The King & His Kingdom: #98 - Assignments & Expectations | Matthew 21:1-11

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Almighty God, you welcome you. Hey there. [00:00:06] Speaker B: If you're new to Restored Church, we want to welcome you and thank you for tuning in. You're listening to a portion of our Sunday worship gathering. We believe the church is not an event, but a family you belong to. So we would love the opportunity to connect with you. If you want to learn more about our church or if we can help you in any way, please Visit our website, www.restoredtemecula.church and click on Contact. With all that said, we, we hope you enjoy the message. [00:00:34] Speaker C: All right. [00:00:35] Speaker A: So the five minute break's back, huh? It was so funny. We were talking about it beforehand and I was like, I'm so excited to see everybody's reaction. It was actually more than I thought it was gonna be, which is really funny. Yeah, we went without for a couple weeks and it just didn't feel right. The biggest takeaway we were talking about as a staff were like, it just doesn't feel like us. Do you know what I'm saying? And so, yeah, five minute breaks back. [00:01:02] Speaker C: Stoked. Stoked. [00:01:04] Speaker A: Let's see what else? Oh, I have another kind of cool thing for you. So for the last, I don't know, almost year, really, Vinila Thierry has been going through, like, a really intentional process of exploring, possibly joining our eldership team in the future. [00:01:25] Speaker C: Okay. [00:01:27] Speaker A: One of the things that is really important that you need to know about [00:01:30] Speaker C: our church is [00:01:33] Speaker A: we take it really seriously. [00:01:36] Speaker C: We want to understand what God's desire is for us. [00:01:41] Speaker A: That means that's a corporate thing and that's an individual thing. Okay. If you're a follower of Jesus, God's got plans for your life, he has desires for your life. And sometimes we can kind of do our own thing. And sometimes God has a way of going, hey, I'm inviting you into something. We're actually gonna talk about this quite a bit today, but as we were kind of praying through for Vinny, specifically exploring, like, this might be something that God's called him to. And so we've been really intentional about [00:02:07] Speaker C: exploring this the last several months. [00:02:11] Speaker A: Jenny's been a part of this process. People in the family of churches, Andy Rogers, many of you guys know Andy, they've been heavily involved in this process. And because we want this to be, we don't wanna just be flippant about things. We wanna include church members in this process as well. And so the reason I'm bringing this to you is one to let you know kinda just where we are in this exploration process, but to invite you to give feedback Whether that be endorsement, God willing, or whether that honestly even be hesitation and concerns. Some things that you would. [00:02:40] Speaker C: This is. [00:02:41] Speaker A: We're a church family. [00:02:42] Speaker C: We can talk about these things. [00:02:43] Speaker A: So I wanna put that before you. Please come chat with the staff, chat with the elders. We'd love to hear from you, but very excited about it. Give your boy Vinny some love. And please know it's the desire of [00:03:00] Speaker C: your brothers and your sisters in this room that we would spur each one [00:03:04] Speaker A: another on into godliness and into God's [00:03:07] Speaker C: plans and desires for each one of our lives. That includes you. [00:03:10] Speaker A: Okay, that being said, go ahead and grab your Bibles. They're going to be in Matthew chapter 21 this morning. Matthew, chapter 21. We're continuing on in our series, the King and His Kingdom. We are learning as much as we can about the king of the universe, Jesus, and what his kingdom is like, his rule, his reign, what it looks like when God gets his way. [00:03:31] Speaker C: That's what we mean when we say [00:03:33] Speaker A: the kingdom of God. And believe it or not, this is message number 98 in this series. Isn't that wild? It's crazy. Message number 98. Now, Mark's already alluded to it. Today's Palm Sunday. Pretty, like, important day in the life of the church. What today marks is. It marks the beginning of Holy Week. Holy Week is the week that leads up to Easter, right? And Easter. You guys know what Easter is? Easter is, it celebrates, like, the single greatest event in human history. The church gathers and celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Now, like, think about this, guys. We could talk about the resurrection a lot. We obviously do, [00:04:21] Speaker C: but it's wild. [00:04:23] Speaker A: Like, our faith hinges on a man from Nazareth who claimed to be God being crucified and then three days later rising from the dead. Anybody know? Anybody else? Any friends or any family that have risen from the dead? No hands. Yeah, neither have I. It's that spectacular. It's a history altering, life altering, world altering thing. Next Sunday we're gonna celebrate that. I'm super excited about it. Christians have been celebrating Easter for 2,000 years. We're gonna celebrate next Sunday with baptisms. I know several of you in the room are getting baptized. We're fired up about that. It's incredible. It's amazing. So I hope that you will join us next Sunday. Side note, really quickly, I just want to, like, as a proud dad, did you guys see the Easter slide that just. [00:05:11] Speaker C: That was up on the screen a second ago? [00:05:12] Speaker A: It's just like, you know, Easter this year. [00:05:14] Speaker C: Da, da. [00:05:14] Speaker A: If you guys have it throughout earlier. [00:05:15] Speaker C: Click. I want you to see it. [00:05:16] Speaker A: My daughter Vivian, she created that. Super cool, right? Like, I just want to. Like, I know that sounds weird, dad bragging about his kid, but the reason I wanted to bring it up is one, because I'm proud of her, and I think it's really cool. But I just want to address the [00:05:27] Speaker C: young people in the room for just a second. Young people, this church would not be what it is without you, without your [00:05:36] Speaker A: contributions, without your developing gifts, without, like, all of you guys are incredible. It's amazing. [00:05:42] Speaker C: I'm so, like, you're no less disciples than the adults in the room. [00:05:47] Speaker A: But I just, like. [00:05:48] Speaker C: I just want you to hear me say. I was thinking about it this morning, actually, of just how much of a blessing it is to witness you guys on your journey and the ways that [00:05:57] Speaker A: God's shaping you and developing. [00:05:59] Speaker C: And I just want you to know you're no less of a disciple than any adult in this room. In fact, in my opinion, you're more important. [00:06:05] Speaker A: Okay. [00:06:07] Speaker C: I mean that with honor to the adults in the room. I just think the kids are really, really special. [00:06:12] Speaker A: Okay. Today, Palm Sunday. Now, conveniently, today's passage actually takes place on Palm Sunday. In your Bible, there's probably a little header that says the triumphal entry. This is. It's really cool how this kind of worked out in our series. This is where we are in the series. This is what today is. It's really, really cool. Matthew 21. Starting in verse 21 before I read it. [00:06:31] Speaker C: I do want to pray, though. You can put your finger there, and hopefully you'll join me in praying right now. Yeah, I don't want to move too fast into this sermon. Father, I really asking you right now to help us to minimize the distractions in our mind and in our lives so that we could focus in. We want to see you more clearly. We want to encounter you through your word. These aren't fairy tales. These aren't even stories. They're events. There are things that have taken place that have significant impact and can have significant impact on our lives. And so, Father, in humility, we want to bring ourselves before you, knowing that you're good and you're gracious and you're generous and you're kind and you're fun. And so would you please help us see Jesus more clearly? Would you please fill me with your spirit? Would you help me to honor you and honor these people? I love you, and I'm so thankful for the ways that you've intervened in My life, Jesus. Amen. [00:07:49] Speaker A: Okay, a little context. Like I said, this is the last [00:07:51] Speaker C: week of Jesus life. [00:07:52] Speaker A: He knows it's the last week of his life. And what he's doing right now is he's got his 12 with him, and he's actually got a pretty. A rather large crowd of his followers, and they're en route to Jerusalem, the holy city, right? And he knows what awaits him there. [00:08:09] Speaker C: What awaits him in Jerusalem? [00:08:12] Speaker A: Yeah, death, the cross. He knows what's coming from. [00:08:15] Speaker C: That's where we pick up here in chapter 21. Starting in verse one, I'm gonna read a little bit and pause. [00:08:21] Speaker A: We're gonna go through verse 11, but I'm gonna break up this passage a [00:08:25] Speaker C: little bit, so bear with me. It says this when they. You know who the they is? Jesus, his 12, his followers. A larger crowd of his followers as well, when