Full with music and

Music by Pastor Curtis Geary.

good morning

yeah let's try that again

good morning

let's get on our feet

crowd response

I'm alone in my sorrow

and dead to my sin

I'm lost without hope

I'm based in my heart

your love made a way

to let mercy come in

when death was arrested

my life

ash was

redeemed

only beauty

my

earth and

heart was

my morning

grew quiet

my fever was

dead

when death was arrested

in my life

oh your grace

so crazy

washes

over me

you have made a smooth

my life

gives me

you

it's your

endless love

pouring down

on us

you have made us

too

now life

is with you

peace from my chains

I'm not

my shame

was arrested

me

and

I'm not

you

I'm not

you

You have made me new, my life gives it to you.

It's your reign, blessed love, for you know it's all for us.

You have made us new, my life gives it to you.

I saved you this man on a cross, cross.

Godless rejoiced as the living cross.

But then Jesus arose with my feet on the way.

That's when death was arrested and my life began.

Oh, your grace so free washes over me.

You have made us new, my life gives it to you.

It's your reign, blessed love, pouring down on us.

You have made us new, my life gives it to you.

Oh, we're free, free, never will be.

Come join in the soul, you're all the redeemed.

Yes, we're free, free, never amy.

When death was arrested and my life began.

Oh, we're free, free, never will be.

Come join in the soul.

I love you.

So if you don't mind filling those out, we'll get back in touch with you.

You can drop them off in the churches located on each side of the altar here as well as the church in the back.

And that's also where we accept our giving.

We also are still collecting eggs for the Easter egg hunt.

That is this Saturday from 11 to 1 here at the church.

There will be a cookout afterwards as well.

So please bring some Easter eggs.

If you haven't already, we're collecting all this week as well.

So you can either bring them here, leave them here today or drop them off at the church office anytime this week up until Thursday, I believe.

And we're going to have a parent-child dedication at the end of the month on 428.

So if you want to take advantage of that, please notify Taylor.

Also, immediately following the service is a care community training today in the refuge, and that is for the foster care portal.

So Hope Collective works with foster care in our community.

They will be providing us with training for care communities after church in the refuge.

If you have not signed up, this is a reminder that today is the day.

If you have not signed up but are interested in serving in a care community or in finding out more about this, please join us.

Child care and pizza are both provided.

You can find Ms. Sarah Boric right here in the back center.

She has all of your answers for that.

Did we hit everything?

I believe so.

Yeah, I had one other verse I wanted to share with you as well as we are coming together to worship God.

Psalm 96, verses 1 through 4.

Sing to the Lord a new song.

Sing to the Lord all the earth.

Sing to the Lord, bless his name, and proclaim the good news of his salvation day after day.

Declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all peoples.

For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised.

Verse 8.

Give to the Lord the glory due his name.

Bring an offering and come into his court.

That is why we are here this morning.

So let's praise God together collectively.

And Taylor has one more thing to say.

Morning, church.

I'm Taylor Hours.

If you don't know me, I'm the children's director here.

We are really excited.

We've got some new things coming for our children's ministry.

The biggest thing we're doing is for our K-5 to 5th grade, which we dismiss right when the message is about to start.

We're getting ready to launch a new program for them.

It's called Explore.

And we're going to be doing that in a refuge.

Some really exciting things.

We're going to emphasize small groups.

And kind of the tagline for that is we're going to be exploring who God is and his plan for us through the Bible.

So if you have any questions about it, come see me.

I'd love to talk to you.

I'll be available after church.

Looking forward to worshiping together.

Good morning.

We're going to continue worship.

The next song we're going to do, we haven't done in a while.

Actually, I think the last person who led this song was Cedric, who's here today.

Thank you, Cedric.

So this morning, as I was reading, this is Palm Sunday.

So this is a Sunday that we celebrate Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

And so never really put this together before until I was reading the scripture this morning.

But in John 12, it says,

Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

So they gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table.

So, of course, Jesus has raised Lazarus to life.

There's people around that have seen this.

Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.

The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

And then in verse 12, it says,

The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast heard this.

His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him, when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to bear witness. So just continue to worship with us this morning as we celebrate Jesus and his sacrifice for us, but specifically this morning, as he rode into Jerusalem, as was foretold hundreds of years before in the scriptures.

You stood outside my grave with tears still on your face.

And I heard you say my name. My night was turned today. You came. I knew that you would come. You sang. My heart had woke up. I'm not afraid. I see your face.

I am alive. You came. I knew that you would come. You said death's only sleep.

One word, my heart was beating.

One word, my heart was beating. I rose out from my grave. My fear was turned to faith.

When you came, I knew that you would come

And the same, my heart had woke up

I'm not afraid to see your face

I am like a cave

I knew that you would come

Yes, you are a miracle-working God

You are a miracle-working God

Yes, you are a miracle-working God

You are a miracle-working God.

Oh, you are a miracle-working God.

I know you are a miracle-working God, miracle-working God, you came, I knew that you would come, you sang, my heart had walked up, I'm not afraid to see your face, I am alive.

Cain, oh, I knew that you would come, Cain, I knew that you would come, I'm not afraid to see your face, I am alive.

Cain, oh, I knew that you would come.

