April 15, 2025 • 43 mins
The profound distinction between human passion and the passion of Jesus reveals a transformative truth about love and sacrifice. While our passions often center on self-gratification—whether through food, sports, family, or achievements—Christ's passion demonstrates the ultimate act of enduring suffering for others.
Through the lens of Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, we discover the three fundamental aspects of His passion that can revolutionize our understanding of faith. First, Christ's passion loves you unconditionally, not based on performance but on grace. When we truly grasp this love, our natural response is to live for Jesus daily out of gratitude rather than obligation.
Second, the passion of Jesus forgives completely. We all experience a spiritual cycle of repentance, forgiveness, faithfulness, temptation, and sometimes failure. Yet Christ's passion offers continual forgiveness that frees us from dwelling in shame and empowers us to pursue God's calling without being paralyzed by past mistakes.
Third, Christ's passion saves definitively. Like Jessica who was rescued from a deep well after 60 hours with no way to save herself, we are all trapped in sin with no escape plan of our own. Jesus's sacrifice offers the only path to freedom—drawing us "up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog" to set our feet upon solid ground.
As Easter approaches, these truths invite us to surrender our lives completely. Christ isn't interested in our perfection—He's interested in our hearts. He calls us to relationship rather than performance, offering love, forgiveness, and salvation to anyone willing to receive it. What are you passionate about today, and is it leading you toward self-gratification or surrender to the One whose passion can truly transform your life?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So in 2017, my wife and I, we were celebrating our
fifth year anniversary and so Ihad, you know, an amazing
thought to say hey, babe, whydon't we go celebrate somewhere
fun?
So we went to Orlando, theplace of magic.
So we went to Orlando Studiosand then we went to Disney there
(00:23):
should be a picture up there ofus Ah, look at that.
Yes, the smiles.
So we were there at AnimalKingdom and then we went to
Epcot.
At Epcot, they had the foodfestival, in which, if you
haven't been there before, atEpcot, there's like different
countries from around the worldand you can go to these
different countries and eat yourface off.
(00:45):
So we went and I was eatinglobster rolls I mean, you name
it I was throwing down and then,slowly and surely, you know,
just in all the hype, you know,like the adrenaline and it kind
of weighed down and I was like,ooh, I am not feeling good.
Hey, babe, babe, babe, I just,I don't know what it is, but I'm
(01:06):
just not feeling good, hey.
But then I saw they had cremebrulee Come on somebody.
And it was oh, yeah, yeah, andit was good.
Look at the top, it's like allburnt, like a little crisp.
So it was all crispy and nice,that creme brulee, and so I
still got some, and then I ateit.
Matter of fact, I devoured it.
And then I went to my wife andI just said, oh, I really don't
(01:27):
feel good.
You know, I'm kind of slowingdown, I'm gonna stagger a little
bit.
And I'm like, babe, I just Ithink we should go to like the
medical center, like do theyhave one?
Is there like a first aid hereat Disney?
And so I'm, you know, I'm kindof contemplating what to do.
And then that's when ithappened.
There was a light.
There was a bright light that Isaw and it was angelic voices,
(01:54):
and oh, and there was a sign.
And the sign read Hawaiiancheesecake, $5 a slice.
And so I told my wife I waslike, babe, I gotta get me some.
And so I go and I eat theHawaiian cheesecake and as I'm,
I'm just, you know, I can feelit kind of slowing down, going
(02:15):
down my throat.
I'm like, oh, okay, I reallydon't feel good.
We ended up taking me to thefirst aid and from there I'm in
there, I'm just moaning andgroaning, I'm oh, oh, oh.
I know I'm glad there is novideo evidence of this at all,
but I'm like, oh, and then Iactually got so bad that I had
to take an ambulance and endedup in the hospital.
(02:38):
Yeah, so, which is so fun?
What a wonderful, wonderfulanniversary trip for my wife.
Now you see, I was passionate.
I was extremely passionateabout food, but the thing is, is
that my passion was selfish, itwas all about me.
(03:02):
So I ask you today, what areyou passionate about?
Maybe it's your family.
You're passionate about yourspouse, or maybe your kids or
grandkids or friends.
Maybe it's food, like me.
Maybe you're passionate aboutdesserts and cakes and cookies
and pies or steaks or saladswhoever that is, this is a safe
(03:23):
space.
And cakes and cookies and piesor steaks or salads whoever that
is, this is a safe space.
Maybe you are passionate aboutexercise.
Maybe you know your regiment.
Day in, day out, you'rechecking your macros and things
are good.
You're passionate aboutexercise.
Or maybe it's sports S-E-C.
Football.
Oh, there it is, yeah, mm-hmm,there it is.
(03:43):
Maybe it's basketball.
Or maybe it's sports S-E-C.
Football.
There it is, yeah, mm-hmm,there it is.
Maybe it's basketball.
Or maybe it's golf, and youjust loved, enjoyed watching the
Masters, and maybe you got togo and travel to the Masters.
Maybe it's vacations.
Maybe you like Orlando, justlike the story I told, or maybe
it's the beach or the mountains.
What are you passionate about?
Or maybe it's money, maybe youjust want more money.
(04:09):
Well, the truth is is thateveryone is passionate about
something, but what happens whenyour passion becomes your pain?
The series we're in right nowis called the Passion of Jesus.
God has placed this on PastorChip's heart and even as we go
(04:32):
into Good Friday and EasterSunday, let's be clear about one
thing when we're talking aboutpassion and whether it's cookies
or exercise or money, there's avery different type of passion
that we're talking about.
It's really like this love anddeep emotion for something.
I am passionate about travelingbut when we are talking about
(04:53):
the passion of Jesus, we'retalking about passion in a
different way, because thepassion of Jesus is about
enduring and suffering.
Enduring and suffering.
So like when I talk about me atDisney and I'm just eating my
(05:15):
face off, like, yeah, like I wassuper passionate.
Now, I was enduring andsuffering, but it was all for me
.
I was gratifying myself.
But there's a difference aboutthis.
Jesus, philippians, chapter two,verse eight, says this and,
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being found in human form, hehumbled himself by becoming
obedient to the point of death,even death on a cross.
The triumphal entry is thefocus of this morning, of Jesus
going into Jerusalem On a donkey.
(05:57):
Jesus knows what's ahead andyet still goes through.
Oswald Chambers says this thecross was the place where God
and sinful man merged with atremendous collision and Jesus
(06:17):
absorbed it all.
Jesus absorbed it all.
So the question I ask you thismorning is this Are you more
passionate about Jesus oryourself?
Now, I know sometimes you wannabe like man.
(06:38):
I'm more passionate about Jesus, woo, and then very.
You know, in our humanity, inour sinful nature, we do get
passionate about things that wewant.
The passion of humanity is self, but the passion of Jesus is
(07:04):
sacrifice, the things you arepassionate about.
It's not bad, it's not a badthing.
I'm not saying you should notbe passionate about SEC football
meh, that's not what we'resaying.
That's not what I'm saying.
That's not what the Bible whatwe're talking about.
But it is to say that there isa very clear difference of us as
(07:26):
people, as flawed humans, andthis man who came on the donkey.
There was something about him.
There's a reason why Jesus didthis.
Now, why does this matter?
Why does this matter?
We're talking about passion.
Well, what's the point?
Listen, if you don't get this,then you will live a life void
(07:49):
of love, forgiveness orsalvation.
If you don't understand thelove that Jesus has for you, if
you don't understand theforgiveness that's available to
you and if you don't accept thefree gift of salvation that he
bled for you, let's pray, father.
