Palm Sunday, already!

Can you believe that this coming Lord’s Day is Palm Sunday and one week from this coming Lord’s Day is Easter? WOW! This has been an amazing and very unusual winter; and, it is already gone…

For this year, I have chosen to read and preach from the traditional text of the events of Palm Sunday which are found in Matthew 21:1-11.  I have, as you can imagine, preached over thirty “Palm Sunday” Sermons over the years, and while I have sometimes skipped the “Holiday” aspect and simply continued whatever series I was in, this year I am passionately focused on a single key detail from this event: The King is Coming!

Jesus of Nazareth, Jehovah God in human flesh, the Messiah of Israel, is coming as the King of the Jews into His Capital City! He is the Kingdom of God and He is coming to offer them their long-awaited Kingdom. We know, of course, that the Jews of that day rejected Jesus and His offer of the Kingdom. Instead, they gave Him over to the Roman authorities to be put to death.

Great biblical history… but, that is not the point of the sermon! The point is, the King and His Kingdom are still coming as promised, and the most important decision we will ever face – the same one they faced in 32 AD – is whether or not we accept or reject Jesus as our King!

Read over these verses prayerfully and carefully and think about these questions:

How did Jesus know that those who owned the animal would just hand it over to His disciples?

How did Jesus know that the people of Israel would reject His offer and put Him to death?

Why did the same people who worshipped Him on Palm Sunday demand His execution a mere five days later?

Why do Christians believe that Jesus is coming back to earth and set up His Kingdom?

Why do I, like so many Christians, believe that His return may be soon?

Why do so many unsaved “religious” people praise Jesus for what He did, but utterly reject Who He is?

REMEMBER: On Thursday, April 5^th at 7pm, we will meet in the Old Sanctuary for a Maundy Thursday Service! Maundy Thursday celebrates the first Lord’s Supper that Jesus kept on the night before His betrayal. We will pray, sing hymns, read John 13, and then celebrate the Lord’s Supper together.

Dig in to God’s Word! I hope you will read over this exciting portion of God’s Word and ask HIM to prepare your heart for the message this week! I hope you will get studied up, prayed up, and fired up over the opportunity to worship God together with your Church Family!

I hope to see you Sunday and Thursday and Easter Morning with a Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side… Remember, more people will respond positively to an invitation to worship with you on Easter than on any other day of the year!