Introduction-
Good morning,
Thank you for letting me into your home as we try to find what the new normal is for our lives right now.
Excited to see what the Lord can do with some willing hearts and His anointing.
Can I just say God’s has got this!
For all the hearts that are restless, the Lord wants to give us peace. The peace only He can give at a time of stress and unrest.
We do not have to go very far to be reminded that we are globally fighting the Coronavirus pandemic!
We have heard it in the news everyday for weeks.
We are now being asked to wear a mask when we are gathered tightly with people.
Some have shared with me, I don’t need to hear anymore about the Coronavirus for awhile - it is in our face everyday 24/7.
My wife has said that- she is considered an at risk person because of her treatments and low immune system. She is told right now to stay away from people as much as possible.
She has said to me… I want to hear about hope! I want to hear an encouraging word.
Sometimes, we just need to turn the news off awhile and get quiet with the Lord.
So here we go. Amen.
About a week ago, a dear sister and long-time friend sent me a card with a picture of a coffer cup on it- The wording on the cup said- “Coffee is always a good idea.” She sent me this particular card because she knows that I enjoy my coffee. She knew it would encourage me and make me smile. It would remind me of times when we were able to get together.
(Hold the Bible) I don’t want to throw clichés out but God’s has got this!
He gives us many words of encouragements as we face all sorts of trials in our lives.
He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
What you are facing, He does not want you to face by yourself.
We are moving into holy week. A week usually spent reading and teaching on the road to the cross.
A time leading up to the celebration of the empty tomb and resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday
A time where believers rejoice because of the cross, because of the empty tomb, because of the resurrection.
We desire to celebrate. Worship is in our DNA.
Palm Sunday cannot be cancelled because we cannot worship together in a building.
Easter cannot be cancelled- All kinds of things have been cancelled lately, but Easter is not one of them.
Palm Sunday has already happened- Jesus has already triumphantly come and fulfilled the call of God the Father to be the redeemer for mankind.
Easter has already happened- No one will ever kill Him again, He will never be put in a tomb again. He does not have to rise again because He will never be buried again!
Amen! Amen! Amen!
That is how we should be approaching holy Week- a reminder of Jesus.
Prayer-
Father on this glorious Palm Sunday- The beginning of what we call Holy Week, allow us to sense your presence as we open up the Easter story. We rejoice that we have the empty tomb to celebrate and what that means for the believer, but today Father (Palm Sunday) as we take a look at Jesus journey to the cross, may we have a heart that is open and sensitive to the things that lead up to the resurrection so that we might get a new and fresh love at Jesus.
Luke 19:28-44 Read from Bible
Sometimes if we are not careful, scripture can lose its appeal to us because we are so familiar of a story or a text, we feel we know all there is to know.
I would hate to see that happen.
Cheers and jeers! One minute they are hailing Jesus as King and then a few days later, they are yelling to have him crucified and willing to let a murderer go free.
Luke 23: 18
“But the whole crowd shouted, away with this man! Release Barabbas to us. (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city and for murder) Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting crucify him! Crucify him!”
What in the world changed?
Their heart was not on the Lord, it was on what He could do for them.
The people wanted Jesus to meet expectations and Jesus wants so much more for our lives.
Jesus wants to do a new thing! We want Him to forgive us, but in actuality, He also wants to transform us.
A relationship is not often made in a storm, it is tested.
Right now your faith is being tested by the circumstances we are all going through.
You are being challenged to weaken, wavier on your stance, go with the crowd, called out.
It is a time to lean in, not pull away from Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ did not wavier from His relationship with God the Father, He did not lose sight of the mission He was on.
Jesus headed into the city of Jerusalem to fulfill prophesies laid down in His Word.
Passes through the Mt of Olives- a place soon where He would be praying for each and every one of us.
A place where it would be so intense that He asked the Father if it is possible, take this cup from me, but your will be done through your Son Jesus.
To fulfill prophesy, He rides into Jerusalem to the praising and blessing of people who wanted him to be King!
They wanted Jesus to be King so He would break them loose from the mighty Roman stronghold.
The Pharisees obviously didn’t like him, they knew scripture- they knew that prophecy was being fulfilled and they told Jesus to shut his disciples up.
Jesus rebuked them and told them that even if they stopped, the rocks would cry out and praise God- Because of what was going to happen!
Jesus was putting into motion the love of God and a plan that would not be allowed to fail.
They wanted a king………………………………………………….Jesus wanted to be savior
They wanted to change Rome…………….………………Jesus wanted to change their hearts
They wanted power returned …………………Jesus wanted to give them peace and salvation
They saw Romans as the problem…….…………..…………Jesus said they were the problem
To the believer who has a relationship with Christ, Palm Sunday reminds us of the journey of our savior for the redemption of each and everyone of us who puts faith in Jesus Christ.
Coming to Jesus is a radical thing!
You can quietly accept Jesus in the privacy of your own home, but I don’t believe you can quietly serve Him.
Because there is a transformation that takes place in our hearts and soul.
Because Jesus wants to take us from where we are to where we need to be.
Following Him
Walking in the same direction
Staying focused on the same things
It is a path of commitment
What went wrong?
For them- they looked at Jesus for what He would do for them-
For us- creating a Jesus of our liking instead of seeing what He has done for us and what He wants to do for us.
Jesus knows everything about us-
That can be a comfort and scary at the same time
We cannot fake it.
They saw Jesus as a miracle worker and they wanted a miracle without the relationship
They wanted to be saved from their troubles but not saved from their sins, which meant a change in lifestyle.
Can I speak to that a moment?
In today’s wording- they had blind spots-
Their blind spots kept them from seeing that what was happening was the plan of God unfolding in their lives.
-They saw the pain of Roman dominance and they saw the unjust treatment they were going through but they did not see a savior intervening into their lives.
When we have these blind spots, we need a fresh pair of eyes to help us.
Matthew 7:3
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye”?
FRESH PAIR OF EYES
That is where we trust the Holy Spirit of God to open our eyes to the things of God.
The importance of a believing friend to get along side of you.
Proverbs 27:6
“Wounds form a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” (NIV)
“Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy” (NLT)
Jesus came to tell us we are broken- we need a savior- but I have come to heal the broken.
Marvelous Jesus came to provide for us what we cannot do for ourselves and He will intervene in our lives and fix the brokenness that has happened in our lives.
Generational brokenness- The sin we inherited because of the fallen nature.
Social brokenness- We are living in a broken world, with people who need Jesus as much as we do.
Personal brokenness- Each and every one of us has things in our lives that have damaged us in some way. Jesus came to fix our brokenness and offer up healing and redemption.
This morning I invite you to look with fresh eyes at Jesus.
Matthew 26:52 where Jesus addresses the disciples as they were to take him away.
“Put your swords back in place, Jesus said to them, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?
Jesus addressing the crowd-
“Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.”
We cannot deny the love of God for us, He has already done all he can do to show us that- He has open arms and desires for us to have open hearts and let Him speak to us at our point of need.
We will never know on this side of heaven the battle that Jesus won between Palm Sunday and Easter morning. It is spiritual warfare that only the heavenly realm can imagine. But I do know one thing because His word tells us and that is He loved us enough to go through and give victory for each and everyone of us.
Gethsemane where Jesus himself says
“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”
Jesus left his disciples three times to pray.
He was also praying for you and I.
We are weak but He is strong!
As I close this morning, that is the Jesus we need to serve. I have titled this message Palms up.
It is hard to make a fist when you palms are up in a surrendered position.
It is easy to worship as you raise your arms out to Him
When we get our focus off circumstances and on Him- we rise to the top.
Would you join me in prayer this morning-
Amen.
