Palm Sunday, 3/20/16

Palm Sunday worship sermon 2016 1 Chr 16:23-31

Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day.
²⁴ Declare his glory among the nations,  his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

²⁵ For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.
²⁶ For all the gods of the nations are idols,    but the Lord made the heavens.
²⁷ Splendor and majesty are before him;    strength and joy are in his dwelling place.

²⁸ Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
²⁹ Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;    bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his^[e] holiness.³⁰     Tremble before him, all the earth!
    The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.³¹ Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;    let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”

David set Jerusalem as his capital city.  They built homes for himself and a tent for God and he  offering praise.

this is language that we commonly find in the psalms.

Palm Sunday is also a day of praise

Tell the palm Sunday story of jesus entry into Jerusalem. 

when we see what we have, praise is the natural response.
The people on Palm Sunday saw what they had in Jesus
The Pharisees did not... The Pharisees challenge him.

they were focused on something else...themselves

If these don’t praise me the rocks and stones will cry out.

Song: aint no rock gonna cry in my place.  Done by mercy me & hillsong

Ain't no rock, gonna cry in my place

Ain't no bird, gonna flap it's feathers

(Ain't no tree, gonna wave it's branches.

Ain't no rock, gonna cry in my place.
Long as I'm alive, I'll glorify his holy name

Praising God...does this seem weird to you?
Do we Methodists praise?
When do we do this?
Ask the average church member: I guess when we sing, but I don't know.
Emphasis on I don't know.

The joke: a fellow from a more demonstrative church visited the mainline
At a good point of the sermon, he would shout out "praise the Lord"
Sir, we don't do that here

Why this praise? Why did they praise Jesus that day?
Reason #1 You praise what you love...
what you love probably is your God - idolatry is alive and well on planet earth

and everyone is praising, exalting something...
It is what we do. We see something that we like and we call it good.
We make choices of what we will exalt: our self, sports, money, God
If we are fixated on the wrong things, we do so at our peril
The result of such living is predictable.

[someone says that they don’t feel close to god…… hmmm…]

We praise what we love
For what it does, and for who it is
For what it does, we praise the dog
What who it is, we praise those special people

A man gave his wife the most beautiful compliment: "Won't you come into the garden? I would like my roses to see you."

Authentic praise of God acknowledges what is true about God; it responds to qualities that are "there" and not simply "there for me..." In other words,God is to be praised because God is God, because of what God is and does, quite apart from what God is and does for me.

Reason #2: Why did they praise Jesus that day?
It is what we are made for...boy does that sound weird.

We are not our own! This is a difficult lesson to hear and to get across in a culture-our lives are not simply our own to live. 

1 Cor 6 you are not your own, you are bought with a price

Genuine life is found in relationship to God.

It empowers us, it lifts us up as we lift up God
You raise me up...song – josh groban

When I am down and, oh, my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up to more than I can be.

Selfishness makes us unhappy but looking to God brings us joy

Samuel Goldwyn said, when someone does something good, applaud! You will make two people happy--
it makes us happy when we find a joy in God.

Song- indescribably, uncontainable awestruck we fall to our knees and we humbly proclaim you are amazing.

Praise must be relevant
Waving palm branches anymore-any adults want to try this?
People joke about rolling in the aisles ...swinging from chandeliers
The pastor that handle the snakes [do you take the bible literally?]

there used to be what was called “shouting methodists”
I believe that we can praise God 7 days a week, 24 hours a day

I think that this is from Barbara taylor brown……
A group of Christian women got together for prayer and to do each other’s hair…..Jackie began the litany with the soft voice she saves for leading morning prayers with her sisters in faith: "We thank you, Lord, for this day. For mending families. For Healing broken hearts..."
Her volume and eloquence rising, Bess and the circle of seven women around her began to shout, sing and sway. Their voices rose to a climax--"Amen, Hallelujah!" Then Bess yelled even louder: "To you be the honor and glory, Lord! Guide our steps, Lord! Amen, Lord!"
Tears trickled down one woman's face as she bellowed a cascade of praises. With that, the group fell silent. The circle broke. Each said amen and drifted away. Worship was over. Now it was time to do hair.

So there is praise, and then there is hair cutting.
I reject this. We cannot separate our lives into the spiritual and the unspiritual.

But We have divided our life into the sacred and the secular.

Living a divided life instead of a united life

1)   Sacred acts..performed with a feeling of satisfaction and a firm assurance that they are pleasing to God......prayer, Bible study/reading, church and such acts that spring directly from faith.