You are a miracle working God

Oh, you are a miracle working God

You are a miracle working God

Oh, you are a miracle-working God.

You are a miracle-working God.

Oh, you are a miracle-working God.

A miracle-working God.

Lord, you came, oh, I knew that you would come, and you sang, you sang, and my heart had woke up, I'm not afraid, I see your face, I am alive.

You came, oh, I knew that you would come, Lord, you came, I knew that you would come, and you sang, you sang, and my heart had woke up, I'm not afraid, I see your face, I am alive.

You came, you came, I knew that you would come, yes, I knew that you would come, I knew that you would come, thank you, God, thank you, God.

Thank you, God.

You have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, Lord.

You have made a way clear, you have come to save us, Lord.

Let's sing that again, you have come.

You have come to save us.

You have come to save us, Lord.

Jesus, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have come to save us, you have

I don't know about you guys, but I'm just overwhelmed with gratefulness right now.

I mean, I'm just thinking about Lazarus, and you know he knew Jesus was going to come.

I'm just overwhelmed with the fact that you, God, you just came to save me.

To save just me. I was worth you coming to save just me. I think a lot of times we sing corporately, us, we. But you know, sometimes I need to save me. Sometimes I forget that. You, God, you came to save me. Not just we, but me. And that feels a little bit arrogant to say that. But God, it's not. It's humbling that you came to save me. Not just we, but me. And that feels a little bit arrogant to say that. But God, it's not. It's humbling that you came to save me.

For me, me. It's easy for me. It's easy for me to say you're going to heal somebody else. It's easy for me to say you love somebody else. It's easy for me to say you're going to give grace to somebody else or mercy to somebody else. But me, you did that for me.

Think about that, church.

He is our desire. He is light and fire. You came to save me, Lord.

You're the hope among us. You're the peace that finds us. You have come to save me, Lord.

Jesus, you're the one who saves us. You're the one who saves us. King of all the other kings, Lord.

King of all the other kings, Lord.

Jesus, you're the one who saves us. You're the one who saves us. King of all the other kings, Lord.

You're the one who saves us. You're the one who saves us. You're the one who saves us. You're the one who saves us. You're the one who saves us.

Light of the world you shine

You're the King of our kings

And Lord of our Lord

Light of the world you shine

You're the King of our kings

And Lord of our Lord

Light of the world you shine

You're the one who saves us

King of all the other kings

And Lord of our kings

You're the one who saves us

King of all the other kings

Oh, you're the one who saves us

You're the one who saves us

King of all the other kings

Oh, you're the one who saves us

You're the one who saves us

King of all the other kings

Cause you're the one who saves us

Cause you're the King of all the other kings

No power can speak against you

You're the King of all the other kings

You have dominion, God

You're the King of all kings

And Lord of our Lord's lives

Of the world you shine

You're the King of all times

You're the King

You're the one who saves us

And your light, it shines over all the world

You're our King, Lord

And your light, it has to be in for all things

No evil God, no sinless God, no brokenness God

You don't have to be in God

You're the King of all the other kings of earth

Jesus, you're the one who saves us

You're the one who saves us

King of all the other kings of earth

You're the King of all the other kings of earth

Cause you're the King of all the other kings of earth

You're the King of all the other kings of earth

You're the one who saves us

You're the King of all the other kings of earth

Thank you, God

Amen

Thank you, God

Yes

Thank you, God

Thank you very much

Thank you, God

Thank you

Thank you, God

Thank you

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

We'll be right back.

We sing alleluia.

We sing hallelujah, the Lamb is overcome.

We sing hallelujah.

Every voice.

We sing hallelujah, we sing hallelujah, the Lamb is overcome.

We sing hallelujah, we sing hallelujah, we sing hallelujah, the Lamb is overcome.

And we sing hallelujah, we sing hallelujah, we sing hallelujah, the Lamb is overcome.

And we sing hallelujah, the Lamb is overcome.

Forever He is glorified, forever He is lifted high, forever He is risen.

He is lifted high, forever He is lifted high.

And we sing hallelujah, the Lamb is overcome.

The ground began to shake, stones rolled away, his word began to die, the old man.

Now death will reach his name, for our miserably King has been here, forever he is glorified, forever he is.

Forever he is reason, he is in love, he is in love, so because you're alive, I'm alive.

you

Thank you, God.

I love you, God.

Because you're doing it all good.

We're overcome.

We're grateful, God.

We're overcome.

Thank you, God.

Father, we just thank you.

Thank you, God.

Father, thank you for sending your son down.

To save us, Lord.

Lord, I ask that you just let us not forget what this week means to us.

And that a week from today.

A week from today, he is risen.

To save us.

Lord, prepare our minds for the service.

We thank you.

Amen.

Thank you, God.

Amen.

What a blessing it is to see you.

Happy Palm Sunday.

Tag team a little bit on what Taylor's announcement about children's ministry.

Just so you know, that change is going to begin on April 28th.

And he'll have some more announcements for you on that.

But you'll be picking up, actually, you'll be picking up your children in the refuge over there.

You'll be making your way out and not have the ingress, egress through that door right there.

So a few more moving parts.

