April 13, 2025 • 34 mins
Do we worship Jesus for who He truly is, or merely for what we want Him to do for us? This Palm Sunday message cuts straight to the heart of Christian worship, challenging us to examine our motivations when we cry "Hosanna."
The sermon reveals a fascinating historical insight: in the Old Testament, "Hosanna" originally meant "save now" - a desperate plea for salvation. By the time Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowd shouting this word was divided into two distinct groups. Some recognized Him as the God who saves from sin, while others merely wanted Him to overthrow Roman rule and save them from worldly oppression.
This same division persists in modern Christianity. Many believers treat God like a cosmic vending machine, seeking healing, financial blessing, or solutions to life's inconveniences. When these requests aren't granted, they blame God rather than looking inward. True salvation, however, demands uncomfortable inner change - something we often resist because "salvation from sin hurts."
Through powerful personal testimony, the pastor shares how he and his wife sacrificially gave back part of his salary to support church finances, even though it meant potentially sacrificing a planned vacation. Though they didn't receive the anticipated financial blessing personally, they witnessed God providing abundantly for the church instead - a powerful reminder that obedience often benefits others in ways we can't predict.
As Holy Week begins, we're invited to celebrate not just Easter Sunday, but Christ's entire journey - entering Jerusalem knowing He would die, fulfilling prophecy through humble means, and ultimately conquering sin and death. Will we worship Him for who He truly is? The God who saves us from our sin, transforms our hearts, and calls us to live differently?
Your perspective on "Hosanna" might just reveal everything about your relationship with God. Join us in exploring what it means to truly worship the God who saves.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I want to share something with you that happened
this morning.
I don't know that it will giveyou any insight to what happened
this morning, but here's what Isaid.
I sent a text to six guys andit said Good morning, praying
this morning for each of you.
I'm wanting you to know that Iam standing today in faith,
(00:21):
knowing that God is going to dosomething good for you, praying
that, as the Spirit moves thismorning, that we too, as his
servants, will move with him.
Today is a day for the men inChrist to stand firm on who he
is.
Can't wait to worship with youthis morning.
(00:42):
Men, I'm going to tell yousomething that I've said for
weeks, but I don't think you'rehearing me.
When we can be strong, we cantake the church to the next
level.
The church cannot be carried onthe backs of the women who pray
for us.
We have to be willing to standand pray for them too.
(01:05):
We have to know that we arecalled of God to lead, to guide
and to direct.
Amen, and men, when we arewilling to step outside of our
comfort zone and be a little bitvulnerable, god's going to do
something great, amen.
Listen, I was Anita two weeksago, said we're out of tissues
and I said, no, we're not.
I said there's plenty oftissues in this building.
This morning I was Anita twoweeks ago said we're out of
tissues and I said, no, we'renot.
I said there's plenty oftissues in this building.
(01:25):
This morning I couldn't find atissue to save my life and I
needed a couple.
God is doing something in thisplace, amen, not just this
building, but in this move.
Listen, when Pastor Holly saidwe need to make it real.
We need to make it real.
This isn't about oh, the worldneeds a move.
I need a move today.
(01:46):
I need God to do something inmy life so that I can continue
to speak into the lives of thosearound me.
Amen, come on.
When we're living for the worldand not for God, we cannot
truly give back to a world thatis hurting.
Amen.
Okay, whoo Lord, have mercy.
I had to pivot world that ishurting.
Amen, okay, whoo Lord, havemercy.
(02:07):
I had to pivot my sermon thismorning.
Listen, pastor Holly and I tookabout 10 minutes in the prayer
room after everybody left, justso I could hash out some of
these thoughts and some of thethings that were going through
my mind, and I knew when I leftthe room that I was on solid
footing and we were gonna dothis.
And then, as we were singingand we were praying, I was like
no, we're not.
So this, literally, I'm goingto use these notes just as
(02:33):
guideposts.
Okay, so you're going to haveto bear with me for a minute
this morning.
I want to start in Matthew,chapter 21.
We're going to start in verse 1, and we're just going to read
for a minute and I only have youguys for a half hour now, but
that's okay, I could have stayedin that all day, it wouldn't
have bothered me a bit.
(02:53):
Matthew 21, verse 1,.
It says as Jesus and thedisciples approached Jerusalem,
they came to a town calledBethapage, on the Mount of
Olives.
Jesus sent two of them on ahead.
Go into the village over there,he said, and you will see a
donkey tied there with its coltbeside it.
(03:14):
Untie them and bring them here.
If anyone asks what you aredoing, just say the Lord needs
them and he will immediatelysend them.
This was done to fulfillprophecy.
Can I tell you that in the weekwe are about to celebrate and we
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call it a celebration, amen.
How many of us genuinelycelebrate the week.
How many of us, instead, justlook forward to Easter Sunday?
Amen, amen.
