As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Luke 19:36-40
Dear Faithful Seed Sowers,
I pray that your Palm Sunday and Holy Week are filled to overflowing with God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness and love. May you see without a shadow of a doubt that God loves you with an unfailing love.
This Seed of Faith leads us to Palm Sunday and Holy Week.
The story of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem is recorded by all four Gospel writers: Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-40 and John 12:12-19. John gives us eight verses to record this momentous event while Mark and Matthew use eleven. Luke, the Gentile Doctor, Dr. Detail, uses sixteen verses. I encourage you this week to read and compare them all — Matthew 21-28, Mark 11-16, Luke 19:28-24 and John 12-21.
I encourage you to read the story in Luke 19:28-44
Put yourself in the story, then put the story in you.
Think about this for a moment. Where are you in this story? Where are you in your faith walk with Jesus? There were crowds of people in this story. Scholars believe that there were over 2 million people in Jerusalem during the time of the Passover. Jesus was riding into town on a donkey and the crowds went wild.
1 The people who knew their Scriptures and were waiting for God to send a KING to overthrow the Roman government—this crowd went wild with praise!
2. The crowd of the Pharisees, however, did not go wild with praise. They went wild with protest.
3.The third kind of crowd was absolutely passive—to them, this parade was no big deal either way.
Praising, protesting or passive! What crowd were you in on Palm Sunday?
Will we praise Jesus, protest Jesus or be passive about Jesus?
This is the “So what?” for us today: what crowd am I in?
· Am I in the “THINK-I-WILL-PRAISE-Jesus-TODAY” crowd?
· Am I in the “THINK-I-WILL-PROTEST-Jesus-TODAY” crowd?
· Am I in the “THINK-I-WILL-PASS-on-Jesus-TODAY” crowd?
Praise. Protest. Pass. Our choice. Today’s “So What?” comes down to a choice…a personal choice made by me…made by you…to either PRAISE…PROTEST. …or PASS on this JESUS OF NAZARETH. PRAISE…PROTEST…or PASS on the God who hung on a cross for you and me.
Guess what? Today I have a house (pointing to your heart) that is on the parade route!
All day long I’m serving snacks and punch to anyone who needs a good view on the parade route for Jesus.
Can you only imagine the day when we see this parade for real? Palm Sunday is lamb selection for REAL! Jesus, the real lamb of God rode into town on a donkey. This lamb of God is unblemished.
Read Matthew 17:20. Jesus spoke these words, “If you have faith like a tiny grain of mustard seed, you can say to the mountain, ‘move!’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
As I get ready to send this SEED of FAITH out, I want you to know I am praying for you. I pray for you daily. I pray you rise up each day, carry your cross, and follow our risen Lord.
This week the SEED will host a Maundy Thursday service at 7 pm on 3/28 and a GOOD FRIDAY service at 7 pm on GOOD FRIDAY. If you are in the area, stop in. If not, join us online. If you need a copy of the liturgy sheet, email me at pastordave@theseedchristianfellowship.com or text me.
I want to see you in the PRAISING JESUS CROWD!
See you Sunday!
God loves you and so do I,
Pastor Dave
www.theseedchristianfellowship.com
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