2)   Secular acts including all the ordinary activities of life....some that we often do reluctantly and with misgivings, often apologizing to God for what we consider a waste of time and strength....

What if There are no sacred or secular places.

God is everywhere

The holy land is no more sacred than lees summit.

Lent no more holy than 2nd week of august

Easter no more holy than sept 9

In John 8 Jesus says- “I do always the things that please him”
What common things did Jesus do?

·        Went for a walk

·        Drank wine

·        Taught a class

·        Went on a mission trip

·        Stopped to hug a baby

·        Talked to a prostitute

·        He ate with sinners

And god was pleased

It is all spiritual, life is spiritual

Can I not praise God by how I cut my hair? Can I not praise God by how I treat the people I come into contact with during the day?

You can praise God, Anytime you just by being aware of His presence with you. It is not something that you do to begin the day, and then go about your life

A spiritual awareness of God is available to you anytime you stop to take notice.  And the moment that you take notice of God's work, you are praising.

Paul wrote - And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

I listened to a pastors sermon a few weeks ago-

Describing the throne room in revelation

1.   All creatures in heaven revolve around God, he is the center

There is a throne and I am not on it

Worship service is a weekly reminder that it is not about us.

2.   Worship does not start at 1115.  It has been going on for centuries.  At 1115, we join in.

An old Jewish legend gives the origin of praise this way: After God created the world, God asked the angels what they thought of it all. "Only one thing lacking," they said. "It is the sound of praise to the Creator." So, the legend goes, God created music of birds, the whispering wind, the murmuring ocean, and planted melody in the hearts of men and women.

yes we praise for the great theological truths, but oh what joy in becoming more aware of the amazing small things around us.

someone said, you have brought every act down to a low level,

A>W> tozer says no, we must lift up every act to the kingdom level and the whole of life to a sacrament

when we get this, a sense of wondrous meaning will begin to take hold of us And all of life can become special, holy and spiritual

We just have to decide how we will see.  What we will see

Is eating at la fuente a mundane or a holy thing

If a member of my family is on the other side of the table, it’s a holy thing

Is breathing a normal thing or a sacred thing

Ask someone who has a lung condition

Is walking a normal thing or a sacred thing

Ask someone who cannot walk

Is driving a mundane thing or a sacred thing

Ask someone who has just had their license retired

Is working a normal thing or a sacred thing

Ask someone who is looking for a job

Praying is good.  Study is good.  Acts of mission are good but.......

let us believe that God is in all our simple deeds as well and learn to find Him there

It is after all, a beautiful day in gods world be sure to see the good

Close with Psalm 150 - Jeff Brinkman version
1Praise the LORD. Praise God in this sanctury; praise hin when you are outside.
2Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his acts of kindness and love.
3Praise him on the basketball court, praise him by the way you drive your car,
4Praise him with kind words to family members, praise him by prioritizing your life
5Praise him by being aware of His simple gifts, praise him with a thankful heart.
6Let everthing that has breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

Prayer: 

Oh God of Peace, help us on our journey.  remind us that we belong only to you.  We give you our life….every moment of it.  You chose us and we in turn choose you.  You are a faithful God and we confidently believe in you and live in you.  we offer you thanks and praise.  thanks for the joy that this brings. - Amen

We All Have a Story to Tell: Nicodemus: Yesterday a Pharisee, Today a Believer, 3/29/15

Mar 29     Title:  Transformation - Nicodemus      Jn 3            palm Sunday

                                Yesterday a Pharisee, today a believer

Jn 3:1-17                       see also for sermon jn 7:50 and 19:39

3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.^[a]”

⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^[b] gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^[c]must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”^[d]

⁹ “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰ “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? ¹¹ Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. ¹² I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ever gone into heavenexcept the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.^[e] 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,^[f]15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”^[g]

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Part of what has been fun about this series are the testimonies of our members… paul and billie mcclain…….

Tell the palm Sunday story

In the palm Sunday account of Luke 19 the Pharisees complain to Jesus that his followers are praising him.  He tells them that if the disciples stop, the rocks and stones will cry out.

The rocks would talk for God.  They still do.  What does the grand canyon say to you

PS 19 The heavens declare the glory of God;  the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
² Day after day they pour forth speech;    night after night they reveal knowledge.
³ They have no speech, they use no words;  no sound is heard from them.
⁴ Yet their voice^[b] goes out into all the earth,  their words to the ends of the world

God’s first bible was creation

Back to the story

The Pharisees did not get it.  They were stuck in their rules. 

