Why the "/" in the middle of our liturgical title? Well, because if you just go from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday then it means you simply go from celebration to celebration -- The loud "Hosanna" of Palm Sunday followed immediately by the exultant "Hallelujah" of Easter -- which means we've completely skipped past an important part of the story. So we'll combine Palm Sunday and the story of Christ's Passion this week in worship.
We will begin the service with the story of Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem from Luke 19:30-40. There will be a palm procession, loud shouts of "Hosanna" and a victorious chorus from the Chancel Choir.
From there excerpts from the Passion Narrative have been woven into our regular order of worship. Throughout the service we will hear once more and all over again about Christ's betrayal by Judas, his restless night of the soul in Gethsemane, his sham of a trial, and his death on the cross...all with the promise that the story does not end here.
As a people of faith we know that death does not get the final word. We know that the joy of new life and the power Christ's resurrection is waiting just around the corner on Easter Sunday. But we also know that in order to get to Easter's joy we need to first follow Christ all the way to the cross. So on Palm/Passion Sunday we do just that.
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