they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, actually. Let's do this. [00:08:40] Speaker A: Can you guys throw that map up for me? I want you guys to, like, as we. As we read this, I want you to see. I want you to get a lay of the land, of the geography, okay? Again, this isn't like a story. This is an event. This is a real place. Can you guys see that? I know it's kind of small. I'm gonna stand over here. [00:08:55] Speaker C: Hopefully you can see me. [00:08:56] Speaker A: Okay, do you see this orange line? Okay, that's the route that they would have taken. [00:09:00] Speaker C: Okay? [00:09:01] Speaker A: Obviously, that's Jerusalem, the walled city of Jerusalem. This area right here, you see that square there? You guys can see that. [00:09:07] Speaker C: Okay? [00:09:08] Speaker A: That's the Temple Mount. So that's like this elevated platform where the Temple would be. That's where the manifest presence of God was, right? And they would come and worship God [00:09:15] Speaker C: in the Temple, right? [00:09:16] Speaker A: And so I want you to see, here's the Mount of Olives. And if you can see right here, it says that. You can't really tell. [00:09:22] Speaker C: Sorry, this is not the best picture. I should have done something different. [00:09:24] Speaker A: The Kidron Valley. So this is kind of elevated, and then the city's kind of elevated. They're both on a hill, and there's this valley that goes in between. So when you read the Bible and it says they went up to Jerusalem, and it's not talking necessarily that they were going north, sometimes they would come from the north. They're going up the hill to go to Jerusalem, right? So I want you to see, here's Bethany, right? Mary was from Bethany. Here's Beth Page. This is what it's referencing right here. So Jerusalem's a city, Okay? I want you to see, they're going down. They'll go through the valley. Jerusalem's a city. Bethpage is outside of the city. What does that make Beth Page? [00:10:01] Speaker C: Yes. Suburb. [00:10:02] Speaker A: So Bethphage is a suburb. Okay, Can I just say this really quick kind of side note? Jesus does some of his most important [00:10:07] Speaker C: work in the suburbs. Can I get an amen? Okay. [00:10:10] Speaker A: Any of my friends who are listening? You live in big cities. You pastor these churches in these really hard places and all these things. Jesus does some of his best work in the suburbs. So I want you to get a lay of the land, okay? Jesus and this large crowd of his followers, they're going to Jerusalem, okay? He knows what's headed for him. When they approach Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples. Everybody say two disciples, two huge crowd. He only sends two telling them, go into the village ahead of you at once. [00:10:44] Speaker C: You'll find a donkey tied there with her colt. Untie them and bring them to me. [00:10:51] Speaker A: If anyone says anything to you, say [00:10:54] Speaker C: that the Lord needs them and he will send them at once. [00:10:59] Speaker A: This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled. And he's [email protected] here, okay? This is an Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah. [00:11:10] Speaker C: This again, this took place, though it was spoken through, the prophet might be fulfilled here. Verse 5. [00:11:14] Speaker A: He's gonna quote Zechariah, tell daughter Zion, that's the Israelites. See, Your king is coming to you [00:11:22] Speaker C: gentle and mounted on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a donkey. [00:11:28] Speaker A: Verse 6. The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them. [00:11:33] Speaker C: Okay, pause for a second. [00:11:34] Speaker A: So Jesus. [00:11:35] Speaker C: Let's just recap here. [00:11:36] Speaker A: Jesus, he gives two of his disciples a very clear assignment, okay? And the assignment is, go bring me those donkeys. [00:11:45] Speaker C: Go bring me those donkeys. [00:11:46] Speaker A: Now, those two disciples, put yourself in those shoes. In their shoes. If they knew their Bible, like, if they were familiar with their Bible, they had read their Bible, their Old Testament Bible, right? If they knew it, they would know what Jesus is up to. And they'd be like, okay, yeah, great. [00:12:00] Speaker C: That makes perfect sense. [00:12:01] Speaker A: That's really exciting, right? If they knew their Bible, they would know what he's up to. He's fulfilling prophecy about the Messiah, the promised Savior. The promised king, right? The promised deliverer. Now, if they didn't know their Bible, well, can you imagine how confusing this [00:12:19] Speaker C: would be for these two Guys, I'm [00:12:20] Speaker A: assuming they're guys, but these two disciples, they'd be super confused. [00:12:24] Speaker C: Sorry, Jesus, are you giving me an [00:12:27] Speaker A: assignment to go steal two donkeys right now? Like that? You can giggle at that. That's weird. That's weird. If they didn't know their Bibles, they'd be confused. This is kind of a side note, but I want to say this. This is a hot take. [00:12:41] Speaker C: Okay? Brace yourselves. It's kind of confrontational, but I love you. [00:12:45] Speaker A: Okay? The reason some of us are struggling to understand life and the world around [00:12:50] Speaker C: us is because we don't read our Bibles. I promise you, the more you get [00:12:56] Speaker A: into God's word, the more things will make sense in your life, in the lives of the people around you, in the lives of the world around you. How many of you would agree with me? The planet is in bad shape right now? Okay? That can be really disorienting. That can be really scary at times. And it can be the kind of thing where you're like, why I'm struggling to understand. [00:13:16] Speaker C: The more you get into God's Word, [00:13:18] Speaker A: the more reality will make sense to you. [00:13:21] Speaker C: Can I get an amen? Okay, great. [00:13:23] Speaker A: You want wisdom, you want understanding, you want insight. And what God is up to you on, what maybe even he's inviting you into. [00:13:30] Speaker C: Read this thing. [00:13:32] Speaker A: All right, so Jesus gives two of his disciples a very clear assignment. [00:13:39] Speaker C: All right, if you're a note taker, my first point for you this morning is. Discipleship to Jesus comes with assignments. Discipleship to Jesus comes with assignments. [00:13:50] Speaker A: That means he will literally tell you to do things [00:13:55] Speaker C: and sometimes stop doing things. Discipleship to Jesus comes with assignments. [00:14:00] Speaker A: Now I've experienced this so many times in my life. Like I was struggling to even like try to give examples. Cause there's so many. This happens in big ways and really like big assignments, if you will. And even just the small kind of everyday day to day assignments. But I've been following Jesus now for a little over 20 years. And a few years after getting baptized [00:14:26] Speaker C: and being kind of serious about following [00:14:27] Speaker A: Jesus, I can remember maybe the first kind of big assignment that I can remember that I think is actually worth sharing. In 2006, I was part of a church and the church leadership came to me and they invited me to come onto the staff full time to lead worship. And I remember it was a season where I was like, I was a musician, so music, I love music. [00:14:47] Speaker C: And that's fine, all that's good. [00:14:48] Speaker A: But I remember, like nothing inside of [00:14:49] Speaker C: me wanted to do that. I Didn't want the attention, I didn't [00:14:53] Speaker A: want the responsibility because my life actually wasn't in that great of a. I knew, I knew enough to be like, I'm not really, like, I'm not character qualified for this role. But I remember I was praying about it and I remember God being like, in just the most, like, fatherly. [00:15:11] Speaker C: Just the most fatherly tone. [00:15:12] Speaker A: Not condemning, but very clear. [00:15:16] Speaker C: Like, this is, you can do this and be obedient or you can not. [00:15:23] Speaker A: Like, you can say yes to the [00:15:24] Speaker C: assignment or you can reject the assignment. [00:15:26] Speaker A: And I remember being like, I should probably. [00:15:28] Speaker C: Like, I should probably obey God in this. [00:15:30] Speaker A: You know, I had enough, like, spiritual discernment and wisdom at the time to be like, yeah, it's probably a good idea. So I ended up doing it. And it literally changed the trajectory of my whole life. [00:15:39] Speaker C: And it was a big deal. [00:15:40] Speaker A: Six years later, we thought we were moving to la. I was talking with a church about, like, my, at the time, my dream job in ministry. God interrupts that. Long story short is like, I want you and your family to, like, get rid of everything. Say no to that. I want you to go to San Diego with people you don't even know [00:15:59] Speaker C: to plant what would become the first restored church in San Diego. [00:16:03] Speaker A: And I remember at first I was [00:16:04] Speaker C: kind of like, [00:16:06] Speaker A: I got all this awesome stuff going down. Like, and I just remember that. Like, that same kind of fatherly, like, [00:16:14] Speaker C: what do you want to do? Here's what it looks