A Season of Hope - Pt. 2
Notes
Transcript
John - Good Morning, and welcome to our time together online today. I am John Winders the Lead Pastor here at Fellowship.
Andrew - And I am Andrew Wring, one of many who helps with worship here at Fellowship.
John - This morning we want to turn our hearts to the One who brings eternal hope. To the One who provides safety during trouble and joy in the midst of sorrow.
Andrew - The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
11 The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
John - Friend, there is one source of Hope that supersedes all others, that source is your Creator - the One who spoke everything into existence and the One who is still holding everything together today. Your Creator not only gave you life here on earth, but has provided eternal life through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to all those who will believe on Him by faith.
Andrew - So today we stop what we have been doing, and we intentionally turn and Behold our God - the One who has provided everything through Jesus.
Would you join us as we sing this morning.
SONG - BEHOLD OUR GOD
We adore this One who made a way for us to be with Him. Continue with us as we sing:
SONG - JESUS PAID IT ALL
VIDEO
SERMON
Most of us are resistant to change. In fact, some are even obstinate to change.
Even when it comes to necessary areas of life, we perhaps embrace the letter of the law but miss the spirit of the law.
I read about a man this week that was just like that.
This man had high cholesterol and met with his doctor to find out what he could do to save his life. The story is told that the doctor told the man that the first step was to give up red meat. The man took a deep breath, agreed with the doctors plan and went home. From that day forward, this man stopped putting ketchup on his hamburgers.
For many of us, this season of change is very hard. Everything we knew to be normal is now different. The simple pleasures we enjoyed and took for granted are no longer available.
The things we thought were so important and life-sustaining have proved to be not-so-crucial anymore. We have actually lived without the constant rat-race of how hectic our lives were before this pandemic.
And many of the things we took for granted, or failed to put a priority on have risen to greater importance.
For many of us the main things in life have been amplified again as crucial, which are our relationship to God and our relationships with people.
For some joining us today, you are beginning to realize how fragile life is. Your loved one is sick, or perhaps you are sick. The fear of what is unknown has gripped your heart, and there is very little comfort found in the created things that surround you.
For others today, you have had a longer season of life than some of us, and have experienced the grace and provision of God in past tragedies and you are trusting God to be Himself in this time too.
Regardless of which side of this pandemic you land, whether fearful or hopeful, settled or sincerely not, we hope to point you to eternal truth today that provides eternal hope.
On this Cristian calendar today starts what is called Holy Week. This week is set aside on our calendar to remember and reflect on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For the believer, the follower of Jesus, this week is the celebration of the actualization of our redemption!
What I mean by that is if you take away from history what happens this week, we are a hopeless people.
You see, the Bible is one book that is made up of 66 books. It is written over the span of 1500 years by 40 different authors. Historically, Christians have believed the Bible as God’s authoritative revelation to us for all matters of faith and practice. Meaning, God has given to us everything we need know about Him and how we are to respond to Him and one another in His Word. And it is in the Bible that God gives us the unfolding of His plan. And although the compilation of these 66 books in the bible are not chronological in the way they are put together in our bibles today, they do all fit together in a way to paint for us a beautiful picture of what God has done and is doing in His redemptive story.
You see as we read the bible, it gives us two vantage points. It gives us insight into not only what is going on in the lives of people (narrative stories in the scriptures) but the Bible also gives insight into the big picture of what God is doing to fulfill His plan overall.
And so you have instances where God brings up to His vantage point where the Bible says God knows everything from beginning to end. And all throughout the bible we have instances where God brings us down to the day-to-day out-workings of that plan in everyday lives like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Paul, and the Apostles.
It’s important to know that as God is working His plan, He chooses to do that through His creation. And it is with this big picture understanding, that we can rest even in this moment.
Scripture teaches about the sovereignty or ultimate authority of God in various passages like:
Psalm 29 that reads, “God sits as king forever.”
God rules in the affairs of men. Napoleon, at the height of his career, is reported to have given this cynical answer to someone who asked if God was on the side of France: Napoleon said, “God is on the side that has the heaviest artillery.”