But I think it's got a lot of things that Taylor and the leadership of the ministry.

Somebody left a frog in there.

That's nice, isn't it?

I'll leave it for Shannon.

I'm sure Shannon has AJ.

She's not afraid of frogs.

So there you go.

So a lot of things that they're doing to enhance the ministry and continue to minister to our children as the ministry continues to grow.

If you're visiting with us again this morning, I want to say welcome.

Thank you for hanging out with us.

And if you're kindergarten through fifth grade, go ahead and make your way out the door there.

Follow Mr. David and Taylor and David.

Wow, we got two.

There we go.

Everybody.

Everybody whose name is David has to go out the door that way.

Just kidding.

Matthew chapter 21.

We are taking a break in our expository study and through the book of Genesis for this week and next week to bring you a couple of messages pertaining to Resurrection Sunday.

And today is the triumphal entry.

What's commonly known as the triumphal entry.

Today in Matthew 21.

I should have just had Shannon read the scripture because we're John has a rendition.

This is this is the only story that's actually in all four Gospels.

And they all give us a little bit of a different snapshot for different reasons in there as well, too.

And let's just have a sense of sincerity this morning.

That's what I'm praying.

That there will be a sense of sincerity this morning as we look at God's word.

We wouldn't just be going through something that's wrote.

We know this.

Been there, done that.

It's the donkey story, right?

Yeah, I got it.

I got it.

I think it's this this wedge right here.

If you could turn this wedge, it's feeding back.

Thank you.

And because in the title of today's message, he's coming home.

He's coming home.

And we'll see why I say that this morning.

But before we get into this narrative, it's important as I as I always try to encourage you.

If you're going to.

I'm going to.

Thank you.

But this is called the triumphal entry today as Shannon mentioned earlier. And let's read these verses. Then we'll go back and we'll kind of dissect some of these things. Chapter 21 of Matthew beginning in verse one. Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethpage to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples saying to them, go to into the village in front of you. And immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her untie them and bring them to the village in front of you. And immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to the village in front of you. And immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her.

If anyone says anything to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say the Lord needs them. And he will send them at once. This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet saying, say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to you humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. The disciples went and did it as Jesus had directed them.

They brought the donkey and the colt and put them and put on them their cloaks. And he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the ground and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up saying, who is this?

And the crowd said, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. In a very real sense, as you read the scriptures, Jerusalem and in future things, Jerusalem represents home. Okay. And so Jesus is culminating his earthly ministry by, in so many words, coming to the prophetic center of human history, back to Jerusalem. He's coming home.

He's coming home. He's coming home. And as a result, there's great anticipation for what's going on here. Now, this is called the triumphal entry because people thought, and I want you to hold on to that for a second.

The people thought that Jesus was coming into the city to establish his kingdom. That's what they thought. Okay. And that's the reason why it's called the triumphal entry.

And the point is, is that if you were Jewish, you did have some understanding that the Messiah was going to come. And when he came, he was going to establish his kingdom. That was the messianic message that was, that was sent through the, through the, the, the, the Jewish nation at that time. Okay.

And all of these followers and all of these curiosity seekers that had hung on to Jude, uh, to Jesus, they had some understanding, some understanding of the prophetic history.

And we'll see in a moment that they believe that Jesus was the Messiah because of all the miracles that he did. He, he had performed all these miracles and they were expecting him to march into Jerusalem and to establish his kingdom.

That's what, that's what, that's why they call it the triumphal entry. And that's what they were expecting. That was partly true. Okay. In terms of what Messiah was going to do, but they missed the whole message of cross.

They missed the whole message of suffering completely. Now what Jesus does now, he does as one going to Jerusalem to die.

They think he's coming to establish his kingdom. And Jesus does come to Jerusalem and he establishes the fact, he does establish the fact that he is King.

He establishes that fact. And we'll see that in a moment. Cause right after, you know, right after the triumphal entry, when he goes into Jerusalem, he goes into the temple.

And what does he do? He throws the money changers out immediately. And he says, what, this is my house. This is my house. Only a King makes that declaration. Amen. This is my house.

So he does announce the fact that he is King, but he does not establish his kingdom. He marches in there.

And in Jesus' heart and in Jesus' mind, he knows it's his time to go to Jerusalem. And it's not going to turn out well in terms of the expectation of the people, but it's necessary for him to go there to suffer.

It's necessary for him to go there to die. Remember now, this is Passover. This is Passover that's taking place here.

And the old city of Jerusalem, if you were to look on a map.

sometimes, well, I'll get into this in a second, but sometimes we just kind of narrate this thing to where we gloss over. We miss the chaos that's taking place. We have in our minds this pretty little parade of Jesus and his followers. That's not what was taking place. There's massive chaos that's going on here. This is no idyllic, you know, setting where it's peaceful and Jesus and his crew are just marching through town, you know? And all this is taking place. There's clamor everywhere.

There's sounds everywhere. All this stuff is going on. People are trying to exchange money so they can buy animals for sacrifices. There are family and friends everywhere. It's a mess. It is chaotic. Understand that as we go through this this morning, okay? You also need to understand in this passage, something else about this passage, this is the only time, please listen, friends, this is the only time in Jesus' ministry where he planned and promoted a demonstration.