like. [00:16:18] Speaker A: And I'm so thankful God gave us [00:16:20] Speaker C: the faith to obey him and say [00:16:21] Speaker A: yes to the assignment. And it's been incredible. Like, God's done so much. Three years later, same kind of thing with the second church plant, Restored church, South Bay and South Bay, San Diego. And then in 2017, God literally calling us back here. We're from the area and we grew up here. [00:16:37] Speaker C: And one of the things that me [00:16:38] Speaker A: and Ebene always joke around about is we said we'd never come back. [00:16:42] Speaker C: You guys have heard all these stories, [00:16:43] Speaker A: but, like, those were like, big moments of, like, what am I gonna do? What are we gonna do? [00:16:51] Speaker C: Discipleship to Jesus comes with assignments. [00:16:53] Speaker A: And hear me sometimes, at least in my case, those assignments aren't what I expected. They didn't really fit neatly into my five year plan. [00:17:04] Speaker C: Do you know what I'm saying? San Diego, totally weird. [00:17:10] Speaker A: Like, didn't see that coming at all. [00:17:12] Speaker C: Guys, like, came out of nowhere coming back here, so we'd never come back. I think about these two disciples. Go steal two donkeys. [00:17:24] Speaker A: Like, What? [00:17:25] Speaker C: What? [00:17:27] Speaker A: Sometimes it doesn't look the way you think it's gonna look. [00:17:30] Speaker C: Discipleship to Jesus comes with assignments. [00:17:32] Speaker A: And not just, like, the big stuff that I should share with you, right? Not just the stuff that takes years or decades to carry out. There's smaller assignments all the time. There's, like, daily assignments. To the degree that you engage with God, he will tell you to do stuff. He will give you these small, seemingly small daily assignments. Just like a week ago, I'm spending time with Jesus, and I'm with him in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew, chapter five. And there's this portion. I'll have this moment with God. There's this portion of Matthew chapter 5 where he describes. He describes, like, if you're worshiping God at the temple, he's describing just worship in general. But if you're worshiping God at the temple and Jesus words are. If you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, he goes, leave your gift there at the altar. So we're coming to worship God, right? He goes, leave it there. He goes, pause. He goes, first, go make sure you can be reconciled. [00:18:22] Speaker C: And then come offer your gift. [00:18:25] Speaker A: It's this idea of, like, don't let anything hinder your worship to God or other people's worship to God. Like, nip it in the bud. Like, you could be wrong. And so I just remember, I'm sitting there, I'm going, God, like, is there anything in this? [00:18:36] Speaker C: Do you. [00:18:37] Speaker A: Are you leading me in some way? Is there something I'm not aware of? Like, help me. [00:18:41] Speaker C: I wanna follow you. I don't want my worship to be hindered. I don't want anybody else's worship to be hindered. [00:18:47] Speaker A: And he started bringing people to my mind. [00:18:50] Speaker C: And I was just like, okay, like, [00:18:51] Speaker A: I wanna act on that. I just reach out. Hey, maybe. Maybe there's nothing. But just for the sake of the what if, right? [00:18:58] Speaker C: Just reach out. [00:18:58] Speaker A: So I reached out to some people [00:19:00] Speaker C: just to check, is there anything going on? [00:19:02] Speaker A: Cause I don't want anything to get [00:19:03] Speaker C: in the way of my worship and in the way of anybody else's worship. Like, guys, discipleship to Jesus comes with [00:19:11] Speaker A: these seemingly small daily assignments to the [00:19:13] Speaker C: degree that we engage with Him. He'll tell you to do stuff. I was. I've told this story that I'm about to share with you before. [00:19:24] Speaker A: Many of you have heard it, but [00:19:25] Speaker C: there's a lot on your faces. Some of you haven't. Many of you, you probably haven't heard this, but I felt like I'm Supposed to share it. This morning, when we were living in Chula Vista for the second church plant, [00:19:39] Speaker A: I was like, I was sermon prepping one day or something. Yeah, I was. [00:19:42] Speaker C: I was at the office and I was sermon prepping, and I was hungry, so I was gonna break for lunch. And I'm like, I really want a sandwich. [00:19:51] Speaker A: But I remember thinking, like, oh, you know what? I wanna ask God if he wants [00:19:54] Speaker C: me to go somewhere for lunch. [00:19:55] Speaker A: Like, he knows me better than I know myself. Maybe there's food that, you know, that I would enjoy more than a sandwich. I'm like, lord, where do you want [00:20:02] Speaker C: me to go to lunch? [00:20:02] Speaker A: And, like, clear as day, in my spirit, guys, I hear harbor. [00:20:06] Speaker C: And I'm like, oh, maybe he wants [00:20:08] Speaker A: me to go to the harbor to, [00:20:09] Speaker C: you know, maybe, like, seafood or something. [00:20:11] Speaker A: And, like, as I'm processing that, instantly, I hear freight. And I'm like, [00:20:20] Speaker C: thank you, Tim. [00:20:21] Speaker A: You know, if you guys aren't familiar, what Tim's laughing at is Harbor Freight is a tool store. You actually can't buy food there. [00:20:29] Speaker C: Okay. [00:20:30] Speaker A: And I just remember being so confused, like, really, Lord? And I'm like, okay. But it was enough to be like, that wasn't just my thought, like, that was outside of me, that something else happened here. Was it the Lord? Was it not? I'm not sure yet, that kind of thing. [00:20:48] Speaker C: But okay, I wanna follow the Lord. [00:20:51] Speaker A: So it's down the street. It was actually really close. So I drive down to the Harbor Freight Tools stores. I feel like an idiot. I just park in the parking lot right there. I feel so stupid. I'm like, God, what am I doing here, man? [00:21:02] Speaker C: And he goes. I feel like spirit's like, go inside and pray for someone. Now, I don't know if you know the kind of men who spend midday at Harbor Freight Tools, but they're not [00:21:17] Speaker A: the most, like, I don't know, approachable guys that would understand. Like, excuse me, sir, can I pray for you? Like, I just. I instantly, like, fear. [00:21:25] Speaker C: Like, I'm just. [00:21:25] Speaker A: Be honest. Like, fear washes over me, and I'm [00:21:27] Speaker C: like, I don't want to do that. I just want a sandwich, like. And so I. [00:21:33] Speaker A: But I'm like, hey, Lord, like, if [00:21:34] Speaker C: you want me to do this, I'll do it. I walk into the Harbor Freight tool store. [00:21:37] Speaker A: I walk kind of like, there's this middle section in a Harbor freight tool, [00:21:42] Speaker C: which is like, aisle that way and aisle that way, guys, you know what I'm talking about? I'm in there. I'm just kind of like, what do you want me to do? [00:21:48] Speaker A: I'm here and I'm like. I'm like, God, I'm this close to leaving. [00:21:51] Speaker C: Like, I just, you know, and he. And I'm like, who am I supposed to pray for? And again, like, clear as day, in my spirit, I hear washers. [00:22:01] Speaker A: Like, washers. [00:22:04] Speaker C: And I'm not. [00:22:05] Speaker A: This is not a joke, guys. [00:22:06] Speaker C: This is. This is crazy, okay? I'm not trying to. [00:22:08] Speaker A: I'm not embellishing. This really happened. One second after I hear washers, I [00:22:14] Speaker C: hear a noise behind me. I turn around and there's a man. He's holding a package of washers and he's shaking them. So guess what I did? I turned around and I left. Yeah, I left. [00:22:36] Speaker A: Like, I totally wussed out. Like, it was one of those moments where it's like, I still care. I still think about that guy. Like, God clearly gave me an assignment. Like, it was obvious, and I totally wussed out. And I think about that guy sometimes. [00:22:52] Speaker C: Like, man, what would have God done had I just said yes to the assignment in the moment, but my own [00:22:58] Speaker A: fear and my own insecurities and my own fleshly desires, I just. [00:23:02] Speaker C: I went and got a sandwich. That's literally what I did. Discipleship to Jesus. It comes with assignments. [00:23:10] Speaker A: Now, for you, it might not be like, mine. Like, everybody's different. Like, we're not. I don't want you to hear me share my stories and think like, well, that's what assignment needs to look like. No, no, no, no, no, no. Like, for you, it's probably not church planting, okay? If everybody planted a church, no one would, like, be a doctor or a lawyer or a teacher or a garbage man or whatever. Like, we need each other to serve different roles, right? We're or a body for you. It might not be church planting. It might not be vocational ministry. It might not be praying for some scary looking dude in Harbor Freight Tools. [00:23:40] Speaker C: But I'm here to tell you, I assure you, he'll give you assignments throughout your life. Some of them even unexpected, some of [00:23:50] Speaker A: them things that make you go, I don't wanna do that. Though [00:23:55] Speaker C: I assure you, he'll give you assignments throughout your life. Because discipleship to Jesus comes with assignments. [00:24:00] Speaker