Palm Sunday: Joy
Awesome. How cute is that going to love it when kids help with communion for a family service? Unfortunate, I would not be as cute as that. I am just a little bit bigger and a little bit. Ugly, a, but we will Soldier on under that. Well, good morning, really Church of Christ. How are we all doing? Awesome. What he has previously mentioned? My name is Matt and I get the honor of being the Apostle here at Billy and the joy to share in the wood and the message this morning. This morning is Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter, before the crucifixion and the resurrection Palm Sunday Moxie Lodge Gathering and one of the key moments in the lead-up to the events on the cross. As we lead into this coming week, there were two things we wanted to look at and understand with your sorrow and joy. Sorrow and joy.
And really sore last week. And this week, we will look at Joy. But before I go into this morning scripture to set the scene, If you go to your physical body was open, we re for Matthew 21 and we are going to read. This is 1217, otherwise, feel free to look up the screen. It reads. As I purchase Jerusalem and came to Bethpage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples save them. Go to the Village ahead of you, and at once, you'll find a junkie Todd, then we had caught by her untie them, and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away. This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, say to daughter Zion at see your king comes to you, Gentle and riding on a donkey and are they called the fan of a donkey? The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them they brought the donkey and the cold and place their clothes on them. Vegeta to sit on a very light scratches Spirit, spread their clothes on the ride While others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The grass. I went ahead of them and those that followed shattered, Hosanna to the son of David blessed. Is he who comes in the name of the Lord hosanna in the highest heaven. When she's into Jerusalem, the whole city was stood and asked who is this? The crowds answered. This is Jesus. The prophet from Nazareth in Galilee Jesus into the temple courts and dryer vent or who are buying and selling their, he overturn the tables of the money-changers and the benches of those selling doves, it is written. He said to them, my house will be cold a House of Prayer.
But you are making it a den of robbers live line in the lane, came to him at the temple and healed them. But when the chief priests and teachers of the law is all the wonderful things, he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, Hosanna to the son of David. They were indignant. indignant meaning that went angry and annoyed at what they had felt was unfair Do you hear what these children are saying? They asked him to, yes, Jesus replied. Have you never read from the lips of children and infants? You Lord, I call forth your praise and he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night. All right before we unpack this a bit further, let's just take a moment to pray. Father, we thank you for this chance together. As your children as you at church as we look at joy and Palm Sunday in the lead into East and the ultimate Act of sacrificial love Agape, we receive through the cross.
Father, we praise. We have packed the scripture that you may speak to us and holy spirit may you convicted us. That my words this morning baby. Yours and not mine. That we may still outsells enough to hear your voice voice. Where we fix our eyes. Now he is in a hearts on you and what you want to teach us this morning, maybe and can't you a fresh this Easter? And we all said, amen. I am an awesome. I'm super pumped. This should hopefully be a fun one. As we look at Palm Sunday in the fruit of the spirit, Joy through Jesus and Pole, There's a thing that we do it use and it can't, when I owe the leader of the front need to get attention, I need to get the attention of the group. We say hey Billy and then the group the group in response to a, hey, Fallout by the name of the person that called upon them. And I'm going to ask you some questions but let's give this a crack to hey Billy that true or is a question. And I want you to turn to the person next to you and to have a quick discussion around what you think, what you think of this question. And then I'm going to call us back together with that. Hey, Billy or I said, the question is What is joy to you? What is joy to you? Take second to discuss with those Randy.
All right. Hey Billy. Oh, that would we need to remember that for when I do walk ins in the future? I want you to hold on to that thought. As we going to, this morning's message looking at you, when I want you to hold on to what we think Tori is as we move into this. And now one of paint is a picture this morning. As we look at Palm Sunday scripture, Palm Sunday is the Fulfillment of generations, of Hope. And wait, waiting for a messiah to come to save the people from their slavin. The kids and even adults to help us understand this, I want you to think about how excited you get just in the weeks leading up to Easter Sunday. The excitement for the moment when you wake up and you know you're bad at chocolate, maybe you got a fancy basket made for you. Maybe you going to be extravagant Easter egg hunt waiting for you, but the excitement has been building up over the last couple weeks. Is he? And now it is the morning or when you wake up and there is no more waiting. It is chiaki X chocolate, is he other Resurrection has happened and now you get to eat as much chocolate as you can and celebrate the Easter season. This excitement is similar to what the people of Jerusalem had been feeling, but their excitement wasn't of a chocolate. Their excitement was over the sav, it was over a full told Messiah, who is to come and free them. And this is the big thing. I want us to understand is why we start to get excited about Easter. The holiday, the truck with the fun from probably about a month or two, a, we will send a long head Christmas.
these people have been waiting, just a couple of months they have been waiting years, hundreds of years, Think about it, the excitement for an event coming up, had been so long away that it was Pasion from your parents, from their parents, and their parents, and their parents, so on and so forth.