Stuck in their ways.    Are you stuck in your ways?

Most of the Pharisees helped plot to put Jesus to death

How would you respond to someone who challenged everything about your way of life and said repeatedly that you did not get it?

Would you want to hang with that person?

A Pharisee was –

·        Insisted that others follow the rules

·        Didn’t follow the rules themselves

·        Used their power to hurt others

·        Were filled with falsehood

·        Where more interested in nice clothes and looking right than being right.

Jesus told the story of the cup.  Clean on the outside, dirty on the inside

Mt 23:1-7 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ² “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. ⁴ They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. ⁵ “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries^[a]wide and the tassels on their garments long; ⁶ they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; ⁷ they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee

Nicodemus was different. He met Jesus, and visited him at night.

He did not want his buddies to make fun of him or think he was a traitor.

They had a great talk.  Aren’t you glad when you have someone that you can talk to really talk to?

Bob Fillmore, Karen schuler, mike scott, wendy Minshall,

What a blessing

Back to the story

They had a great talk………you must be born again.

Why we hate that phrase - - - But it is not a bad phrase………

Is there such a thing as a Christian that is not born again?

Just because some people make you feel funny about it, doesnt mean it is bad

To be born again is to be changed by the spirit

It does not mean you run around and make people feel guilty

It does not mean that you become a know it all

The work of the spirit comes in to change you

To make you sweeter

When we are born it is about us.  Babies cry, feed me, hold me, help me……..

Flesh gives birth to flesh.  Its about me

Many of us do that our entire lives

Spirit gives birth to spirit

When jesus gets ahold of us were born again, not to sit around & sing kumbaya

But to learn to live a new life.  A life outside of ourselves

Jesus told nicodemus Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,^[f]15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him

The snake in the wilderness -  numbers 21

⁴ They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea,^[c] to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; ⁵ they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” ⁶ Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. ⁷ The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.⁸ The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived

When our lives are about us, we become toxic and poisonous

Jesus teaches us to lift up our eyes, to get them off of ourselves and follow something greater

To love the lord our god, and love our neighbor as ourselves

To do unto others as we would have them do unto us

Nicodemus was changed.

While other Pharisees clung to hatred of Jesus, Nicodemus changed

This should remind us that anyone can change

Someone that you want to give up on, anyone can change

[a good spot for a story about someone who changed……]

Nicodemus is later found in jn 7 taking up for Jesus and jn 19 assisting other disciples in Jesus burial.

Never give up on anyone - - - PAUSE

Never give up on yourself.

How might god be working to change you

If you really listened to the voice of the spirit, what would you hear him saying to you about who you are?

Oh, jeff I’m sorry you are having a problem.  I didn’t know. Let me fix that.

Let me hold you and scratch your back

Or would the Spirit say, its not about you. Live outside of yourself.  Take up your cross.  Find the joy in difficulty.

Maybe you are here today and u r in trouble.  Dealing w some kind of sin

The Pharisees condemned. Jesus did not

Here is another example of Jesus ministry being completely mapped out as against the Pharisees.

God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

The work of the spirit is never condemning, just convicting.

Condemnation says, you are bad.  Too bad to change.

Its over for you.  Feel guilty.

Conviction, the work of the spirit says, hey, there are some things to work on, but I will help you. God is with you.  You are loved.  You can make it.

People had to make a choice when they met Jesus

Either it was going to be about them, or they were going to change

The Pharisees did not change. Nicodemus did

We too meet Jesus and have to ask ourselves. 

Are we those who stay the same, or are we those who change

Its holy week and the spirit invites us to change.

What might he be saying to me?  To you?

Are we going to stay the same, or will we listen to him?

Opening the Door to Hope: Palm Sunday, Luke 19:28-41, 04/13/14

xSermon 4-13-14      palm Sunday     Lk 19:28-41

²⁸ After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. ²⁹ As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ³⁰ “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹ If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

³² Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. ³³ As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

³⁴ They replied, “The Lord needs it.”

³⁵ They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. ³⁶ As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

³⁷ 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:

³⁸ “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

³⁹ Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

⁴⁰ “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

⁴¹ As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it…

Its palm Sunday. 

Later this week, Maundy Thursday/good Friday invite

Next sunday easter.  Ride the shuttle.  Skip 1010

Its palm Sunday - Lets tell the story.

Parade

Donkey

Palm branches

Welcome

Disciples

Pharisees

Jesus

This is a story of two teams.