Some of you are looking at melike what do you mean?
Celebrate the week?
Do we understand that todaymarks the beginning of a holy
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week?
Amen, today marks the beginningof a holy week.
Jesus is entering Jerusalem andthe word tells us that he is
entering Jerusalem on a donkey.
On a donkey, a stinky, smellydonkey.
What a humble way to ride intoyour own death.
(04:18):
Amen, jesus could have rode inon anything he wanted.
Jesus could have rode in onanything he wanted.
My daughter thinks she couldhave a unicorn.
If Jesus wanted to ride in on aunicorn, he could have done it.
Amen.
But he chose a donkey to fulfillprophecy.
Can I help you to understandthat?
(04:40):
The prophecy is what allows usto stand where we stand today?
Right, that the prophecy iswhat allows us to stand where we
stand today, right?
Jesus' fulfilling prophecy wasour salvation.
Now, he didn't go back and readand decide he was going to do
these things because he was theword.
The word lived in him.
He knew what he had to do inorder to save our sorry butts.
(05:02):
Some of us can't evencomprehend that Jesus was a real
person and that he walked theearth and did real things and
touched real people.
We look at it as a story thatwe've read right, because we've
never seen him, we've nevertouched him.
But I'm going to tell you, ifyou were in this place this
morning and you didn't feel him,something's not happening in
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your life.
You've got to find a desire tobe in the presence of God,
because I'm going to tell you, Icould have stayed in that
moment all day long, all day,whether there were people
praying, you guys could all left, music could have kept playing
and I could have just been inhis presence.
Because I know that somethingis happening in my life because
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of what it is that he did on thecross.
For me, now, the problem is ishe didn't just come and go on
the cross.
He entered into Jerusalem andwe sang it this morning.
What were they shouting?
Hosanna?
They were waving their palmbranches, they were laying their
coats on the ground and he wasriding this donkey.
Somebody turn on the airconditioning, praise Jesus,
(06:18):
listen.
They were excited that Jesuswas coming because they knew who
he was.
As Pastor Holly and I talkedthis morning, you realize that
Hosanna was first used in theOld Testament only one time,
right.
Did you guys know that?
We're going to go there?
Tech team pivot with me.
We're going to Psalm 118.
(06:41):
We're going to Psalm 118.
We're going to 25.
Now we're doing this in KingJames Version for all of you,
old school folks, you legacymembers.
Save now.
I beseech thee, O Lord.
O Lord, I beseech thee.
(07:03):
Send now prosperity.
Blessed be he that cometh inthe name of the Lord.
We have blessed you out of thehouse of the Lord.
Go back to 25 for me.
Save now.
I beseech thee, o Lord.
O Lord, I beseech thee.
(07:23):
Send now prosperity.
The save now.
The save now is translated toHosanna.
Hosanna means the God who saves, the one who saves.
Save us now.
They are begging for salvation,they are begging to be saved.
(07:48):
And then we go to the NewTestament and there's this shift
, because now we're sayingHosanna as praise be to God.
Save us, o Lord.
Because they know who he is.
Now I would believe thatthere's probably a small group
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of people standing in that crowd, waving their palms, throwing
down their coats, and they'reyelling Hosanna, hosanna,
because they believe he is theGod who saves.
Right, they know what he iscapable of doing.
They've seen bodies raised fromthe dead.
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They've seen sick people healedby the hem of his garment.
Amen.
And I guarantee you, in thatcrowd is another group of people
who are shouting Hosanna andwaving their palms because they
want saved from Caesar, becausetheir perception of who Jesus is
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is wrapped up in the miraclesthat they have seen performed.
Amen.
The church today is wrapped upin a God who can perform and not
a God who saves.
Because, I'll tell you, thechurch is afraid of a God who
saves.
And why are we afraid of a Godwho saves?
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Because if we commit to a Godwho will save us, change happens
in our life.
To a God who will save us,change happens in our life
Organically.
See what I did there.
Change happens in our life whenwe give it to a God who saves.
Now, if I go to a God who Itreat like a genie, or I go to a
(09:39):
God who I believe can performall of the things and I say Lord
, I'm broke, give me money.
When God doesn't give me money,I don't have to look inward.
I just blame God.
Right, because that's easy todo.
Lord, I'm sick, heal my body.
When he doesn't heal your body,what do you?
(09:59):
Do you blame God?
Because it's easy to blame God,it is hard to look inward.
So I want to go to God as theone who will perform tasks and
give me what I need, not the Godwho will bring me out of the
pits of hell.
Because when God, when Jesuswas crucified, when he went into
(10:21):
hell, he came back with thekeys Right.
Jesus came back with I have nohome in hell.
I can't even get in because Iain't got no keys, because Jesus
got them right.
I can't get through the gatesof hell because Jesus has them.
And I'm going to tell you thatI don't look for a God who will
perform miracles for me.
