Palm Sunday 2023

Easter  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  39:00
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Introduction:
Welcome Lighthouse – I am glad you’re here and watching online with us today.
Next Sunday is Easter, and it will be an Easter that the world has never known.
We will have Communion next week and a Baptism as well as a bounce house for the kids and egg hunt.
You do not want to miss it and please invite families and friends. AMEN
It is the beginning of an amazing week – Passion Week or also called Holy Week
It involves the triumphant entry of Jesus, cursing of the fig tree , cleansing of the temple, the challenge of Christ’s authority, the vineyard and marriage feast, paying tribute to Caesar, His Death and of course the resurrection.
It is marked by pilgrimages and processions. Jesus entering into Jerusalem is found in all four of the Gospels .
Like the Jews of Jesus day , we long for his appearing.
Prophetic
They were waiting for him to come
Zechariah 9:9–10 ESV
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Everything about Christ is prophetic. Today is the day of visitation - AMEN
Today I will read from the book of John
John 12:12–19 ESV
12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 16 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. 17 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. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”
PALMS
Palm Branches are symbolized as :
1. The palm is distinguished for its rich life. It is a life that triumphs over the hard conditions of the desert. It can change the elements found in the unkindly soil around it as to make them minister to its growth and strength and fruitfulness.
2. It announces to the desert ranger a place where shade and rest and water can be found.
3. The palm has a persistency of life and service that defies the years, the average life expectancy for an olive tree is 500 years, though there are some trees that are known to be closer to 3,500 years old.
PASSION
– In the Hebrew language it has two definitions, jealous zeal and a longing desire
-In the Greek language the word passion is defined very negatively and in three very different ways anger, lust and suffering.
In the church it means to suffer and be of like nature
The early church had passion - They wanted to be like Christ in every way including death. Martyrdom was an honor for the early Christians
The world loves passionate people. I also believe it loves authentic passionate people
I was watching a documentary on Mother Theresea - she had a passion and compassion for the lost and dying
Jesus wants us to be ;
Matthew 22:36–40 NASB95
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
When we talk about authentic passionate Christians
We are looking for
People who love Jesus – and - People who love their neighbor.
It is engaging with the Lord and the community in Love.
What does it mean to “love God with all our heart?”
Some translations use the phrase
You shall Love – have a very close relationship
All – completely – in fullness
Heart – inner- self, mind in other words
Inner self, conscience, all your thoughts and emotions.
In this difficult time our priorities can get off track.
What keeps us from having a passionate relationship with God and
Answer Struggles of the heart keeps us from having a passion for God.
- Jer 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.
We must trade in this old crusty heart for a new one
God describes our heart transplant that occurs at salvation
Ezekiel 36:26–27 ESV
26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Answer – DISTANCE - We walk away from our first Love
As did the church in Ephesus
Rev 2:4 says, “I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”
We must Pursue God out of love - AMEN
To communicate is to impart something to another, so that it becomes common to giver and receiver. represents a single word koinonikoi, and refers to the habit of sharing with others either sympathy or property. "companionships"
Your response is not only a love for God but a love for what he loves – Your Neighbor
Loving your neighbor, How do you Love your Neighbor?
Be there for them, See the best in them, give them a hand up.
PRAISE
Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
It means save – or in this case rescue us. We can cry out today Hosanna – rescue us.
God is calling us to praise Him
Psalm 95:1–8 NASB95
1 O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 3 For the Lord is a great God And a great King above all gods, 4 In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also. 5 The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land. 6 Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. 7 For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
Conclusion
Passion Week is for us to open our heart to God, not close it off, not to reflect on the terrible strife surrounding us but to look to the one who will deliver - the one who cane save - the one who loves you.
Scripture says they went out to meet him. He healed and blessed people. The time is for you to meet this Jesu. He is all that he says He is
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