The only time. Jesus wanted to make a big deal out of this. This is the only time in his three and a half year public ministry where he planned and promoted this public demonstration. This is important for the background of our text here, and I think he did it for three reasons. First of all was to fulfill Zechariah 9.9. He's fulfilling what the prophet Zechariah had said.

The second reason he's doing this is to show that he was the rejected king. He's holding up a mirror to Israel and also to the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the religious leaders, okay? Showing, yes, in fact, yes, I am. I am the rejected king.

But also he did this, the third reason, because it makes, it causes the political leaders, those leaders in Israel at that point in time in Jerusalem, they've got to act now.

They cannot sit by passively any longer. He forces the Jewish leaders to act.

And just as Shannon read, we'll talk about this in a minute, and John points out in his gospel, in John chapter 12, that the religious leaders, the leaders say to themselves, the whole world has gone after him.

The whole world has gone after him. And in the context, what they're saying is that we've got to shut this thing down.

Jesus knew that he had to be crucified, so he is drawing a line in the sand, and he's saying, this is who I am.

This is who you are. And I know what you're going to do to me, but I want to be clear that this is who I am, and this is the pathway to the cross.

Yes. I'm making it very, very clear. And just a side note here, you have to be very, very careful in buying these views of the cross that somehow suggest that Jesus was a victim.

Jesus was not a victim.

Listen, hear me on that. Jesus was not a victim. He makes it very clear in John's gospel.

He says, I have the power to lay my life down. I have the power to take it up. No one takes it from me. I lay my life down willingly.

That's not victim speak. That is not victim speak. We have these portrayals. Oh, Jesus. He was so. No, no, no.

At any time, he could have called thousands of legions of angels. But he submitted. He was a humble servant at this point in time.

So even, even when, when he's going to Jerusalem by divine provenance, okay, he is still choosing what time he is going to be crucified.

You know, I was watching, I was watching, I flipped through the channels. I try not to watch these shows too much if it's on History Channel or the Smithsonian.

The, the, the one I clicked on the other day was, uh, the real Jesus of Nazareth. Okay. It was on the, Smithsonian was putting it on. I thought, well, I don't know why I watched it. It just makes me mad.

I'm like, I started screaming at the TV. That's not right. You know, but anyway, they start talking about, uh, this whole, this whole Jesus thing.

And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and

this morning this was prepared this whole thing was pre-planned this was prepared i think that's

our first point here this morning it was pre-arranged verses one through three let's

dissect this a little bit now when they drew near to jerusalem and came to beth page to the

mount of olives then jesus sent two disciples saying to them go into the village in front of

you and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her untie them and bring them to

me if anyone says to you it says anything to you you shall say the lord needs them and he will send

them at once okay jesus had had had set up with the owners he had pre-arranged with the owners of the

donkey and the colt ahead of time okay and so now mind you there are several million people a couple

million people here here in and around jerusalem so the disciples are thinking well how do we know

which animals jesus tells them the password is the lord is in need of them i'm giving you the

password the lord is in need of them so jesus doesn't do anything haphazardly and i don't want to make too

much of this point here but he knows what he's doing and even uh to his disciples the subliminal

message is guys look i'm in control i'm in control of this thing i have made provision for you go get

the donkey and the colt bring them here well how do we know which one i've given you the password

the lord needs them there they are here they are the second point i want you to see in their passage

this morning is that this this whole thing was predicted again we said zachariah 9 9 is the old

testament verse in there but beginning in verse 4 it says this took place to fulfill what was uh

spoken by the prophet saying say to the daughter of zion behold your king is coming to you humble and

mounted on a donkey a colt at the fold of the beast of the burden the disciples went and did as jesus

had directed them okay and if you pay attention here it says to you he is coming to you humble

he is coming to you humble okay there were hints of the cross throughout all the old testament that a lot

of the jewish folks just missed they just missed it you know here zachariah has it has a prophecy

about jesus coming and talking about his submission and the humility of jesus christ much like the

prophetic passage in isaiah 53 talking about the humility of jesus the suffering of jesus much like

the prophetic psalm psalm 22 that talks about the suffering of jesus christ all of this in the old

testament most of the religious leaders just bypass that and they look to the messiah to come and set up

his kingdom that's all we're looking for set that kingdom up they're not they they miss the whole

message of cross they miss the whole message of suffering but here jesus is telling them you go get

the donkey in the colt and bring them here listen the point is this ultimately jesus say it what he's

saying is that i'm meek i am meek i am humble and i'm contrasting this he says with the kings who

would come in and set up their kingdoms on them with their chariots and their war horses and their

swords and they come in to take over i'm not coming in to take over i'm coming in to shed my blood

that you might be forgiven i'm not coming in to take over i'm coming in to so to submit myself

to the will and to the plan of the father that's why i'm coming in because jesus knew what the

apostle paul would write in philippians 2 that he humbled himself to the point of death even death

on a cross he became obedient he became obedient he submitted himself he humbled himself he identified

with us and so again the crowd is operating in two different lanes set up the kingdom jesus is no

i have a different agenda you have a bigger problem that i have to take care of first

before any kingdom is ever set up you have to be made right again with god and that's what i'm coming