(10:41):
I am not here for a God whoserves me.
I am here to serve a God whowill for me.
I am not here for a God whoserves me.
I am here to serve a God whowill save me.
Hosanna, hosanna.
See, the problem is, is theworld wants saved from Caesar?
They want saved from theinconveniences of life.
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They don't want saved from theinconveniences of life, they
don't want saved from sin,because salvation from sin,
being removed from sin, doeswhat it hurts.
It hurts real bad, don't it?
Dave?
Listen, I want to go to the barand drink Dave's.
(11:24):
Like I'll tell you what Dave'sbeen on one for two days.
He's been in trouble for thepast two days.
Listen, I know when I dosomething that is not in the
will of God.
Amen.
How many of us know when we dosomething that is not in the
will of God?
Right, okay, now my question isis why do we willingly do
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things that are not in the willof God?
Because we don't want savedfrom sin, we want saved from the
inconveniences of the world,amen, listen, I don't want to be
sick anymore.
Listen, I don't want to be this, I don't want to be that.
But you also don't want toserve a God who will remove the
sin in your life.
I also don't want to serve aGod who will remove the sin in
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your life.
I don't want sin to be myidentity.
You guys ever known anybodyYou're like oh yeah, that's that
drunk guy.
Right, any of us ever been thatguy Kidding, don't raise your
hands.
Please don't raise your hand.
Dave's hand was already up.
Doug's, like We've known peoplelike we cannot identify
ourselves with the sin that wehave had in our past, because
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when Jesus saved us, when hecalled you his own, when he
changed your name, when he wroteit in the book of life.
You are no longer the sameperson who lived in that sin,
unless you choose to live inthat sin, unless you choose to
live in that sin, unless youchoose to.
Now, how embarrassing for usthat God has written your name
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into the book of life and yetyou choose to willingly live
outside of what he would haveyou do, outside of what he would
have you do.
So often we like to think thatheaven is real and we like to
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talk about what it's going to belike, and everybody wants to
know what heaven's going to belike.
I've never been there.
It's on my bucket list butnever been.
Yeah, yeah, someday I'll get to.
It's kind of like Hawaii.
You know what I mean Someday,someday.
The problem is we like tobelieve that heaven is real and
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we like to believe, becausewe've prayed a prayer or we've
said a thing or we've come tothe altar or we've done
something, that we areguaranteed entrance into heaven.
See this, once saved, alwayssaved mentality, we can go into
some scripture and we can tearthat apart.
Here's what I'm going to tellyou.
If you willingly choose to liveoutside of the will of God.
When you arrive in heaven andyou say but Lord, I prophesied
(14:00):
in your name, but, lord, Iprayed for people in your name,
and he says depart from me, forI never knew you, man, that's
going to take the wind out ofyour sails, isn't it?
That ain't going to feel good,because guess what he's going to
do when he says that to you,he's going to hand you your key
to hell and you're going to getthat key.
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You're going to unlock the gateand you're going to spend
eternity in a place that none ofus want to be.
I always love when I hear peoplesay I used to be this person,
by the way, I love to tell onmyself that hell is going to be
nothing but a party.
We're going to drink beer,listen to Jimmy Buffett, and
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we're just going to hang out andchill with my friends, because
we're all going to hell together, right?
Listen?
I ain't going to hell because Ipromise there ain't going to be
no Jimmy Buffett music.
For some of us, that's a goodthing, some of us that's a bad
thing.
I don't know.
I'm not a Jimmy Buffett fan,but here we are.
I'm telling you that, if that isyour concept of what hell is
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going to be like, you aren't inyour word.
You've missed what God has toldyou.
It is going to be darkness.
It's going to be hot hotterthan Alva's coffee and she
drinks her coffee hot it isgoing to be.
There's going to be thegnashing of teeth.
That grinding of teeth, thatsound, that can you just like?
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My wife grinds her teeth whenshe sleeps at night and I'm like
I have to go somewhere else andsleep because I can't take it.
That noise will be everlasting.
I'm not saying that becauseit's annoying, but it's that
constant torment that everybodyaround you is feeling.
You won't be able to see theirface, but you're gonna know
they're in pain.
You're gonna know they're inmisery.
Have you ever met anybody thatis in constant misery?
A miserable person?
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You have to be around thembecause you work with them or
whatever, and you find that man,this person is never going to
be.
Listen, that's what hell isgoing to be like.
That is what hell is going tobe like.
Do any of us want to go?
No, we all sit here and we sayit, but we live outside of the
will of God, knowingly andwillingly Listen.
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I love to have conversationswith people.
This is a new one for me.
You're talking to somebody andsomething gets brought up and
you know the story, right.
And they don't have the wholething and you want to start
telling the story, right, right?
Anybody's ever been there?
Like, I've got deets that youdon't have.
I want to spill the tea, but Iknow if I do, what am I doing?
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I'm gossiping, and I know thatthat is the hardest one to get
past.
And let me tell you why it'shard to get past.
Because it's fun, right.
Because, even if I don't haveall the details, I like to fill
in the gaps with suspicion.
You know what I mean.
Like, connie ain't here withDale today.
I think they're separated.
So now listen, if Connielistens to this, she's going to
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beat me up later.
But listen, but the first timethat somebody says that and
somebody overhears it and theygo to the next person, did you
hear?
Connie and Dale are separated,right.
And then, pretty soon, connieand Dale didn't even know they
were separated.
Pretty soon he gets back tothem.
They're like well, we'reseparated, but we're living in
the same house.
What's going on over here?
Right, we still.
What's happening Because that'san easy one and we look at that
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as less painful as some of theother sins.
You're an alcoholic?
I can see that on the outside.
You're addicted to drugs I cansee that on the outside.
Those things are not sinful bythemselves.
I want to be clear.
The sin is putting them beforeGod, right.
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So I'm not saying that somebodywho's addicted to drugs is
inevitably going to hell.
They have an opportunity tochange their lives, right.
But those of us who gossip, wewill gossip at the gates of
heaven.
We be standing in line talkingabout the people behind it.
Can you believe they're up here?
You want to make a bet theyain't getting in, is it true?
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Is it true Because we thinkthat it is less damaging.
Now can I tell you something?
Here's where the problem is.
We think that it is lessdamaging.
The problem is when one personhears a small portion of that,
they take that and they run withit.
You ever played that telephonegame?
We should have done that thismorning.
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That would have been fun.
Just started on one side of thesanctuary and saw what it ended
up by the time we got to it.
And here's what it would haveended up.
Nothing like how it startedright.
So here's what happens we allsit in a group and we all
conversate and we have a greattime and we all leave.
And there are two people leftand one of them looks at the
other and goes.
Can you believe they said thatto you?
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Can you believe that Jennywould have said to Vicky Hickey
oh, I don't like the color ofyour sweater today.
Can you believe that she woulddo that?
And then the next thing, youknow, we've created this
animosity inside of the body,amen.
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And now every time Vicky Hickeywalks in, I'm looking at her
sweater and going that is anugly sweater.
And now, every time VickiHickey walks in, I'm looking at
her sweater and going that is anugly sweater.
And my opinion of VickiHickey's ability to dress
herself has just gone throughthe floor.
I have allowed somebody else'sopinion of a person that I love
dearly change my opinion of them.
I have not allowed theinspiration of the Holy Spirit
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to move in my life.
I have not allowed my ownopinion to be valid.
I've allowed the opinion ofsomebody else to take over.
You know the other one that weget in the church a lot.
We get this a lot in the churchnot just this church, but in
church a lot.
There are cliques, there aregroups, there are pockets.
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Listen, I'm going to tell yousomething.
That group of men that I sentthat to this morning if you
didn't get that text in your Ididn't get the text.
Let me tell you something.
That group of men got that textbecause they come alongside me.
When I say I need help, theyshow up.
When I need prayer, they showup.
I'm not being mean, I'm sayingif you want to be part of that,
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call me, let's be part of thattogether, because I want that
group to grow so big that it'snot just men in our church.
Right, I want so many men to go.
These guys got it going on.
I want to be part of that.
That's what I want.
That's my desire.
That's not my desire just forthis building, but for the
kingdom of God, for the kingdomof God.
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Listen, that story will turninto something that it's not.
Pretty soon we'll be tellingpeople.
Well, can you believe thatPastor Michael didn't send that
text to whoever?
I'm not trying to leave you out, I'm really not.
I want to remind you that Jesushad 12 disciples.
Those were the people thatJesus trusted and counted on.
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It's not about cliques, it's notabout groups.
A lot of times it's about notchoosing to be involved.
If you want to be connected, beconnected.
I can tell you right now, daveis never going to tell you he
doesn't want to talk to you.
If you call Dave and say, hey,can we get dinner?
I have something I want to talkabout.
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Even if it's just for the food,dave's going to be excited.
We want to minister to the menin our lives.
We want to be able to love onthe people in our life.
The problem is is our fleshwants to blame those people for
not including us.
You have every opportunity tobe included in everything that
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you do.
See, when Jesus entered intoJerusalem and you have two
groups of people shoutingHosanna opposite sides of the
spectrum, one saying we know heis the God who will save us from
our sin and the other groupsaying he is the God who will
save us from Caesar, we realizethat we have two different
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groups of people standing infront of us, amen.
The question is, how do webridge the gap?
See, when Jesus went to thecross to die for our sin, all of
those people who thought thatJesus was coming to save them
from Caesar were a little bitdisappointed, because that
wasn't how it was supposed to goin their eyes.
