Gtcotr/ss041711
What is Palm Sunday? Preparation!
Matthew 21 NKJV
1 ¶ Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
2 saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me.
3 "And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ’The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them."
4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:
5 "Tell the daughter of Zion, ’Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’"
6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.
7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.
8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David! ’Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!"
10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"
11 So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."
All of this whole account is without specific significance except that it be tied to the reality that Messiah is coming, as promised, to a people who are waiting for His appearing.
The fact that it was still one week before the great and most important Feast of Passover, signifies the importance God places on preparation for His coming. There is an established pattern or preparation.
Before God sent His Only Begotten Son into the world as a baby in the manger of Bethlehem, He first sent a forerunner to announce the good news. John the Baptist came as a voice of one crying in the wilderness saying “prepare” for the coming of the Lord.
Before God destroyed the earth with a flood, He first raised up Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and commissioned him to build an ark and make preparation for the coming salvation of the Lord. Noah preached repentance for 120 years, telling others that they should also prepare for the great and terrible day of the Lord.
In the Palm Sunday passages of scripture the prophecy once again is echoed to “prepare for the coming of the Lord.” Only 7 days after Palm Sunday, on the resurrection day of our Lord Jesus was another chosen vessel, Mary, who was sent with a message to tell the followers of Christ that their Messiah had risen and was going to meet with them as He had promised.
The message of this season establishes our call as believers to first embrace for ourselves and then announce to others that the coming of the Lord is upon us.
As did all those nameless individuals in that day, we too must play our part and go out into the highways and byways and draw others to Christ.
What can we do? How can we fulfill our part in God’s Kingdom plan today? By going and telling others the good news … “Your King is coming to you!”
Those who followed Jesus that day worshipped and served Him by doing whatever they could to prepare the way and make it easy for that little donkey to carry Christ to their city.
· Some put their garments on the little donkey. This was a sign of their approval. This was their personal banner advertising the fact that they were in agreement with His choice of a messenger.
· Others put their garments and palm branches on the road so that the little donkey could experience an easier path. By this action these men and women were helping the little donkey to carry the important burden with as much ease as possible.
· Still others cried and sang aloud the praises of the King – Hosanna … the Lord saves. With their voices they were lending their testimony to the moment and the ministry taking place on that hillside that day.
· This is our continuing privilege today!
Imagine that Jesus is ready to come to the hearts and homes of every person in your city, each one in your neighborhood, and every individual at your workplace. If God follows the pattern established from the foundation of the world, He will send someone to awaken the interest and announce this good news opportunity to their friends. This week, the someone God wants to use is you!
One week from today, just as in Jesus' time, a great celebration will take place in our church and in churches all around the world. This celebration I speak of is known as Easter, the Resurrection Day of the Lord.
It cannot be denied that this season of the year is the most powerful spiritual season God ordained. Each year more souls are drawn to a personal encounter with Christ than at any other time of the year. Next Sunday people from all walks of life will be primed to receive the coming Messiah into their hearts and homes like never before.
Only one puzzle piece is lacking – who will go and tell? Who will answer the call to awaken the interest and share the opportunity?
· How many of us will go out of our way to lay our garments on this little donkey, lending him our credibility?
· How many of us will spread our garments or lay palm branches on the pathway leading to salvation for some friend or family member?
· How many of us will lend our voice to publicly praise and worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?
· Will you encourage someone to come and meet Jesus?
I have been preparing for months to give you the best opportunity and easiest way to participate in God’s plan for this special season of the year. The Holy Spirit has been working behind the scenes getting the hearts and homes of your friends, neighbors, school mates and co-workers ready for this week. They are prepared to receive an invitation or word of encouragement from you to attend church either with you or wherever they would most likely attend this coming Sunday morning.
Your part, is to: “Tell the daughter of Zion” that her King is coming. How can you do this? The ushers have invitation cards which I have asked them to make available to you. And, in just a moment I am going to ask you to take 2 or 3 of these cards and give them to someone this week.
I am asking that you use these invitations to simply encourage friends and family members to not miss attending church this coming Easter Sunday. If they don’t have a good church home which they plan to attend, invite them to come to Church with you next week.
I promise you, this little donkey will carry Jesus into their hearts and into their homes this Resurrection Day and they will never be the same.
· God is prepared
· I am prepared
· They are prepared
The only thing needed to fulfill God’s eternal plan is you. Will you help?
You get them here and we will give them Jesus.
This week our church will be encouraging thousands of people from all over the Golden Triangle to attend the church of their choice this coming Easter Sunday. We will be using cards similar to those you will be receiving this morning with one exception. The cards our volunteer workers will be passing out this week do not have any reference to Church On The Rock. They simply encourage people to attend Church on Easter. This is our investment in the hearts, homes and many wonderful churches in our area.
Will you help us in our church’s efforts to reach every heart and every home in 2011 with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Ushers, make cards available to our congregation. Please take 2 or 3 and use them this week to tell the daughter of Zion that her King is coming! Encourage someone to attend church with you on Resurrection Day.