(08:15):
God, we thank you for your word, god, I ask, Lord, that you
just open our hearts to receivewhat you have for us today.
God, help me, lord, to speakclear.
God, we thank you for your love.
God, we thank you for thepassion of Jesus.
So, in Jesus' name, we prayamen.
So, as we start off, we'retalking about the triumphal
(08:35):
entry.
As I talked about, it's aboutJesus going into Jerusalem on a
donkey, and the bottom line isthe triumphant entry wasn't just
a celebration, it was a parade.
But it wasn't just acelebration, it was a
declaration.
Jesus is putting on display whohe is and what he is about.
(08:57):
There are people surroundinghim and they are worshiping him,
and not once did Jesus condemnthem for worshiping him and not
once did Jesus condemn them forworshiping him.
So, with the passion of Jesus,there's three things that you
need to know about the enduringof Christ, the suffering of
(09:17):
Christ.
Number one is this the passionof Jesus loves you.
Everybody say love, loves.
The passion of Jesus loves you.
Everybody say love, loves.
The passion of Jesus loves you.
Matthew, chapter 21, verse onethrough five says this Now, when
they drew near to Jerusalem andcame to Bethphage, to the Mount
of Olives, then Jesus sent twodisciples saying to them go into
(09:41):
the village in front of you andimmediately you will find a
donkey tied and a colt with herand tie them and bring them to
me.
Now, if anyone says anything toyou, you shall say the Lord
needs them and he will send themat once.
So if anyone has a problem withit, jesus is saying tell him,
(10:04):
tell him, it's for me and itreminds me of you know those
movies in the 90s?
I mean they kind of reallydon't do them now, but there's
like this cop and he's likechasing the bad guy and he's
using, you know driving thisbeat-up car and then you know
totals the car and the cop runsout and he's looking for a car
right, and then there's likesomebody like and the cop jumps
in front of them like stop, fbi,get out of the car, and usually
(10:28):
in the movies they get out andthen the cop takes the car and
he just speeds off.
Now, I haven't seen that happenin real life, but I have seen
it in the movies.
But nevertheless, the reasonwhy is they understand the
authority of the badge, theyunderstand who the person is and
what he represents.
And in that same way, jesus issaying if anyone has a problem,
(10:51):
if they have a problem, tellthem that the Lord needs it
Verse 4.
This took place to fulfill whatwas spoken by the prophet saying
this Say to the daughter ofZion behold, your king is coming
to you, humble and mounted on adonkey, on a colt, the foal of
(11:15):
a beast of burden.
So there are a couple thingsjust happening within these
first couple verses, and thefirst thing is this the act was
intentional and prophetic.
You see, the prophecy thatthey're talking about is from
Zechariah, chapter 9, verse 9.
You have this promise of a kingwho's coming, the daughters of
(11:40):
Zion.
Zion was a poetic name forJerusalem, so it's talking about
the people of Jerusalem, andthe triumphal entry was Jesus
going into Jerusalem.
So the first part is talkingabout the king coming.
The second part talks about.
How is that king coming?
It says humble and mounted on adonkey, on a colt, the foal of
(12:06):
the beast of burden.
So Jesus could have came in ona horse.
He could have came in withswords, guns blazing.
Everybody listen up.
The people thought that hey,because they were already being
ruled by Rome, they're going.
Hey, this king's gonna come andtake over.
That wasn't the case.
Jesus came on a donkey.
(12:28):
It says a foal, a beast ofburden.
And I mean that's what donkeysdo?
They just hold a weight.
They hold a heavy weight.
Isn't it interesting that adonkey holds a heavy weight?
And yet the burden that Christbared for you and for me, the
sins of humanity.
He came humbly.
(12:51):
Jesus is saying this.
He's saying I am the Messiah.
Bible scholar and professorCharles Feinberg says it this
way the world's peace dependsupon a savior and his salvation
Peace.
You see, the problem with sinis you cannot be in sin and have
(13:16):
peace at the same time.
Doesn't mix.
Humanity can't save themselves,you cannot save yourself.
Only Christ can do that, andthen you have peace.
Now, why would Jesus do this?
Why, well, because he loves you.
(13:39):
Because he loves you.
Romans, chapter five, verseeight, says this but God shows
his love for us that while wewere still amazing hold on that.
All doesn't say that, does it.
While we were still awesome,while we were still rich,
(14:00):
perfect, no, while we were stillsinners, christ died for us.
So what do you do when youunderstand that the passion of
Jesus loves you?
Well, you live for Jesus daily.
(14:22):
When I was in third grade, myparents divorced and I lived
with my mom and my sister and welived in a trailer park for a
couple years.
Then we moved to Charlotte,north Carolina.
From there I went to about fourdifferent high schools.
It was a lot and I honestlyhated being home.
My mom was dating someone atthe time and I just couldn't
stand being home.
I was doing very poorly inschool.
(14:43):
I was having problems with myeyes.
I was partially blind in myleft eye then.
I'm completely blind in my lefteye now, but I was having these
vision problems, didn't wannabe home.
School's going terrible, moveda lot and I'm just like I just
don't wanna be at home.
So I would go skateboarding.
It was the only time to where Ifelt alive, because I wasn't
(15:03):
home and I wasn't at school andI didn't have to deal with
anything.
It was like I was running awayfrom my problems.
I don't know if you've everdone that, but lo and behold,
I'm skateboarding in a churchparking lot and this guy comes
out and he's like hey, hey, kid,hey, hey, hey, I didn't do it
like that.
But he was like hey, you can'tskateboard here.
(15:24):
And my mom always taught me tobe respectful and so I said yes,
sir.
Then he asked me.
He said well, what are youdoing this Sunday?
Again, my mother taught me tobe respectful Nothing.
He's like you want to come tochurch?
I'm like, okay, and so then Igo, and then I go to church,
church, and they had youth thatSunday night.
So then I went to Sunday nightand I was walking across with
(15:46):
the youth pastor at the timewalking across the street, and I
asked him because, again, justthis home life, it was awful, I
just wanted to escape.
And I asked him.
I said how can I be the man ofthe house?
You know this 15 year old punk.
How can I be the man of thehouse?
And then he asked me a question.
He said James, I have aquestion for you.
If you died today, how do youknow you'd go to heaven?
(16:09):
And I'm like she gonna ask melike I don't know.
Listen, you need to be good,you need to read your Bible and
go to church and pray.
And it was at that moment towhere he lovingly expressed and
explained the gospel of JesusChrist to me.
And once I heard the gospel, hesaid now James, some people, it
(16:33):
takes them time.
And I was like, no, I wanna dothis right here, right now.
And that's when I gave my lifeto the Lord, I surrendered
Galatians.
Chapter two, verse 20, says thisI have been crucified with
Christ.
It is no longer I who live, butChrist who lives in me.
So when we talk about livingfor Jesus daily, it's when you
(16:58):
understand that the passion ofJesus loves you.
He endured for you, he sufferedfor you.
That's because he loves you.
When you love your wife, youlive for your wife.
When you love your husband, youlive for your husband.
When you love your kids, youlive for your kids.
And when you love Jesus, youlive for Him, amen.
(17:24):
So the passion of Jesus lovesyou.
Number two the passion of Jesusforgives you, verse six the
disciples went and did as Jesushad directed them.
They brought the donkey and thecolt and put them their cloaks
and he sat on them.
Most of the crowd spread theircloaks on the road and others
(17:47):
cut branches from trees andspread them on the road.
