Sunday, March 29, 2026 -- 10:30am Worship Service
For our final piece of bulletin art celebrating Women’s History Month, this week’s art is a portion of an unfinished mural by A. Lois White, a
New Zealander artist, circa 1935. It depicts Jesus riding triumphantly into Jerusalem on a donkey. His supporters spread cloaks before him.
Welcome to Maxwell Street! We hope you will consider wearing a nametag so that we might get to know one another better. They can be found in the lobbies outside the sanctuary. You can find more helpful information inside this bulletin.
GREETING (ON THE PORCH)
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna!
PROCESSIONAL 196 - All Glory, Laud, and Honor
CALL TO WORSHIP
This is the day that the Lord has made
Branches and shouting, longing for justice!
This is the day that Christ rode in with majesty
provoking, encouraging, redeeming tradition!
This is the day when God’s Word can look dangerous
risking transition and shaking foundations!
This is the day when the humble is holy
and God speaks through loud children and the trees bid Christ welcome!
SCRIPTURE READING - Matthew 21.1-11 NT pg 23 (NRSVUE)
CHILDREN'S MESSAGE
GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
+ HYMN 197 - Hosanna, Loud Hosanna
+ CONFESSION & PARDON
Holy Christ, we confess that amidst all the Palm Sunday crowds, we find ourselves in more turmoil than triumph. Our faith is unsteady. Our wisdom is eroding. Our resolve is shaken. Our mercy is hardening. Our hope is weakening. Come again and save us from these sins. Give us strength to follow you, our humble Savior, our wise fool, our all in all. Hear now our silent prayers of confession...
• Response to Forgiveness: Hymn 581, (Gloria Patri)
PASSING OF THE PEACE
PRAYER FOR OPENNESS
Eternal God, whose word silences the shouts of the mighty: Quiet within us every voice but your own. Speak to us through the suffering and death of Jesus Christ that by the power of your Holy Spirit we
may receive grace to show Christ’s love in lives given to your service. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING - Genesis 49.8-12 OT pg 46 (NRSVUE)
Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion, like a lioness—who dares rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him, and the obedience of the peoples is his. Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he washes his garments in wine and his robe in the blood of grapes; his eyes are darker than wine and his teeth whiter than milk.
This is the written testimony to the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
ANTHEM - God So Loved the World, John Stainer, Chancel Choir
SCRIPTURE READING - Matthew 21.12-17 NT pg 23 (NRSVUE)
SERMON - "Who Is This?" - Rev. Matt Falco
+ STATEMENT OF FAITH -
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
+ HYMN 200 - A Cheering, Chanting, Dizzy Crowd
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & THE LORD's PRAYER
OFFERING
• Offertory - The Palms, arr. Lani Smith, Susan Carey, piano
+• Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessing flow Praise Christ the Word in flesh born low; Praise Holy Spirit evermore;
One God, Triune, whom we adore. Amen.
+ • Prayer of Dedication
SCRIPTURE READING - Matthew 27.11-50 (NRSVUE)
+ HYMN 198 -Ride On! RideOn In Majesty!
+ CHARGE & BENEDICTION
Today we have hailed you as our champion.
Tomorrow distractions will overtake us, and our enthusiasm may fade.
Help us keep our eyes on you this week: on Monday, when you clear the temple of greed and deceit;
on Tuesday, when you challenge our comfort and ease;
on Wednesday, the last day before the world tilts;
on Thursday, when you wash your disciples’ feet, and promise us a new covenant of your own body and blood, and are betrayed and arrested while you pray;
on Friday, when you are examined, found guilty, and executed and plead with your last breath for our
forgiveness;
on Saturday, when you lie dead in the tomb, and it seems all is lost.
The story is ancient, but the promises are fresh.
So keep our eyes on you this week, and bring us back together on Sunday, when we will see what God has done.
And wherever you go, may you be kept in the love of God, the mercy of Christ, and the power of the Spirit, now and forevermore. Amen.
+ Benediction Response - Hymn 702, Christ Be Beside Me
1 Christ be beside me;
Christ be before me;
Christ be behind me,
King of my heart.
Christ be within me;
Christ be below me;
Christ be above me,
never to part.
2 Christ on my right hand,
Christ on my left hand,
Christ all around me,
shield in the strife.
Christ in my sleeping,
Christ in my sitting,
Christ in my rising,
Light of my life.
POSTLUDE - Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness, William Gardner’s Sacred Melodies of 1815
This German hymn depicts the salvation we have because of the events of Passion Week as well as our final resurrection in Christ. John Wesley translated it in 1740, and the hymn is currently published in 506 hymnals.