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I don't know if they expectedhim to flip some more tables or,
to you know, set something onfire or start a mutiny or a riot
, or what they expected Jesus todo, but they thought he was
going to save them fromoppression.
Instead, he gave them salvation.
And when they realized it,after Jesus hung on the cross,
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the earth got dark, it shook andthe veil was torn from top to
bottom.
Guess what they realized?
Even the Roman soldiers whocrucified him realized he was
the God who saves, amen.
And I'm going to tell you, thechurch today does not know a God
who saves.
We know a God who will give uswhat we ask for.
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See, the problem is theprosperity gospel tells us that
if we ask, we will receive.
And that's just how it works.
Listen, if you ask and it is inhis will you will receive it.
Lord, I want this belly to goaway, sick of shaking when I
stomp right.
I can say that all day, but Godhas given me the tools to do it
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.
It was called a treadmill, butI decided to sell it.
I know that there is somethingchanging in the move of God,
that God is doing somethinggreater than he's ever done
before, but we can't understandit because we're looking for the
tangible.
We're looking for the thingthat we can touch, not the thing
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that we can feel.
See, when we start talkingabout how pliable our hearts are
and whether or not we're ableto receive the word of God for
what it is.
See, a lot of times when weread the word, we read the words
.
See the difference.
I'm reading the words.
How many of us have ever readthe Bible?
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And you walk away.
You're like I don't even knowwhat I just read.
Even as a pastor, that happensto me, right?
You get up at six o'clock inthe morning I'm going to do my
devotion today.
I crack my Bible when I read it.
I, six o'clock in the morning,I'm going to do my devotion
today.
I crack my Bible when I read it.
I get in the car.
I'm like I don't even know whatI read.
This one begat that one.
That one begat this one.
Lo and behold, someone said somestuff.
What just happened in my life?
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I wasted 15 minutes of my life.
I have no idea what happened.
Right, because I was readingthe words and not the word.
I wasn't focused on thespiritual.
I needed to check in the box.
Right, because I wasn't lookingfor a God who saves, I was
looking for a God who provides.
Now the beauty is the word tellsus that even if you look at the
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lilies, if you look at thesparrow, if he will provide for
them, he will also provide forus.
And why are we worried if hewill provide for the things that
don't really change the world,if the lilies are so beautiful,
they're close, why do we worryabout what we wear?
Now, I want you to wearsomething, but I don't care what
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color your shoes are.
I don't care if you're wearinga sports jacket or sweatpants
like Tina Newman today.
It doesn't matter to me.
What matters to me is whetheror not your spirit is in line
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with God.
If your heart is, I don't careif you think Vicky Hickey's
sweater's ugly.
Anyway, jenny, I think hersweater's beautiful.
She never said that, vicky.
I just wanted to be clear, Iknow, but it's that rumor thing
that starts.
You know what I mean.
Like, I just wanted to be superclear.
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It was just joking.
It's just joking.
She never said that we knowthat we serve a God who saves.
Every person I hope in thisbuilding knows that we serve a
God who saves.
So when I pray God's perfectwill in your life, know that I
am not praying that you get whatyou want, but that God moves so
mightily in your life thatwhatever you want, if it's not
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what he desires for you, thatyour heart will be okay with
that.
Whoo Lord, sometimes I have todo that for myself.
Listen, I'll tell you this.
Yeah, I'll share it.
How's that go?
My wife's not in here, so I cantell you.
Also real quick.
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My sister-in-law, mybrother-in-law, one of my
nephews they're here in the backHaven't been here for a while
because we scare them.
I'm just kidding.
I'm just kidding.
But I joked with them thismorning and I said now, listen,
we're going to do nothing butministry time this morning
because you know we're going tohave you guys up there on the
floor and they're all likeholding onto the seat of their
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chair.
And then this morning happenedyou joke about those things and
then God does something with it.
Right, he's got a sense ofhumor.
I'm thankful for that.
But they're in here, so I haveto be careful how I tell this
story, because they will tell onme.
Oh, also, my kids are in here,they'll tell on me.
Emmett's like yeah, buddy, sayit, Dare you.
(27:44):
So a couple of months ago,alyssa and I had been very
prayerful about the churchfinances and where the church
was headed and what we wanted tosee the church be able to do
Okay.
So we were very mindful of thechurch finances and because we
look at them regularly, like weknow where we're at and we can
kind of project what's going tohappen and so we decided to give
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back one of my paychecks everymonth For three months.
We committed to that to see ifit made a change in the church's
finances strong enough that weneeded to reevaluate how I was
compensated.
So we made that decision and Itold council.
Now I need you to understandsomething that's our vacation
money.
Like we wanted to go onvacation and we saved to do that
.
I don't know about you guys,but I don't have $10,000 laying
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around to go on a cruise, right?
Anybody else got that?
If you have 10 grand, can Iborrow it, because I'd really
like to go on my cruise.
But here's what happened.