Now there's this reallyinteresting thing because, as
they're putting their cloaks andthey're cutting the trees, it's
this act of worship the peoplelaid down their cloaks and
branches.
It's a sign of royalty.
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These people, they're going.
We believe you are the Christ,we believe you are the Messiah.
Let me worship you.
Let me worship you.
But there's this thing we'retalking about the passion of
(18:30):
Jesus forgives and these peopleare worshiping Jesus and Jesus
goes into Jerusalem like heknows there's something that he
knows.
He knows that the people thatare worshiping him, that things
are gonna change.
The same city that celebratedhim would soon betray him.
(18:54):
You see, there's this cycle offollowing Jesus.
There's this thing that we'relike you're on fire for the Lord
and you wanna do what Jesusasks you to do, and then things
just kinda unravel.
So the cycle is this you startwith repent, you acknowledge and
you turn away from the sin.
(19:15):
All right, then Jesus forgives,you receive grace and
forgiveness.
You're going.
Jesus, please forgive me for mysins.
Next thing, you know you'reliving for Jesus, you're on fire
.
You're inviting everybody tochurch.
You're reading that Bible.
You're doing what you need todo.
Woo, things are great.
People ask how you doing.
You're inviting everybody tochurch.
You're reading that Bible.
You're doing what you need todo.
Woo, things are great.
People ask how you doing.
You say blessed and highlyfavored, but soon, at some point
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in your life, at some point inyour walk, you're tempted, face
spiritual challenges, you aretempted to sin, and sometimes
you overcome that sin throughthe power of the Holy Spirit.
But then sometimes, afteryou're tempted, you fall into
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sin, you stray from the path andyou miss the mark.
But we're talking about thecycle.
So guess what?
You fall into sin, you strayfrom the path and you miss the
mark.
But we're talking about thecycle.
So guess what?
It repeats itself.
Oh, my goodness, look, yourepent, jesus forgives, you live
for Jesus.
Woo, blessed, highly favored.
Oh, then you're tempted andthen you fall into sin.
But then it repeats itselfagain and again and again.
The reason why this is importantis because you need to
(20:28):
understand.
It's not where you are in thecycle right now.
This isn't about where you are.
This is about who Jesus is,because when you think, man, I'm
over here.
You're already thinking aboutyourself.
It doesn't.
It's not about you, it's aboutthe passion of Jesus, the
enduring and the suffering thathe did for you.
(20:51):
Why?
Because he loves you andbecause he forgives you.
Only Jesus can cleanse your sin.
Jesus knew that these peoplewould betray him.
These people worshiping him,they lay their cloaks down, they
cut off the branches.
These people worshiping him,they lay their cloaks down, they
(21:13):
cut off the branches and thensoon some will deny him.
And in that same way for you,as you're on fire for the Lord,
and then you fall.
Jesus still forgives youBecause when you miss the mark,
when you fall, when you sin,repent.
(21:33):
Everybody say repent Now, thisisn't one of them.
Turn or burn like.
You need to repent.
That's not what we're talkingabout.
What we're talking about iswhen you fall, because you will.
Why?
Because there is a differencebetween humanity and Jesus.
There's a difference betweenyour passion and the passion of
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Jesus.
Everybody fails.
Don't stay in your shame, getup.
Get up, because the longer youdwell in your shame, the longer
you dwell in oh, I shouldn'thave done that, oh, so, and so
the longer you dwell in yourshame, the longer you dwell in.
Oh, I shouldn't have done that.
Oh, the longer you dwell inthat, the less time you have to
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do what God's calling you to do,the less people you are going
to reach, the less gifts you aregoing to use.
The passion of Jesus forgivesyou.
Confess and repent.
The passion of Jesus forgivesyou.
Confess and repent.
(22:36):
1 John 1, verse nine says thisIf we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive usour sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.
You have to understand that, asJesus is going into Jerusalem,
he already knows, he knows thatthe cross is coming, and yet
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there are people surrounding himworshiping him.
The passion of Jesus loves you.
The passion of Jesus forgivesyou.
And then, number three thepassion of Jesus loves you.
The passion of Jesus forgivesyou.
And then, number three thepassion of Jesus saves you.
Verse nine and the crowds thatwent before him and that
(23:21):
followed him were shoutingHosanna to the son of David,
blessed is he who comes in thename of the Lord, hosanna in the
highest.
And when he entered Jerusalem,the whole city was stirred up,
saying who is this?
Ooh, stirred up.
Ooh, sound like some drama.
Ooh, does anybody like a gooddrama?
Ooh, drama and the crowd saidthis is the prophet Jesus from
(23:47):
Nazareth of Galilee.
Now, here's the thing is thatthe people cried out and Jesus
answered.
They're crying out to Jesus asa savior, they're crying out to
him as the Messiah, and Jesuswas there.
He showed up.
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He was on the scene because weserve a personal God.
We serve a God who loves you, aGod who knows you, a God who
has plans for you, and sometimesit may feel like God is so far
away.
Sometimes it may feel like God.
Why are you not changing thesituation, god?
(24:33):
I'm praying, I believe, but Idon't see anything changing.
Now, when they say Hosanna,it's coming from Psalm chapter
118, verses 25 and 26.
It says this save us.
(24:56):
We pray, oh Lord.
Oh Lord, we pray, give ussuccess.
Blessed is he who comes in thename of the Lord.
We bless you from the house ofthe Lord.
You see, this word, hosanna, itkind of has these two meanings.
One is a plea for salvationlike Lord, save us, god, help us
(25:19):
.
But then you have Lord, thankyou for bringing a deliverer.
These people are crying out andGod answered.
Jesus didn't shy away from thispublic declaration.
Jesus is saying I am the Son ofGod.
(25:42):
I am the Messiah.
I can forgive your sins.
But we have an issue becausethe whole town was stirred up.
Somebody say stirred up.
So even with these miracles,even with all the things Christ
(26:03):
had done before, even with himloving and serving and bringing
people back from the dead,feeding people, all of these
things some believed and somequestioned.
And that may be where you arein your life.
You believe that God's gonnaprovide, even if it's not the
(26:27):
way you want it, even if it'snot the way you want it.
And then some of us are maybegetting frustrated.
All right, lord, god, I've beenfaithful.
(26:47):
This isn't changing.
It's getting worse.
Where are you, lord?
Save me.
You have a choice.
You have a choice to eitherserve God when things are good
and then doubt him when thingsare bad, or serve God no matter
what your circumstances are.
I can't tell you how many timesI've prayed to God to heal my
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eye, year after year after year,day after day.
And has God done it yet?
No, but is God still good?
Yes, he is good.
And I'm telling you as a kidwho parents divorced in the
third grade, growing up in atrailer park God is good.
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Now there is a rabbi.
His name's Rabbi Kushner, andwith Rabbi Kushner he had a
young son.
And his young son was sick andtime after time after time, the
rabbi, he would pray to God toheal his son.
God heal my son.
God heal my son.
God heal my son.
God heal my son.
God heal my son.
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God heal my son.
And sadly, his son didn't getbetter.
His son unfortunately passedaway.
Now the rabbi went from God isgood, god is all-knowing, god is
all-powerful.
But then, once his young sonpassed away, he started to teach
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people and talk about how Godis good.
But God is not all powerful.
He is public about his changein beliefs.
This isn't new.
(28:34):
We're talking about thetriumphal entry.
We're talking about Jesusfulfilling a prophecy from
hundreds of years before ithappened.
And even when Jesus goes in tothe town, some are believing and
some are questioning.
Some are believing and some arequestioning.