to fulfill and the whole old testament has foreshadowed this jesus says you know i'm coming in to announce

the pathway of to the cross that's what i'm coming in to announce

sell the fueron and the falling l почему say before no and where i'm coming in to nie jesus says

for not all the crazy things that i'm coming out every day

foots

4

about all the mercy things that i

him and try to ride him yeah somewhere along line you somebody's got to break that beast in right before you just don't get up and ride on okay but he's able to why he's king jesus he is king jesus okay the rider is king jesus and the animal submitted to jesus why because of who he is listen everything submits to jesus because of who he is except for mankind

the wind and the waves obey him the call of creation has obeyed him the creatures the animals obey him but in our stubborn willfulness we refuse to obey you ever think about that we are the only thing that he has ever created that will not willfully submit to him

we gotta have to have incident upon incident upon this upon that in our lives okay i give in jesus what do you mean you give in

i give in to you lord

it is a pleasure

to submit to the lord jesus

it is an honor to submit to it is humbling

to submit to the lord jesus in all of his glory

maybe that's a maybe why i need to

just take a three second pause right there and just ask that

question why are you resisting him

why do you continue to fight him

why do you continue to think you know better how to run your life than a king of glory

why do you continue to only kind of ration out parts and pieces of your life to him

because that's all i really want to give him

who made you he said the the scripture says you shall have no other gods before me we've been studying

genesis like crazy right that includes you

too many of us turn into our little gods

listen

if you have a relationship

christian brother sister

if you claim to have a relationship with lord jesus christ that means you submit to him

bottom line you submit to him okay he he requires that we submit to him

i want you to also see how the crowd is praising him at this moment okay all this madness is going on verse seven

they brought the donkey and the colt and put on him their cloaks

and he sat on them most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the ground the others cut branches from the trees

and spread them on the road

you know real quickly i think there are there are probably

i think the groups the group that's there

is probably composed of three groups i see it as

the first group is the folks who lived in jerusalem

who somehow or another had heard about jesus and somehow or another

were drawn to jesus and they were attracted to him

and they came out to see all that's going on

but i don't think they're the larger crowd

i think the larger crowd are folks that came up from galilee

that's where jesus was spent most of his time

that's where he performed all those miracles

and they believed in him and all this

and and um they had uh they were part of the crowd that had been fed

uh by the multi they were part of the multitudes that were fed by him

and all that

but i think there's another john john talks about it in his

in his uh narrative narrative of this as well

there was a third group

and that's the people who saw lazarus raised from the dead

and lazarus was probably with him as the scriptures tell us

he was probably with them in this crowd

they saw they saw the king of glory

they saw jesus raise lazarus from the dead

so you have these people who believe in jesus

seeing what he's accomplished and they're marching in the city

again there's not some small crowd

there are maybe even a thousand people

we're not sure but the point is

that i want to make is you under

you understand

listen jerusalem was a very sophisticated city

at this point in time

all right

jerusalem was very sophisticated

galilee nazareth would be considered

back

backwoods all right so you got these people um... let's put it in modern-day vernacular these people who

are from atlanta, struggling in through Cali they're from atlanta we live with it in highlanda and all

All these people are coming in with a parade, and they're from Jessup.

Now, if you're from Jessup, I'm kidding.

I'm just, but now you know what I'm saying.

And these people from Jessup are saying, we've seen all these marvelous miracles.

Listen, marvelous miracles in Jessup don't mean a hill of beasts and sophisticated people in Atlanta.

That's what's going on here.

This guy's doing all these things in Galilee.

Who cares?

You guys have lost your mind.

We're sophisticated people around here.

Jessup? Jessup what?

Jessup the road. That's right.

But however, they said, but he brought Lazarus back to life.

And guess what? He's right here in the crowd.

And Lazarus is going, hello?

Hello?

Hello? I had death garments on.

I stinketh at one time.

And, you know, let me just say this real quickly, too.

On this subject, too.

Miracles, you know, some of these people were chasing, continuing to chase Jesus because all the miracles, miracles are signs.

They are signs.

And most of the people who saw the miracles that Jesus did missed the point of the miracles.

I believe even today, a lot of people who celebrate miracles miss the point of the miracles.

There are far too many Christians that are enamored by the spectacular.

And they're running after the experiences.

And if you're just chasing experiences, guess what?

You're going from one experience to the next.

You are never, ever fulfilled.

And when you will you ever be satisfied, you're chasing the experience and not the author of the one who provides the experience.

You know, Jesus can do all those things.

I'm not downplaying that thing.

But if Jesus was all focused on miracles and that was it, why isn't everyone healed miraculously right now?

Why isn't everyone delivered immediately right now?

If that was the whole point, if that was the whole point, the answer to that question is in the purpose of miracles.

The miracles are signs given.

And most of the people, even back during Jesus' time, didn't really capture the point.

In fact, Jesus says that in John 6 when he says, you don't seek me because you believe in me.

And he says, stop it.

That's how emphatic he is in that language.

Stop it.

You don't seek me.

You know, these people had just followed him across the Sea of Tiberias because he had just fed 5,000 with a few loaves and a few fish and all this.