A: Can I ask you, in love and as a brother and even pastorally, what [00:24:05] Speaker C: assignments has God given you? I'm not necessarily saying aspirations. [00:24:13] Speaker A: Your dreams matter. Sometimes God plants the seed of dreams in your heart and those are his dreams. And they start to. Aspirations aren't bad. Dreams aren't bad. [00:24:22] Speaker C: That's awesome stuff. [00:24:23] Speaker A: If we don't have that, man. It makes life living really hard. But what are the assignments that God has given you? [00:24:31] Speaker C: Here's a question for some of you. Do you even know. If you're not sure, hear me? Your discipleship to Jesus might be on pause, or you just might be so [00:24:51] Speaker A: busy pursuing the aspirations that you miss [00:24:53] Speaker C: the assignments when they come again. [00:24:56] Speaker A: There's nothing wrong with aspirations. They're great. They're an important, healthy, beautiful part of life that God wants you to have. But sometimes, if you're anything like me, [00:25:06] Speaker C: we can get so fixated on the aspirations that we miss the assignments when they come. But I'm here to tell you, discipleship to Jesus, it comes with assignments. Do you know what that means, practically? Do you know what the implications of that are? [00:25:22] Speaker A: It means that discipleship to Jesus is never boring. Like, young people, listen to me. Discipleship to Jesus is never, ever, ever boring. Okay? It's like, you ever watch a great movie, Like a movie where you're, like, you're just captivated the whole time? There's those movies where you, like, nod off and fall asleep, like 30 minutes in. I'm not talking about those. I'm not talking about movies that just have, like, impressive, you know, visual effects and stuff, or maybe even good acting. I'm talking about the entirety of the movie. I'm talking about the acting's great, the directing's great, the writing's great, the performances are great, the lighting's great, the shots are great. Everything where you're like, I'm just totally mesmerized. And this story, holy smokes, this story's riveting. That's what discipleship to Jesus is really like. It's what's gonna happen next. Like, listen, if you find yourself bored [00:26:11] Speaker C: in your discipleship to Jesus, with all due respect, you're doing it wrong. [00:26:17] Speaker A: It's so much more than like, okay, I'm gonna come and be with people I love and sing songs of Jesus and offer them praise on Sundays, maybe open my wallet a little bit, maybe give some of my time. All that's super important. It's great. [00:26:27] Speaker C: Don't hear. I'm not throwing shade at that. Don't hear what I'm not saying. [00:26:29] Speaker A: But if you find yourself getting bored in your discipleship to Jesus, it's just. Cause we're doing it wrong. It's the adventure of a lifetime, guys. The assignments that God gives, they will change your life and they will change the lives of other people. And it's. I mean, you read the New Testament you can't convince me that Paul knew that his life was gonna go the way that it did, or any of the disciples knew that their life was gonna go the way that they did. Any of the people following Jesus, God, when you give him your attention, he will do things in and through you that blow even you away. Many of you are nodding, some of you seasoned Christians, and you're nodding your head at me because you know exactly what this is like. It's incredible. [00:27:10] Speaker C: The adventure of a lifetime. It's not just for our entertainment. [00:27:15] Speaker A: It's not just adventure for the sake of adventure. [00:27:18] Speaker C: When God gives assignments, friends, they serve. Hear me a very important purpose. Now what is that purpose? Let's keep reading. Look again at verse. [00:27:31] Speaker A: Look at verse 6. The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them. [00:27:40] Speaker C: They brought the donkey and the colt. Then they laid their clothes on them and he sat on them. [00:27:46] Speaker A: Okay? So they fulfilled the assignment. [00:27:49] Speaker C: You see it verse 8. [00:27:53] Speaker A: A very large crowd spread their clothes on the road. Others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. [00:28:02] Speaker C: Okay, pause for just a second. [00:28:03] Speaker A: This whole idea of clothes on the road, okay, that's what they would do to mark the arrival of, like a high ranking person. [00:28:12] Speaker C: Okay? So sounds really funky. [00:28:14] Speaker A: Like if, if I can't imagine a scenario unless you're like trying to impress a girl. And it's like a puddle where you take your clothes off and put it on the ground. Like, it doesn't make sense to us. For them, this was common. This was like high ranking person take your clothes, boom, on the, on the ground. Think of it like a. Like an ancient red carpet. [00:28:32] Speaker C: Okay? [00:28:32] Speaker A: They're rolling out the red carpet. They're showing honor to this high ranking person. Okay, now that's the clothes on the road, the branches from the trees. We know from John's Gospel, from John chapter 12 that these were what kind of branches? Yeah, palm branches. Okay. And they weren't just laying on the ground, they were waving them in the air. That's why today's called Palm Sunday. [00:28:55] Speaker C: All right? It's where we get that from. [00:28:57] Speaker A: But palms, they were very meaningful to Jewish people. They meant something. It wasn't just like, oh, convenient, let's do this. No, there was symbolism here. It meant something to them. It was a national emblem of Jewish independence and pride. Okay, so these palms, they symbolized something. They symbolized victory, they symbolized triumph. They symbolize a national deliverance. Okay? This is a nation, the nation of Israel, the people of Israel. Again, national deliverance. If you've ever Seen like a. The best way that I could. The best way I can think to [00:29:32] Speaker C: describe this in a modern kind of [00:29:34] Speaker A: sense is if you've ever seen, like, a political rally or like a presidential. Like a presidential rally, you know, a candidate for president, regardless of what side of the aisle you're on. You watch them on TV or something, there's some potential leader up front, and there's people that are. That are cheering and that have their signs. And then what are they waving? Flags. American flags. Right. They're waving their American flags. There's American flags everywhere in political rallies. [00:30:00] Speaker C: Right. [00:30:01] Speaker A: Why are people waving American flags? Because of what they symbolize. Right? They symbolize some things. The flag for us Americans, it symbolizes independence. It symbolizes, like, it can drift into really unhealthy things, but it can symbolize a healthy pride. These are my neighbors. This is my community. This is my country. This is my state. These are my people, right? A diverse group of people that make up the same nation. This is us, right? Like, there's this. It symbolizes independence. It symbolizes pride. So I want you to see the scripture says very large crowd of Jews. Basically, what they're saying is, that's our guy. That's our guy. That Jesus guy riding on the donkey, that's our guy. We're the Jews. We're the people of God. We're the Israelites. That's our guy. That's our deliverer. That's our Messiah. Okay? So they use these palm branches similar [00:30:57] Speaker C: to kind of how Americans would use American flags. Okay? [00:31:01] Speaker A: So you got the red carpet being rolled out. You got the waving of the palm branches. Let's keep going. [00:31:05] Speaker C: Verse 9. [00:31:09] Speaker A: Then the crowds who went ahead of [00:31:10] Speaker C: him and those who followed shouted hosanna to the son of David. [00:31:19] Speaker A: Blessed is he who comes in the [00:31:21] Speaker C: name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest heaven. Okay, so I just. I want to review here because I want you to understand what's happening. Okay? What was the assignment that Jesus gave? He gave two disciples an assignment. Go get those two donkeys. [00:31:40] Speaker A: Right? Cause it was prophesied that the Messiah would come to them riding on a donkey, right? Now, there's a ton of symbolism here. I don't have a ton of time, but I wanna just touch on this really quickly. Typically, what kings would do is they'd come in. They'd come in riding on a war horse. [00:31:53] Speaker C: Jesus doesn't do that, does he? [00:31:54] Speaker A: He comes in riding on a donkey. Donkey symbolize peace. So Jesus is making a clear statement here. Like right now, I'M coming to bring peace. [00:32:02] Speaker C: But if you read your Bible, you [00:32:04] Speaker A: get to Revelation and it talks about Jesus coming and he's not riding on [00:32:07] Speaker C: a donkey next time. Next time. He's coming on the war horse. [00:32:11] Speaker A: He's coming to bring judgment as the king. He's coming to get rid of sin, Satan, death, evil for good. Okay? But here he's coming. This is your moment to be at peace with God, right? So he's doing something really, really powerful here. [00:32:23] Speaker C: A lot of symbolism, okay? [00:32:24] Speaker A: He's fulfilling prophecy. So this massive crowd. Listen, these people