But here's the truth is Jesussaved others and he can save you
(29:00):
too.
So what do you do with that?
What do you do when youunderstand that the passion of
Jesus saves you?
Well, you ask for forgivenessand follow him.
You recognize that you are asinner and that your passion is
selfish.
Now, this is not a oh man.
Pastor James is coming up hereand just tearing us up.
(29:20):
This is like this is sayingthat Jesus knew these people
would sin and he loved them somuch that he still went to the
cross.
Jesus knows your shortcomingsand he loves you so much that he
still went to the cross.
Jesus knows your shortcomingsand he loves you so much that he
went to the cross.
Because you are never too fargone.
You're never too far gone.
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I don't know what doubts you'redealing with, or maybe what
addictions you're dealing with.
Maybe you're on the brink ofdivorce.
Maybe you are just drowning indebt.
Maybe you are depressed,suffering in loneliness, maybe
you have no family, you feellike a failure, and maybe you
have this illness that you'veprayed for time and time and
(30:04):
time again, but it seems likebetter is never coming.
The truth is, you are never toofar from God.
You're never too gone to besaved.
So what do you do when you askfor forgiveness and you follow
(30:25):
Jesus?
Is you become a livingsacrifice?
Romans, chapter 12, one saysthis I appeal to you, therefore,
brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a
living sacrifice, holy andacceptable to God, which is your
spiritual worship, a livingsacrifice.
(30:51):
A living sacrifice, it's notsaying you stay stuck in your
sin because you aren't perfect.
It's recognizing that the onlyway you can become a living
sacrifice is by surrenderingyour life to Jesus daily.
(31:12):
Why?
Because the passion of humanityis self.
We're selfish.
We are selfish.
Have you ever heard of thebystander effect?
The bystander effect, basically, is it's an effect to where
(31:33):
there's a large group of peoplelike this and if a person like
this is scientifically proven,if a person falls down, let's
say I fall down, I'm gonna backup a little bit.
Let's say I fall down on thestage.
The bystander effect saysnobody is gonna get up to help,
because when you get up to helpyou exit the safe zone of
(31:54):
everybody else.
You feel safe.
And if you leave that safe zoneto go and help somebody, then
you are alone.
The bystander effect.
But aren't you thankful that weserve a God that is over
science, because Jesus hascalled you to serve, not to
(32:21):
stand by.
So here's the application fortoday Three things, as we talked
about the passion of Jesusloving you, forgiving you and
saving you.
What do you do with the passionof Jesus, with the suffering of
Christ, with him, enduring thepain for you.
(32:43):
Number one you live for Jesusdaily.
You are going to fall short.
Christ did not call you toperfection, any perfectionists
(33:04):
in the room.
He calls you to relationship.
So, number two when you missthe mark, it's not if it's a
when, when you miss the mark,you're gonna yell at your spouse
, you're gonna do somethingsilly, you're gonna do something
you go.
Why did I do that?
(33:24):
How did I do that?
Again, god, help me.
When you miss the mark, repent,turn away from it, get up and
go.
And then, number three, ask forforgiveness and follow him.
Christ is not interested inyour perfection, he's interested
(33:48):
in your heart, in all areas ofyour life.
Now, why does this matter?
Why does this matter about youknow, living for Jesus daily and
when you miss the mark, repentand ask for forgiveness and felt
like, why does all this matter?
Well, the truth is, if youdon't get this, you will stay
(34:15):
trapped in sin, with no way out.
In 1987, there was a littlegirl and she was out playing in
the yard.
Her name was Jessica.
Normal day, things were great,and then suddenly, little
(34:37):
Jessica fell into a well.
Now, the well was 22 feet deep.
As her parents were kind ofwondering where Jessica was.
It took a while, like man,where is Jessica?
To their horror, they found outthat she was in the well and
this became national news.
(34:59):
Rescue men and crew were outthere trying to drill through
the rock to get to jessica.
The father said later in aninterview that they were able to
put a microphone down the wellso the father could hear his
daughter's voice.
And he, he said once he heardJessica's voice.
He said once I heard her voice,I threw my hands up.
(35:20):
I said God, I can't take this.
So the crew continued to work,and work, and work and they
finally got her, not after sixhours or 12 hours, not after 24
hours.
After 60 hours of no food, nowater, jessica was rescued and
(35:45):
we have a picture of when thishappened in 1987.
And just think about God whenhe hears your voice, when you
cry out to him.
The difference is God doesn'tthrow his hands up and say I
can't take this.
God says come to me, lay itdown, surrender, because the
(36:15):
truth is, you are like Jessica,I am like Jessica, we.
You are like Jessica, I am likeJessica, we are all like
Jessica.
We are all trapped in sin,tangled up with no way out.
Years later, there was aninterview, jessica.
This was about 37 years later.
(36:36):
This was actually a couple ofyears later there was an
interview Jessica this was about37 years later.
This was actually a couple ofyears ago where she was
interviewed and she went back tothe well that she fell in.
And this is what she said,jessica, who is now a wife,
she's now a mom and she is aChristian.
She said this it could havetaken my life, but it didn't.
(36:56):
I had God on my side that day.
This is a beautiful picture ofthe gospel, because there is
nothing you can do.
There's no good works you cando.
There's no money that can do it.
There's no perfect attendance.
There's no reading your Bibleevery single day that will save
you.
There's no perfect attendance.
(37:16):
There's no reading your Bibleevery single day that will save
you.
It's only Jesus.
This is what David said in thebook of Psalm.
He said this he drew me up fromthe pit of destruction, out of
the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps
(37:37):
secure.
Now, a miry bog is like a swamp.
It's this muddy, clay-likewater.
It's just nasty, it's gush,it's slush, but Jesus will set
you free because the passion ofJesus loves you, the passion of
(37:59):
Jesus forgives you and thepassion of Jesus saves you.
Please close your eyes and bowyour heads.
And if you are in here thismorning and you have already
given your life to Jesus, you'vealready placed your faith in
him, but yet there's still someareas of your life where you are
struggling and you haven'tsurrendered.
(38:24):
The situation isn't changing,but you can feel your heart
changing.
It may begin to become bitter.
You're going.
God, move, save me.
I wanna invite you to surrenderto Jesus.
(38:46):
If you've already given yourlife to Christ, then I want you
to pray with me.
Father, god, we thank you foryour love.
God, we thank you for yourforgiveness.
God, we thank you for your love.
God, we thank you for yourforgiveness.
God, we thank you for thepassion of Jesus.
But, lord, right now, for anybeliever in here, god that has
an area of their life, god thatwe're just holding on so tight,
(39:08):
god, can you give them peacethat surpasses all understanding
?
God, help them to let go.
God, help them to turn away.
God, help them to turn away.
God, help them to ask forforgiveness and to get up and to
move forward.
And maybe you're in here andyou can't say that prayer
(39:30):
because you haven't given yourlife to Jesus, you haven't asked
him to be the Lord of your life.
You've tried things your wayand it's not working.
Maybe you've been questioning,but today is the day to believe.
(39:51):
So if you're in here and youwant to surrender your life to
Jesus, then all you need to dois you need to just you'll
repeat after me.
I'll guide you in the prayer.
But the Bible says to confesswith your mouth that Jesus is
Lord and believe in your heartthat God raised him up from the
dead and you will be saved.
So if that's you this morning,you wanna give your life to the
(40:12):
Lord, you wanna surrender to him, then just repeat after me.
You can say it in your heart.
You just say dear Jesus, Ibelieve in you.
Thank you for dying for my sins.
