The Gospel according to Matthew will be the focus of the preaching moment on this morning turn with me to Matthew chapter 21 I want to begin at verse one and if it’s the Lord’s will we read to verse 11 this morning I will be reading from The New International Version of the
Scripture now there’s a story that’s out there you should always say if it’s the Lord’s will a young man learned that lesson the hard way he was off to the market to go sell uh some livestock there was an old man sitting on the porch who saw him from the
Distance said boy where you going he said I’m headed to the market I ain’t got time to talk I got to make haste I got to hurry that old man said well you always should say if it’s the Lord’s will young man wasn’t trying to hear him he kept
Going so later on that evening the old man on the porch saw the young man again and this time his clothes was the shev torn and his leg was bleeding old man son what happened to you well he said wasting time talking to you I didn’t
Know there was a bull in that field that I went through the young man saidwell where you going now he said if it’s the Lord’s will I’m going to the house that’s why you should always say if it’s the Lord’s will Matthew chapter 21 beginning at verse one from The New International Version
You will find these words as they approached Jerusalem and came to Beth Page on the Mount of Olives Jesus Jesus sent two disciples saying to them go to the Village ahead of you and at once you will find a donkey tied there with her cult by her untie them
And bring them to me if anyone says anything to you say that the Lord needs them and he will send them right away this took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet say to daughter Zion see your king comes to you Gentle and riding on a donkey and
On a cult the fo of a donkey the disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them they bought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on a very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road while others cut branches from the trees
And spread them on on the road the crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted hosana to the son of David blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord hosana in the highest heaven when Jesus entered Jerusalem the whole city was stirred and asked who is
This the crowds answered this is Jesus the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee the word of God for the people of God all thanks be to almighty God you may be seated when Jesus entered Jerusalem the whole city was stirred and asked who is this in some parts of the country they
Say who that is the crowds answered this is Jesus the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee the Holy Spirit would allow want to preach and teach this morning from the subject lessons from a parade lessons from a parade part family there are two things that a person should consider when pursuing any position of
Power or authority the process and the ability to make significant change with regards to process for one to achieve a position of power the process is often wrought with hard work intense scrutiny and at times significant losses for King Charles III who ascended to the British throne in September of
2022 he had to endure a long waiting period and the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II for Michael Jackson to become the King of Pop he had to deal with success as at an early age as well as abuse by his father an intense scrutiny of not
Only his life but his family life as well on his way to his first world championship Michael Jordan had to overcome an extremely physical destroy Detroit Pistons team y’all remember those bad boys Bill lambir Isaiah Thomas and that crew for LeBron James to walk into his Manel of King James and be considered
One of the greatest basketball players of all time he had to endure humiliating losses to the San Antonio Spurs and the dallis Mavericks additionally he had to deal with the Fallout of the decision where he decided to join a super team in Miami in order to win a
Title if you take a close look at the Disney and Marvel movies one of the lessons you will learn is that some of the main characters had to endure a painful process before they assumed the power of king or queen come here Simba Simba had to deal with the consequences
Of his actions around the death of his father Mustafa I just love saying it like that Mustafa before becoming the liyon king Maya can tell you this that Moana Moana had to endure the death of her grandmother conflict with her father get by in from Mai and restore the heart of
Teiti before she could Ascend to leadership of her people in Black Panther King tala had to witness the death of his father king tachaka battle maaku and konger before he he could assume the throne in wakanda Forever shuri had to deal with the death of her brother King
Tala be kidnapped by the atanon and endure the death of her mother Queen Randa before she assumed the Mana of black panther achieving power can involve a painful process but with that power you must be aware of of the things that you cannot change those who hold the title of king
Or queen in modern societies are often rulers in name only having little if any governmental power or responsibility for example here in the city of Charlotte it has a council manager form of government where a majority vote of the city council is required to make decisions as a result the only Power the
Mayor has is veto Power by contrast the city of Atlanta Georgia anybody from the ATL in the house has a strong mayor form of government where the mayor alone can make decisions a majority of the decisions so if you aspire to be the mayor of the city of Charlotte thinking
You’ll have the power to affect change then you might be disappointed when you consider a position of authority you must understand the process and your ability to make significant change our text this morning portrays the most significant Carnation of the world it’s a true Carnation of a true king he was affirmed
As king and was in a sense inaugurated into his kingship but there was no pop no Splendor and a nondescript sort of pageantry after healing the two Blind Men in Jericho and leading zakus to himself the Lord is now making his final journey to Jerusalem as he approached
