[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the Message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help you know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here, and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's word in practical ways.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Let's listen in. Hey, thank you so much for that. Good morning, everybody. Good morning. Good morning. Let's hear it for all of our friends watching online. Come on high. Rich family, welcome them in. Wherever you're watching from. We welcome you. We're glad that you are here. You're awesome. Grab your Bibles, if you would. Matthew, chapter 21. We're going to spend all of our time there on this Palm Sunday. As you're Turning to Matthew 21, I want to say thank you for your generosity. Thank you for all of you have been praying for our Easter services that are coming up. In case you didn't know, we have expanded to Saturday evenings on Easter weekend and Easter weekend only. I'm not doing this for all time. I'm getting older. Come on. I can't be doing that forever. But Easter Saturday is 4:30 and 6, and then Easter Sunday, 9, 10:30, and 12. And so we have five different Easter experiences for all of those and plenty of options for those that want to come. And so I want to encourage you. Hey, serve one, sit one. Invite people.
If you invite them, statistics tell us they will come. People are waiting on an invite from you. This is your opportunity. And I will. I will make a deal with you. If you invite your friends, I will do my best not to embarrass you. How about that? But that does not include today. I'm about to embarrass some people. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Just kidding. So Matthew chapter 21. I want to bring a message today called the Wrong Parade.
The wrong parade. This has nothing to do with political affiliations. This has nothing to do with things that are super controversial. I'm not going to do that. But imagine for a moment if you would, if you went to one parade thinking you're supporting one thing, and then realize, like, I am completely wrong. That happened to me. And this is kind of what got me stuck in this. In this mindset. And. And so I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but I don't like preaching on Sundays where the text is already kind of laid out for you. And so if there are certain days where you feel like you have to say something, you know, like, so like, if you're preaching on Father's Day, you need to kind of a Father's Day message. You're preaching on Christmas Eve. You know, you can't talk about end times. It's like.
And I don't like that. I like feeling like I kind of want to do what I want. I have authority issues. I understand that. I kind of just want to do what I want to do. And so on Palm Sunday, I'm like, it's the same scriptures over, like, people know it. Like, you've. You've got.
And so I have an issue with that. So today we're gonna talk about sex outside of marriage.
I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.
It is Palm Sunday. It's Holy Week. And so I'm gonna stick to the script. Matthew, chapter 21. Some of y' all are convicted of sin. You're like, that was me. That was for me.
Put a ring on it, for the love of God.
One of the things that I was digging into as I was researching this story and asking the Lord, like, Holy Spirit, will you show me some things about this story that I haven't seen before? And certainly after 26 years of ministry, and that's a lot of Palm Sundays.
I've heard the story. I preached the story. I've read this. Being raised in church, I understand Palm Sunday. Like, I was trying to come up with different ideas in my own mind of how do we make this, you know, like something fresh or something new when you. When you know the story, and it's especially true around Easter time. Like, we get it, you know, you're. You're going to preach an Easter message on Easter Sunday. Or am I?
We don't know. And so I thought maybe with Palm Sunday, we freshen it up a little bit. We fill the whole platform with. With palm trees, and you come out like Benny Blanco in the super bowl halftime show. Hey, it's. But we didn't have the budget for that, so we're gonna take up an offering today. And I say you. I'm just kidding.
But how do you keep, you know, Palm Sunday fresh? And some of the things that I was noticing as I start digging into the. To the history, to the archeology, to the theology behind it, all the different things that kind of help to. To show you some things in a new light. I. I discovered something that many scholars were agreeing on. They're saying at the exact same time that Jesus is making his triumphal entry on the eastern side of Jerusalem, coming through the eastern gate, which is riding on his donkey. On the western side of Jerusalem, there's another parade that's happening and it would have been the parade of pilot coming in with the Roman military.
So think about this for a moment. If, if that is true, if these scholars are, are onto something. What if you're going to support Christ and you end up supporting Rome? What if you're going to support Rome, you end up supporting Christ and you're looking around and thinking, Jesus has gotten a lot taller than I remember. Why is he wearing Roman military? This is controversial.
Or then you go to Jesus's parade and you're thinking, I'm here to support Roman. They really have downsized their budget. This is, this is kind of weak.
And it got me thinking about the wrong parade. And I believe that was. As we look at this story with fresh eyes and asking the Holy Spirit to show us some things that perhaps we've missed along the way. It brings new life to things that we thought we knew. It exposes some parts of our heart that will be perhaps didn't realize needed to be exposed.
And so Matthew chapter 21. Let's read the story. Many of you have read it, many of you have grown up reading it. Let's read it today with fresh eyes. Holy Spirit, come, would you open up your word to us. Show us the things that you want us to see.
In Jesus name, Amen.
Matthew 21 and verse one. Let's read through the next 11 verses. It says, as they approached Jerusalem, Jesus sent two disciples saying, Go to the village ahead of you and you're going to find a donkey tied there with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. And if anybody asks you any questions, just say the Lord needs them and they'll send them right away. This seems like Jesus is telling them to commit grand theft donkey.
And I want to make sure that if you're new to, if you're new to Christianity, if you're new to the Bible, Jesus is not encouraging people to commit a crime. Okay? He's not gonna do that for you either.
But it did remind me there was one time where a young man had come to, had come to church and God had just radically changed him. I love so much seeing those that are hungry, that have never heard the message of Jesus and they're like, why in the world would I not want that? Why, why do, why do people not get this? This is amazing. I'm like, I know, right?
And you watch this. He began to invite his family and there's this whole group of people that started coming to church because of this young man. And then he brought his sister, and his sister was one of those, one of those ladies with a little teardrop tattoo.
So, you know, she got a past and probably a record.
And as you, as I, as I talked to her and welcomed her to church, she told me, I just got out of jail. I'm like, I don't even want to know. I'm just glad that you're here.
And you watch God radically change her life over the course of one service. It's one thing to watch people's life change over the course of many months of them. Following a discipleship road is another thing to just watch God bang.
And this young lady was radically changed by the power of God. And I, I, I loved it so much. It's just one of those moments in, in ministry that just makes things worth it when you see people hungry for the things of God instead of those that are just sitting here like, you better entertain me, Pastor. Tell me something good.
That mindset. When you're hungry for the Word, when you're hungry for the things of the Lord, when you're open to whatever God may say it, it makes this worth it.
And I watched this young lady, her life radically change. And then the next couple of weeks, she showed up and I said, I'm so glad that you're here. I love what God is doing in your heart. And she's like, I stole a car to get here.
And I giggled because I thought she was kidding.
So today I want to talk about your commitment and the commitment of others, because some people are super committed to this thing, that they're willing to do whatever it takes. But this is not what Christ is doing here. He's not encouraging you to just steal stuff and, oh, the Lord needs it. I can take that. You know, like, no, no, no, that's, that's not the message here. The point is, is, is Christ is asking them to do something that, that logically makes no sense, but they do it.
Can you imagine the conversations on the way to just pick up somebody's random donkey? Like, here we go, let's see what happens. But they obey, and things are just exactly as Jesus said, and they respond the exact same way Jesus said they would respond. Here's the thing. Jesus knows, and sometimes he asks you to do things that don't make a lot of sense until you come to the other side of it and notice it says the disciples went and did just as Jesus instructed them. Oh, if we could say that about Ourselves, we're doing just as Jesus tells me to do.
And so they bring the donkey and the colt. They place their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. And a very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road. And while others cut branches from trees and they spread them out on the road. And the crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest heaven. And when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred. And they said, who is this?
And notice the response. So close, like, so close. They said, that's Jesus. He's. He's the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.
Close.
You see, in their mind, prophets come and they speak on behalf of the Lord. And they tell the opposing nations, God's got judgment coming for you. It's time for everybody to clean up their mess.
But Jesus was more than a word from the Lord. He was the word made flesh. They're so close to understanding who he is. They're so close to understanding his message, but they miss it by just this much. And in the matter of one week, they go from shouting, hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna. To crucify him.
How quickly the human heart turns. And surely that. That. That could not apply to us. Surely that's. That's not something that any of us would struggle with.
The wrong parade.
A few years ago, my family and I had the unique opportunity to take. To take my children for the very first time to. To Disney World. Now they're both in their mid-20s, and it's taken us that long to save up the kind of funds to do that.
So we're gonna take up an offering today. I'm just kidding.
We finally got a chance to take the kids to Disney World. And I decided, let's go on a Monday, because I'm not going on no weekend at Disney World. Like, that ain't happening.
Only got so much grace for other people's kids. I got grace for my own, but not for nobody else's. And so we go to the happiest place on Earth, of course, by the way, it's wonderful. It's great. It's awesome. And having a great time. And they said, hey, join us at noon for the massive parade. And I'm like, let's go see what the parade's all about. So we walked down the main street in Disney World, and here goes the parade. I'm thinking, here's, here's. There's Going to be a lot of Disney characters. It's going to be great. That was not what it was.
Subtle foreshadowing. I don't know if you know this, but when they tell someone at the end of, like, the super bowl of the World Series, like, you just won the World Series, you just won the World cup, you just won. Won the. The World Championship, you won the Super Bowl. What are you going to do? And they say, we're going to Disney World. Did you know they mean that?
It's true.
And this particular Monday that we chose to go was just after Super Bowl Sunday.
And I found myself surrounded on Main street at the happiest place on Earth, the most unhappiest person that could have been in attendance at that parade. I was surrounded by the most godforsaken people on this planet, the Philadelphia Eagles fans.
And every.
Every person that needed salvation was covered in green and black and white as they screamed their head off.
And I wanted to crawl out of that place because I knew if Jesus came back, ain't nobody going.
I'm at the wrong parade. And of course, they march out, you know, like a couple of the players. And let's just say them players had a long night of celebrating. They did not want to be on no float, you know, bouncing around the top of some car trying to wave at people. They were just, like, in the stage of whoa, you know, that kind of thing. And so I felt bad for them because it just turned three shades of green, and it's like, half of me is like, good, you deserve it.
We throw up all over. Your fans realized very quickly I'm at the wrong parade. My heart turned very quickly from one of joy to one of disgust.
God never intended anybody to be an Eagles fan.
Somebody needs to hear that today.
The wrong parade.
Now, here's what we see as we dig into Matthew chapter 21 is that for those that understood Christ's message, it was very different from the message that was being shown across town.
One is a kingdom promoting peace. The other one is promoting their might.
It's the wrong parade.
I want to give you three different scenarios here as we dig into God's word that I think are important. And the first of three would number one be the wrong salvation parade.
The wrong salvation parade. Here's what we know. On the west side of Town Bridge, Rome makes its entrance with Pilate. And Rome knows power. Rome knows authority. Rome knows how to make a spectacle. They come in on their war horses. They come in in their armor. They come in marching, get out of the way Rome is in town. Rome understands how to make it a show.
And you can't help but see that Israel wants something similar.
Israel wants a similar show of power. Look. Look how Rome enters the city with all that might and all that power, telling people we mean business.
And then on the east side of town, it's like, seriously, this is all we got.
Rome understands authority and rulers entered on war, horses, soldiers lining the streets. But that's not what's happening on the east side.
So as the crowd begins to chant, to call out, to scream out, to praise, they say the same word. Hosanna. Hosanna. Hosanna. Literally translating, God, save now. Save now. Save now. Here's the issue. The salvation that they're screaming for was not the same salvation Jesus is offering, because the salvation that they're screaming for is a salvation from circumstances.
Save us from them.
Make my country awesome.
And Jesus is like, I'm here to change your heart.
We don't want that kind of salvation because that means that there's something wrong with me. I don't have an issue. I'm basically a good person. I don't want that kind of salvation. It reminds me of raising my children. And you make the unpardonable mistake of giving them tenders when they ask for nuggies.
Oh, my gosh. I don't want that kind of chicken. It's the.
Just try it. It's better.
You ever made those mistakes and then you try to explain to them like, you don't understand. I didn't understand that chicken came off the bone until I was, like, 35.
I didn't understand chicken had white meat. Like, dad gets the breast. He's the one that gets the white meat. Everybody else gets the stuff left over. That's the way that it was. My kids did not care about my SOP story. Like, you're just old. You don't understand.
I wanted tenders like, okay, perhaps you don't understand. Like, what I'm offering and what you actually want are two greatly different things. And this is the same issue that many of us have today. We want salvation, but we want salvation from my circumstances. Jesus, I want your power. I want your authority. I want you to come in. I want you to heal. I want you to deliver. I want you to fix my marriage, fix my credit score, fix my spouse, fix my singleness, Give me more opportunities.
Hosanna. Save.
Understand this salvation is rescued from the penalties of sin. It's not just relief from trouble.
And the salvation that Jesus is offering, unfortunately, Most people, they don't want because that means me admitting I'm not as perfect as I project.
I needed a savior.
I needed someone to look past my humanity and my faults, my habits and my mistakes and my attitudes and all the things that are embarrassing and still choose to love me. I needed real salvation. They wanted Jesus to fix their circumstances. He came to. He came to fix their hearts.
He came to fix their sin problem.
How many of us are allowing the word of God to speak to us and show us some things that perhaps we still struggle with? The same issues in humanity still exist 2000 years later, we recognize I still have some issues sometimes. I want Jesus.
I want Jesus to operate on my terms.
I don't want to accept him as he is. I want him to just become what I want him to be.
Hosanna. God save, but not this.
Save that, but not this.
Here's what we know. Jesus didn't come to make bad days better. He came to make dead people alive.
But for some of us still today, we have the wrong salvation parade.
He came to save us from our sins.
And even if you're more perfect than everybody else in this room, even if all of us, through humanity, had done great things and never made a single mistake, I would have messed it up for all of us. I know me.
We still needed a savior.
I still need a savior, as do you.
Here's the second wrong parade that we see. Number number two is the wrong peace parade.
So Jesus comes into town riding a donkey. And it's purposeful.
It's purposeful. For those of you that understand 1st century Jerusalem culture, kings would ride into town on a ride that would signify whether it was a time of war or time of peace. If it's a time of war, they come in riding horses, war horses, big horses, beautiful horses, the best horses to show might and strength and power. And if it's a time of peace, you. You come in riding a donkey. Jesus comes in riding a donkey, saying, my kingdom's not going to advance through force. It's coming in through peace.
Now, for people hearing this message, they're like, this is great. We're finally going to have peace.
But it's peace on our terms.
Peace the way that I think it should be.
The wrong peace parade.
So Jesus comes in on a donkey, signifying his kingdom would be a kingdom of peace. Of course, this is fulfillment of scripture. We see this in Matthew 21. We see this reflection all the way back to Zechariah, chapter nine that says, here comes your king. He's coming in, he's righteous and he's victorious. And then they throw in that word, lowly.
We love the king that's righteous. We love the king that's victorious. But to see the king that's lowly, that. That doesn't. Surely that's a translation. Mishap. Surely there's a better word for that.
But he intentionally chooses lowly.
Now, something I hadn't noticed about this story before until I was reading it through this past week. It says Jesus tells his disciples, when he. When he asks for the donkey, he doesn't just say, bring me one. He says, bring me both the full size mama and the little colt.
Because Scripture has prophesied that Jesus would come in riding on a colt, the. The foal of a donkey that had never been ridden before.
So imagine if you Would they bring the. The big mature donkey and a little baby.
And it says very clearly Matthew 21, they spread their cloaks on them, both of them. And then Jesus chooses the wrong one.
Like, why is he getting on the little one? Like, that thing cannot support his weight. And then this little thing starts moving. Like, I guess it's stronger than it looks. And then Jesus's sandals are dragging the ground as he, you know, knees are getting scraped up from this tiny thing. He's like, is he riding a dog?
You cannot tell me as you read this story, if you look between the lines, that's weird. It's awkward, because we expect our king to be kingly, and he doesn't do that.
And as a matter of fact, when they're leading the procession in Matthew 21 says, Here comes the big donkey, and then here he comes riding the little one.
Like, okay, somebody needs to explain to Jesus which one is able to be ridden and which one not. Like, how are we to know that the bigger one had never been ridden before? We could still fulfill prophecy if we just, you know, nobody really knows.
So it's obvious that Jesus chooses the little one. That had never been written. He ain't experienced.
Because Jesus is fulfilling prophecy and showing them something that's more than just a fulfillment of prophecy. He. He's putting a picture in front of them that's different than what they have in their minds, different than how they understand a king to appear.
Why is he riding the little one?
That's not the right look, Jesus, this is not a good PR move. Hopefully no one's bringing out their cell phones and capturing video of this, because this doesn't look right at all. That thing is way too small.
I Remember going to the zoo as a little kid and back then they would still let kids ride around on wild animals?
Crazy.
Now that we got all litigious there by suing people, you can't do it anymore. They used to literally put all of us kids on the back, on the. On the. On the shells of turtles, giant turtles. Like anybody remember this?
There's times like you could ride elephants, you could just pet and bring home whatever you want. You want to own a tiger? Sure.
But here's Jesus riding on the back of an animal. That has to be so physically obvious. This thing has never been ridden before that it's awkward and it's strange and it's weird for a visual picture for people to see. He's different.
This doesn't make a lot of sense. This is awkward.
And not only is he showing them the kind of peace that he's coming in, he's showing them a picture of something that they need to see. Something that still speaks to each and every single one of us today, if we allow it to speak to us.
I want to put this on the screen. God's kingdom is often intentionally backwards to teach us what.
To teach us to trust what makes no sense.
And let me tell you this. God's ways are not your ways. They're higher than your ways. As a matter of fact, there are scriptures that tells us that God laughs. God has a sense of humor. You know the things that make God laugh in scripture. You could check this out. Fact check me and see, the things that make God laugh are people's wisdom.
The things that people think we're so smart. And God's like, that's not true.
Watch what I do.
The things that make a lot of sense to us, the things that Jesus has to do or the way that we understand it. Often God's like, let me just mess that up for you.
Let me keep it fresh.
I found that the way that Christ moves, he doesn't ask me for permission. He doesn't ask me for the game plan.
And often the shortest distance between two points is not a straight line with him. As a matter of fact, anything that Christ has ever asked me to do was never a straight line, ever.
And his way is always right, and it's always good, it's always perfect.
And here's what we see God screaming at us today.
I'm going to ask you to do things that make no sense until you get on the other side and recognize how important it is that you trust me.
So Jesus comes in on a tiny donkey signifying I'm here to destroy your expectations.
And I'm here to usher in a time of peace.
Peace.
Well, we love peace.
That sounds great.
As long as we get to decide what kind of peace that is and what peace looks like.
And here's what we see why there's so much misunderstanding around Christ and his kind of peace.
Because they wanted peace that comes from justice and revenge.
Jesus had something different in mind.
Their version of peace is, as long as they get out of here, we'll finally be at peace.
Lord, get rid of all them.
Get rid of all your enemies.
That's they will finally have peace.
And we find that 2,000 years later, still being our terms, our vision of what we think Christ needs to do, we'll be able to do so much more if you just strike them with lightning.
If spontaneous combustion would become a thing, I'd be at so much peace. If you would just destroy them, that'd make me so peaceful.
Jesus had something different in mind, a different kind of peace.
And his way of peace is better.
So he didn't come in riding some big, beautiful war horse? No, he didn't ride a war horse to kill his enemies.
He rides a donkey to die for them.
How does that make any sense?
That peace would come by the shedding of blood, but not by shedding their blood, by shedding mine.
Oh, that's powerful.
We want justice. We want revenge. And Jesus says, God's going to take all of that vengeance out on me.
Not on them, on me. I'm going to do it for. For them.
How does that make any sense? Only by the grace of God can we look at this story and recognize there's so much about our hearts that misunderstand what he's doing. We. We don't see it.
But he. He comes riding a donkey, a purposeful donkey, to show us his kingdom is one of peace. And I'm not here to declare war against you. I'm here to come in in peace. Is he the king of kings? Yes. Is he the Lord of Lords, Alpha, Omega, mighty God, Word made flesh. But he comes in humble and lowly, so I'm not going to force you to do anything. But I'm here to make peace. Not between you and them. Between you and God.
That's your bigger need.
Colossians chapter one talks about that piece. He said, making peace by his blood on. On the cross.
Romans chapter 5 tells us, since we've been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our best intentions. Through our best great days. No, no, no. Through Jesus Christ.
Peace with God is only made possible through Jesus Christ.
So I found many of us. And even in my heart, if we're going to be honest today, we. We want peace, but peace on our terms.
And that's.
That's called control is what that is. That's called. That's called control. And by the way, in. In God's kingdom, that's. That's a. No, no, there. There's. There's one God, and you're. You're not him.
He.
He knows what he's doing.
No, Jesus's peace requires surrender, not control.
And it's one of those things that doesn't make a lot of sense to our. To our.
Our mortal minds, but it's right in God's kingdom that I can know Jesus peace the moment that I surrender my thoughts of how he has to do it.
Lord Jesus, just come bring your peace into this situation. Let me just remind you, he's the prince of peace.
He brings peace that passes all understanding. He speaks peace to storms. He knows what peace is. Peace is not just the right circumstances and everything goes your way. That's. That's control.
Peace is his presence, and that's what you want.
But these people had gotten onto the wrong peace parade and they turned on him.
Here's the third and final thing that we see from this wonderful passage, and that's the wrong ending. The wrong ending.
Let me just remind you that we all have a vision in mind of how we think our own parade should end.
You may have never thought about it because it's a little morbid, but you will from now on. You're welcome.
You have in mind how you hope it will end. And hopefully that's you dying at the ripe old age of 212, surrounded by your children and grandchildren and stacks of billions of dollars and like, oh, you know, just happy to be a blessing, you know?
But for those of us that don't live in fantasy land, we recognize that every parade ends.
And by the way, this parade ended too.
And that's really where the problem got exposed for the people's hearts is the way that it ended.
Understand this. The music stopped. The crowd went home. Things got quiet, the streets empty, the palm branches dried up.
And a few days later, Jesus carries his cross up a hill.
And that same crowd that shouted hosanna, hosanna, hosanna. Was now shouting something completely different.
We don't want your salvation.
We want your death.
Crucify him.
Why? How could they turn so quickly? And the answer is found in the following scripture, Matthew 21. Where Jesus doesn't go where they think he should go when the parade doesn't end the way that they thought it should end.
They thought this parade should end at the palace. We're taking over this kingdom. We've got a million of us to a few hundred of you.
We're taking over.
They wanted the parade to enter the throne. And Jesus knew that this parade always ends at a cross.
And let me just remind you that the greatest test in our relationship with Jesus is when he doesn't do what we want him to do.
And those moments, is he really Lord of all? Does he have your trust?
Can you believe that he is still God in spite of you not getting what you want, what you believe you need? Is he still right? Is he still good when you don't feel like it?
I reminded myself that some of that was even reflected in my marriage vows.
You know, on one of the greatest days of your life, on your wedding day, they make you say things that you don't really understand what. The depths of. What it means. It sounds good.
I promise to love and honor and cherish and value and all these things till death do we part.
Let me just remind you, the vows that you take on your wedding day are not for that day.
They're for the day where you don't feel like it.
They're for the day when it's hard.
That's the day when you remember the.
The promise that you made, the vows that you made, when it's not easy, when you have to trust.
So here we find a group of people when the parade didn't end the way that they thought it should end, when it defied their expectations. When. When Jesus doesn't go to the palace, but instead he goes to the temple and starts flipping tables.
No, don't mess up with. Don't mess our religious experience. We like things that way. Go mess with them.
Mess with us.
Don't confront our religious spirit.
Confront their overreaching into politics.
They wanted a political savior. Jesus came to be a sacrificial savior.
Expose them, he said. I'm exposing you.
We don't like that kind of Jesus.
We don't like that kind of salvation. We. We don't like that kind of peace. We don't like the parade to end where we. Where we didn't want it to end that way.
So the tragedy of Palm Sunday is not that the crowd turned on them because Jesus knew that they were gonna do it. They're supposed to do it. He knows the hearts of people he knows what you're gonna do before you do it. That's not the issue. But the tragedy of Palm Sunday is that people thought they understood him when they didn't.
And that's the issue many of us still have today.
Because when you think you understand Jesus, you'll stop being teachable.
When you think you've. You know more than others, you stop listening.
When you think you've got God's ways figured out, and you start becoming God.
But, oh, that we could stay pliable and teachable, humble. That we could recognize that even though he comes as a lowly king, as a humble king, it's more than.
It's more than just a show. It's an example for us to come to him in humility. Lord, show me.
Teach me.
Let me learn.
Oh, you're never too old to stop learning.
There's no reaching the end of understanding God. There's no reaching the end of his wisdom and his ways.
He's deeper than the ocean.
There's more.
I want to encourage you. Let him teach you. Let him show you. Be open to what he's saying.
Because he exposes areas of our hearts that need to be exposed.
And our experience with the Lord, our discipleship, our depth in our relationship with him, moves at the speed of our submission and obedience. It goes as fast as you allow him to.
He wants to show you. He wants to reveal Himself to you.
He wants you to trust him.
But unfortunately for those that were at this parade today, even though they came to the right parade, they had the wrong attitude, the right parade, they had the wrong spirit.
And when things don't end the way that they predicted it would end, they turned.
They turned.
And in the process of their turning their back on Christ, I think we see some things that still speak to us today that still expose the heart of the Americanized version of Christianity.
They still expose some things that we need to see. And if we're submitted, if we're honest, if we're open enough to receive what that screams at us, I think God can do something special with that admission, with that honesty.
You see, it shows us that. They praised him, but they never surrendered to Him. They worshiped him, but they never trusted his plan. They cheered him on, but they never followed him.
Let that not be me and you.
Oh, I praise you on Sunday, but let me do my thing on Monday.
I worship you as long as you do what I want.
I'll cheer you on as long as you don't disagree with what I want. As long as you ignore this part of my life, then anything else is yours.
And we make excuses because we think we understand something about Jesus that we really don't. We think we understand.
Grace. I can live how I want, and God has to forgive me. He has to give me grace. Let me just remind you, that's not grace.
That's God's patience.
And you, please look at me. You know better.
So let today be the day where things begin to change in your own heart and mind.
I want to challenge you with one thought. Don't ask Jesus to follow your parade. Follow his.
His is better. His ways are better. His thoughts are better. His future for you is better. His future for your family is better than what you have in mind. His ways are higher than yours, and they're better. They're good. What he has in store for you are good plans. And so many times we settle for something far less than God's best for you. Why? Because I'm. I'm desperate. Or. Or I'm single, or I'm broke, or I'm hurt, or I'm angry. And he says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden. I'm going to give you rest. I'm the God of peace. I'm the Prince of peace. I can bring peace that you don't have to buy or manufacture, conjure up in some relationship. I can give you something more.
And he offers something that is real and it is good and it is right. And even if we don't understand it, the question is, can you trust him?
Can you trust him?
His ways are better.
Although it ended at a cross, here's the good news. That wasn't the end of the story.
It's not the end.
And today, no matter what you may be walking through, today's not the end.
And there is a Jesus that is opening his hands to me and you and saying, come. Come to me.
Let's make this right.
Let's get these things in the open. Let's be honest and let me help you.
Would you bow your head and close your eyes?
Lord Jesus, in the spirit of honesty, we come into your presence recognizing that your Word still speaks in a way that we can find new hope and new life in stories that we've read a thousand times. Lord, your Word comes to life and it exposes the area of the human heart in ways that we need to see. Father, your Word brings life to dead places, and it brings hope to places we didn't even realize we had lost. Hope. Your Word brings light and hope, and it also brings Freedom, great freedom, if we'll let your perfect word do its work.
So, Father, we ask for freedom to reign this place today. Freedom from the sins, freedom from the attitudes, freedom from the strongholds that have kept many of us captive for years. Let today be a day of breakthrough. Today be a day where we see the light, where we get it, where we submit to you and say, lord, come and have your way. I submit to you.
I want your ways.
I want you take over, Lord Jesus, we recognize you as king. Not on our terms, on your terms.
We follow you in Jesus name.
