Here are a few possible scriptural Calls to Worship for Palm Sunday. I’ve set them for leader and congregation, but if your congregation is not used to responsive readings you can easily adapt them (or sections of them) for use by a single worship leader.
Call to Worship I (based on Zechariah 9 :9 and Psalm 1 1 2 6 2 82 9 )
One: Rejoice greatly, O people of Zion
Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem
Look, your king is coming to you.
He is righteous and victorious,
yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—
even on a donkey’s colt.
All: Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
One: You are our God, and we will praise You!
All: You are our God, and we will exalt You!
One: O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.
All: His faithful love endures forever!
Call to Worship II (based on Psalm 1 1 1 9 2 4
One: The Lord be with you!
All: And also with you!
One: Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter, and give thanks to the Lord.
All: We will give You thanks, for You have answered us;
You have become our salvation.
One: The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
All: This is the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
One: This is the day that the Lord has made;
All: We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Call to Worship III (based on Revelation 7 :9 -1 2 )
One: And I looked,
and there was a great crowd that no one could number.
They were from every nation, tribe, people and language.
They were standing before the throne and before the Lamb,
wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
And they cried out with a loud voice:
All: “Victory belongs to our God who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb!”
One: And the angels fell facedown before the throne
and worshipped God, saying:
All: “Amen!
Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving
and honour and power and might
be to our God forever and ever. Amen!”
For more worship leading/worship planning suggestions for Palm Sunday, check out the following sites:
There are a number of resources for Palm Sunday worship leading on the Desperate Preacher site.
The Open Sourcebook offer this Palm Sunday call to worship from Philippians 2 , or this one based on Zechariah 9. ( You can also find a “Prayer of Confession for Palm Sunday” and “Words of Assurance on Palm Sunday” there as well.)
A variety of worship resources for Palm Sunday are available from Sacredise.com
Liturgy Outside the Box offers this Liturgy for Palm Sunday.
If you have other suggestion for Palm Sunday resources, I'd love to hear about them!
