monarch gently on thine arms extend.

Thou alone hast counted worthy this world’s Ransom to sustain,
That a shipwrecked race for ever might a port of refuge gain,
With the sacred Blood anointed of the Lamb for sinners slain.

Praise and honour to the Father, praise and honour to the Son,
praise and honour to the Spirit, ever Three and ever One:
one in might and one in glory, while eternal ages run.

FOLLY OF THE CROSS

Reading: 1 Corinthians 1, 18-25

Choir: Salvator Mundi
John Blow

Salvator mundi salva nos, qui per crucem, et sanguine redimisti nos.
Auxiliare nobis, te deprecamur, Deus noster.
O Saviour of the world, who by thy cross and precious blood hast redeemed us:
Save us and help us we humbly beseech Thee, O Lord. Amen.

THE HEALING CROSS

Reading: Shadows
D.H. Lawrence

Choir:   Surely he hath borne our griefs (Messiah)
G.F. Handel

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows!
He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep are gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way.
But the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Hymn:   In the Cross of Christ I glory

In the cross of Christ I glory,
towering o’er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
gathers round its head sublime.

Through the Cross, Christ’s love empowers us
worldliness and self deny;
by his Spirit it inspired us
Him, through love, to glorify.

When the woes of life o’ertake us
Hopes deceive, and fears annoy,
Never shall the Cross forsake us,
from it shines our peace and joy.

Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure,
by the Cross are sanctified;
peace is there that knows no measure,
joys that through all time abide.

In the cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o’er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.

THE CROSS OF WONDER

Reading: The Cross
Thomas Traherne

Choir:   Christus factus est
Anton Bruckner

Christus factus est pro nobis obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis.
Propter quod et Deus exaltavitm ilium,
Et dedit illi nomen, quod est super omne nomen.
Christ became obedient for us unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath exalted Him and hath given Him
a name which is above every name.

THE LIVING CROSS

Reading: At the Cross
Chris Polhill

Choir:   God so loved the world
John Stainer

God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world,
But that the world through Him might be saved.

Reflection and Prayers:
Revd Barry Lotz

Hymn:   Christ triumphant ever reigning

Christ Triumphant, ever reigning, Saviour, Master, King,
Lord of heav’n, our lives sustaining, hear us as we sing:
Yours the glory and the crown, the high renown, the eternal name.

Word incarnate, truth revealing, Son of Man on earth!
Pow’r and majesty concealing by your humble birth:
Yours the glory and the crown, the high renown, the eternal name.

Suffering servant, scorned, ill-treated, victim crucified!
Death is through the cross defeated, sinners justified:
Yours the glory and the crown, the high renown, the eternal name.

Priestly King, enthroned for ever high in heaven above!
Sin and death and hell shall never stifle hymns of love:
Yours the glory and the crown, the high renown, the eternal name.

So, our hearts and voices raising through the ages long,
ceaselessly upon you gazing, this shall be our song:
Yours the glory and the crown, the high renown, the eternal name.

Blessing:
Revd Barry Lotz: