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Category: Messages (Page 6 of 41)

Why was Palm Sunday so important?

March 30, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Ok so some of you won’t really care about this nearly as much as I do but I’ve been a pastor for 19 years and have read, preached on or at least heard the Palm Sunday story every year that I’ve been alive. But this year the whole thing took on new meaning. It’s like 19 years of ministry finally paid off with a little knowledge.

The Palm Sunday account, known as the triumphal entry has tons of meaning packed into it. I’ve included the video of the message at the bottom but here’s a list of the things Jesus really did when he came riding into Jerusalem on that day we call Palm Sunday.

Mount of Olives

Did you know that over 600 years earlier, recorded in Ezekiel 10 and again in 43, the prophet is given a vision of God’s glory leaving and then returning to the temple? In 586 BC the glory of God filled the temple then exited through the east gate. It proceeded up the Mount of Olives and rested there until…

Yep that’s right, until Palm Sunday when Jesus came back down the Mount of Olives as the Son of God bringing the Glory of God with him.

Colt the foal of a donkey

So Jesus asks his followers to go, get him a donkey so he could ride into town. Now before we get all freaked out that he stole a donkey, that’s just not true. You see they had a practice in this time that a king could claim eminent domain on a beast of burden if needed. Well, Jesus is king, granted a totally different kind of king but king nonetheless, so the donkey was rightfully his to use for this moment.

And it had to be a donkey and not a full grown horse because tradition also demonstrated (and is echoed in Genesis 49 and the accounts of David and Solomon in 1 Kings 1) that a king would come into town on a donkey if he came bringing peace. Jesus then is the Prince of Peace according to Isaiah 9, so rightfully he brings that peace into Jerusalem once again. This riding in on a donkey was also prophesied in Zechariah 9, so Jesus doing it this way was fulfilling what was promised about him.

Additionally the donkey is said to be an unridden donkey. This too was significant because a king to be considered the greatest would ride a donkey that was unridden. The king was the only one who was to ride his animal. It generally was unbroken by someone else showing that no one could be as great or powerful as this king.

Hosanna!

The people lined the streets, threw their coats on the ground, waved palm branches and shouted hosanna! This may seem to be nothing major but even the words of the people fulfilled some of the Old Testament. The words that the people spoke were and echo of Psalm 118 in a psalm of praise.

Triumphal Entry

A triumphal entry was a Roman tradition actually. One would get a triumphal entry parade if you were a king or mighty warrior who was headed into battle against a worthy adversary or had conquered a group of 5000 or more. Oddly enough Jesus would actually do both of these!

A few days after he was welcomed into town in this triumphal entry, he would go to a cross where he would die on the cross. Now for most people dying was a sign of weakness or being beaten, but not for Jesus. To fulfill the Old Testament rules, someone had to die to pay for sin. Since Jesus didn’t have sin, his death would be a perfect death. That meant that in his death he was victorious. Therefore he deserved a triumphal entry!

But if you go ahead in the story to Acts 3-4, you see the disciples healing a man. Then everyone wanted to know how they did it and who they were. They taught about Jesus and this very week in history. People were so overcome by the event that they surrendered their previous way of life and gave themselves to Jesus. And there were 5000 of them total!

The temple

Jesus lets the fanfare run its course then ends up in the temple. But in a very anticlimactic way looks around and leaves. This is a sign to show that while the glory of God has returned it’s not going to be staying in the temple. Now the glory of God is on the loose. This would be made even more evident in the events of Good Friday when the temple curtain was torn from top to bottom symbolizing God tearing.

The temple curtain was said to be the divider between God and man. But when Jesus died the glory of God, the mercy of God, the grace of God was released for all to see. Now instead of standing in judgment afraid of eternal punishment, we stand before God made holy and righteous because Jesus is our righteousness and God’s glory at the same time.

These are just a handful of the Old Testament passages that are fulfilled in the event we call Palm Sunday or the triumphal entry.

Welcome to the Kingdom

March 25, 2021 / / 0 Comments

It can be seen all around us. The little everyday moments of kindness and love. Going out of our way to show care for someone in hurting. Being generous with our time or our possessions toward someone in need. Being an ear to listen or hands to help. It’s all around us but rarely do we see it.

The bible is full of references to the Kingdom of God but what does it even mean? It’s kind of an abstract idea. Is it a building? Is it a person? Is it a place? Is it just sometime in the future?

All of these can be where the Kingdom of God is found but they don’t fully represent the kingdom. All of these ideas are great but the kingdom is found in all of them. At the same time.

The kingdom of God is found wherever God is found. It’s found when two people sit down to read the Bible. It’s found in the waters of baptism. It can be found in a church gathering for communion or leaving on a mission trip. It can be found on Easter Sunday or the second Sunday in July. The kingdom of God is present in the phone call to a hurting friend or the prayer offered for a hurting loved one.

The kingdom may seem abstract but when we realize that we carry the kingdom in our thoughts, words and actions it becomes much more visible. Much more concrete.

The video below will explain what the kingdom of God is and where it can be found. It’s intended to help you see the kingdom all around you and even inside you.

Selfishness Is NOT Cool

March 23, 2021 / / 0 Comments

I have to tell you when I hear people that they’re in this whole living life thing to make themselves happy something inside me goes a little crazy. It’s like fingernails on a chalkboard. There are some people that want life their way. They want things handed to them on a silver platter. It just has to be about them.

Have you ever had that person who just likes to find problems in life? I mean you give them a compliment and they somehow turn it to a knock on you? You thank them and they tell you that you’re not doing enough? Or they just want everything to be done their way and if not they’ll let you know all about it?

Well selfishness and self aggrandizement is called out by Jesus in Mark 10. There were a couple of his close followers that wanted to get something from him. They asked Jesus to give them whatever they wanted. Pretty bold I know!

Hearing that passage it’s pretty easy to think well how dare they! I’d never do anything like that… But is that really true? Can you honestly say that personal happiness and having things done your way isn’t driving your decisions from time to time?

I think in the world today, we’re seeing a lot more prominently displayed a self-centered approach to life. We see people who want to be the center of attention and for life to revolve around them. We are seeing people take disagreements as personal attacks. There has to be a better way.

Yes there is. Jesus takes the whole selfish pride outlook on life and flips it on its head. He says that for you to be great you have to be willing to be least. To be first you should be last. To be best you need to be ok with serving other people instead of asking why you didn’t get picked first.

Jesus tells his followers that we need to look different than the world looks. Check out this message on struggling with pride and selfishness.

Black and White

March 15, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Not sure if you noticed or not but black is not white and white is not black. I know that sounds a bit simplistic but I’m not sure our culture gets that. The world today doesn’t want to do the hard things in life by living with difference. Instead we try our hardest to lose distinctions and blend everything into some form of mush. We love the gray area because it seems to offend the fewest people.

I don’t agree. As a matter of fact, when we draw a clear line of distinction and properly delineate between two sides of an issue or two ideologies, we are less likely to divide than if we try to appease everyone.

There is a push in our society to gray the lines of right and wrong, male and female, racial distinctions and even life and death. The only thing this is doing is creating a greater divide. One would think that an attempt to make everyone equal would make things better, but that’s not how this works.

The problem is when we force someone to lose what makes them unique in life, we devalue everyone. Now I do believe we need to do better at valuing our brothers and sisters despite our differences. You see there are so many things that make you who you are that are valuable and special. Trying to make you into someone else just isn’t right.

In our time together this past Sunday we focused on leaning into our distinct sides. We focused on not blending things together and creating a mess in the mushy middle. There is no gray area. There is a clear right and clear wrong. The more clear the distinctions in life, the easier it is to live with and value those distinctions.

Here’s this week’s message. Jesus didn’t dumb things down, so we probably shouldn’t either.

Stayed On Him

March 15, 2021 / / 0 Comments

I’m always on the lookout for a new song for our Music Monday posts. Some days are harder to find one I haven’t done yet while other weeks there seems to be no trouble at all. Today we’re going to look at one that kind of jumped out in a quick search for top songs for 2021. It’s called Stayed on Him. The song is built around a passage from Isaiah 26:3.

You will keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

Think about how different life would be if we just let peace reign in our lives. How much different would your outlook on life be if you stepped back from the worry and fear to trust in the one who has everything under control?

The issue we face often is that we let our minds wander to things that are not of God. We focus on the pain and the shame and the hurt and the fear and the anxiety. We let worry creep in and take over our thoughts.

Today’s MusicMonday is really calling us to stay on him. Focus on the promises of God. See his presence in your life today and always. So stop what you’re doing for the next 5 minutes and let this song help bring a smile to your face and comfort to your soul.

What A Foolish Bunch

March 8, 2021 / / 0 Comments

It’s no secret what I do for a living. I’m a pastor. That means that everyone thinks I work only on Sundays and I just basically get paid to talk a lot. Well truth be told, I do work on Sundays and Saturdays and just about every other day throughout the week in some capacity or another. And I do tend to talk…a lot…even when no one cares to listen! But there’s more than just that. It’s more than work and talking. It’s about a calling and a way of life for me.

The interesting thing however is that what I do for a living, God has called all of us to do in some form or fashion. We’re all called to be available to help those in times of need. We’re all supposed to be encouraging and uplifting, to challenge and strengthen. But there’s more to it. The heart of what we’re about as followers of Jesus is the message. We call it the gospel.

But the message of the gospel is not all that easy. Don’t get me wrong. It’s simple but not easy. It’s simple because the message is really all about what Jesus did for us. He did the work, we get the benefit. But that’s exactly what makes it hard! We like to do things ourselves. We like to know we’ve done enough or completed a task. We need to check the box when a to-do list item is finalized.

To say that the message of the gospel to some in our world is foolish is an understatement. The message of the gospel put as plainly and completely as possible is that Jesus is the Son of God who became a man at the time of his birth, what we call Christmas. Then he lived a pretty normal life for the first 30 years or so. The only thing was he didn’t sin. He did no wrong. He wasn’t some goody goody kind of character but he just legitimately did the right thing, like all the time! Then when he was about 30 years old he really came into his own. He gathered crowds. Taught messages. Did some pretty cool signs and miracle things. Then one day was accused of having the wrong intentions, which he didn’t. He ended up being tried, beaten adn killed for his way of life. Then after he was buried, he was raised up. Yep came to life again.

The message of the gospel is built on the belief that Jesus did all of this to show God’s love for you and me. He didn’t do it to get anything from us or make us go through some weird ritual of some sort. He did it so that one day you and I could see him for who he is and live with him forever in heaven. That may sound absurd to you. And if so, that’s ok. You’re not alone. The bible even warns about that one. But what might sound foolish to some is actually the source of all that we are as followers of Christ. Our identity is wrapped up in this very reality of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

So there you have it. Foolish? Maybe but not for believing in Jesus. That’s the only wise thing about many of us, ok well about me anyway. Check out the full message on this topic in the video below.

I Can’t Take It Anymore

February 25, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Have you ever had one of those moments when you just wanted to throw in the towel? The moments when it felt like the weight of the world was on your shoulders? A moment when even the people closest to you, the ones supposedly in your corner, seemed to be against you? Those moments quite frankly suck.

But how do you react when the weight of the world is on your shoulders? What do you do when you have a burden to carry that is just simply too much for you?

I recently talked about something I call heart-felt prayer. Now if you’re not a Jesus person and don’t really get into the whole prayer thing I get it but there are some principles in here that are transferrable to a non prayer setting.

Many hands make light work

First we need to surround ourselves with people who can help us carry our burdens. These are our people of peace (more on that another time). The people that are willing to listen to us and carry those burdens with us are people that we need to lean into when times get tough. Jsut because they might say something that isn’t exactly what we want to hear doesn’t make them any less a person of peace. So don’t go it alone. Surround yourself with people who can carry you when you can’t do it anymore.

Jesus knew his friends couldn’t make his problem go away. He knew they wouldn’t be of any help whatsoever really. But he still chose to bring them along. They were there for comfort and peace in a pretty challenging time. Who are your people that you can bring along who will bring peace to you while you struggle? They may not help, but they will always be there.

Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal

The second thing we need to do is be honest about our struggle. We tend to be a world of wannabe heroes. We think that sadness and struggle is a sign of weakness, but that’s just not true. Think of working out when you think of struggles. If you don’t push the muscle beyond what it’s capable of doing you won’t see any growth. The same is true for you and me in our struggles. If we don’t allow ourselves to be pushed beyond what we’re capable of handling alone, we’ll never see growth in our abilities.

Jesus did something similar when he was honest with his Father about not wanting to go through the events of holy week. He was sorrowful. Sad. Broken. Burdened. He collapsed on the ground and just prayed. Perhaps there are struggles in your life you’ve been hiding or burying. What do you need to be honest about and get a weight off your shoulders so you can be free for a new day?

Ask for help, not because you’re weak but because you want to remain strong.

The third part of this heartfelt prayer is simply but boldly asking for what we want. Don’t beat around the bush. Don’t dance around the issue. Don’t get all shy. Just ask for help. Say what you need or want in a given situation. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness by any means. Asking for help is a way to stay strong.

Jesus did just this. He told his Father that he didn’t want to go through the events of the next 24 hours. He told him to let this cup pass. He wasn’t looking forward to being left alone by his Father. What do you need to ask God? What do you need to just get off your chest and have help with?

Submission is yielding my desires to his plan.

The final part of going through an honest assessment of struggles and pain is to be submissive. This doesn’t mean to let people walk all over you. It means that you’re ok with things not being ok for a time.

Jesus did this when after telling his Father he didn’t want to go through with the next 24 hours but ended with not my will but yours. That means I don’t want this but if it’s the best way then I’ll do it. What stands in front of you that you’re not all that excited about or that might make you uncomfortable that you might end up needing to do because it’s the best thing?

There you have it. Fall down with friends, admit problems, ask for help, then be ok with doing things in a way you’re not expecting.

To Whom Do You Pledge Allegiance

February 22, 2021 / / 0 Comments

It’s probably no secret that I’m a patriot. I value and defend the principles of the place where I choose to set up residence. But while my allegiance to a degree is very much in the defense of the country in which I live, there’s something far greater and more widespread that has my allegiance completely.

This past week it was made known that a pastor was arrested in Canada in part for holding a worship gathering. He was taken before the judiciary and was told that if he recanted and promised not to do this again he could go free. I don’t know many other details of the account. But what comforts me is that he’s still in prison.

Don’t get me wrong! I want him released to be certain! But I’m comforted to know that he didn’t back down. He didn’t recant for preaching and proclaiming the truth of Jesus. I am glad that he realize that his allegiance was more to the King of kings than the head of the state.

As Americans I fear we’ve mixed up our allegiance to kings. I think some have pledged a greater allegiance to political parties that divide than to the King who unites. In the message below we unpack a pledge of sorts found in the bible. It’s an oath we take that declares God as sovereign, holy and powerful.

It’s not just politicians that vie for our allegiance but we willingly bow to the latest fads, newest ideas, things that benefit us and make us feel better. We take a knee before our pet project or medical experiment. All of it simply distracts us from what is real and true and absolutely life changing.

I pray you defend what’s important to you. I pray you put your all into the cause or thought about which you feel passionate. But I caution you to never give your full allegiance to anything other than Christ.

Joel, Jesus, Judgment

February 18, 2021 / / 0 Comments

On Ash Wednesday, we kicked off a new series titled One World, One King. The idea behind this series is that we’ve all at times bowed down to a king that we’ve made with our own hands. We bend our knee to our favorite political party, music artist or movie star. We worship finances, fame and even family. But the messages in this series are all about refocusing our worship on what really matters. The one true King of all is the only one deserving of our worship.

In the first message in this series we set the stage by looking into the book of Joel. This book is included in the Old Testament group of books known as the minor prophets. He wrote to the Northern Kingdom, known as Judah, about something he saw that was alarming to say the least.

An invasion of locusts was predicting an army that would soon obliterate the kingdom. But that wasn’t the end. The point of this whole book is the final moments of the world. The days we call the Day of the Lord.

Throughout this message we connect some dots to see how over every horizon of time there are gods we worship and divisions we form. But the goal and the obligation of every Christian is not to highlight the flaws in one another. Our call is to honestly, seriously and intentionally reflect on the gods we’ve formed with our own hands.

Ashes & Dust

February 16, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Tomorrow is a day in the church known as Ash Wednesday. It marks the beginning of the season of the church known as Lent. This season of Lent is about reflection and focus on getting ourselves ready for Easter. As followers of Jesus prepare for Easter they take time for a penitential (reflective) walk through the life of Jesus. This season is marked by confessing (admitting) sins, prayer, often fasting, and meditation.

I know that a lot of that might sound a tad too deep for many people or almost impossible for others, so we need not make this a hard and fast rule to follow. The idea behind the fasting and the prayer, the confession and the meditation is to draw us closer to Jesus. These actions serve as intentional ways in which we put off a little bit of ourselves and put on a little bit of Jesus in return.

Take for instance the fasting portion, which we’ll hit on more in a future post. The purpose of fasting in its simplest explanation is to replace a craving for one thing with a fulfillment in a relationship with Jesus. So in a sense it means we need to lose the sugar to help focus on the savior. The same can be true for the other things mentioned above. We use them as ways to more intentionally focus on who we are in this relationship with Jesus.

But what about the ashes and dust thing on Ash Wednesday? I mean that’s kind of odd if you really think about it.

What we may not realize is that Ash Wednesday and the pomp and circumstance that goes along with it didn’t really start until around the 11th century and wasn’t widely accepted among Christian traditions until the early 1970s. The Bible never talks about having ashes marked on our foreheads. There is no real rule saying that we have to do it this way. So if it’s not specifically Biblical (mandated by God) why do we do it and what does it mean?

Why ashes?

There is great symbolism in the ashes on Ash Wednesday of which many may not be aware. The ashes used to mark a cross on your forehead are made by burning the palm branches from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebration. This means we’re taking the victorious welcome of Jesus as King and combining it with our humble approach to him as sinners.

Additionally, ashes in the Old Testament were a sign of humility and mourning. So when we receive the ashes on our heads formed in the shape of a cross, we’re essentially saying that we humble ourselves before the one is King of kings. Since Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, they also serve as a mark that we are mourning what this seasons brings – namely the suffering and death of Jesus.

The words spoken on Ash Wednesday are another reminder of why we do them. You are dust and to dust you shall return. This connects the ashes of victory with the dust of our beginnings. Where we have erred from God and wondered from His ways, the ashes are our humble journey back. We are reminded of our simple beginnings. Dust. Dirt clods formed in the hands of God. Breathed into with the very breath of the Father. The ashes connect us with Adam who is the symbol of our sinfulness. The cross connects us with the new man, Jesus who is the symbol of our forgiveness.

In a year that has been wrought with so much upheaval and turmoil and confusion, the normal Ash Wednesday might not be possible. So do we have to have ashes on Ash Wednesday? Simple answer is no. We don’t need ashes or fasting or any of the outward signs to connect us to the meaning and intent and purpose of this season as Christians. Whether you receive ashes or not this year, humble your heart and spirit. Remember your beginning as part of creation formed in the hands of the creator. Ponder the death and resurrection of Christ that promises bring new beginning to the old ways within us.

Whether you got ashes or you didn’t, if it wasn’t about Jesus you just got dirty.

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