I believe that you rose fromthe dead.
Be the Lord of my life, help meto live for you, help me to
(40:37):
love like you.
And it's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen, all right, put your handstogether for anybody who gave
their life to the Lord.
Listen, the passion of Jesus isall about love, forgiveness and
(40:58):
salvation.
So, whatever you're dealingwith, surrender it to him today.
So I want everybody to stand upas we are gonna continue to
worship Jesus this morning and,as we get closer to Easter,
remember the sacrifice thatJesus made for you as we can
(41:19):
worship him.
We wanna say thank you forbeing with us and I pray that
this morning that whateveryou're dealing with, whatever
stronghold, is released today inJesus' name.
So in 2017, my wife and I, we were celebrating our
fifth year anniversary and so Ihad, you know, an amazing
thought to say hey, babe, whydon't we go celebrate somewhere
fun?
So we went to Orlando, theplace of magic.
So we went to Orlando Studiosand then we went to Disney there
(00:23):
should be a picture up there ofus Ah, look at that.
Yes, the smiles.
So we were there at AnimalKingdom and then we went to
Epcot.
At Epcot, they had the foodfestival, in which, if you
haven't been there before, atEpcot, there's like different
countries from around the worldand you can go to these
different countries and eat yourface off.
(00:45):
So we went and I was eatinglobster rolls I mean, you name
it I was throwing down and then,slowly and surely, you know,
just in all the hype, you know,like the adrenaline and it kind
of weighed down and I was like,ooh, I am not feeling good.
Hey, babe, babe, babe, I just,I don't know what it is, but I'm
(01:06):
just not feeling good, hey.
But then I saw they had cremebrulee Come on somebody.
And it was oh, yeah, yeah, andit was good.
Look at the top, it's like allburnt, like a little crisp.
So it was all crispy and nice,that creme brulee, and so I
still got some, and then I ateit.
Matter of fact, I devoured it.
And then I went to my wife andI just said, oh, I really don't
(01:27):
feel good.
You know, I'm kind of slowingdown, I'm gonna stagger a little
bit.
And I'm like, babe, I just Ithink we should go to like the
medical center, like do theyhave one?
Is there like a first aid hereat Disney?
And so I'm, you know, I'm kindof contemplating what to do.
And then that's when ithappened.
There was a light.
There was a bright light that Isaw and it was angelic voices,
(01:54):
and oh, and there was a sign.
And the sign read Hawaiiancheesecake, $5 a slice.
And so I told my wife I waslike, babe, I gotta get me some.
And so I go and I eat theHawaiian cheesecake and as I'm,
I'm just, you know, I can feelit kind of slowing down, going
(02:15):
down my throat.
I'm like, oh, okay, I reallydon't feel good.
We ended up taking me to thefirst aid and from there I'm in
there, I'm just moaning andgroaning, I'm oh, oh, oh.
I know I'm glad there is novideo evidence of this at all,
but I'm like, oh, and then Iactually got so bad that I had
to take an ambulance and endedup in the hospital.
(02:38):
Yeah, so, which is so fun?
What a wonderful, wonderfulanniversary trip for my wife.
Now you see, I was passionate.
I was extremely passionateabout food, but the thing is, is
that my passion was selfish, itwas all about me.
(03:02):
So I ask you today, what areyou passionate about?
Maybe it's your family.
You're passionate about yourspouse, or maybe your kids or
grandkids or friends.
Maybe it's food, like me.
Maybe you're passionate aboutdesserts and cakes and cookies
and pies or steaks or saladswhoever that is, this is a safe
(03:23):
space.
And cakes and cookies and piesor steaks or salads whoever that
is, this is a safe space.
Maybe you are passionate aboutexercise.
Maybe you know your regiment.
Day in, day out, you'rechecking your macros and things
are good.
You're passionate aboutexercise.
Or maybe it's sports S-E-C.
Football.
Oh, there it is, yeah, mm-hmm,there it is.
(03:43):
Maybe it's basketball.
Or maybe it's sports S-E-C.
Football.
There it is, yeah, mm-hmm,there it is.
Maybe it's basketball.
Or maybe it's golf, and youjust loved, enjoyed watching the
Masters, and maybe you got togo and travel to the Masters.
Maybe it's vacations.
Maybe you like Orlando, justlike the story I told, or maybe
it's the beach or the mountains.
What are you passionate about?
Or maybe it's money, maybe youjust want more money.
(04:09):
Well, the truth is is thateveryone is passionate about
something, but what happens whenyour passion becomes your pain?
The series we're in right nowis called the Passion of Jesus.
God has placed this on PastorChip's heart and even as we go
(04:32):
into Good Friday and EasterSunday, let's be clear about one
thing when we're talking aboutpassion and whether it's cookies
or exercise or money, there's avery different type of passion
that we're talking about.
It's really like this love anddeep emotion for something.
I am passionate about travelingbut when we are talking about
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the passion of Jesus, we'retalking about passion in a
different way, because thepassion of Jesus is about
enduring and suffering.
Enduring and suffering.
So like when I talk about me atDisney and I'm just eating my
(05:15):
face off, like, yeah, like I wassuper passionate.
Now, I was enduring andsuffering, but it was all for me
.
I was gratifying myself.
But there's a difference aboutthis.
Jesus, philippians, chapter two,verse eight, says this and,
(05:36):
being found in human form, hehumbled himself by becoming
obedient to the point of death,even death on a cross.
The triumphal entry is thefocus of this morning, of Jesus
going into Jerusalem On a donkey.
(05:57):
Jesus knows what's ahead andyet still goes through.
Oswald Chambers says this thecross was the place where God
and sinful man merged with atremendous collision and Jesus
(06:17):
absorbed it all.
Jesus absorbed it all.
So the question I ask you thismorning is this Are you more
passionate about Jesus oryourself?
Now, I know sometimes you wannabe like man.
(06:38):
I'm more passionate about Jesus, woo, and then very.
You know, in our humanity, inour sinful nature, we do get
passionate about things that wewant.
The passion of humanity is self, but the passion of Jesus is
(07:04):
sacrifice, the things you arepassionate about.
It's not bad, it's not a badthing.
I'm not saying you should notbe passionate about SEC football
meh, that's not what we'resaying.
That's not what I'm saying.
That's not what the Bible whatwe're talking about.
But it is to say that there isa very clear difference of us as
(07:26):
people, as flawed humans, andthis man who came on the donkey.
There was something about him.
There's a reason why Jesus didthis.
Now, why does this matter?
Why does this matter?
We're talking about passion.
Well, what's the point?
Listen, if you don't get this,then you will live a life void
(07:49):
of love, forgiveness orsalvation.
If you don't understand thelove that Jesus has for you, if
you don't understand theforgiveness that's available to
you and if you don't accept thefree gift of salvation that he
bled for you, let's pray, father.
(08:15):
God, we thank you for your word, god, I ask, Lord, that you
just open our hearts to receivewhat you have for us today.
God, help me, lord, to speakclear.
God, we thank you for your love.
God, we thank you for thepassion of Jesus.
So, in Jesus' name, we prayamen.
So, as we start off, we'retalking about the triumphal
(08:35):
entry.
As I talked about, it's aboutJesus going into Jerusalem on a
donkey, and the bottom line isthe triumphant entry wasn't just
a celebration, it was a parade.
But it wasn't just acelebration, it was a
declaration.
Jesus is putting on display whohe is and what he is about.
(08:57):
There are people surroundinghim and they are worshiping him,
and not once did Jesus condemnthem for worshiping him and not
once did Jesus condemn them forworshiping him.