And now with heads bowed and eyes closed, maybe you came here today and you don't have a relationship with Jesus at all. You would say, pastor, I don't know what this stuff is, but I want a relationship with Jesus. I need that. My friend, you are in the right place. I'm so glad that you came here today.
This is for you, for others, you might have come to this church today and you say, pastor, if I'm gonna be honest, I was raised in church. I did all the things, but I've gotten so far away from. From God. I'm so far from my relationship with Jesus. I need to come home. My friend. Yes, you do.
If you could hear it, God himself is whispering to you right now, come home, come home.
Come back to me.
And with heads bowed and eyes closed, I want to give you the opportunity to do that.
If you want a relationship with Jesus, I'm going to ask that you pray this prayer with me. I'm going to tell you what to say. And I. And as a matter of fact, all of us are going to pray this prayer out loud together today so that you can have this moment with the Lord. You need this. So pray with me. Come on, friends, let's pray this all together. Just say, jesus, I believe you're the son of God.
I believe that you came and died, and I believe you rose from the grave so that I could have life forgiveness for my sins.
Please forgive me and I'll give you the rest of my life in Jesus name with heads bowed and eyes closed. If you prayed that prayer and you meant that prayer, just those of you that did that, would you just lift up your hands all across this place. That was me, Pastor. I prayed that prayer. I meant that prayer. Good. I see you. Yes, sir. Yes, ma'. Am. Good for you. Good for you.
I'm so proud of you. Those of you that raised your hand and say, I'm starting a relationship with Jesus today, I'm coming back to Jesus today. There's a phone number appearing behind me. It's also appearing on your screen. If you're watching from home, I want to encourage you. Would you text me? Text the words I prayed to that number and then I'll send you back the link to some things that will help you understand what just happened in your heart and what to do next.
It's the greatest honor of my life to help people know Jesus better.
Thank you for letting me help you. Good for you. How rich family. Go ahead and look up at me if you would. Then let's stand to our feet together as our service ends. If you're watching online, once again, I just want to say thank you for watching. And there's a. There's something that you could do to be a huge help to us. If you click the Share button, it's always a massive blessing when you do that. There are people all over the world that get to experience what is happening on Palm Sunday. And in a little place like Longview, Texas, we're able to broadcast all over the world because of people like you. Just click on the share button. It's one of the greatest ways and the most modern ways, one of the most awesome ways that you can share the gospel today.
All you've got to do is click that button and it's a big deal when you do that. We are shocked every single week when we see people that are responding to Christ that we may never see in the state of Texas, may never come to the United States, that are meeting Jesus all over the world because of that. And so we're so thankful when you choose to do that. Also, I want to remind you, hey, Easter is next week. People will come. If you just invite them, they will come. Please hear me. They will come. And you don't have to be perfect to invite somebody to church. Just be willing.
They will come. So we have Saturday, 4, 30 and 6, Sunday 9, 10, 30 and 12. We'd love to see at any or all of them.
We want to encourage you to serve and to sit one.
I'm so thankful to be a part of a serving church.
It's a beautiful thing to watch. You say, life is more than just feed me, give me, give me, give me, but when you start giving back, you're serving all the different various areas.
You make me very, very proud. Very proud of you. I'm gonna go ahead and invite our elders and their wives forward. And if you're walking through something today and you say, I sure would like some prayer, I'd like somebody to Pray for me. And these guys are the ones that are gonna do that. They're incredible prayer warriors and we would love to pray for you. So they've got big smiles on their faces. Love your smile, Ms. Deb. Look at you. Come on, Tony.
I could use a little work.
No, no, no. They would love to pray for you. These are the most amazing prayer warriors. And God still hears, he still answers, he still heals, he still delivers. God still hears it when we pray. And we would love to pray for you and for everybody else. Let me pray for you and send you out. Father, I pray you bless my friends with the most incredible week they've ever had. Even if they're Eagles fans, Lord, would you bless them with a great week? And I pray this in Jesus name and all of us said together, Amen. God bless you as you go. Have an awesome week.
[00:43:50] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening. If you want to be a part of our online community, connect with us through Facebook or Instagram with the handle hyridgelv or you can check out our
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We appreciate your support and we're believing with you today for God's best in your life. Have an incredible week and we will see you next time.