And Jesus says, you don't seek me because you believe in me.

You seek me because you ate of the loaves and the fishes and you want me to do something else for you.

Anybody ever seen that?

I mean, our little girl loves watching the Incredibles.

Everybody ever seen the first Incredibles?

Okay?

Yeah, that's a great show.

And remember when the guy loses his job and he gets all mad and he's monstrous of a man.

He's got that little bitty compact car and he crunches it up.

And he gets mad and he picks it up.

And the little kid next door is sitting there and he's like, he's riding his bike over there waiting at the garage.

And the guy, he sees he's not supposed to be that strong, you know.

And he says, what do you want?

He goes, I'm just waiting for you to do something else.

You know, I'm following you around for the next thing.

What's going to be the next thing?

And listen, there's nothing wrong.

I pray for miracles in my, I pray for miracles in your lives.

But if you continue to chase miracles, you've missed the whole point of it.

You've missed it.

The only reason why miracles are in the Bible, the only reason why miracles are in the Bible is for us to actually get a glimpse of who Jesus really is.

And so that you and I would believe.

That we might believe in the author of those miracles.

These people are coming, Lazarus in the crowd.

Now, they've got some belief, but we're going to see that belief is not really as deep as we think it might be.

Verse 8.

Let's read that again.

Something I want to point out here.

Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and the others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

Listen, these people, they wanted to, and by doing this, they wanted to honor Jesus.

Bringing honor to Jesus.

If, if I was to, let's say I was a poor person, I borrowed money from, from Brad. And so, uh, in, in order to, I have a debt that I owe him, so I would have to take my coat off. The most valuable thing I have. The only thing I had to protect me from the elements, it's how I sleep, it's how I stay. And I had to give it to Brad. And he's the holder of my coat. Because that's the most, until I can pay that debt off. But, by Old Testament standards, what, Brad's supposed to give me that coat.

I had to take my coat back at night time so that I could stay warm and I'd have to give it back to him in the day. That's the value of the coat. So don't, don't miss out on this. When these people take off. They took off what was most important to them. And they lay it on the ground before the King of Glory.

What about you today? What is God calling you to take off and lay on the ground before the King of Glory?

To lay it down before Him.

This is what they do.

This is exactly what they do.

And,

what are we giving to Jesus to demonstrate His worth and His value to us?

What are we doing on that day, on that daily basis?

You know,

I think it's a great time to remind us, listen,

Jesus does not exist to prop up our lifestyle.

You hear me?

Jesus does not exist to prop up our lifestyle.

We exist for the interest of the King and His kingdom.

That's why we exist.

You and I exist for the interest of the King and His kingdom.

The question is not,

oh,

surrendering to Jesus,

to Jesus at my deepest need,

okay?

The question is,

surrendering because Jesus has met my deepest need.

That's a big difference.

I was,

I was able to celebrate yesterday,

going home for Bobby,

Bobby's grandmother,

who walked with the Lord for many years,

94 years old,

she passed,

went to the Lord,

and people stood and gave,

gave testimony,

and we celebrated,

but at the end of the,

at the end of the going home,

funeral service,

at the end,

three people came forward,

and gave their life to the Lord Jesus Christ.

At the end of the service,

because Jesus met them at their deepest need.

No,

because they understood Jesus has met my deepest need in life.

I have been chasing my tail for too long.

I have continued to hold on to these things that I see as valuable,

that the Lord has blessed me with,

and I'm not laying them on the ground so that the King of glory could walk on them.

Because I promise you,

you allow the King of glory to walk on these things that seem valuable to you.

He will bless you with 20 coats.

That's just God's arithmetic.

That's not a prosperity gospel thing.

That's just a,

that's just a surrender thing.

Because here again,

we talked about this before,

true biblical stewardship is understanding.

You are just,

you are just the,

the manager of your life.

You don't own nothing.

I don't own nothing.

It's all his.

So they,

they take off their coats,

and they lay them on the ground before.

This is where the,

we get the whole idea of a red carpet.

That's where we get it from.

This is where we get the whole idea of the white carpet at the wedding.

At the wedding.

And what they're saying to Jesus is,

when at the wedding,

when the white carpet,

this is your day.

This is your day.

We are here to make much of you.

And this is the only time Jesus is allowing this to take place.

I've,

finally he was proclaimed.

And again,

I really want you to feel the,

the emotion here.

There are all these people,

and Jesus is saying,

let's make a big deal out of this.

I am the king,

but I'm not coming to set to establish my kingdom.

And,

you know,

everybody's heard of Jesus.

Here's all the crowd coming,

all the crowd,

all the noise,

all the commotion,

you know,

bam,

bam.

Here he is.

He's showing up.

And they go,

Hosanna.

Verse nine.

And the,

he says,

Thank you.

The actions and the words of the crowd meant two things. They wanted to honor Jesus and they wanted to publicly present him as king. This is what the crowd is doing. You got to understand the dynamics that are taking place. Like I said, we're kind of revisionist a lot of times when we get to the scriptures and we'd like to clean things up a little bit to create our own image of history here. But this thing was a chaotic mess that was going on. But these people in the crowd, they understood what they were, that they were bucking the religious system.