Jerusalem Jesus also approached the end of his three years of ministry which had been proceeded by 30 years of obscurity he was about to reach the final goal set before him by the heavenly father and as the multitudes followed along with him to celebrate the Passover little did they know they were
Accompanying the Passover Lamb himself now there’s a question I have in this text I’ve read it for years and it just hit me a few weeks ago we see the pictures and we saw a video earlier of Jesus riding on the donkey but one thing that the Bible doesn’t tell us is what
Jesus was thinking as he sat upon the donkey as he watches the crowd and takes in all that is currently happening is he happy that he is is finally achieving some form of recognition after he’s been telling people all the while he’s the son of God the
Messiah or is he thinking about the painful process of crucifixtion he’s about to endure in just a few days I wonder this is just me thinking out loud I wonder if Jesus is thinking if the world will appreciate the sacrifice I’m about to make now these thoughts speak to some
People who may be watching this sermon on today for the person who just got promoted in your job or in Ministry you focus more on your new title or are you focused on your ability to make change in the process cuz you do know that everybody that say they for
You ain’t always with you I’m talking to a new pastor who may be watching this broadcast today and watching this service you just were named pastor of the church they’re planning the installation service and all that are you thinking about you now being referred to as Pastor so and
So or are you thinking about some stuff that’s about to come your way cuz you now the pastor a lot of times when we get a title we think about the title we change our email signature the first thing we do but we don’t think about the other stuff that comes with the
Title Palm Sunday brings us to the close of Lent close of Lent a season of deny and sacrifice and ushers us into Holy Week With all of its hope and expectations of Liberation and salvation this Sunday on the Christian calendar coincides with the week leading to the Passover celebration on the
Jewish calendar these days remind us of our connection with the Jewish faith and how both Faith Traditions look for God’s in breaking in human Affairs by the Messiah this morning here’s the big idea of this message if you don’t remember anything else I say after this point remember this Palm Sunday demonstrates
That no amount of Oppression can Dash the hopes of people who believe that their King will come a major theological theme of today is hope the entry of Jesus into the holy city of Jerusalem on Palm SU is the witness that God will not leave creation to continue in the status quo
Of the power Arrangements that Rob persons of what the Divine intended whether those power Arrangements have Roman or Jewish origin or other Origins for African-Americans who’ve often suffered from the power Arrangements of the status quo today is a day of Hope and celebration that speaks to the divine possibilities for
Change this year the arrival of Palm Sunday could not have come at a better time because our society today needs hope with our nation on the precipice of one of the most contentious presidential elections in recent history we need some hope this morning with gun violence that is
Ripping the soul of our country and Comm communities we need hope as food prices continue to rise and families have to make heartbreaking decisions whether to buy food or medicine because there is more month than there is money we stand in need of Hope for the many churches
That have stopped being the hospital for the spiritually sick and have transformed into places people come to act like they okay thereby creating a space that tells people you don’t have to grow up as long as you can pretend our houses of worship stand in need of
Hope women I’m coming to you as we continue in the celebration of women’s History Month our sisters who are fighting against bias and discrimination in all areas stand in need of Hope someone showed up to the park this morning in search of hope maybe your marriage or relationship is in shambles
Maybe your money is funny and your change is strange maybe the promotion you would do hasn’t come maybe you just received some devastating news from the doctor I don’t know what you’re facing this morning part family but the triumphal entry is the symbol of hope that all of us need
As we journey in the Holy Week 2024 I came by this morning to encourage you to be hopeful and there are some lessons from this parade the triumphal entry that provide hope for your situation and I want to lift these lessons this morning for you on this
Palm Sunday the first lesson that this passage teaches us that this parade teaches us is about the exactness of Prophecy the exactness of Prophecy it’s right there in verses 1-7 in Matthew uh chapter 21 as they approached Jerusalem and came to Beth Page on the Mount of Olives Jesus sent two disciples saying
Go to the Village ahead of you and at once you will find a donkey tied there with her cult by her untie them and bring bring them to me if anyone says anything to you says the L say that the Lord needs them and he will send them
Right away this took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet say to daughter Zion see your king comes to you Gentle and riding on a donkey and on a coat the fold of a donkey the disciples went and did as Jesus instructed them they bought the donkey
And the coat and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus Jus to sit on from this text and many other texts in the Bible it is clear that Jesus was always in control of the events that affected his life he initiated his own Carnation when he sent two disciples to
Procure the mount on which he would ride into Jerusalem and what he does is SE thereby set in motion a series of climactic events that culminated in the voluntary gracious sacrifice of himself on the cross that had been divinely planned from eternity pass the two disciples
Were told to go to the Village opposite them where they would immediately find a donkey tied and a cult with her now here’s what you need to understand let’s see if I got Bible readers in the house it is important to note that when you read the other gospels they only mention the
Cult the gospel of Matthew mentions both the donkey and the cult this was the same event but Matthew is focusing on the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly daughter Zion shout daughter Jerusalem see your king comes to you righteous and Victorious lowly and riding on a donkey