It was a long hugely awaited moment that had finally arrived. So when Jesus, the Messiah arrives, riding the donkey as prophesied in the Old Testament, these city did the city erupted it is estimated that two and a half million people that attended. Now I don't know how accurate that was I wasn't there supposed to say too many to be on the safe side. But two million people had arrived rejoicing cheering celebrating shouting Hosanna Hosanna, Lord Lord highest heavens.
He arrives as they sing and shout and happiness. Even enters the building at overturns. The tables of those equals Rob is taking people's money. He turns it from a temple of pain to a Temple of Peace at Temple of Prayer as he says, and he starts healing the blind and the lame as it says in verse 14. Now, this is the real catching. This is the interesting bit. What it mean? Waiting for the head been waiting, centuries for the Messiah. He finally arrives, invest one and it takes him a total of 14 versus for somebody to die out and begin. Questioning him when the old because when I arrived, it wasn't what they had wanted. The first one. He arrives. This 12 p.m. to Temple vs 15. He gets question. you see, this picture is painted of a ridge, voicing of a joyful crowd filled with joy as a coach, who would say But that's not true. Joy, the fruit of the spirit Joy that's not yet. Culture tells us that Joy is an emotion. You feel when we are excited, happy when we finally get that thing that we have been long awaiting for, maybe it's a new car and you gay or Nu coffee machine, when everything is going wrong. But joy is far far greater than that. Joy is a fruit of the spirit Joy is deeper than a wavering emotion.
And it just really interesting scripture. I want to look at that. I find to pick joy in the east of season, so well. 18. John 16 vs 16 to 22. Jesus is speaking to the disciples and it reads. Jesus went on to say in a little while you will see me no more and then after a little while, you will see me at this some of the disciple said to one another, what does he mean by saying in a little while, you'll see me no more and then after a little while, you will see me and because I'm going to heaven, they kept asking, what does he mean by a little while? We don't understand. What are you saying? Jesus saw that he'd wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, you are asking one another. What I meant when I said in a little while, you will see me no more and then after a while after that, you'll see me. very truly, I tell you you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices
You will grieve but your grief will turn to Joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because that time has, but when her baby is born, she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you now is your time of grief. But I will see you again and you will rejoice and no one will take that away from you your joy. No one will take away your joy.
Is that not the Easter Story? Summed up so quickly. In a little while, you'll see me, no, more the death. And then off to a little while, you'll see me, the resurrection, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices the action of showing Joy, but not explicitly. Having the fruit of Joy. Instead, the happiness that is going against infeld, When They Crucified him for knowing exactly what they had wanted the Messiah to be. You agree but your grief will turn to Joy and verse 22. I I will see you again and you were Joyce and no one will take away your joy. Joy. An actual joy. Every save you something that can't be taken away from them. See, this is interesting at a quick glance. It sounds like he's saying that Joy will come and go depending on what happens.
But if we look at last week and this week, looking at sorrow and joy together, these are underlined cool fruits. If I'm in pain or crying sad hurt or guilty. I can also be happy. They are contradicting emotions. But with joy, I can be sad. I can because I can be in pain. I can be happy. I can be tired, I can be exhausted, weary one down but I can also still be joyful. Because Joy is not contingent on the circumstances, it is built on a foundation. Happiness is circumstantial baby. As we see, that was Palm Sunday, Millions gather to sing shot, rejoice, and celebrate. But as soon as the Messiah isn't what they wanted him to be, they questioned him. They turned on him, they betrayed him, they crucified him, cussed him out and crucified him again. That's not Joy. If they had Joy, they would have persevered and they would have learned how the Messiah truly works compared to what they thought he would do. That's happiness. If that's what we going to say. Joy is the G's Mia screwed because the fruits of the spirit a deeper than that. Love joy. Peace, patience. Kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I deeper than fleeting emotions. Contingent on the circumstances around you.
Joy is a disposition to spot as circumstances. I apologize if somebody quits for a family service but joy is a disposition to spot as circumstances. Meaning, it doesn't matter when a week is being It doesn't matter how we are feeling given the circumstances of the moving wall around us. Joyce, only Depot. A fruit of the spirit we receive from Christ. That means we can live with a Nina, peace, hope and trust, no matter what is happening around us. So, in life, go sour. when you wake up to the person of the world of work of relationships, Of addictions of mental health struggles. You can still say It's alright. Jesus has got this.
Jesus has got this.