So, with the passion of Jesus,there's three things that you
need to know about the enduringof Christ, the suffering of
(09:17):
Christ.
Number one is this the passionof Jesus loves you.
Everybody say love, loves.
The passion of Jesus loves you.
Everybody say love, loves.
The passion of Jesus loves you.
Matthew, chapter 21, verse onethrough five says this Now, when
they drew near to Jerusalem andcame to Bethphage, to the Mount
of Olives, then Jesus sent twodisciples saying to them go into
(09:41):
the village in front of you andimmediately you will find a
donkey tied and a colt with herand tie them and bring them to
me.
Now, if anyone says anything toyou, you shall say the Lord
needs them and he will send themat once.
So if anyone has a problem withit, jesus is saying tell him,
(10:04):
tell him, it's for me and itreminds me of you know those
movies in the 90s?
I mean they kind of reallydon't do them now, but there's
like this cop and he's likechasing the bad guy and he's
using, you know driving thisbeat-up car and then you know
totals the car and the cop runsout and he's looking for a car
right, and then there's likesomebody like and the cop jumps
in front of them like stop, fbi,get out of the car, and usually
(10:28):
in the movies they get out andthen the cop takes the car and
he just speeds off.
Now, I haven't seen that happenin real life, but I have seen
it in the movies.
But nevertheless, the reasonwhy is they understand the
authority of the badge, theyunderstand who the person is and
what he represents.
And in that same way, jesus issaying if anyone has a problem,
(10:51):
if they have a problem, tellthem that the Lord needs it
Verse 4.
This took place to fulfill whatwas spoken by the prophet saying
this Say to the daughter ofZion behold, your king is coming
to you, humble and mounted on adonkey, on a colt, the foal of
(11:15):
a beast of burden.
So there are a couple thingsjust happening within these
first couple verses, and thefirst thing is this the act was
intentional and prophetic.
You see, the prophecy thatthey're talking about is from
Zechariah, chapter 9, verse 9.
You have this promise of a kingwho's coming, the daughters of
(11:40):
Zion.
Zion was a poetic name forJerusalem, so it's talking about
the people of Jerusalem, andthe triumphal entry was Jesus
going into Jerusalem.
So the first part is talkingabout the king coming.
The second part talks about.
How is that king coming?
It says humble and mounted on adonkey, on a colt, the foal of
(12:06):
the beast of burden.
So Jesus could have came in ona horse.
He could have came in withswords, guns blazing.
Everybody listen up.
The people thought that hey,because they were already being
ruled by Rome, they're going.
Hey, this king's gonna come andtake over.
That wasn't the case.
Jesus came on a donkey.
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It says a foal, a beast ofburden.
And I mean that's what donkeysdo?
They just hold a weight.
They hold a heavy weight.
Isn't it interesting that adonkey holds a heavy weight?
And yet the burden that Christbared for you and for me, the
sins of humanity.
He came humbly.
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Jesus is saying this.
He's saying I am the Messiah.
Bible scholar and professorCharles Feinberg says it this
way the world's peace dependsupon a savior and his salvation
Peace.
You see, the problem with sinis you cannot be in sin and have
(13:16):
peace at the same time.
Doesn't mix.
Humanity can't save themselves,you cannot save yourself.
Only Christ can do that, andthen you have peace.
Now, why would Jesus do this?
Why, well, because he loves you.
(13:39):
Because he loves you.
Romans, chapter five, verseeight, says this but God shows
his love for us that while wewere still amazing hold on that.
All doesn't say that, does it.
While we were still awesome,while we were still rich,
(14:00):
perfect, no, while we were stillsinners, christ died for us.
So what do you do when youunderstand that the passion of
Jesus loves you?
Well, you live for Jesus daily.
(14:22):
When I was in third grade, myparents divorced and I lived
with my mom and my sister and welived in a trailer park for a
couple years.
Then we moved to Charlotte,north Carolina.
From there I went to about fourdifferent high schools.
It was a lot and I honestlyhated being home.
My mom was dating someone atthe time and I just couldn't
stand being home.
I was doing very poorly inschool.
(14:43):
I was having problems with myeyes.
I was partially blind in myleft eye then.
I'm completely blind in my lefteye now, but I was having these
vision problems, didn't wannabe home.
School's going terrible, moveda lot and I'm just like I just
don't wanna be at home.
So I would go skateboarding.
It was the only time to where Ifelt alive, because I wasn't
(15:03):
home and I wasn't at school andI didn't have to deal with
anything.
It was like I was running awayfrom my problems.
I don't know if you've everdone that, but lo and behold,
I'm skateboarding in a churchparking lot and this guy comes
out and he's like hey, hey, kid,hey, hey, hey, I didn't do it
like that.
But he was like hey, you can'tskateboard here.
(15:24):
And my mom always taught me tobe respectful and so I said yes,
sir.
Then he asked me.
He said well, what are youdoing this Sunday?
Again, my mother taught me tobe respectful Nothing.
He's like you want to come tochurch?
I'm like, okay, and so then Igo, and then I go to church,
church, and they had youth thatSunday night.
So then I went to Sunday nightand I was walking across with
(15:46):
the youth pastor at the timewalking across the street, and I
asked him because, again, justthis home life, it was awful, I
just wanted to escape.
And I asked him.
I said how can I be the man ofthe house?
You know this 15 year old punk.
How can I be the man of thehouse?
And then he asked me a question.
He said James, I have aquestion for you.
If you died today, how do youknow you'd go to heaven?
(16:09):
And I'm like she gonna ask melike I don't know.
Listen, you need to be good,you need to read your Bible and
go to church and pray.
And it was at that moment towhere he lovingly expressed and
explained the gospel of JesusChrist to me.
And once I heard the gospel, hesaid now James, some people, it
(16:33):
takes them time.
And I was like, no, I wanna dothis right here, right now.
And that's when I gave my lifeto the Lord, I surrendered
Galatians.
Chapter two, verse 20, says thisI have been crucified with
Christ.
It is no longer I who live, butChrist who lives in me.
So when we talk about livingfor Jesus daily, it's when you
(16:58):
understand that the passion ofJesus loves you.
He endured for you, he sufferedfor you.
That's because he loves you.
When you love your wife, youlive for your wife.
When you love your husband, youlive for your husband.
When you love your kids, youlive for your kids.
And when you love Jesus, youlive for Him, amen.
(17:24):
So the passion of Jesus lovesyou.
Number two the passion of Jesusforgives you, verse six the
disciples went and did as Jesushad directed them.
They brought the donkey and thecolt and put them their cloaks
and he sat on them.
Most of the crowd spread theircloaks on the road and others
(17:47):
cut branches from trees andspread them on the road.
Now there's this reallyinteresting thing because, as
they're putting their cloaks andthey're cutting the trees, it's
this act of worship the peoplelaid down their cloaks and
branches.
It's a sign of royalty.
(18:08):
These people, they're going.
We believe you are the Christ,we believe you are the Messiah.
Let me worship you.
Let me worship you.
But there's this thing we'retalking about the passion of
(18:30):
Jesus forgives and these peopleare worshiping Jesus and Jesus
goes into Jerusalem like heknows there's something that he
knows.
He knows that the people thatare worshiping him, that things
are gonna change.
The same city that celebratedhim would soon betray him.
(18:54):
You see, there's this cycle offollowing Jesus.
There's this thing that we'relike you're on fire for the Lord
and you wanna do what Jesusasks you to do, and then things
just kinda unravel.
So the cycle is this you startwith repent, you acknowledge and
you turn away from the sin.