On a coat the fold of a donkey although the village was nearby the two animals were obviously out of sight or Jesus would have simply just pointed them out and the mother donkey was brought along no doubt in order to induce her Offspring to cooperate the young cult would not might
Have easily have left his mother and would have been more difficult to handle than donkeys normally are only in his omnisense all knowing could Jesus have known that the donkey and the cult would at that moment be where they were waiting to be found by the two disciples Jesus also knew the disciples
Would be questioned about taking the animals he therefore further instructed them if anyone says something to you you shall say the Lord has need of them it seems totally inappropriate that any King much less the King of Kings should make his triumphal entry mounted on a donkey rather than a beautiful white stallion
Or in a Regal Chariot but that is what God’s Prophet predicted and that is what God’s son did because that was the divine plan it wasn’t the intention for him to come in Earthly SP Splendor or to reign in Earthly power he didn’t come in wealth but he came in poverty he didn’t
Come in grandor but he came in meekness he didn’t come to slay Israel’s enemies but he came to save all mankind the Incarnation was the beginning of his humiliation not the time for his glorification because he was a king like no other king his coronation was like no
Other coronation and by the standards and purposes of the Earth’s Kings Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem was anything but triumphant but by the standards and purposes of almighty God it was exactly as it was meant to be Jesus’s entry on a donkey even on a cult
The fall of a beast of burden was not a put down by his rejectors it was The Sovereign choice of God the father and of God the son who himself willingly came to Earth as the servant savior to take upon himself the sin of the world nothing could have been more
Appropriate than the beautiful bearer of the world’s sin burden entering God’s holy city of Zion riding on a lowly Beast of Burden Matthew shows how Jesus’s actions fulfill the prophet’s exact words thus giving another indication that Jesus was indeed the Messiah that might have went some over
Somebody’s head so let me say it this way a few years ago a friend came over to the house to assist me with a home improvement project and when they came over I found a new appreciation for being exact and precise Heather purchased a new overhead microwave for our kitchen and before she
Purchased a microwave she had to measure the space where the old microwave was so that the new one could fit in the slot as closely as possible friend of ours came over to install the microwave and what he needed me to do he needed me to hold the
Microwave in place to determine if the whole placement of the screw that held the previous microwave could hold the new one if the previous hold placement could not be used used the microwave could have been more difficult to install you know I was praying as I was holding that heavy
Microwave but look at God all we had to do was make the existing hole a little bit bigger everything else was exact and I just need to tell somebody this morning that who’s in the sanctuary on online that if you could give God praise this morning that just as the measurements of
The new microwave lined up exactly that God’s word lines up exactly and that God does what he says he’s going to do and because he’s able your life may be in shambles this morning but if you keep God first just like that microwave fell in place your life will fall all in [Applause]
Place Jesus riding into Jerusalem in this parade teaches us the exactness of Prophecy but the second thing that this parade teaches us is that Jesus is the epitome of Praise he’s the epitome epitome of Praise it’s right there in verses 8-9 in Matthew 29 to Matthew 21 a very large
Crowd spread their cloaks on the road while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road the crowds then went ahead of him and those that follow and shouted hosana to the son of David blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord hosana in the highest
Heaven this verse is one of the few places where the god gospel records that Jesus’s glory is recognized on Earth Jesus boldly rolled as the king of peace and the crowd gladly joined him and as Jesus began to ride into the city most of the multitude spread their garments
On the road it was an ancient custom for citizens to throw their garments in the road for their Monarch to ride over symbolized ing their respect for him and their submission to his authority it was as as if the people there were were there to say we place ourselves at your
Feet even to walk over if necessary and while those people were putting their clothes in Jesus’s path others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road and from John 12: 13 we learned that the branches were from Palm Trees which are symbolic of Salvation and
Joy there was great excitement as the multitude proclaimed praise to the Messiah to the rabi from the Galilee who taught with such Authority who had healed their diseases and even raised their dead the Lord was now completely surrounded by a mass of humanity perhaps several hundred thousand people some of
Whom were going before him and some of whom followed after him and as Jesus has shown to be the epitome of Praise this point teaches us that you got to be wary family of some fake love if y’all don’t mind I’d like to quote that great Street prognosticator
Drake I’ve been down so long it look like up to to me they look up to me I got fake people showing fake love to me straight up to my face straight up to my face the same people who were praising Jesus on Monday would bow to political
Pressure and desert him just a few days later and many of you know this all too well people will tell you you’re doing great to your face but behind your back as soon soon as you walk away they’re tearing your behind down when you’re doing what is right you
Like Jesus better be wary of that fake love they’re celebrating with you at the installation ceremony but ready to vote you out a week later y’all not talking to me up in here this morning they ready to install you as president of your sorority president of your order president of your fraternity
