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Please note:
This script does not necessarily exactly reflect the transmission. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors.
It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.

Revd Dr Calvin T SamuelÌý

Good morning on this, the sixth and final Sunday of Lent. Better known as Palm Sunday, today marks the beginning of Holy Week, the final week in the earthly life and ministry of Jesus before his crucifixion. On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem in triumph with crowds shouting in adulation and throwing palm branches at his feet as he fulfilled the prophecy demonstrating he was indeed the long-awaited Messiah.ÌýBy Friday of that same week Jesus had been betrayed and arrested and another crowd shouted, ‘Crucify him!’
Our first piece of music today is a Palm Sunday hymn written over twelve hundred years ago and later translated from Latin to English into the hymn we know as "All Glory, Laud and Honour".

Music - All Glory, Laud, And Honour performed by St Michael’s Singers
Album: The Hymn Makers: There is a green hill faraway - A Selection of Easter HymnsLabel: KingswayCat no: KMCD2208

Calvin -
In the nearly 2,000 years since the first Palm SundayÌý the Church has approached Holy Week as a period of preparation for Easter, seeking to retrace and remember Jesus’ journey from adulation to betrayal, to arrest and trial, to crucifixion.ÌýÌý
This year, Palm Sunday carries additional reasons to remember a tumultuous journey.Ìý Palm Sunday 2020 marked the moment when many churches across the United Kingdom began offering online Sunday Worship in response to the first lockdown.Ìý The milestone of a second Palm Sunday under lockdown conditions, with many churches still worshipping online, is a reminder of how long and hard the road to recovery from Covid 19 has been for us all.
Later on in the service our sermon will be brought to us by ordinand Imogen Ball. But first our opening prayer is read by the Revd Dr Hannah Steele, Director of St Mellitus, a Church of England theological college.Ìý

Opening Prayer - Revd Dr Hannah Steele
Calvin -
There are only 10 accounts of events in Jesus’ life that are reported in all four of the gospels. The writer of John’s gospel, for example, points out that there were far more stories about Jesus’ life and ministry than could be included in his account. So each of the gospel writers was forced to make choices about what to include and what could be overlooked, knowing that others were also telling the stories of Jesus.Ìý
So it’s interesting to notice which events none of the gospel writers felt they could overlook. One of those is the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. As we hear the reading, I invite you to imagine the scene, picture yourselves amongst the busy crowds, experiencing the nervous energy and expectation surrounding seeing the long awaited Messiah finally entering Jerusalem in fulfilment of scriptures written long ago.
Dramatized reading of Luke 19:28-42 (NLT)Ìý
Music - Beautiful Saviour (All My Days) written and performed by Stuart TownendÌýAlbum: Stuart Townend: Ultimate CollectionLabel: KingswayCat no: KWCD3313
Old Testament reading from Zechariah 9:9-10
Calvin -
Our Old Testament lesson helps to put into context Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Written some 500 years before the events of Palm Sunday this was just one of hundreds of passages from the Hebrew Bible which were later interpreted as Messianic prophecies by the time of Jesus.Ìý
The humility of entering Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey indicates something about the kind of Messiah Jesus aimed to be. However the passage also describes something of the majestic power of this Messiah who could command peace to the nations and whose dominion would stretch from sea to sea.Ìý
Our next hymn expresses something of that paradox of humility and majestic power - ‘Ride on, ride on in majesty! In lowly pomp ride on to die; bow your meek head to mortal pain, then take, O God, your pow'r and reign.’

MusicÌý – Ride On, Ride On In Majesty performed by St Michael’s Singers
Author: Henry Hart MilmanAlbum: The Hymn Makers: There is a green hill faraway - A Selection of Easter HymnsLabel: KingswayCat no: KMCD2208Ìý

Calvin -
Our sermon is brought to us by Imogen Ball , the winner of this year’s Theology Slam – a national competition organised by SCM Press, the Church Times and London Institute of Contemporary Christianity, to find engaging young voices, aged 18-30, who think theologically about the contemporary world.Ìý
Imogen was crowned winner just last week in a virtual final where she spoke on the topic of creativity and the womb - you can hear her winning talk via the Church Times website, alongside the two other finalists’ talks. But today Imogen has a sermon for this Palm Sunday.

Sermon by Imogen Ball, Winner of Theology Slam 2021
An unexpected journey

It was unexpected,Ìýunusual,ÌýunseemlyÌý

On a donkey,

With some friends

Towards the city It was unruly,Ìýunacknowledged,ÌýunparalleledÌýIn humility,

With tears,

Towards the cross.