We started praying, believingthat God was going to provide
those finances through work,through my job, because I get a
quarterly bonus and we believedthat God was going to give us
the full amount to pay for thecruise and we were going to go.
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It was a big number Now, it'shappened before, but it was a
big number Now, it's happenedbefore, but it was a big number.
And so I said to Alyssa I saidI'm going to believe with you.
I said, but I'm going to sayGod, do what you do, right,
because I don't want to get myhopes up.
So I started, we just prayedtogether and we just believed
that that's what God was goingto do.
My bonus came and it wasn'teven half of what we needed.
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Disappointing, disappointing,right.
And we were a little bitdisappointed that that was the
case.
And then Sunday came and wewalk into the building and we do
our thing and at the end ofservice I always ask how was the
tithe?
As my counters are finishing upand they said really good,
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$7,800.
That was more money than we hadin the checking account.
People, do you understand that?
Because we were obedient towhat God had told us to do, that
we didn't receive the blessingthe church did.
You guys were blessed becausewe were obedient to what God had
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called us to do.
Now we could have sat on that,we could have kept our mouths
shut and we could have gone on acruise.
Pastor, appreciation comesaround in October.
I know that when we choose tolive inside of the will of God
and we choose to believe in aGod who saves and a God who is
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good in all things, we can neverbe disappointed in who he is
and what he does.
Amen, because even if it's notfor you and it's for somebody
else, if God takes what you didand he blows it up big for
somebody else, you should feelgood about that.
You should be excited that Godis still on the move.
Right, because I'll tell you.
You should be excited that Godis still on the move.
Right, because I'll tell you,unless you know something that I
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don't know, god has notabdicated the throne.
He has not given up what he isdoing.
He is still operating in fullforce, but sometimes we don't
know what it looks like, and sothen we blame him for not giving
us our selfish desires.
Amen.
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None of that was in my notes.
Here's my final line Are weworshiping Jesus for who he is
or for what we want him to dofor us.
Amen.
What are we doing today?
Are we giving him praise,hosanna, hosanna because he is
the God who will save us fromsin, or are we saying Hosanna
because he is the God who willsave us from whatever minor
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inconvenience we have in life?
The Bible tells us that the loveof money is the root of all
evil, and sometimes I strugglewith that because I love money,
but I don't love money more thanI love Jesus.
I don't love money more than Ilove my family.
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If it was, lose everythingtoday and still have my family,
I'll take it all day, every day.
We'll live in a cardboard boxunder a bridge as long as I can
take my Monopoly game with me.
We're good.
Yes, with the expansions.
God is good all the time andall the time.
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God is good.
We know that, but we have tobelieve it.
We have to live it.
We have to walk in it.
Amen.
Let's pray together.
Live it.
We have to walk in it.
Amen, let's pray together.
Father, I thank you and I praiseyou for the path that we are on
today.
Lord, I pray that you guidethis church, this council,
father, all of your people thatare entrusted into us, lord, I
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pray that you just continue toopen their eyes and make their
hearts pliable to what it isthat you're doing in this place,
father.
Lord, excite people for themove that's happening here today
.
Lord, not the move that's justin this building, but the move
that is in our lives.
Give us excitement whensomething happens to those
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around us that we may notunderstand, and we may even look
at it and say I wish I couldget that.
Lord, we know that yourblessings are abundant and that
anything that you do forsomebody else, you can do for us
, and whatever you do for us,you can do for somebody else and
, lord, that means you can bringthem into your fold.
For us.
You can do for somebody elseand, lord, that means you can
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bring them into your fold.
Father, that salvation canhappen today for anyone.
Lord, we cast off no person inthis building.
There is no person that couldwalk through these doors that we
cannot love, because your wordtells us that you are love and
we want to be more like you.
Lord, I pray for these peopleas we move from this place.
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Lord, I pray that you give themrevelation, knowledge about
this holy week that they're ableto celebrate and be excited
about all that you did, all ofthe things that happened to you
in this week, and allow it tolead us back here to celebrate
your resurrection next Sunday.
I thank you and I praise you.
Give you praise, honor andglory this day in the mighty
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name of Jesus, and the churchsays Amen.
I want to share something with you that happened
this morning.
I don't know that it will giveyou any insight to what happened
this morning, but here's what Isaid.
I sent a text to six guys andit said Good morning, praying
this morning for each of you.
I'm wanting you to know that Iam standing today in faith,
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knowing that God is going to dosomething good for you, praying
that, as the Spirit moves thismorning, that we too, as his
servants, will move with him.
Today is a day for the men inChrist to stand firm on who he
is.
Can't wait to worship with youthis morning.
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Men, I'm going to tell yousomething that I've said for
weeks, but I don't think you'rehearing me.
When we can be strong, we cantake the church to the next
level.
The church cannot be carried onthe backs of the women who pray
for us.