understand exactly what's happening. They're not confused by it. They see him riding on a donkey and they're like, oh, my goodness, it's happening right now. That's our guy. Okay, this massive crowd, they understand what's happening. [00:32:44] Speaker C: And then what do they do? They start glorifying God. They start glorifying God again. I asked you, what's the purpose of the assignments that God gives note takers? [00:32:58] Speaker A: Assignments are for glorifying God. Like, the purpose of God giving the assignment is so that God would be glorified. Okay, what does that mean? Glorifying God. That sounds fancy. That sounds Christianese. That sounds religious. Glorifying, kind of maybe understand it a little bit in my spirit. But what does that mean practically? [00:33:15] Speaker C: Listen, glorifying God is so that other [00:33:19] Speaker A: people and yourself too, but others can [00:33:21] Speaker C: see and experience his glory. [00:33:24] Speaker A: The things that make him glorious. [00:33:29] Speaker C: His character. [00:33:31] Speaker A: They could see and experience his character, his compassion, his kindness, his power, his authority, his mercy, his grace, all of these incredible things, the things that make God glorious. Him being glorified is when people can see and experience that which makes him glorious. [00:33:52] Speaker C: It's a word song. [00:33:53] Speaker A: They could see the things that make him glorious. Are you guys tracking with this? That's what it means to glorify God. [00:33:58] Speaker C: Okay? So if the assignments are about glorifying God, that's the purpose of them. [00:34:07] Speaker A: Whenever God gives you an assignment, it's ultimately so that other people can see [00:34:10] Speaker C: and experience the things that make him glorious. If the assignments are for God's glory, that means that the assignments aren't for my glory. The assignments aren't for your glory. [00:34:27] Speaker A: They aren't for, like, my feelings of validation. [00:34:30] Speaker C: So I feel like I'm a good person or I'm a worthy person. It means that the assignments actually aren't [00:34:38] Speaker A: even primarily about me. [00:34:41] Speaker C: Because, listen, to even say yes to an assignment, what it does is it requires taking on the posture of a servant. [00:34:51] Speaker A: I'm serving someone else's will in that moment. [00:34:53] Speaker C: You guys seeing this? So here, listen. If you're a Christian, being a servant, it's not just like something that you do. It's part of who you are. The New Testament writers use language. It's strong. [00:35:09] Speaker A: But they even go as far as [00:35:10] Speaker C: to say, like, Paul goes. [00:35:12] Speaker A: He, like, writes letters to churches and [00:35:14] Speaker C: introduces himself as, I'm Paul, a slave to Christ. [00:35:21] Speaker A: Now, in Paul's world, he's going, I will be a slave to Christ. He will be my master. Because he's the most trustworthy leader. He's the most gracious, good, loving, powerful. Like, he's the point of life. So for him, it's. We have all these really bad and justifiably so. Like, our connotation around slavery is obviously, [00:35:40] Speaker C: you know, tarnished by sin. But, guys, if you're a Christian, being a servant, it's part of who you are. Assignments are for glorifying God. Married couples just talk to you for a second. [00:35:56] Speaker A: That assignment, that's actually an assignment. [00:35:57] Speaker C: Marriage is from God, right? [00:35:59] Speaker A: That assignment, hear me, is so your spouse and the world around you would [00:36:04] Speaker C: see and experience the glory of God. Parents in the room, that's an assignment. [00:36:13] Speaker A: Like, the assignment is so your children and the world around you would. What would see and experience the glory of God. I mean, the list could go on [00:36:24] Speaker C: and on and on and on and on and on. I told you that Harbor Freight story. I have my own stuff, but I just. I wonder how many unanswered assignments are represented in this room. Like, I want. [00:36:54] Speaker A: I just. [00:36:54] Speaker C: I just dream about. I'm like, man, I wonder how many [00:36:59] Speaker A: unbelievable opportunities for people to literally see [00:37:05] Speaker C: and experience the glory of God don't actually come to fruition because people like me lack the faith, the courage, the wisdom, the accountability, whatever. Like, there's so many reasons why we opt out of the assignment. But I'm just here to tell you, friends, God will give you assignments for all sorts of reasons, and many of them, like, good reasons. [00:37:32] Speaker A: Hear me? Even reasons that significantly benefit you in the person who's receiving the assignment. God will give you assignments to grow you, like, to develop you. God will give you assignments to literally sanctify you, to make you more like Jesus. He'll give you assignments to bless others. He'll give you assignments to serve others. But ultimately, those assignments are for glorifying God. And things get super wacky when disciples forget what the assignment is actually for. Like, honestly, it's why you see leaders [00:38:02] Speaker C: in the church blow it so badly. [00:38:05] Speaker A: You go on social media, you go [00:38:07] Speaker C: on YouTube, you go. [00:38:08] Speaker A: And it's like, I feel like every time I turn around, I see some [00:38:11] Speaker C: high profile church leader, some pastor, some [00:38:14] Speaker A: influential person, and they've made a mess of their life, a mess of their [00:38:18] Speaker C: ministry, a mess of their church. [00:38:20] Speaker A: And the reason that happens, the reason they do stupid things, the reason they make compromises, the reason there's moral failures, the reason they hurt people is because they forgot what the assignments were. [00:38:30] Speaker C: The assignments are for glorifying God. That's the primary thing, right? [00:38:36] Speaker A: It's why so many marriages fall apart. Because somewhere along the way, one or [00:38:43] Speaker C: both spouses forgot what the assignment is for. The assignment is for glorifying God. [00:38:51] Speaker A: That's why parents fail to discipline their children. It's why children dishonor their parents, why career is worshipped. It's why some Christians don't tithe. [00:39:00] Speaker C: Listen. [00:39:01] Speaker A: When disciples forget what the purpose of [00:39:03] Speaker C: the assignment is, listen to me. This is big. The world is deprived of seeing and experiencing the glory of God. Connect those dots for a second. The implications of that are big, guys. [00:39:22] Speaker A: That means the world misses out on [00:39:23] Speaker C: the kingdom of God. Like they miss it. Again, I say this to you all the time. I don't think we realize how much dignity we have. God has created us with so much [00:39:35] Speaker A: dignity, with so much purpose. [00:39:36] Speaker C: He includes us in his work. [00:39:38] Speaker A: He could just snap his fingers if [00:39:39] Speaker C: he wanted to, but he has so [00:39:42] Speaker A: much purpose in rescuing us into his family, empowering us, equipping us, strengthening us, and deploying us with various assignments into the world. Why? [00:39:54] Speaker C: So that the kingdom of God would [00:39:55] Speaker A: advance the rule and the reign of God would advance. [00:39:57] Speaker C: God would get his way on the earth, everywhere. [00:40:01] Speaker A: And when we opt out or we don't participate, or life just punches us in the mouth and we're disoriented, so we can't really make wise decisions. We've all been there. People don't see and experience the glory [00:40:11] Speaker C: of God as much. You tracking with me? Assignments are for glorifying God. [00:40:17] Speaker A: I want you to look back again at verse nine. [00:40:23] Speaker C: Then the crowds who went ahead of him and those who followed, they shouted [00:40:27] Speaker A: hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest heavens. [00:40:33] Speaker C: Okay, again, recap. [00:40:35] Speaker A: Your disciples, those two disciples, they fulfill the assignment. As a result, this whole crowd is now glorifying God. And they use this word, hosanna. Now, if you've been around the church, you probably know what this word means. If you haven't, I'm about to tell you. Hosanna. It just simply means, save us. So when they're crying out, they're crying out, save us. Deliver us. [00:40:58] Speaker C: Okay? [00:40:59] Speaker A: The question is, from what? [00:41:03] Speaker C: If you know history, you know that they were occupied by the Romans. Like, the Roman Empire was the superpower at the time. And they were rough, man. [00:41:16] Speaker A: It was really hard for the Jewish people. So Rome is. They're occupied by Rome. They're oppressed significantly by Rome. They want to be delivered from Roman oppression. They want to be delivered from Roman occupation. They want to be. They want to get rid of them, okay? So they're. Hosanna, a cry for deliverance. [00:41:36] Speaker C: Okay? [00:41:37] Speaker A: Now, this word, hosanna, it's an old word, but some of you, your spirit knows it. You know exactly what hosanna feels like because you're going through it right now. I've said this a couple weeks ago. [00:41:49] Speaker