The words ‘unexpected journey’ resonate deeply with me. I’ve been a Christian for most of my life and my walk with God is wonderfully summarised with those exact words ‘unexpected journey’. I grew up wanting to be an Opera singer but here I am today a Church of England due to be ordained as curate in September– not at all what I had planned. I’m finishing my elongated training with my curate-to-be husband and our nearly two year old adventurer. And having grown up in Scotland I did not imagine that I’d end up finding home hundreds of miles away in the south west of England – yet here I am.Ìý
These unexpected turns have been accompanied by some unexpected challenges. I struggled through my teenage years with mental ill health, and my family continue to live under the shadow of my mum’s long term cancer diagnosis. This has indeed been and continues to be an unexpected journey with God.
Jesus’ journey into the Holy city of Jerusalem and towards the cross is unexpected. Jesus began his travels back in Luke chapter 9 and here in chapter 19 Jesus is making the final approach to Jerusalem. Again and again, Jesus defies the expectations of Roman society and Jewish tradition in several different ways…Ìý
Firstly, Jesus has an unexpected ride. He chose a donkey and not a war horse. This was not a triumphal entry following a great battle, the victorious king astride his prized and mighty mount, but a humble entry of an obedient king upon a borrowed donkey. Now while you and I may presume that donkey riding is reserved for a beach holiday or an elaborate nativity scene, the donkey here echoes Zechariah’s prophesy, which we heard earlier. This is a royal entry of sorts, there are many kings who have travelled this way before. And yet there is a sense here, in this procession, that Jesus is setting a new way, that the donkey, though ready for a king, is not a marker of prestige or power but a marker of peace.Ìý
Jesus has an unexpected entourage. His crowd was made up of dedicated disciples not citizens of the city. This was not a triumphal entry for all the world to see, with line upon line of people paving the streets to shout ‘welcome to the king’ but a humble entry of a great teacher with his companions and students proclaiming the works and wonders they had seen. We read that on this day the whole crowd of disciples lifted up their praises of acclamation, coronating their king, but in just four days’ time the whole crowd surrounding Jesus instead raise shouts of accusation, condemning their king to die.Ìý
Jesus brings an unexpected peace. The peace of Rome was fought and won through domination and military might, but peace was temporary, superficial and imposed. The peace of Christ was fought and won by one man on the cross, peace is eternal, foundational and gifted. Peace, shalom, is revolutionary, transforming the world as we know it. Peace of this kind reconciles all things back to God, re-balanced, restored, renewed.Ìý
Finally, Jesus’ journey has an unexpected end. He took his place as King not on a throne but on a tree, on his head was placed, not a crown of gold but a crown of thorns, his wardrobe was not majestic untarnished robes, but ripped and gambled garments before his naked dying body. This is not the expected end to this supposed triumphal entry, is it?ÌýAnd yet, this is what we were told. An unexpected prophesy from Zechariah of a king that comes to you, humble or afflicted and riding on a donkey, commanding peace to the nations. Despite all that was unexpected about the journey of Jesus, this is the journey we were told to expect, the journey he willingly accepted himself. Unexpected yet eternally anticipated.Ìý
And so we enter another unexpected journey. As we embrace the reality of an unexpected holy week, far distant perhaps from our hopes of open churches, shared meals and large celebrations, we encounter again the unexpected journey of Christ towards the cross. Between this Sunday and next, lies a journey. This journey from the heights of today plunges into the depths of the week ahead. Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday are twin peaks with a mountainous valley we are called to traverse between. This is a journey we encounter once again, a journey we are all invited to walk once more, the unexpected yet eternally anticipated journey. Will you retrace the footsteps of Christ as he travels towards the cross and from the cross towards the empty tomb? How will you embrace the unexpected journey of this Holy week?

Music -Ìý God’s Heart Explodes written and performed by Lucy GrimbleÌý
Album: God’s Heart ExplodesPublished by:Ìý Integrity MusicISRC code: UK 8AR 20 00004

Calvin –
That was ‘God’s Heart Explodes’ by London-based worship leader and singer/songwriter, Lucy Grimble.

We will now hear again from Revd Dr Hannah Steele, director of St Mellitus theological college, with our prayers of intercession.Ìý

Intercessory prayers - Revd Dr Hannah Steele
The Lord’s PrayerÌý

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Music – Hosanna To The Son Of David performed by The Cambridge SingersÌý
Author: Orlando GibbonsPerformer: John Rutter and The Cambridge SingersAlbum: A Double Celebration Disc 1Label: Collegium RecordsCat no: COLCD 137
Blessing – Revd Dr Calvin T Samuel
Music – Praise The Lord performed by London Community Gospel ChoirÌý
Author: Gary OliverAlbum: The Best Of London Community Gospel Choir: Celebrating 30 YearsLabel: MVLS Records LimitedCat no: 5060170080039

Instrumental tracks used in the service -

Track Title: Written In The StarsAuthor: Alexis FfrenchPerformer: Alexis FfrenchAlbum: DreamlandTrack: 11Label: Sony Masterworks

Track Title: 06:00 SunriseÌýAuthor: Jonathan OgdenPerformer: Jonathan OgdenAlbum: Twenty FourTrack: 24Label: Jonathan OgdenCat no: 381055FQ (PRS)

Track Title: Arabian SkyComposers:Ìý Walsh, Ben and Hymas, JohnPerformer: Walsh, Ben and Hymas, JohnAlbum: World of FiddleTrack: 32Publisher(s):Boom Music Limited (PRS)

Track Title: AssouanComposers and artists: Bourassin, Jean Francois Albert and Allemand, ChristopheAlbum Title: Egypt PathTrack Number: 6Album Number:ZIK621Publisher(s):Soho Production Music (PRS)Label: Musique & Music – ZIK

Track Title: FableComposer and artist: Hines, DanLibrary Label: Lone SoundAlbum Number: LONE009Album Title: Sparse HangÌý DrumTrack Number: 12Publisher: Grey Man Production Music