(19:15):
All right, then Jesus forgives,you receive grace and
forgiveness.
You're going.
Jesus, please forgive me for mysins.
Next thing, you know you'reliving for Jesus, you're on fire
.
You're inviting everybody tochurch.
You're reading that Bible.
You're doing what you need todo.
Woo, things are great.
People ask how you doing.
You're inviting everybody tochurch.
You're reading that Bible.
You're doing what you need todo.
Woo, things are great.
People ask how you doing.
You say blessed and highlyfavored, but soon, at some point
(19:45):
in your life, at some point inyour walk, you're tempted, face
spiritual challenges, you aretempted to sin, and sometimes
you overcome that sin throughthe power of the Holy Spirit.
But then sometimes, afteryou're tempted, you fall into
(20:06):
sin, you stray from the path andyou miss the mark.
But we're talking about thecycle.
So guess what?
You fall into sin, you strayfrom the path and you miss the
mark.
But we're talking about thecycle.
So guess what?
It repeats itself.
Oh, my goodness, look, yourepent, jesus forgives, you live
for Jesus.
Woo, blessed, highly favored.
Oh, then you're tempted andthen you fall into sin.
But then it repeats itselfagain and again and again.
The reason why this is importantis because you need to
(20:28):
understand.
It's not where you are in thecycle right now.
This isn't about where you are.
This is about who Jesus is,because when you think, man, I'm
over here.
You're already thinking aboutyourself.
It doesn't.
It's not about you, it's aboutthe passion of Jesus, the
enduring and the suffering thathe did for you.
(20:51):
Why?
Because he loves you andbecause he forgives you.
Only Jesus can cleanse your sin.
Jesus knew that these peoplewould betray him.
These people worshiping him,they lay their cloaks down, they
cut off the branches.
These people worshiping him,they lay their cloaks down, they
(21:13):
cut off the branches and thensoon some will deny him.
And in that same way for you,as you're on fire for the Lord,
and then you fall.
Jesus still forgives youBecause when you miss the mark,
when you fall, when you sin,repent.
(21:33):
Everybody say repent Now, thisisn't one of them.
Turn or burn like.
You need to repent.
That's not what we're talkingabout.
What we're talking about iswhen you fall, because you will.
Why?
Because there is a differencebetween humanity and Jesus.
There's a difference betweenyour passion and the passion of
(21:55):
Jesus.
Everybody fails.
Don't stay in your shame, getup.
Get up, because the longer youdwell in your shame, the longer
you dwell in oh, I shouldn'thave done that, oh, so, and so
the longer you dwell in yourshame, the longer you dwell in.
Oh, I shouldn't have done that.
Oh, the longer you dwell inthat, the less time you have to
(22:15):
do what God's calling you to do,the less people you are going
to reach, the less gifts you aregoing to use.
The passion of Jesus forgivesyou.
Confess and repent.
The passion of Jesus forgivesyou.
Confess and repent.
(22:36):
1 John 1, verse nine says thisIf we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive usour sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.
You have to understand that, asJesus is going into Jerusalem,
he already knows, he knows thatthe cross is coming, and yet
(22:57):
there are people surrounding himworshiping him.
The passion of Jesus loves you.
The passion of Jesus forgivesyou.
And then, number three thepassion of Jesus loves you.
The passion of Jesus forgivesyou.
And then, number three thepassion of Jesus saves you.
Verse nine and the crowds thatwent before him and that
(23:21):
followed him were shoutingHosanna to the son of David,
blessed is he who comes in thename of the Lord, hosanna in the
highest.
And when he entered Jerusalem,the whole city was stirred up,
saying who is this?
Ooh, stirred up.
Ooh, sound like some drama.
Ooh, does anybody like a gooddrama?
Ooh, drama and the crowd saidthis is the prophet Jesus from
(23:47):
Nazareth of Galilee.
Now, here's the thing is thatthe people cried out and Jesus
answered.
They're crying out to Jesus asa savior, they're crying out to
him as the Messiah, and Jesuswas there.
He showed up.
(24:08):
He was on the scene because weserve a personal God.
We serve a God who loves you, aGod who knows you, a God who
has plans for you, and sometimesit may feel like God is so far
away.
Sometimes it may feel like God.
Why are you not changing thesituation, god?
(24:33):
I'm praying, I believe, but Idon't see anything changing.
Now, when they say Hosanna,it's coming from Psalm chapter
118, verses 25 and 26.
It says this save us.
(24:56):
We pray, oh Lord.
Oh Lord, we pray, give ussuccess.
Blessed is he who comes in thename of the Lord.
We bless you from the house ofthe Lord.
You see, this word, hosanna, itkind of has these two meanings.
One is a plea for salvationlike Lord, save us, god, help us
(25:19):
.
But then you have Lord, thankyou for bringing a deliverer.
These people are crying out andGod answered.
Jesus didn't shy away from thispublic declaration.
Jesus is saying I am the Son ofGod.
(25:42):
I am the Messiah.
I can forgive your sins.
But we have an issue becausethe whole town was stirred up.
Somebody say stirred up.
So even with these miracles,even with all the things Christ
(26:03):
had done before, even with himloving and serving and bringing
people back from the dead,feeding people, all of these
things some believed and somequestioned.
And that may be where you arein your life.
You believe that God's gonnaprovide, even if it's not the
(26:27):
way you want it, even if it'snot the way you want it.
And then some of us are maybegetting frustrated.
All right, lord, god, I've beenfaithful.
(26:47):
This isn't changing.
It's getting worse.
Where are you, lord?
Save me.
You have a choice.
You have a choice to eitherserve God when things are good
and then doubt him when thingsare bad, or serve God no matter
what your circumstances are.
I can't tell you how many timesI've prayed to God to heal my
(27:10):
eye, year after year after year,day after day.
And has God done it yet?
No, but is God still good?
Yes, he is good.
And I'm telling you as a kidwho parents divorced in the
third grade, growing up in atrailer park God is good.
(27:30):
Now there is a rabbi.
His name's Rabbi Kushner, andwith Rabbi Kushner he had a
young son.
And his young son was sick andtime after time after time, the
rabbi, he would pray to God toheal his son.
God heal my son.
God heal my son.
God heal my son.
God heal my son.
God heal my son.
(27:50):
God heal my son.
And sadly, his son didn't getbetter.
His son unfortunately passedaway.
Now the rabbi went from God isgood, god is all-knowing, god is
all-powerful.
But then, once his young sonpassed away, he started to teach
(28:13):
people and talk about how Godis good.
But God is not all powerful.
He is public about his changein beliefs.
This isn't new.
(28:34):
We're talking about thetriumphal entry.
We're talking about Jesusfulfilling a prophecy from
hundreds of years before ithappened.
And even when Jesus goes in tothe town, some are believing and
some are questioning.
Some are believing and some arequestioning.
But here's the truth is Jesussaved others and he can save you
(29:00):
too.
So what do you do with that?
What do you do when youunderstand that the passion of
Jesus saves you?
Well, you ask for forgivenessand follow him.
You recognize that you are asinner and that your passion is
selfish.
Now, this is not a oh man.
Pastor James is coming up hereand just tearing us up.
(29:20):
This is like this is sayingthat Jesus knew these people
would sin and he loved them somuch that he still went to the
cross.
Jesus knows your shortcomingsand he loves you so much that he
still went to the cross.
Jesus knows your shortcomingsand he loves you so much that he
went to the cross.
Because you are never too fargone.
You're never too far gone.