C: There is so many of us in [00:41:51] Speaker A: the church right now, this church right now, that are going through, like, some of the hardest, most difficult things we've ever gone through. So many of you look around the room. Your spirit already knows hosanna, okay? You know what that feels like. You're going through things that are difficult, things that are painful. God, save me. Get me out of this. Okay? Some of you may have never used that word, but I'm telling you, like, hosanna is the cry of your heart. Now, you've heard it referenced already this [00:42:17] Speaker C: morning a couple of times. [00:42:18] Speaker A: But one of the things that it's really fascinating about this event, this scriptural event, is that you have this Palm Sunday where this massive crowd of Jews are going, hosanna. They're glorifying God. They're crying out to Jesus like, hosanna. Hosanna, son of David. Right? And then that's Sunday. By the end of the week, that same crowd is shouting, crucify, him. You've heard this before if you've been around the church. [00:42:44] Speaker C: But, I mean, think about that for a second. [00:42:48] Speaker A: That's wild. Like, what on earth would cause someone to be so rallying. That's our guy. That's our guy. We're with him. That's our guy. [00:43:01] Speaker C: To murder him in the most brutal way possible, publicly shame him. [00:43:08] Speaker A: Like, that's really significant turn of events. Can we agree why, when I was [00:43:20] Speaker C: in college, I delivered pizzas. I actually worked for Brandon and Jill. [00:43:24] Speaker A: Jill hired me when I was, like, 17. [00:43:28] Speaker C: You guys have heard this, but some of you haven't. [00:43:29] Speaker A: I worked for Brandon and Jill. [00:43:31] Speaker C: They were amazing. And just want to pause my message. I'm like, super tender. These two have put up with me guys when I didn't know Jesus at all. And they were so kind to me. [00:43:41] Speaker A: They were so good to me. [00:43:42] Speaker C: I just love you both so much. [00:43:43] Speaker A: Sorry. Woo. [00:43:44] Speaker C: Didn't expect that one. [00:43:46] Speaker A: So I'm delivering pizzas in college, just trying to get my way through, put myself through college. My parents were so kind. They let me live at home. I didn't have any bills, but I [00:43:54] Speaker C: had to pay for my tuition. And so I'm delivering pizza. [00:43:58] Speaker A: Anybody in the room ever delivered pizza before? [00:44:00] Speaker C: If you have, okay, yeah. Yeah, dude, let's go. Go ask the people whose hands are up. Just go. Tell me a story about delivering pizza. [00:44:09] Speaker A: You will see the wildest things you can imagine. [00:44:13] Speaker C: Okay, Dude, I'll tell you this story. [00:44:16] Speaker A: I pull up to a house. We stopped the pizza store. We closed, like, 10, okay? But every so often, we'd get a call for a delivery at, like, 9:50, [00:44:25] Speaker C: and you're like, come on, man. [00:44:26] Speaker A: We just cleaned the kitchen, the whole thing. [00:44:28] Speaker C: It was one of those calls. [00:44:30] Speaker A: I drive to this house in Marietta, and I pull up, and instantly I'm like, it's a tract home. Okay? Just think, like, stereotypical tract home in Marietta, except you pull up and you're like, this is unlike any tract home [00:44:41] Speaker C: I've ever seen in my life. There's, like, jungle foliage everywhere. [00:44:46] Speaker A: Like, it's like, I'm like, this looks so different than anything I've ever seen. [00:44:49] Speaker C: So I'm like, okay, this is kind of weird. I've never seen anything like this. [00:44:52] Speaker A: You know, the plants with, like, the huge leaves and all that kind of stuff. [00:44:56] Speaker C: So I ring the doorbell. This dude answers. Young guy, dude, answers the door in a bathrobe. [00:45:04] Speaker A: And I could tell, like, I don't [00:45:08] Speaker C: endorse this movie, but if you've ever [00:45:10] Speaker A: seen the Big Lebowski, just think, like that. [00:45:13] Speaker C: But, like, maybe 30, okay? This guy answers to the door, and I'm like, hey, here's your pizza. [00:45:20] Speaker A: He goes, oh, great, man. Come on. Just come on inside. [00:45:22] Speaker C: Put it in the kitchen. [00:45:23] Speaker A: And I'm like, instantly, like, I don't [00:45:26] Speaker C: know if I should go in this [00:45:26] Speaker A: guy's house, but I'm like, I want to go home. [00:45:30] Speaker C: I just, you know. [00:45:30] Speaker A: So I got my pizza, and I [00:45:32] Speaker C: walk in the house, guys. I walk in this dude's house. It's like the Amazon rainforest. Listen. [00:45:41] Speaker A: There was, like, a stream of water. Not like a water lake. Like a fully designed thought out, like, rocks. Like, all this stuff. There's a pond Inside the house with a stream, all of those same plants inside. It was like Rainforest Cafe, but real. I walk into this guy's house, I'm like, where am I? I set it down, and he's, like, wanting to talk and hang out, and [00:46:06] Speaker C: I'm just like, hey, man, I have to go. [00:46:08] Speaker A: And I just remember being like, I've [00:46:09] Speaker C: never seen anything like this. [00:46:12] Speaker A: I can remember he actually offered to tip me in legal substance, which was interesting. And I was like, hey, thanks, bro, but I gotta go. Like, I just. I have seen the craziest things. [00:46:25] Speaker C: I've seen people doing super sketchy stuff. I've had unwanted advances, if you will. Being a pizza delivery boy, it's wild. I guess I was a man at the time, so I was a man. [00:46:36] Speaker A: But one of the things, guys, though, [00:46:39] Speaker C: one of the things that when you [00:46:40] Speaker A: deliver pizza is occasionally. [00:46:43] Speaker C: Occasionally, not often, but occasionally, because human beings work at the store, at the pizza restaurant, they'd get the order wrong. [00:46:52] Speaker A: And so you drive there and you [00:46:53] Speaker C: deliver them their food, and it would be the wrong order. [00:46:56] Speaker A: Some people were awesome about it. Some people were super cool. Like, hey, mistakes happen. No worries. [00:47:01] Speaker C: Other people. Other people would get so mad. [00:47:06] Speaker A: Like, so mad. And everything inside of me be like, hey, man, I just, like, grabbed the bag off the counter and came here. I'm so sorry this happened. Some people would get, like, super angry [00:47:17] Speaker C: because they weren't delivered what they wanted. This crowd, [00:47:25] Speaker A: the reason they went from hosanna to crucify him, the reason they went from praising Jesus on Palm Sunday to rejecting Jesus on Friday, is the [00:47:35] Speaker C: same reason why anyone rejects Jesus because he didn't deliver them what they wanted. They wanted, like, an earthly king. [00:47:51] Speaker A: They wanted a king who would overthrow Rome. They wanted a political and a national savior. [00:47:59] Speaker C: Tell me that's not relevant for this hour, but Jesus had a transcendent agenda. [00:48:09] Speaker A: Jesus came to save them from something [00:48:11] Speaker C: much more dangerous than Rome. [00:48:14] Speaker A: He came to pay the debt of [00:48:16] Speaker C: their sin with his blood. [00:48:21] Speaker A: He came to free them from, hear me, being ruled by Satan, [00:48:28] Speaker C: Under Satan's influence. [00:48:33] Speaker A: He came to save them from. [00:48:36] Speaker C: He came to save them from death. [00:48:40] Speaker A: The crowd went from praising Jesus on Sunday to rejecting him on Friday because he didn't deliver them what they wanted. And, guys, this has been happening among people ever since. [00:48:52] Speaker C: As a pastor, one of the hardest things about the assignment, one of the [00:48:58] Speaker A: hardest things about it is, guys, I've witnessed people reject Jesus because he didn't [00:49:02] Speaker C: deliver them the job they wanted. [00:49:07] Speaker A: Like, I've seen people literally walk away and reject Jesus because he didn't give them a spouse when they wanted one. I've seen people reject Jesus because he didn't deliver them the life they wanted or the outcome they wanted. [00:49:26] Speaker C: And I don't want that to happen to you. Like, how do you react? [00:49:35] Speaker A: How do you react when Jesus doesn't [00:49:37] Speaker C: deliver you what you want? Dude, life. Sometimes it just feels like this battle of competing wills. Your will versus my will, or my will versus your will, or God's will versus my will, or your will versus God's will. [00:49:59] Speaker A: Like, it's just this battle of wills, this battle of wants. [00:50:05] Speaker C: Mark Batterson says this quote. I think you guys should have that quote. Hopefully you have it. I'll read it to you. Mark Batterson says this. There is a fine line between thy kingdom come and my kingdom come. If you cross the line, your relationship with God is self serving. Oh, that's a roundhouse to the chin. I read that and I go, God help me. How often is my relationship with you about me serving my own wants and desires and needs? Not that there's any. We all have wants and needs and desires. They're not inherently bad. But if we're not careful, we can drift into using God, treating him like a genie. Let me get one more for you. Alan