Then came the Battle of Waterloo, where Napoleon lost both the battle and his empire. Years later, in exile on the island of St. Helena, chastened and humbled, Napoleon is reported to have quoted the words of Thomas a Kempis: “Man proposes; God disposes.”
This is the lesson with which history confronts us all. God is able to work his sovereign will—despite man.
Michael P. Green, 1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 172.
In 1 Timothy 6 we learn that God is the one who gives life to all things.
And in Matthew 10 we learn that God knows even when a sparrow falls to the ground in death. Not only that, but He knows how many hairs are on your head.
You see friend, the God of the Bible is so much more involved in our day to day lives then we tend to give Him credit. Yes, He sits on His throne working all things according to His will as Romans and Ephesians teaches, but He does that while being intricately involved in our moments.
Friend, this is the God of the Bible. He is cares where you are today. And at the very same time He is working all things together according to His plan that He has always known.
Now, this Sovereign God had a plan from before the foundations of the world to receive glory by redeeming broken people.
Genesis - Creation and Fall
From Genesis through Malachi you have the story of God working in and through a specific group of people teaching us who He is and What He expects.
And all along he is revealing to them his plan of redemption.
Fast forward to the NT and the fulfillment of all that we read in the OT is completed in the person of Jesus.
Now, today is Palm Sunday, the historical day we set aside to reflect on the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem the week of his crucifixion and resurrection.
If you have your bibles, please turn with me to John 12, we are going to look at another account from the Gospels in Mark 11. But we will begin in John 12:
1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.
2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.
3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said,
5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.
7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.
8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”
9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.
10 But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also,
11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.
So in the life of Christ at this point, He has come to a town called Bethany. This is a place he loved to be in the presence and sweet fellowship of his friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Previously Christ had called Lazarus up from the dead and so things were very busy.
People had come from all over to not only see Jesus, but to see this guy Jesus raised from the dead - it was kind of a big deal!
Because of this miracle, v. 11 states that many were leaving Judaism and believing in Jesus.
Look with me then at Mark 11,
1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples;
2 and He said to them, “Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it.
3 And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately he will send it here.”
4 So they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it.
5 But some of those who stood there said to them, “What are you doing, loosing the colt?”
6 And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go.
7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it.
So Christ is setting up what will work together to fulfill OT prophecy from Zechariah 9.
All of these details are coming together - as strange as they seem.
Christ says go get a young donkey at this house and when he asks why, just tell Him I need it.
They go, the owner asks, they give him the reason, and he just goes with it… Why? because God is using His creation to fulfill His plan...
Look back with me if you would at John 12
12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ The King of Israel!”
14 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; 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 were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.
17 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.
18 For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.
19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”
At this point in the narrative, you have people coming out, praising Jesus for coming to fulfill their expectations.
They are laying palms in the road before him signifying peace after sorrow. They are evening laying their clothes down. and all the while singing Hosanna, meaning “Save now we pray you.”
The overall perception of the people was that Christ was coming to overthrow the Romans. The overall perception of the Pharasees was that they were being overthrown.
And the reality of it all, was that Christ was coming to overthrow the power of sin in their life. He was coming to set up a kingdom of righteousness and this was not the expectation they had.
And we know that this was not the expectation they had because within a week, many from this same crowd who is shouting Hosanna will be shouting crucify Him.
You see friend, the plans of God included even the unimaginable hardship of Holy Week. And the question I want to propose today is how will you respond if your expectations of God don’t turn out the way you thought?
Easter will be spent at home.
Incomes may change.
Your health is at risk.
The most powerful country in the world is incapacitated.
Friend, where is your hope. Is your hope in temporal things? Or is it firmly placed in the God of the Bible, who has revealed Himself to us through His word, and provided a way for us (theunrighteous) to be given His righteousness through faith in the Gospel.
Friend, have you ever trusted Christ as your savior?
Have you understood the Gospel and responded?
4 points of the gospel.
If you have never responded in repentance and faith, you can do that from where you are today.
If you have trusted him for eternity, you can trust him today.
As we close, let me challenge you to, as Paul says,
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.