Sorority whatever but as soon as you get the title good they ready to vote you out can anybody testify that you’ve had to deal with some fake love in your life but then here’s the blessing God revealed the source of that fake love and then you promptly cut them
Off can you give God praise this morning for Revelation on who is for you and who is against you and sometimes all you got to do is listen cuz you know when it comes to us some of us talk too much so all you got to do is be quiet
And sit still because eventually we’ll tell on ourselves in the parade known as the triumphal entry we see the exactness of Prophecy we see Jesus as the epitome of Praise but the final thing we see in this text we learn about the element of perplexity we learn about the element of
Perplexity it’s right there in verses 10 and 11 when Jesus entered Jerusalem the whole city was stirred and asked who that is the crowds answered this is Jesus the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee Matthew’s account of this text closes with an element of perplexity cuz after the great shouts of
Acclamation somewhat subsided subsided and Jesus now had in Jerusalem the residents of the city begin asking who is this and the best response that the multitude of celebrates could give was this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee what that means is that obviously most of them had paid little
Attention to what they had been shouting so vifer usly they had barely finished proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah the son of David who came in the name of the Lord but they didn’t comprehend what they said and when the mass of emotion sued they were hard put to say who Jesus
Really was other than a prophet who came from Nazareth in Galilee they no longer called him the son of David or praised him as the great deliverer he was no more than a proph ET the people knew but they wouldn’t believe because they would not believe they ceased to know and like their
Forefathers to whom Isaiah preached they heard but did not perceive and saw but did not understand because their hearts were insensitive they heard Jesus’s message they attested to his miracles and they even acknowledged his divinity but they rejected his savior Hood and his lordship truth be told they were like some of us
Earthbound materialistic and self-satisfied they were only interested in the kingdoms of this world but not the Kingdom of Heaven they would accept Jesus as an Earthly King but they wouldn’t have him as their Heavenly King and as we prepared to enter Holy Week 2024 is your priority
Heaven or is it what you can continue to amass here on Earth is your priority to glorify Jesus or to glorify yourself and get all you can get Smith Funeral Home is a small B business located beside the church our pastor in Wadesboro most African-Americans in Wadesboro entrust their family members
To Mr Smith when his services are needed in the five years I’ve been at Ebenezer I’ve probably officiated or eulogized about 10 to 15 people can I tell you what I’ve never seen at the funeral home with Mr Smith and his herses he’s got some very nice
Herses but I’ve never seen a U-Haul truck attached to the herses somebody said a U-Haul truck why have you never seen a U-Haul truck because the stuff you accumulate down here you can’t it with you to the [Applause] Grave I’m closing and going to let you
Go enjoy your Palm Sunday over a month ago in Kansas City Missouri the world learned a tragic lesson at a parade celebrating the chief’s Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers that mass shootings are a common occurrence as a result of the 48th mass shooting of 2024 Lisa Lopez
Galvan a mother of Two and a local dis jockey and radio host lost her life more than 20 others including 12 children were injured following that tragedy Taylor Swift the love interest of Kansas City chief tight end Travis Kelce donated $100,000 to the GoFundMe account established by the family of Lisa Lopez
Galvan more than likely this donation which lifted a great deal of the burden of the funeral cost would not have happened if it were not for the connection of Kelsey to Swift somebody missed their shout already this morning on this Palm Sunday so let me come help you I don’t know
What burdens you are carrying this Palm Sunday but if you have a chance to get connected to a savior who’s waiting to be your burden Bearer then you are in the right place more than 2,000 years ago he was born contrary to the laws of life he lived in
Poverty and was reared in obscurity he didn’t travel extensively only once did he cross the boundary of the country in which he lived that was during his Exile in childhood he possessed neither wealth nor influence his relatives were inconspicuous and had neither training nor formal education in infancy he
Starred on the king in childhood he puzzled doctors in manhood he ruled the course of nature walked upon the waves as pavement and hushed the sea to sleep he healed the multitude without medicine and didn’t charge for his Services he never wrote a book yet Perhaps all the
Libraries of the world could not hold the books that have been written about him him he never wrote a song yet he’s furnished the theme for more songs than all song writers combined he never founded a college but all the schools combined cannot boast of having as many
Students he never marshaled an army nor drafted a soldier nor fired a gun and yet no leader ever has had more volunteers than he has under his orders made more Rebels to stack arms and surrender without a shot fired he never practiced Psychiatry and yet he’s healed more
Broken hearts than all doctors far and near once each week multitudes congregated houses of worship to pay homage and respect to him he stands forth upon the highest Pinnacle of heavenly Glory Proclaim AED of God acknowledged of angels adored by Saints and feared by Devils as the ra risen
Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior many of us are living chaotic lives like donkeys and Cults that tend to be unruly and undisciplined but only when we accept Jesus for who he is our reigning King and savior then our Behavior will be in line and as we enter Holy
Week if your life is in chaos like a donkey running wild Let Jesus in so he can set you straight on the narrow road amen amen and amen
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