Redpath says this. Before we can pray, Lord, thy kingdom come, we must be willing to pray. My kingdom go. That is a bold prayer. [00:51:10] Speaker A: And I would argue it is probably the most difficult prayer that any human could ever actually pray. We could pray with our mouth. I'm talking with our heart. [00:51:22] Speaker C: My kingdom, God, really? [00:51:25] Speaker A: My kingdom's awesome. In my kingdom, I have fun and I'm comfortable all the time. In my kingdom, I have all the money in the world. I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. No one can tell me what to do. My kingdom's awesome. [00:51:45] Speaker C: Yeah. One of the things, friends, that God's been trying and so patient with me, trying to father me and trying to teach me for the past 20 years, [00:51:53] Speaker A: is that the kingdom of God and [00:51:54] Speaker C: the kingdom of Tom are two different things. [00:51:59] Speaker A: They just are. [00:52:02] Speaker C: One leads to death, One leads to eternal life. Human flourishing. Not just for me, but the people around me. [00:52:12] Speaker A: The kingdom of God is where God's will is done. [00:52:14] Speaker C: The kingdom of Tom is where Tom's will is done. Go ahead and insert your name. You know you have one too. [00:52:24] Speaker A: This crowd. This crowd in this passage, their mouths [00:52:29] Speaker C: are crying out for deliverance, but their hearts are crying out for something totally different. [00:52:36] Speaker A: Their hearts. [00:52:38] Speaker C: Their hearts cried out for a delivery, right? I'll take a large pizza, light cheese, half pepperoni, half sausage, maybe a side of ranch. [00:52:50] Speaker A: Their hearts are crying out for a [00:52:51] Speaker C: specific thing that they want. Their hearts are crying out for delivery. [00:52:54] Speaker A: Hosanna, Jesus. Hosanna, Jesus. As long as my will is done, [00:53:01] Speaker C: if not, crucify him. And I was reading this week, and it's just wild to me, man. Like, it's absolutely wild to me. [00:53:13] Speaker A: Jesus already knew. Like, guys, he already knows what's gonna happen. Like, he knows that by the end of the week, the same crowd's gonna turn on him, [00:53:26] Speaker C: and yet he goes through with it anyway. The crowd wanted a delivery, not deliverance. If you're taking notes, that's my next point. Delivery is different than deliverance. Friend. [00:53:44] Speaker A: Is your relationship with Jesus about him delivering your kingdom, or is it about [00:53:48] Speaker C: him delivering you from your kingdom? Because hear me, you can't have both. Only one can sit on the throne. And I'm here to tell you that there is an enemy of your soul. His name is Satan. He has an army of demonic fallen angels who are, pardon the pun, hell bent at convincing you that the best place for you is to sit on that throne. Why? Because it leads to death and your destruction. Delivery is different than deliverance. Let's finish the passage, shall we? Verse 10. When he entered Jerusalem. [00:54:40] Speaker A: So now he's passing through the gate. [00:54:41] Speaker C: He's passing through the wall, the opening, and the wall would be called the gate. When he entered Jerusalem, look at this. [00:54:48] Speaker A: The whole city was in an uproar, saying, who is this? [00:54:56] Speaker C: The crowds were saying, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee. Okay, that's our passage. I'm almost done here. I want to draw your attention to a couple things before I finish up. The whole city, it's a lot of people. Okay, one more quote for you. It wouldn't be a message in Matthew without me quoting William Barclay. He says this quote. It was the Passover time. Get the picture? I showed you the map. [00:55:23] Speaker A: This is the whole city, right? Everyone's coming for Passover. [00:55:26] Speaker C: It was. [00:55:27] Speaker A: It was the Passover time. And Jerusalem and the whole surrounding neighborhood, all the suburbs were crowded with pilgrims. 30 years later, look at this. 30 years after this, a Roman governor was to take a census of the lambs slain in Jerusalem for the Passover and find that the number was not far off. 250,000 lambs. [00:55:48] Speaker C: Okay, look at. [00:55:49] Speaker A: It was the Passover regulation that there must be a party of a minimum of 10 for each lamb. So for each lamb, a minimum of 10 people that would. That would Eat that Passover lamb. [00:56:00] Speaker C: Okay? [00:56:01] Speaker A: Which means that at the passover time, more than 2.5 million people had crowded their way into Jerusalem. The law was that every adult male Jew who lived within 15 miles of Jerusalem must come to the Passover. But not only did the Jews of Palestine, Jews from every corner of the world made their way to the greatest of their national festivals. Look at this. Jesus could not have chosen a more dramatic moment. It was into a city surging with people keyed up with religious expectations that he came. [00:56:37] Speaker C: What does that mean? [00:56:39] Speaker A: Okay, the whole city's in an uproar. How many people is that? 2.5 million people. Okay? That's a lot of people, especially for an ancient city. Okay, verse 10 says they're all asking the same question. What's that? Who is this? The whole city, who is this? [00:57:01] Speaker C: My last point for you is this. [00:57:02] Speaker A: Jesus isn't shy. He wants the whole city to know who he is. He's not shy. He wants the whole city to know who he is. Friend, do the people around you know who Jesus is? Not who some whack job on YouTube says he is? Not to some who some just bizarro progressive false teacher says he is, not who? The church they grew up in that like abused them says that he is, not that their judgmental next door neighbor says that he is. Like, do they actually know who Jesus is? The people that you work with, do [00:57:40] Speaker C: they know who Jesus is? [00:57:42] Speaker A: The people around you, the people in your neighborhood, the people on your kids teams, do your extended family, do your friends, do they know who Jesus is? Do the people around you know who he really is? Like, do they know that he's God putting on flesh to live the perfect life that they could never live, to carry and absorb all of their shame, all of their guilt, all of the abuse, all of the harm, all the terrible things that have happened to provide freedom from sin, from Satan, from death? Do they know that he lived that perfect life? Do they know that he died the perfect death or the substitutionary death in their place like that he willingly did that because of his great love for them? Do they even have any ounce of an idea of how valuable they are? Because the world around them tells them that they're actually not that valuable. How do I know? Because there's a list of things for them to do or buy or say or put on that then they can be valuable. You're not valuable unless you know these people. You're not valuable unless you run with these friends. You're not valuable unless you weigh this, It'll look like this. Or have this many zeros in your bank account or drive this kind of car or live in this kind of neighborhood. I don't think they know. [00:59:04] Speaker C: Do you think they know? Do the people around you know who he really is? Because, listen, if this passage says anything, Jesus is not shy. He's not slipping into Jerusalem. And okay, I'll go to the cross. Yep, nail me up quietly. Okay, cool. We did it. That's not how he rolls. He doesn't tell them to stop. [00:59:28] Speaker A: He knows. He knows they're going to turn on him in a matter of days. He knows they're going to turn on him. [00:59:33] Speaker C: He doesn't say, hey, quiet down. He goes, yep, you're right. Yep, I am the Messiah. [00:59:42] Speaker A: Yep. [00:59:45] Speaker C: He doesn't say, hey, two disciples, go get those two donkeys because I need them. What does he say? He says, the Lord needs him. [00:59:54] Speaker A: What does that mean? That means he's going, I'm the Lord. It's time for y' all to know. [00:59:59] Speaker C: If you don't know now, you know, do the people around you know, man? Because it's not a game. Jesus isn't shy. He wants the whole city to know who he is. Now I remember. You're like, I don't know how. Okay, yeah, cool. He wants our whole city to know who he is. What do we do? There's a million things we could do. Here's one thing for you. Invite him to sit next to you. At Easter. Invite him to sit next to you. I'm saving a spot for you. If you don't have plans, come hang out with me and my friends and my family at Easter. We meet at Gardner Middle School, 10am. Why would we do that? That's kind of awkward. So that everybody would know who he [01:00:59] Speaker A: is, like the real Jesus. So that we can preach to them and present to them. And not just that. [01:01:04] Speaker C: Listen to me. If you're not a Christian in this [01:01:07] Speaker A: room, you're going to get a behind [01:01:08] Speaker C: the scenes look for just about a second, okay? [01:01:11] Speaker A: Preaching is powerful. It's great. [01:01:12] Speaker C: It's good. Your interpersonal relationships are even more powerful and good. Do you have any idea the power of a room this size? If you invite a non Christian loved one into this space and hear me, and they hear and see