We have to be willing to standand pray for them too.
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We have to know that we arecalled of God to lead, to guide
and to direct.
Amen, and men, when we arewilling to step outside of our
comfort zone and be a little bitvulnerable, god's going to do
something great, amen.
Listen, I was Anita two weeksago, said we're out of tissues
and I said, no, we're not.
I said there's plenty oftissues in this building.
This morning I was Anita twoweeks ago said we're out of
tissues and I said, no, we'renot.
I said there's plenty oftissues in this building.
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This morning I couldn't find atissue to save my life and I
needed a couple.
God is doing something in thisplace, amen, not just this
building, but in this move.
Listen, when Pastor Holly saidwe need to make it real.
We need to make it real.
This isn't about oh, the worldneeds a move.
I need a move today.
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I need God to do something inmy life so that I can continue
to speak into the lives of thosearound me.
Amen, come on.
When we're living for the worldand not for God, we cannot
truly give back to a world thatis hurting.
Amen.
Okay, whoo Lord, have mercy.
I had to pivot world that ishurting.
Amen, okay, whoo Lord, havemercy.
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I had to pivot my sermon thismorning.
Listen, pastor Holly and I tookabout 10 minutes in the prayer
room after everybody left, justso I could hash out some of
these thoughts and some of thethings that were going through
my mind, and I knew when I leftthe room that I was on solid
footing and we were gonna dothis.
And then, as we were singingand we were praying, I was like
no, we're not.
So this, literally, I'm goingto use these notes just as
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guideposts.
Okay, so you're going to haveto bear with me for a minute
this morning.
I want to start in Matthew,chapter 21.
We're going to start in verse 1, and we're just going to read
for a minute and I only have youguys for a half hour now, but
that's okay, I could have stayedin that all day, it wouldn't
have bothered me a bit.
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Matthew 21, verse 1,.
It says as Jesus and thedisciples approached Jerusalem,
they came to a town calledBethapage, on the Mount of
Olives.
Jesus sent two of them on ahead.
Go into the village over there,he said, and you will see a
donkey tied there with its coltbeside it.
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Untie them and bring them here.
If anyone asks what you aredoing, just say the Lord needs
them and he will immediatelysend them.
This was done to fulfillprophecy.
Can I tell you that in the weekwe are about to celebrate and we
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call it a celebration, amen.
How many of us genuinelycelebrate the week.
How many of us, instead, justlook forward to Easter Sunday?
Amen, amen.
Some of you are looking at melike what do you mean?
Celebrate the week?
Do we understand that todaymarks the beginning of a holy
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week?
Amen, today marks the beginningof a holy week.
Jesus is entering Jerusalem andthe word tells us that he is
entering Jerusalem on a donkey.
On a donkey, a stinky, smellydonkey.
What a humble way to ride intoyour own death.
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Amen, jesus could have rode inon anything he wanted.
Jesus could have rode in onanything he wanted.
My daughter thinks she couldhave a unicorn.
If Jesus wanted to ride in on aunicorn, he could have done it.
Amen.
But he chose a donkey to fulfillprophecy.
Can I help you to understandthat?
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The prophecy is what allows usto stand where we stand today?
Right, that the prophecy iswhat allows us to stand where we
stand today, right?
Jesus' fulfilling prophecy wasour salvation.
Now, he didn't go back and readand decide he was going to do
these things because he was theword.
The word lived in him.
He knew what he had to do inorder to save our sorry butts.
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Some of us can't evencomprehend that Jesus was a real
person and that he walked theearth and did real things and
touched real people.
We look at it as a story thatwe've read right, because we've
never seen him, we've nevertouched him.
But I'm going to tell you, ifyou were in this place this
morning and you didn't feel him,something's not happening in
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your life.
You've got to find a desire tobe in the presence of God,
because I'm going to tell you, Icould have stayed in that
moment all day long, all day,whether there were people
praying, you guys could all left, music could have kept playing
and I could have just been inhis presence.
Because I know that somethingis happening in my life because
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of what it is that he did on thecross.
For me, now, the problem is ishe didn't just come and go on
the cross.
He entered into Jerusalem andwe sang it this morning.
What were they shouting?
Hosanna?
They were waving their palmbranches, they were laying their
coats on the ground and he wasriding this donkey.
Somebody turn on the airconditioning, praise Jesus,
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listen.
They were excited that Jesuswas coming because they knew who
he was.
As Pastor Holly and I talkedthis morning, you realize that
Hosanna was first used in theOld Testament only one time,
right.
Did you guys know that?
We're going to go there?
Tech team pivot with me.
We're going to Psalm 118.
(06:41):
We're going to Psalm 118.
We're going to 25.
Now we're doing this in KingJames Version for all of you,
old school folks, you legacymembers.
Save now.
I beseech thee, O Lord.
O Lord, I beseech thee.
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Send now prosperity.