(29:42):
I don't know what doubts you'redealing with, or maybe what
addictions you're dealing with.
Maybe you're on the brink ofdivorce.
Maybe you are just drowning indebt.
Maybe you are depressed,suffering in loneliness, maybe
you have no family, you feellike a failure, and maybe you
have this illness that you'veprayed for time and time and
(30:04):
time again, but it seems likebetter is never coming.
The truth is, you are never toofar from God.
You're never too gone to besaved.
So what do you do when you askfor forgiveness and you follow
(30:25):
Jesus?
Is you become a livingsacrifice?
Romans, chapter 12, one saysthis I appeal to you, therefore,
brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a
living sacrifice, holy andacceptable to God, which is your
spiritual worship, a livingsacrifice.
(30:51):
A living sacrifice, it's notsaying you stay stuck in your
sin because you aren't perfect.
It's recognizing that the onlyway you can become a living
sacrifice is by surrenderingyour life to Jesus daily.
(31:12):
Why?
Because the passion of humanityis self.
We're selfish.
We are selfish.
Have you ever heard of thebystander effect?
The bystander effect, basically, is it's an effect to where
(31:33):
there's a large group of peoplelike this and if a person like
this is scientifically proven,if a person falls down, let's
say I fall down, I'm gonna backup a little bit.
Let's say I fall down on thestage.
The bystander effect saysnobody is gonna get up to help,
because when you get up to helpyou exit the safe zone of
(31:54):
everybody else.
You feel safe.
And if you leave that safe zoneto go and help somebody, then
you are alone.
The bystander effect.
But aren't you thankful that weserve a God that is over
science, because Jesus hascalled you to serve, not to
(32:21):
stand by.
So here's the application fortoday Three things, as we talked
about the passion of Jesusloving you, forgiving you and
saving you.
What do you do with the passionof Jesus, with the suffering of
Christ, with him, enduring thepain for you.
(32:43):
Number one you live for Jesusdaily.
You are going to fall short.
Christ did not call you toperfection, any perfectionists
(33:04):
in the room.
He calls you to relationship.
So, number two when you missthe mark, it's not if it's a
when, when you miss the mark,you're gonna yell at your spouse
, you're gonna do somethingsilly, you're gonna do something
you go.
Why did I do that?
(33:24):
How did I do that?
Again, god, help me.
When you miss the mark, repent,turn away from it, get up and
go.
And then, number three, ask forforgiveness and follow him.
Christ is not interested inyour perfection, he's interested
(33:48):
in your heart, in all areas ofyour life.
Now, why does this matter?
Why does this matter about youknow, living for Jesus daily and
when you miss the mark, repentand ask for forgiveness and felt
like, why does all this matter?
Well, the truth is, if youdon't get this, you will stay
(34:15):
trapped in sin, with no way out.
In 1987, there was a littlegirl and she was out playing in
the yard.
Her name was Jessica.
Normal day, things were great,and then suddenly, little
(34:37):
Jessica fell into a well.
Now, the well was 22 feet deep.
As her parents were kind ofwondering where Jessica was.
It took a while, like man,where is Jessica?
To their horror, they found outthat she was in the well and
this became national news.
(34:59):
Rescue men and crew were outthere trying to drill through
the rock to get to jessica.
The father said later in aninterview that they were able to
put a microphone down the wellso the father could hear his
daughter's voice.
And he, he said once he heardJessica's voice.
He said once I heard her voice,I threw my hands up.
(35:20):
I said God, I can't take this.
So the crew continued to work,and work, and work and they
finally got her, not after sixhours or 12 hours, not after 24
hours.
After 60 hours of no food, nowater, jessica was rescued and
(35:45):
we have a picture of when thishappened in 1987.
And just think about God whenhe hears your voice, when you
cry out to him.
The difference is God doesn'tthrow his hands up and say I
can't take this.
God says come to me, lay itdown, surrender, because the
(36:15):
truth is, you are like Jessica,I am like Jessica, we.
You are like Jessica, I am likeJessica, we are all like
Jessica.
We are all trapped in sin,tangled up with no way out.
Years later, there was aninterview, jessica.
This was about 37 years later.
(36:36):
This was actually a couple ofyears later there was an
interview Jessica this was about37 years later.
This was actually a couple ofyears ago where she was
interviewed and she went back tothe well that she fell in.
And this is what she said,jessica, who is now a wife,
she's now a mom and she is aChristian.
She said this it could havetaken my life, but it didn't.
(36:56):
I had God on my side that day.
This is a beautiful picture ofthe gospel, because there is
nothing you can do.
There's no good works you cando.
There's no money that can do it.
There's no perfect attendance.
There's no reading your Bibleevery single day that will save
you.
There's no perfect attendance.
(37:16):
There's no reading your Bibleevery single day that will save
you.
It's only Jesus.
This is what David said in thebook of Psalm.
He said this he drew me up fromthe pit of destruction, out of
the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps
(37:37):
secure.
Now, a miry bog is like a swamp.
It's this muddy, clay-likewater.
It's just nasty, it's gush,it's slush, but Jesus will set
you free because the passion ofJesus loves you, the passion of
(37:59):
Jesus forgives you and thepassion of Jesus saves you.
Please close your eyes and bowyour heads.
And if you are in here thismorning and you have already
given your life to Jesus, you'vealready placed your faith in
him, but yet there's still someareas of your life where you are
struggling and you haven'tsurrendered.
(38:24):
The situation isn't changing,but you can feel your heart
changing.
It may begin to become bitter.
You're going.
God, move, save me.
I wanna invite you to surrenderto Jesus.
(38:46):
If you've already given yourlife to Christ, then I want you
to pray with me.
Father, god, we thank you foryour love.
God, we thank you for yourforgiveness.
God, we thank you for your love.
God, we thank you for yourforgiveness.
God, we thank you for thepassion of Jesus.
But, lord, right now, for anybeliever in here, god that has
an area of their life, god thatwe're just holding on so tight,
(39:08):
god, can you give them peacethat surpasses all understanding
?
God, help them to let go.
God, help them to turn away.
God, help them to turn away.
God, help them to ask forforgiveness and to get up and to
move forward.
And maybe you're in here andyou can't say that prayer
(39:30):
because you haven't given yourlife to Jesus, you haven't asked
him to be the Lord of your life.
You've tried things your wayand it's not working.
Maybe you've been questioning,but today is the day to believe.
(39:51):
So if you're in here and youwant to surrender your life to
Jesus, then all you need to dois you need to just you'll
repeat after me.
I'll guide you in the prayer.
But the Bible says to confesswith your mouth that Jesus is
Lord and believe in your heartthat God raised him up from the
dead and you will be saved.
So if that's you this morning,you wanna give your life to the
(40:12):
Lord, you wanna surrender to him, then just repeat after me.
You can say it in your heart.
You just say dear Jesus, Ibelieve in you.
Thank you for dying for my sins.
I believe that you rose fromthe dead.
Be the Lord of my life, help meto live for you, help me to
(40:37):
love like you.
And it's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen, all right, put your handstogether for anybody who gave
their life to the Lord.
Listen, the passion of Jesus isall about love, forgiveness and
(40:58):
salvation.
So, whatever you're dealingwith, surrender it to him today.
So I want everybody to stand upas we are gonna continue to
worship Jesus this morning and,as we get closer to Easter,
remember the sacrifice thatJesus made for you as we can
(41:19):
worship him.
We wanna say thank you forbeing with us and I pray that
this morning that whateveryou're dealing with, whatever
stronghold, is released today inJesus' name.
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