The people in the crowd, they knew it. They knew quite well what they were doing. They were going to Jerusalem. They're going to the, to the, the center of religious life, the stronghold of the Pharisees, the stronghold of the Sadducees and all that stuff. And they understood that Jesus had already been rejected. They knew that they had been there when they had witnessed some of the conversations, the spitting contest that Jesus had back and forth with some of these religious leaders. They had seen all this thing take a place.

And yet, as they walk into the city, they're saying, Hosanna to the son of David. Hosanna. And this is remarkable to me because they're honoring him as king and they wanted to present him as king publicly.

And by what, by the way, what they're saying is they're saying the words of Psalm 118 as he's coming in there. Okay. Knowing in their hearts that they, that he has fulfilled the prophecy and Hosanna, you know, meaning save us.

God saves salvation. Salvation is here. It has a multi multifaceted meaning to the word, but you know, feel this. If you will, all these people who are gathered together, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

These people are part of stirring up the pot. Jesus knew this.

Mass chaos.

To me, it's amazing.

Verse 10.

And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up saying, who is, think it, all this is going on.

The crowd's shouting, Hosanna is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

And what's the rest of the city saying?

Who is this?

We're reading these page, these things on the page today.

Dale, who is this?

Who is this?

Who is this, Josh?

Man.

This is big stuff.

Who is this?

And the crowd said, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.

Again, this is no small crowd, all the noise and everything that's going on.

Who is this?

But you see, Jesus' popularity was problematic.

It was, his popularity was problematic.

And I want to give you a little dose of realism here this morning.

Jesus' popularity is always problematic.

And let me tell you something.

He meant it that way.

And some of you might not like the fact that I'm telling you that he designed it that way, okay?

I am convinced that more often than not, people reject the truth.

Now, hear me on this.

They reject the truth because they don't want to submit to Christ.

Technically, it's not the truth claims that they have a problem with.

They have problems with the lordship claims.

If you talk to anybody about God, who God is, Jesus draws a line in the sand, though, doesn't he?

Who this Jesus is.

They have problems.

They have problems with the fact that it is God in the flesh.

That he is tabernacling among us this morning.

What?

Yes.

He now dwells inside of us because of the gift and the promise of the Holy Spirit.

He is tabernacling in you and I this morning.

They have issue with that.

They have a problem with that.

And Jesus said himself in Matthew 10, he says, listen, I have not come to bring peace.

I have come to bring a sword.

And he's not being euphemistic here.

No, he's saying there is peace with God when we respond to him.

But the very nature of the gospel, the very nature of the gospel, the very nature of the gospel.

some sort of conflict if you're not having issues at work you're not following the jesus of the of

the scriptures at school if you're not being made fun of because of your heart for the lord guess

what you're not having the same you don't hold the same true values of jesus in the scriptures

jesus is always he well it wasn't was he is always problematic and you know

i don't want to get off off off topic here but this uh this is kind of what one of the things

that paul talks about in second corinthians 2 i believe it's around 15 and 16 and i often tell

young people that are that want to go into the ministry and they want to preach on second

corinthians 2 and they they say that we that we have to be the aroma of christ we got to be the

aroma of christ i know read the whole text read the whole text read the whole text okay because it

says we are an aroma of christ okay we are an aroma of christ but for those who respond to jesus we are

a scent but those who reject christ guess what we are a stench so there are two different aromas you're

not just there no you are and which aroma are you which which aroma are you okay the problem has

always been with jesus in our culture in our society it's always jesus is always problematic

all right in john's in john's detail of this he gives a little bit more insight in his rendition that

just as shannon read earlier that the pharisees are talking and they're talking to each other

and and it says and i'll quote this it says that the pharisees say to one another you are getting

the pharisees say to one another you're gaining nothing you're gaining nothing

again meaning meaning saying to each other we've lost we we've lost this thing you're gaining nothing

the world has gone after him we got to shut this thing down jesus is problematic and let me land the

plane here let's let's let's land it this morning we all know what happened we all know what happens

with that story and it didn't end well because we know what happened but it did end well actually

because even in their strategy to kill jesus it was part of god's plan to save us the crucifixion

was always part of god's plan and i just want to say

most of us in this room know and i want to i want to assure you of that this morning

as a matter of fact i think we're going to read that this morning but listen to me church

friends the next time jesus comes he's not going to be riding a donkey hallelujah

no

he is not going to be riding a donkey

and i want to read this passage of scripture to you to those just in case you're here this

morning and you're at a point where you have had life bombard you and you feel like you're going to

give up where you have allowed people and situations to steal you've allowed the supreme court to steal your

joy you've allowed circumstances to steal your joy and you need to be reminded this morning of this of this scripture

then i saw revelation 19 11 heaven open and behold a white horse the one sitting on it is called faithful

and true

and in righteousness he judges and makes war

his eyes are like a flame of fire and on his on his head are many diadems

as he has a name written that no one knows but himself

he is clothed in a robe

dripped in blood

and the name by which he is called is the word of god

amen

and the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen

white and pure were following him on white horses

and from his mouth comes a sharp sword

with which to strike down nations

and he will

you

and when that happens there is only one response we can give and that is to bow and worship. Bow and worship. My question is as we end this morning is is Jesus the king of your life? Is Jesus the king of your life? You know I threw this out this morning.