And that's what we see Jesus doing in this passage. Don't join he sang guys soon. I will be gone, I will be modded but you don't have to lose heart because soon I will be back. If there was anything that could remove the in a spirit of Joy from a man, we probably would have seen it. And somebody like pole, for example, Who is one of the greatest examples of how God's grace and mercy can be so unfathomable at times, a man who literally went around seeking out and modern Christians. Not a man of Joy but a man of pain of deep pain and sorrows. But then account is God turns his wife around gets in prison for his actions. I need Ghost Hunter, rotten multiple letters and books of the New Testament showing joy in some of the toughest circumstances. But the difference between polls attitudes towards Christ, is the difference between joy and the circle rejoicing crowd. We saw in Palm Sunday In Philippians 3:8, pulses. What is more? I consider everything a loss pics of the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ. My lord for whose sake, I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ.
He is saying that absolutely nothing in this world. All their own designs is more important than having Christ in a life. Nothing else. I can see that everything cat loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ. My Lord
that is the fruit of the spirit Joy.
That is demonstrating peace. Hard to trust that. Nothing else could matter.
The crab mentality was to rejoice when the Messiah came. As long as Jesus fit into my expectations. Opposed mentality was, I will reshape my entire life to Christ the center. And with that is pure joy.
Who is he? Put everything else aside and Jesus is the center he can experience and actually expect Soro in prison. He can be in pain. Deaconess, touchpad living quarters through all the different prisons, but no matter what he says, he still considers all things garbage that he make it to gay Christ instead. It's hard to beat that when a man in prison doesn't care what's happening to it will how long he's suffering for as long as Christ is with him?
That's challenging. To me, it has convicting.
This easter event is such a deep one because it is so often treated as a holiday, a moment to be happy in the year, but most of it is merely use that you're supposed to be sad a good Friday and happy on the Sunday. But that's not what he said is a bad Easter is about recognizing what Christ did for us on the cross. Understanding the pain he went through but the reason he did it all. He did it all so that we have the chance to lay everything else down at the foot of the cross. And his poll says, so that we may gain Christ.
It is God's demonstration through John 16. Be gone for a while. I will be back a little while after that the weld were Joyce momentarily. But then, when I am back, you, you and we will rejoice. We will get to experience sorrow and joy.
What's 3 bars experiences? I'm with you. Is what he wants us to know. Through the joys of Friday. He is with us. Through the Rejoice, give Sunday, he is with us. Giving us that underline fruit of the spirit joy and peace. Hope and trust you pretty ones them of. What's going to come? Not to spoil the story. But to let us know. I am with you. I am with you and I never left you.
That's what he wants us to remember every step. I want to ask you guys this morning as we lead into East, as we reflect on the cross. A you living in a place where the happiness in your life is built on the circumstances of those around, you of the things around you. Are you living in a place? Will you have put Jesus at the center of your life? Light pole changing. So that you may have joy and sorrow in life through Jesus. Are you in pain right now and need a prayer? Are you in a season of lament? What you need to let go, a certain things around you. That are pulling you from living, enjoy with the Lord. Jesus died and Rose for a sentence. That's the Easter reality and message. He died. So we may not have to be alone. So don't let this Easter season pass by without exploring with the Lord where you were living in. And as I wrap up, I'm going to invite the youth band back up. I want that, I want to quickly share something about the next song we're going to worship with. It's called Highlands, a beautiful, slow reflection of a declaration of us seeking to praise God. When, even the mountains are in our way. But he is the summit we stand on because of the cross.
It is just a couple of lines in a particular I love. As we enter the Eastern seas and showing yards, unwavering love through sorrow and joy.
Hey guys. How far Beneath Your Glory does your kindness extend a pond for my, your feet? Rest on the sunrise to way you sweep this in his past salvation through the cross. Or how fast would you come running? If just to Shadow me through the not Trace My Steps through all my failures and walk me out the other side but who could send that mountain that Valley Hill cold cavalry
That it, this is the place where Jesus put on the cross. But for the one I call, Good Shepherd who like a lamb was slain for me. You're like a lamb was slain for me. The sacrifice Jesus made for me Wii U for every single person in here and out there this morning.
I had always found this song, emotional and spiritual, but it was only when I Was preparing this message that those lyrics came alive. Who could dare send that mountain or how fast would you come running. An unwavering God who is chasing us through the sorrow and joy of life. Laying it all down on the foot of the cross for us. Let's go stand and we're going to sing the song. I'm going to pray. Dear heavenly father, we thank you for this moment together. We thank you for this season of joy and the season of Sorrow.
That no matter at leading to Easter. If it's been an exciting one, a joyful one or between one of pain of loss of grief. That we can know. I am with you. I am with you and I never left.
Lord I just pray that as we move into the Easter season that we may know that, we may understand that we may feel that and we may accept that. You are the joy that brings us hope in life.
And we all said, amen, let stand and worship. Thank you, Billy.
