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A little boy was sick on Palm Sunday and stayed home from church with his mother. His father returned from church holding a palm branch. The little boy was curious and asked, “Why do you have that palm branch, dad?” “You see, when Jesus came into town, everyone waved Palm Branches to honor him, so we got Palm Branches today.” The little boy replied, “Aw Shucks The one Sunday I miss is the Sunday that Jesus shows up”
THE GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS OF PALM SUNDAY
John and his friend George went golfing together one Saturday morning as they had for 24 years. They were fanatics about their golf game. Later that day, John returned home completely exhausted and plopped down in his easy chair. His wife was quite concerned since he was more exhausted than usual after his Saturday golf game.
She asked him if something went wrong with the game. He replied, "No, hon, I had the best game in years!
As a matter of fact, I started out the first three holes at 4 under par, including a hole-in-two on the 3rd." "So why are you so worn out?" she asked. "Well, George had a heart attack and died on the 4th hole."
"What!? Are you so exhausted from trying to save him?" He said, "No, honey, it was quick and there was nothing anyone could’ve done. BUT AFTER THAT, IT WAS JUST HIT THE BALL, DRAG GEORGE, HIT THE BALL, DRAG GEORGE..."
The good news is: John had a great game of golf! The bad news was George-- Dead and dragged all over the golf course!
The good news was Palm Sunday and the big celebration! The bad news was Monday and what was going to happen to the next week. In a sense, the scene was about to shift from celebration to condemnation.
SOURCE: Steve Shepherd in "Only One More Week:" Matthew 21:1-11. http://www.sermoncentral.com/
sermon.asp?SermonID=30201
Imagine you are on your way to church one Sunday morning. You have had a more difficult week than normal. You are physically, emotionally and spiritually drained. You realize that you are running on fumes and are looking forward to getting your tank filled up so you can face the world again Monday morning. You are particularly excited about the worship service because you know we will be observing the Lord’s Supper, which is always a special service. But when you pull into the parking lot you quickly notice that it is already full, and you have a difficult time finding a place to park. But even though you have to park over in the field you are still excited about being here and are looking forward to what God has in store for you today. You notice that there are a lot of people standing outside on the steps and you wonder what is going on. When you get a little closer you realize that a couple of tables have been set up outside and that people are waiting in line for some reason. You also notice that people are writing checks and converting them and the paper money they have into silver coins. You wonder what is going on and ask the person in front of you what up. They inform you that the members of the Finance Committee recently made the decision to have everyone start using a new type of Church currency for the tithes and offerings. You wait patiently in line and sure enough when you finally make it to the table you are told that you need the new church currency in order to make an offering. So you take out a $20 bill and lay it down on the table and the person at the table takes your money and gives you a $10 church coin in return. When you finally get through the front door you immediately notice more tables and more lines. At one table you notice some people are buying hymnbooks, while others are simply renting them. At another table you discover that they are selling communion bread for $5.00 and a cup of grape juice for $7.50. The longer you stand there the madder you get. You make a vow right then and there to never miss another business meeting again and to do your best to see that heads would roll over this. If you can imagine an experience like this and how frustrating it would be, then you can relate to how Jesus must have felt when he entered the temple courts during Passover to worship the Heavenly Father. Let’s read this passage of Scripture together.
WHAT IS YOUR COLT?
Bill Wilson pastors an inner city church in New York City. His mission field is a very violent place. He himself has been stabbed twice as he ministered to the people of the community surrounding the church. Once a Puerto Rican woman became involved in the church and was led to Christ. After her conversion she came to Pastor Wilson and said, "I want to do something to help with the church’s ministry." He asked her what her talents were and she could think of nothing---she couldn’t even speak English---but she did love children. So he put her on one of the church’s buses that went into neighborhoods and transported kids to church. Every week she performed her duties. She would find the worst-looking kid on the bus, put him on her lap and whisper over and over the only words she had learned in English: "I love you. Jesus loves you."
After several months, she became attached to one little boy in particular. The boy didn’t speak. He came to Sunday School every week with his sister and sat on the woman’s lap, but he never made a sound. Each week she would tell him all the way to Sunday School and all the way home, "I love you and Jesus loves you."
One day, to her amazement, the little boy turned around and stammered, "I---I---I love you too!" Then he put his arms around her and gave her a big hug. That was 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon. At 6:30 that night he was found dead. His own mother had beaten him to death and thrown his body in the trash......."I love you and Jesus loves you." ....Those were some of the last words this little boy heard in his short life---from the...