Amen. A thought that I had this morning and I'm not a big social media guy but I put this out on my little twitter feed out there but I really believe that the world needs less of our information and they need more of our demonstration of our transformation. A little less of this a little more of this. A lot of people can say love you brother. Love you sister.

I care for you. I care for you. I'm worried about you. I really want the best for you. But live it out. Let's be examples of the transformation that God has made in our lives. Amen. That he continues to make. The world needs to see kingly lives. Lives submitted as subjects to the Lord.

And so is he ruling and reigning in your life? Is he truly doing that? I'm going to ask the worship team to come up this morning as we close.

And we're just simply going to close this way this morning.

Let's um

Let's all stand

And my invitation to you this morning is simply this

If there's something that you would like for us to pray over

We have elders here this morning

We have prayer warriors here this morning

We have many who would love to intercede with you

This morning

Because I know for a fact

That there are some here this morning

That need to take their cloaks off

And lay them before the king of kings

To take those garments that you hold so precious and so dear

That thing that is so important to you

Understand where it came from to begin with

And lay it before the king today

And today

If you've never really put your faith and your trust in the Lord Jesus

We would love to just begin a conversation with you

About what that journey looks like

And to let you know that we have people here

And we have a church here that really does

I don't just say this

We really do want and desire to walk with you through that

Too many of us

I throw my hand up

Because there are times in my life

Too many of us end up following Jesus

And chasing him

Because of the things he can do for us

I've said this to you before

But when was the last time

When was the last time

You in your time of prayer

In your time of petition to the Lord

You knelt down to pray to the Lord

And you were getting ready to give him

The list of all these things on your heart

And all these things that you were going to pour out

And not that those are not important

But when was the last time

As you postured yourself that way

That you just couldn't say a word

Because the realization

That you were in the presence of the king of kings

And the Lord of lords

Had overcome you to the point

Where you simply just wept

Some of us need a refreshing

So father we just ask you in the name of jesus today by the conviction and the leading of the holy spirit

That your heart would be sensed this morning and your heart would be felt this morning

We thank you lord that jesus makes this triumphal entry and he makes this declaration that I I am the king and I have come

But I have come to show you the pathway to the cross and we don't come to you lord jesus without humility

We don't come to you without submission. We don't come to you without sacrificing all and laying it all down

You showed us the blueprint lord

Sweet jesus we love you

And I pray lord god

In that heart this morning that you're speaking to and you're prodding

That they would grab the hand of someone

And simply ask them to

Pray with them or go with them to talk to somebody

About this king jesus

But father I just I pray in our heart of hearts that we will have a mindful spirit as we walk this week

In preparation

For resurrection sunday

For he has risen

He has risen indeed in jesus name to give thanks and praise all of god's people said this morning

Amen

The cross has a fire in the world

The sorrow will become in the darkness night

The cross has a fire in the world

It's even bigger

At its stronger

And its stronger

The cross has a fire in the world

The cross has been found a word

The Savior has come

For more than I

The cross has been found a word

Betrayed death for eternal life

The cross has been found a word

There's nothing stronger

There's nothing higher

There's nothing greater

Than the name of Jesus

All the honor

All the power

All the glory

To the name of Jesus

There's nothing stronger

There's nothing higher

There's nothing greater

In the name of Jesus

Jesus The cross has to find a way The cross has to find a way The Savior has come The morning light The cross has to find a way The cross has to find a way

That his servant God to live from

He is the last God's word And the staan of His reeking death For he tears to lie the cross has to find a way

There's nothing stronger

There's nothing higher

There's nothing greater

In the name of Jesus

All the honor

All the power

All the glory

To the name of Jesus

There's nothing stronger

There's nothing higher

There's nothing greater

In the name of Jesus

All the honor

All the power

All the glory

To the name of Jesus

The cross has the final word

The Savior has come

In the morning light

Cause the cross has the final word

The cross has the final word

It is done

The cross has the final word

Cause He traded death

And eternal life

The cross has the final word

Thank you for your sacrifice

For paying it all for me

We aren't worthy

We don't deserve this

Father

We can't measure up

To what the expectation is

Well you know it

And you paid it anyway

You said you are worth it

To me Father

You said you are worth it

There's nothing you won't do

There's nothing that can take you down

There's nothing that can stop you

Death can't stop you

There is no evil in this world

That can stop you

Father

There's nothing more powerful than you

There's nothing more powerful

Than the name of Jesus Christ

Thank you for everything you do

In our lives

Father

Thank you for the sacrifice

We lift your name up high

We glorify you

All the honor is yours

Father

Every bit of it is yours

Can I get somebody to say

Thank you Father

Can I get somebody

To give him the glory

It's too quiet in this room

When we say we give you the glory

We give God the glory

The glory is his

The honor is his

Let's make his name famous

Lift him up

Jesus Christ

Amen

Hallelujah

Hosanna

You're the highest

All it is specific to you He calls your name Thank you Father for being my Father And loving me And making that intimate So that it is about your connection with me We love you Thank you Amen

Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen

Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen

Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen

Thank you.

Full with music and

Scripture

Outline