Together for Solid Food

Opening prayer, dedication

Symbol of Lent - Palms

Music ministry

106 Praise Him! Praise Him!

88 Fairest Lord Jesus

Hosanna

Word of God - Hebrews 5:11-14

Message: “Together for Solid Food”

Palm Sunday is a special time in the life of the Church

It is more than s “Symbol of Lent”

Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week

I find it interesting that Holy Week begins with a day that centers around a misunderstanding

You may recall that last week I talked about the death of a friend of Jesus named Lazarus

Once Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, many heard the story

John 12:9 reminds us that the chief priests cooked up a plan to kill Lazarus because his story was leading people to believe in Jesus

That’s where we’ll pick up the story in John 12:12-13

John 12:12–13 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!”

The people were so excited to have a party for “their king”

They had in their mind that Jesus was going to be the conqueror

The one to physically overpower evil leadership

In fact, they called out to Jesus “Hosanna!”

We see the original meaning of the word we see as “hosanna” is

Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) (6057 ὡσαννά)

Hosanna!, formally, Save us, please!; it was an exclamation of praise, implying rulership

The scene was one of joyful pleading, if you will

They were excited to someone to believe in

They just were wrong about what kind of king Jesus would be

I would argue this is because they were so immature in their faith

They lacked understanding

They had information, but they let their desires create a picture of the king instead of letting Jesus influence their desires

I would argue that we make this mistake in the culture today

Too many exalt or hold up human leaders as something they simply are NOT

They let they desires create a false impression of who the person really is

This is a key to Spiritual maturity, so we’ll put it up on the screen

“Spiritual maturity comes when Jesus influences our desires instead of our desires influencing our view of Jesus”

This topic of Spiritual maturity will be woven throughout upcoming services

Sometimes our prayers reflect that our spiritual maturity is lacking

I say that as a guilty party, not to accuse anyone else

When we ask Jesus to “Take this problem from me, for instance”

I know myself that I have not always considered if God may want me to use that problem to create a gain for the Kingdom, or even to benefit me

I hope you came to or watched the Midweek services that Jim has led

He talked about James 1:2-4

James 1:2–4 ESV

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Instead of praying for trials to go away,

shouldn’t we pray for God to open our minds that we may see how to grow in faith,

become more steadfast and more godly?

It is not easy to deal with trials, but they can produce great growth

Even knowing that growth is a possible outcome, we struggle

Which is one reason we should surround ourselves with other Believers

That they may help to hold us up

That they may keep watch as we rest when needed

We got to experience a great example of this just yesterday

We have a cow named “Cinnamon” and she gave birth to a calf Saturday morning [Image]

This calf did not seem to stand up on its own as soon as normal

There was one older calf who was literally bullying the new baby

Even once the calf stood, the older calf was trying to mount and pushed the new calf down

Because the herd trusts me, I was able to go out and stand guard to keep the bully away

And one of the other cows started inserting herself to keep the bully back

Giving the new calf and mom a chance to rest and get things back on track.

The herd works together to make sure that all are as safe as possible

As the babies get older, they need to stop eating from their mom’s milk and start eating grass

If they don’t make that change

If they live by the rule of “No change for me”, like some people

That hurts both the Mom and the baby

In fact, the whole herd can be harmed

It is impossible for the Kingdom of God to grow as intended if people don’t grow and change

and that growth does not end until God calls us home

That’s really what is being talked about in our core text today, Hebrews 5:11

Hebrews 5:11 ESV

11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

If Believers get set in their ways, they will not hear what God tells them to do next

This section is a warning against “apostasy”, or turning against God

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Apostasy

deliberate renouncing of the faith by a once sincere believer rather than a state of ignorance or mistaken knowledge

This is a big deal and very dangerous for us Believers

When we have been fully exposed to the Gospel and DECIDE to listen to ourselves or the culture instead of God

Even worse, if we start leading others away from God we have a problem

We would be wise to learn from Jeremiah 26:13

Jeremiah 26:13 ESV

13 Now therefore mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you.

Each one of us is a sinner and we MUST turn from whatever our sinful ways are and turn back to God

When we have knowledge of God and His Word tells us to do or NOT do certain things

Failing to obey, especially when we take others with us is apostacy

We see apostacy in the church when we try to justify actions that really aren’t rooted in Scripture, but in our own desire and practice

Then when we are asked to back up our position with scripture, we suddenly have a “hearing problem” as described in verse 11

Often we hear, “oh but it’s too hard” or “God knows how hard it is”

Yes, it is too hard to follow God.., unless you rely on the Holy Spirit

Yes, God knows it’s hard, but if we are in God, then it is possible

Look to 1 John 5:4 as a reminder

1 John 5:4 ESV

4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

There is great victory in the empty tomb we are about to celebrate, so use the power of the empty tomb

God is strong enough and God is able

Together all we have to do is stay on the right team!

There are two things mentioned in our core text today that we are not allowed to do

What We Can’t Do

1. Stay the same (already discussed)

See Hebrews 5:12-13

Hebrews 5:12–13 ESV

12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.

We must grow in our faith

Growing in faith requires learning and sharing

By definition that means we must be in community in order to do this well

Sure we can study on our own, but we need godly counsel

And the purpose of study can’t be only personal knowledge

We must gain knowledge so we can share with others

The purpose must be to produce gain for the Kingdom of God, not your own satisfaction

If a calf continues to drink milk from their mom too long

The calf never develops as it ought

The mother will not be as healthy as it should be

The herd suffers

If people are content with spiritual milk

Which means someone spoon feeds them Scripture piece by piece

Telling them what to think about each piece

And never forcing them to study on their own and learn what God wants them to learn

What We Can’t Do

1. Stay the same

2. Be Content with Spiritual Milk Alone

Surely God is not pleased with us if we are “unskilled in the word of righteousness” as verse 13 states

There is a big difference between have the faith of a child and being a spiritual child

It is good for us to easily accept the love and sacrifice of Jesus as a child might

But we cannot stay at that level (Luke 18:17)

Luke 18:17 ESV

17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

We start with that faith and heart

We must move on from that to building a true understanding of our faith that allows us to spread our faith others

And that is required of each of us

I have a picture in my mind of what our spiritual family and life should be

It’s like a big Thanksgiving dinner event where the WHOLE family is present

You have the “seasoned” grandparents and great-grandparents all the way to the youngest babies

Each have a special place and function in the gathering

The elders help to inform the “youngers”

The food that MUST be there

The prayer that MUST be present

The conversations that should NOT be allowed

They are, in fact, preparing the way for the younger generation to understand the meaning and value of the gathering

Even if a generation before them does much of the physical work

Farther down the line you have the little kids who are bringing a combination of chaos and joy until it is their turn to start learning

One day the “littles” will be teaching their own children

It is TOGETHER that the family learns to experience a true Thanksgiving dinner

Every phase of life appreciated for what it offers and the love that covers it all

Even as some children are living on nothing but milk

The adults would never be allowed to stay at that stage

No, they must move up the chain and fulfil the new role

So, in our spiritual journey each of you are called upon to move ahead

To encourage those still drinking spiritual milk to move on to solid food as Hebrews 5:14 describes

Hebrews 5:14 ESV

14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

May all we together bring to the table be good

And may we all train up a new generation of Believers who

Will recognize Jesus and know what kind of king He is

That they will be able to Discern or “Know” good compared to evil

and are obedient to God’s Word

That together we will hear, “well done my good and faithful servant”

AMEN

Closing Hymn/Invitation:

Lord, I Need You (Short)

Pastoral prayer/Benediction

Invite confirmands to wave palms down center as folks leave