THE PARTY IS OVER
Americans experience presidential inaugurations in our nation’s capital every four years. They are gala events, expressions of national pride. All three branches of government are focused on the inauguration of an American president, and there are bands, banners, television coverage, and so on. But times change for presidents. I remember all the pomp and circumstance in January 1977 when Jimmy Carter was inaugurated into office. Now he’s a Sunday School teacher. He speaks to civic groups and builds houses for poor people. He’s the same man, but he doesn’t occupy the same office.
SOURCE: Steve Zeisler. http://www.sermoncentral.com/sercentral/
outsideURL.asp?OutsideURL=http://pbc.org/dp/zeisler/8158.html
Sadly, we want a religion that doesn’t ask us to sacrifice, not even for a moment. Bob McFall, was a 39 yr. Old bachelor suffering from Aplastic Anemia. He needed a bone marrow transplant. A search was conducted among his family and they discovered that his first cousin was an ideal match to donate so Bob McFall could live. But when the first cousin was asked about donating, and the explanation that there would be no harm to him whatsoever, he refused to give any bone marrow. So Bob McFall sued his first cousin, and took him to court. The trial went on and on and finally a verdict was reached. While the behavior of the first cousin was considered reprehensible, the court ruled that it could not force him to give any bone marrow. Bob McFall died 3 weeks after the trial. Sacrifice is not in our vocabulary.
OH, HOSANNA
On a Palm Sunday some time ago, 5-year-old Stephanie sat on her aunt’s lap while they listened to the pastor’s sermon together. He described Jesus’ approach to Jerusalem and how the crowds cried, "Hosanna, Hosanna!" At that, Stephanie perked up and began to sing, "Oh, Hosanna, now don’t you cry for me!"
(Brenda Fossum, Duluth, MN, "Heart to Heart," Today’s Christian Woman. From a sermon by C. Philip Green, We Want To See Jesus, 4/14/2011)
JUST TO BE NOTICED
Every spring, hundreds of Hollywood “stars” gather for the Academy Awards. Very few “slip in the back door:” instead, they make an entrance. They walk down the long red carpet, smiling at the cameras and waving to the people in the stands (who, by the way, all had to apply and go through extensive background checks), showing off their clothing (and undoubtedly a bit more), chatting with the reporters. Some will go to great, great lengths just to be noticed.
Contrast that with Jesus: to the man healed of leprosy in Matt. 8, He said: “See that you don’t tell anyone.” To the two blind men He healed in Matt. 9, He, “warned them sternly, ‘See that no one knows about this.’” And in Mark 1, a demon possessed man in Capernaum yelled out “I know who you are – the Holy One of God!”, to which Jesus replied “Be quiet!”
Jesus often chose not to be in the limelight. In fact, most of Jesus ministry happened outside of the capital city of Jerusalem, away from the big pomp and ceremony of the Temple, in small towns and villages along the way.
Until today. Until the e...
FOLLOWING THE MASSES
A few years ago I was walking down Prague's Wenceslaus Square when I coincidently, without realizing it, found myself in the middle of a protest. It was so easy to blend with them, to get into their middle and march with them, but once I tried to leave that mob, step out and continue on my way I couldn't. Bodies around me prevented me from getting out of the way despite all of my efforts. After I finally extricated myself from the crowd of protestors I realized how powerful and influential even a small group can be, how easy is to follow the masses without thinking about where it would lead me.
KYLE IDLEMAN: I CHEAPENED THE GOSPEL
"Many of the fans turn to go home. I was struck by the fact that Jesus doesn't chase after them. He doesn't soften his message to make it more appealing. He doesn't send the disciples chasing after them with a creative handout inviting them to come back for a 'build your own sundae' ice cream social. He seems okay with the fact that his popularity has plummeted. As I sat in the sanctuary surrounded by thousands of empty seats, here's what became clear to me: it wasn't the size of the crowd Jesus cared about; it was their level of commitment. I put the Bible back in the chair in front of me. I cried, 'God, I am sorry.' Almost as soon as I said it to him, I knew it needed to go further. A few days later on Easter Sunday, a crowd of thousands gathered and I began my sermon with a choked up apology. I told the crowd that I was wrong for being too concerned with what they would think and how many of them would come back. I think would the years my intentions were good; I wanted to make Jesus look as attractive as possible so that people would come to find eternal life in him. I was offering the people Jesus, but I was handing out a lot of free bread. In the process I cheapened the gospel."
(Idleman, Kyle (2011-05-24). Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus (p. 13). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.)
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