Join us to celebrate Palm Sunday with Loud Hosannas!!
Led by Rev Huw Sperring & the Wesley Singers
The winners of the Easter Egg Competition will be revealed today
All are welcome to share in refreshments served in the Main Hall after the service
Knitted Bible, Palm Sunday
LENT 6 TILL WE CAST OUR CROWNS BEFORE THEE
Bible passages; Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29, Mark 11:1-11
Background notes
The crowds outside Jerusalem were profoundly moved by seeing Jesus for the first time. He was riding a donkey, a low-status animal. They responded by taking off their cloaks and laying them on the ground or spreading out leafy branches from the field. Cloaks were status symbols; they communicated identity and authority. The line of the hymn, “cast our crowns before thee”, speaks of a similar idea. Today we use status symbols to let people know that we are valuable and worth their attention. But when it comes to God they are redundant, because God knows our true selves and God’s love is not bounded by our human measures of worth.
A Methodist Way of Life: the Open commitment challenges us to be generous and hospitable, to make new connections with people. God calls us to love one another in the same way as God loves us: seeing beyond status and serving one another with generosity.
Questions for discussion
What does it feel like when someone notices you and gives you their attention? Can you think of a time when you’ve dropped in status?
What secular status symbols do you use to communicate your value to people (home, car, bike, branded clothing, jewellery, phone)?
Why might it be good for us to ‘cast our crowns’ and lose our status symbols?
The good news
“Till we cast our crowns before thee”: we have no need for status symbols. Each of us has inherent value and worth in God’s economy.