you praising God in unison together. [01:01:31] Speaker A: Do you have any idea how transformatively powerful that is? The percentage of people that I've had the privilege of walking with in certain seasons, so many of them, their saving moment with God isn't during my Preach, it's during your praise. Just get them in the room. Why are all these people so vibrantly, passionately singing about this Jesus? And then God starts to inhabit and literally he comes down, he starts to inhabit the praises of his people and then people encounter the presence of God and they're undone. You ever seen a non Christian just start weeping in a worship gathering? Not because of the preach, but because of the praise. [01:02:17] Speaker C: Happens all the time. Here's what I'm saying. If you don't know what to do, you're not sure where to start. [01:02:22] Speaker A: You know, Jesus isn't shy, you know, he wants to save this whole flippin city man. [01:02:26] Speaker C: If you don't know where to start. [01:02:28] Speaker A: We have cards. Is that, we have, we have invite cards. They're in the back, just go grab it. [01:02:34] Speaker C: Just. [01:02:34] Speaker A: Hey, would love to. I know it's awkward. Hey, would love to. [01:02:37] Speaker C: If you don't have plans, come join us for Easter. Why? Because we're gonna preach the gospel and [01:02:42] Speaker A: we're gonna praise Jesus. [01:02:44] Speaker C: And when that happens, guess what happens? [01:02:46] Speaker A: God starts with a G. He's glorified. That means people see and experience his glory. When they see and experience his glory, you become like what you behold. They get captivated by the beauty of Jesus. God fills them with his spirit, regenerates their person, and they become a new creation in Christ. And they give their life over to Jesus. And guess what happens in that moment? They start saying yes to the big [01:03:09] Speaker C: and the small assignments that their Father in heaven gives them. And the kingdom of heaven advances. Do you see it? Jesus ain't shy. He wants the whole city to know who he is. Okay, I'm gonna close. Ben, would you come up? [01:03:25] Speaker A: I'm. [01:03:26] Speaker C: I'm going to finish up here. Okay. I'm going to be very quick. I want to circle back one more time. I'm only going to be a couple minutes. I want to circle back and I want to talk about the assignments just one more time, okay? Assignments are for glorifying God, right? We read this passage, we see these two disciples. God gives them assignment. Jesus gives them an assignment, right? But these two disciples, they weren't the only ones who said yes to an assignment in this passage, were they? Who else said yes to an assignment in this passage? Did you catch it? Say his name. Jesus. Jesus. [01:04:14] Speaker A: Like he's literally fulfilling biblical prophecy, right? [01:04:18] Speaker C: King coming to you on a donkey. [01:04:19] Speaker A: He's also positioning himself to complete his [01:04:24] Speaker C: greatest assignment, the cross. [01:04:27] Speaker A: Right. [01:04:30] Speaker C: In John, chapter 17, if you fast [01:04:32] Speaker A: forward from this moment, just a few days last Night of Jesus life. Okay, he's in the garden of Gethsemane, right? And he is praying. We have some of the most priceless passages in all of scriptures. [01:04:46] Speaker C: John chapter 17. [01:04:46] Speaker A: It's called the high priestly prayer. It's Jesus. It's literally like. It's like a. You to watch and hear Jesus praying to God the Father in John chapter 17. He's praying with God the Father in verse four. [01:04:58] Speaker C: Do you guys have it? Look at what he says. Father, I have glorified you on the earth. How? How did he do it? By completing the work you gave me to. And then he. And then he goes to the cross, he says the three maybe most powerful words ever uttered. It's finished. It is finished. What's finished? All the assignments. [01:05:34] Speaker A: Everything that was that the triune God of the universe before the world's foundations were even laid, everything that the saving rescuing plan of Almighty God that included the Father, the Son and the Spirit, Jesus goes. [01:05:51] Speaker C: It's finished. [01:05:53] Speaker A: I have glorified you on the earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Jesus, he completed the assignments that the [01:06:01] Speaker C: Father gave him to do so that [01:06:04] Speaker A: the world would see and experience God's glory. [01:06:08] Speaker C: Here's my heart for us. [01:06:10] Speaker A: I want us to see and experience God's glory. I want you to not just hear about it, to not just read about it. [01:06:24] Speaker C: I want you to see it and I want you to feel it. And there's somebody who wants you to see it and feel it more than I do. It's your maker. It's your maker. He knows everything about you. He made you all of your uniqueness. He knows your greatest strengths. He knows your greatest weaknesses. How many of you, if you're honest, it's been a minute since I've seen it and felt it. I know it. But it's been a minute since I've seen it and felt it. Let me see your hand. If that's you. Many of you. Yeah, [01:07:23] Speaker A: Maybe. [01:07:25] Speaker C: Sorry, maybe I didn't see this coming. Maybe he wants to celebrate the triumphal entry of your heart this morning. Maybe he just wants you to let him in. Maybe he just wants your attention for just a minute. I know it's like hot in here. Oh, the lengths that God has gone that you might see and experience [01:07:59] Speaker A: all [01:07:59] Speaker C: the things that make him glorious. Will you stand with me? If you're able. I want to pray for us. If you're on the prayer team, would you make your way to the front, please? So there's many ways that we can respond this Morning. We're gonna. The band's gonna lead us. We're gonna fill the room with praise. We're gonna thank God and bless him. Not to get something from him, but just because he's worthy. We're gonna fill the room with praise. But as it is every time we gather, I think I believe that God wants to meet with each of us individually. Some of you need a personal touch. [01:08:51] Speaker A: Like you said, you raised. [01:08:52] Speaker C: It's been a minute since I've seen and felt seen and experienced. [01:08:56] Speaker A: I know it, I believe it. [01:08:58] Speaker C: I acknowledge that. [01:08:59] Speaker A: It's true. [01:08:59] Speaker C: But there's a block happening. [01:09:02] Speaker A: Jesus is like. He's like, stopped up at the wall. He stopped up at the gate. It's not the triumphal entry. Hasn't yet. He hasn't fully come in. [01:09:13] Speaker C: I think he wants to this morning. I think he wants you to see and feel his glory. And so maybe you're here and if you're honest, like you've been busy pursuing the kingdom of self, life is. You're at the center. It's easy to slip into that. My goodness, it's easy to slip into that. If that's you, maybe God wants you to help you this morning, reorient your life around him and his kingdom so that you can experience freedom. It's away from the bondage, away from the darkness, away from the selfishness. If that's you, come receive prayer. Maybe you're here. [01:09:55] Speaker A: And if you're honest, you've been avoiding God's assignments. You've heard it, but you're like me in Harbor Freight Tools. [01:10:01] Speaker C: Ah, nah, I just can't do it. [01:10:05] Speaker A: Maybe there's specific things God's putting on your heart. Specific assignments. Maybe they're small, maybe they're big. [01:10:10] Speaker C: And you're like, for whatever reason, there's something that's keeping me. Maybe God wants to break that off of you. [01:10:16] Speaker A: Maybe he wants to break off some [01:10:17] Speaker C: of your flesh, fill you with his spirit. Like Jesus, like he said on the last night of his life, the spirit's willing flesh is weak. Maybe your flesh is really weak right now and you need the spirit to strengthen you. Come forward, receive prayer. Maybe, honestly, maybe you're just unsure of God's assignments. [01:10:38] Speaker A: Maybe you're like, I'm down here. I am. [01:10:40] Speaker C: Lord send me. [01:10:41] Speaker A: But you're having trouble discerning what his [01:10:44] Speaker C: assignments for you are. I have a great idea for you. Come give some personal attention to that with trusted men and women who would love to pray over you and intercede and go before God on your behalf, I think that'd be a really, really beautiful wise thing to do. And I hesitate to say this because it is kind of confrontational. But I think it's appropriate maybe for some of you here, if you're honest. Jesus has kind of become more like [01:11:15] Speaker A: that delivery driver [01:11:19] Speaker C: that you're getting upset with for not delivering you what you want, for getting your order wrong. You know, if that's you, come get right with God. Let me pray for us, Father. I'm gonna let my words be few. Cause I wanna get out of the way. Have your way among us Spirit lead us Jesus shepherd us Heavenly Father, Father as we pray we belong to you. Amen. All right, you can come forward at any time. We're gonna fill the room with praise and then, I don't know, five minutes till we'll close. [01:12:06] Speaker A: Okay? [01:12:07] Speaker C: Love you guys very much.