New Zealander artist, circa 1935. It depicts Jesus riding triumphantly into Jerusalem on a donkey. His supporters spread cloaks before him.
Welcome to Maxwell Street! We hope you will consider wearing a nametag so that we might get to know one another better. They can be found in the lobbies outside the sanctuary. You can find more helpful information inside this bulletin.
GREETING (ON THE PORCH)
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna!
PROCESSIONAL 196 - All Glory, Laud, and Honor
CALL TO WORSHIP
This is the day that the Lord has made
Branches and shouting, longing for justice!
This is the day that Christ rode in with majesty
provoking, encouraging, redeeming tradition!
This is the day when God’s Word can look dangerous
risking transition and shaking foundations!
This is the day when the humble is holy
and God speaks through loud children and the trees bid Christ welcome!
SCRIPTURE READING - Matthew 21.1-11 NT pg 23 (NRSVUE)
CHILDREN'S MESSAGE
GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
+ HYMN 197 - Hosanna, Loud Hosanna
+ CONFESSION & PARDON
Holy Christ, we confess that amidst all the Palm Sunday crowds, we find ourselves in more turmoil than triumph. Our faith is unsteady. Our wisdom is eroding. Our resolve is shaken. Our mercy is hardening. Our hope is weakening. Come again and save us from these sins. Give us strength to follow you, our humble Savior, our wise fool, our all in all. Hear now our silent prayers of confession...
• Response to Forgiveness: Hymn 581, (Gloria Patri)
PASSING OF THE PEACE
PRAYER FOR OPENNESS
Eternal God, whose word silences the shouts of the mighty: Quiet within us every voice but your own. Speak to us through the suffering and death of Jesus Christ that by the power of your Holy Spirit we
may receive grace to show Christ’s love in lives given to your service. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING - Genesis 49.8-12 OT pg 46 (NRSVUE)
Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion, like a lioness—who dares rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him, and the obedience of the peoples is his. Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he washes his garments in wine and his robe in the blood of grapes; his eyes are darker than wine and his teeth whiter than milk.
This is the written testimony to the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
ANTHEM - God So Loved the World, John Stainer, Chancel Choir
SCRIPTURE READING - Matthew 21.12-17 NT pg 23 (NRSVUE)
SERMON - "Who Is This?" - Rev. Matt Falco
+ STATEMENT OF FAITH -
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
+ HYMN 200 - A Cheering, Chanting, Dizzy Crowd
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & THE LORD's PRAYER
OFFERING
• Offertory - The Palms, arr. Lani Smith, Susan Carey, piano
+• Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessing flow Praise Christ the Word in flesh born low; Praise Holy Spirit evermore;
One God, Triune, whom we adore. Amen.
+ • Prayer of Dedication
SCRIPTURE READING - Matthew 27.11-50 (NRSVUE)
+ HYMN 198 -Ride On! RideOn In Majesty!
+ CHARGE & BENEDICTION
Today we have hailed you as our champion.
Tomorrow distractions will overtake us, and our enthusiasm may fade.
Help us keep our eyes on you this week: on Monday, when you clear the temple of greed and deceit;
on Tuesday, when you challenge our comfort and ease;
on Wednesday, the last day before the world tilts;
on Thursday, when you wash your disciples’ feet, and promise us a new covenant of your own body and blood, and are betrayed and arrested while you pray;
on Friday, when you are examined, found guilty, and executed and plead with your last breath for our
forgiveness;
on Saturday, when you lie dead in the tomb, and it seems all is lost.
The story is ancient, but the promises are fresh.
So keep our eyes on you this week, and bring us back together on Sunday, when we will see what God has done.
And wherever you go, may you be kept in the love of God, the mercy of Christ, and the power of the Spirit, now and forevermore. Amen.
+ Benediction Response - Hymn 702, Christ Be Beside Me
1 Christ be beside me;
Christ be before me;
Christ be behind me,
King of my heart.
Christ be within me;
Christ be below me;
Christ be above me,
never to part.
2 Christ on my right hand,
Christ on my left hand,
Christ all around me,
shield in the strife.
Christ in my sleeping,
Christ in my sitting,
Christ in my rising,
Light of my life.
POSTLUDE - Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness, William Gardner’s Sacred Melodies of 1815
This German hymn depicts the salvation we have because of the events of Passion Week as well as our final resurrection in Christ. John Wesley translated it in 1740, and the hymn is currently published in 506 hymnals.