The team that is against jesus and the team that is for him

The team that is threatened by him and the team that is exalting him

The team that sees what is wrong and the team that sees what is right

Shawn is quoting yoda today:  Yoda to Luke: “Beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight.”

How do you see the world?

This is more than a glass half full half empty question

I know a theologian who believes that the entire notion of sin, the entire sense of our relation ship with God revolves around this question.

Let me explain

Imagine the world prior to the fall.  Prior to the apple.

Adam & eve, men & women, simply loved life and enjoyed being with God.

They were alive in their natural state.

Trusting,  praising, enjoying, seeing the good.

Living the life for which we were created.

We were not created to be dominated  by fear and worry. God wants more than that for us…

The first humans had a clean heart with God.  All was well.

Then sin entered.

Its about me.  I want what I want.  Its not going my way.  Were kicked out of the garden.  We want to go back.  We cant.  Life becomes a series of difficulties.  Genesis 3:19

By the sweat of your brow  you will eat your food
until you return to the ground    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

Threatened by every moment of pain, we build cocoons of self worth around a heart that is out of kilter

We can continue to live this way.

Its about me.  Spend your entire life fighting to get it your way.

We can even employ god on this self centered journey

God I want this.  God I want that.

God I am mad at you because you wont give me this or that thing

This is where the Pharisees lived.   Team one

A system that looked good on the outside but inside their hearts were dark

Jesus told them they were whited seplechurs clean on the outside, nasty on the inside

They were threatened by Jesus

We react from our insecurities

We live out of fear, not out of love.

They were not open to any message other than their own

They resisted change.  They felt insulted by Jesus

Even if it came from God, they were not listening

They knew how the world worked and nothing was going to change that

No wonder they were annoyed when the disciples praised a shaggy rabbi from Nazareth that drank wine and ran with sinners.

They were self centered, fearful, insecure and angry.

They wanted him dead.

Then there is the life of the disciple.

Team two

They have tried their own way, and it did not work.

They are tired of exalting themselves

Something inside of them tells them that there is another way.

There is a better way.

The gospel is like this…..it comes to us and hits us in a good spot.

We know its real

They hear the message of Jesus.  God loves you.  You are forgiven.  The kingdom is here.

Get on board.  Become a person of love

They see it.  They want it.  They go for it.

They receive jesus.  They become his follower.

They find the life for which they were created.

No wonder they line the road when he comes into Jerusalem

On palm Sunday there are two teams.

In our world today there are the praisers, and the groussers

Which of these two teams do you want to be on?

Some Christians choose to believe in jesus, but then spend the rest of their life filled with doubt and fear

Last week we talked about the suffering of Jesus. Difficult sermon

He did not go thru all of that so that we could live in fear.

He promises those who believe in him the abundant life.

That is a life that is based in joy, not despair.  Hope not fear. Trust not worry.

By the way, worry leaves when trust arrives.

What do people do that see the good.

Well first of all, they see the good.  They are awake to life.

They see the sky, not the clouds.

They don’t walk by flowers without taking notice

That translates to people.  They become those who look at people, even broken people and see the good

Consequently they become brokers of praise

In the midst of a world that some think is going to pot, they become those who are telling everyone that all is well.

Lynn shiffreen, everything will be alright in the end.  If everything is not all right, then its not the end.

People that see the good tell others that every thing is ok.

They are calm in the midst of a storm.  Or they lose it for ten minutes, then right their own ship and get back on message.

They may feel the negative messages in the world, but they refuse to be dominated by them

Their prayer lives are usually not about things that they want, but focus on turning their lives over to god

Not my will, thine be done.

People that see the good are leaders.  They get it, but that’s not enough for them.  They want to help others get it.  So they speak what they see into every chance that they get.  Their life isn’t just a fairytale existence, blindly seeing the good, they are also engaged in ending negativity.  They take the time to encourage everyone that they possibly can to join them in this outlook on life.

Such people may not be counselors, but they r instrumental in healing marriages

They may not be certified teachers, but they teach.

They may not be pastors, but they are speaking the words of God.

And into a world where so many are done with God and done with the church, the speak praise.

Its palm Sunday.  Which team do you want to be on?

My friend Sherri Swanson is facing a difficult issue in her life.  She is in Princeton today talking about it.  And talking about how one must choose to see the good, even in difficult times.  She shared this poem sent by a friend

In Happy Moments-Praise God     In Difficult Moments-Seek God

In Quiet Moments-Worship God   In Painful Moments-Trust God

In Every Moment-Thank God

 

There are two teams in this life.  Lets choose to be among the praisers.

Lets pray