Blessed be he that cometh inthe name of the Lord.
We have blessed you out of thehouse of the Lord.
Go back to 25 for me.
Save now.
I beseech thee, o Lord.
O Lord, I beseech thee.
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Send now prosperity.
The save now.
The save now is translated toHosanna.
Hosanna means the God who saves, the one who saves.
Save us now.
They are begging for salvation,they are begging to be saved.
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And then we go to the NewTestament and there's this shift
, because now we're sayingHosanna as praise be to God.
Save us, o Lord.
Because they know who he is.
Now I would believe thatthere's probably a small group
(08:12):
of people standing in that crowd, waving their palms, throwing
down their coats, and they'reyelling Hosanna, hosanna,
because they believe he is theGod who saves.
Right, they know what he iscapable of doing.
They've seen bodies raised fromthe dead.
(08:35):
They've seen sick people healedby the hem of his garment.
Amen.
And I guarantee you, in thatcrowd is another group of people
who are shouting Hosanna andwaving their palms because they
want saved from Caesar, becausetheir perception of who Jesus is
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is wrapped up in the miraclesthat they have seen performed.
Amen.
The church today is wrapped upin a God who can perform and not
a God who saves.
Because, I'll tell you, thechurch is afraid of a God who
saves.
And why are we afraid of a Godwho saves?
(09:18):
Because if we commit to a Godwho will save us, change happens
in our life.
To a God who will save us,change happens in our life
Organically.
See what I did there.
Change happens in our life whenwe give it to a God who saves.
Now, if I go to a God who Itreat like a genie, or I go to a
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God who I believe can performall of the things and I say Lord
, I'm broke, give me money.
When God doesn't give me money,I don't have to look inward.
I just blame God.
Right, because that's easy todo.
Lord, I'm sick, heal my body.
When he doesn't heal your body,what do you?
(09:59):
Do you blame God?
Because it's easy to blame God,it is hard to look inward.
So I want to go to God as theone who will perform tasks and
give me what I need, not the Godwho will bring me out of the
pits of hell.
Because when God, when Jesuswas crucified, when he went into
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hell, he came back with thekeys Right.
Jesus came back with I have nohome in hell.
I can't even get in because Iain't got no keys, because Jesus
got them right.
I can't get through the gatesof hell because Jesus has them.
And I'm going to tell you thatI don't look for a God who will
perform miracles for me.
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I am not here for a God whoserves me.
I am here to serve a God whowill for me.
I am not here for a God whoserves me.
I am here to serve a God whowill save me.
Hosanna, hosanna.
See, the problem is, is theworld wants saved from Caesar?
They want saved from theinconveniences of life.
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They don't want saved from theinconveniences of life, they
don't want saved from sin,because salvation from sin,
being removed from sin, doeswhat it hurts.
It hurts real bad, don't it?
Dave?
Listen, I want to go to the barand drink Dave's.
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Like I'll tell you what Dave'sbeen on one for two days.
He's been in trouble for thepast two days.
Listen, I know when I dosomething that is not in the
will of God.
Amen.
How many of us know when we dosomething that is not in the
will of God?
Right, okay, now my question isis why do we willingly do
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things that are not in the willof God?
Because we don't want savedfrom sin, we want saved from the
inconveniences of the world,amen, listen, I don't want to be
sick anymore.
Listen, I don't want to be this, I don't want to be that.
But you also don't want toserve a God who will remove the
sin in your life.
I also don't want to serve aGod who will remove the sin in
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your life.
I don't want sin to be myidentity.
You guys ever known anybodyYou're like oh yeah, that's that
drunk guy.
Right, any of us ever been thatguy Kidding, don't raise your
hands.
Please don't raise your hand.
Dave's hand was already up.
Doug's, like We've known peoplelike we cannot identify
ourselves with the sin that wehave had in our past, because
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when Jesus saved us, when hecalled you his own, when he
changed your name, when he wroteit in the book of life.
You are no longer the sameperson who lived in that sin,
unless you choose to live inthat sin, unless you choose to
live in that sin, unless youchoose to.
Now, how embarrassing for usthat God has written your name
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into the book of life and yetyou choose to willingly live
outside of what he would haveyou do, outside of what he would
have you do.
So often we like to think thatheaven is real and we like to
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talk about what it's going to belike, and everybody wants to
know what heaven's going to belike.
I've never been there.
It's on my bucket list butnever been.
Yeah, yeah, someday I'll get to.
It's kind of like Hawaii.
You know what I mean Someday,someday.
The problem is we like tobelieve that heaven is real and
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we like to believe, becausewe've prayed a prayer or we've
said a thing or we've come tothe altar or we've done
something, that we areguaranteed entrance into heaven.
See this, once saved, alwayssaved mentality, we can go into
some scripture and we can tearthat apart.
Here's what I'm going to tellyou.
If you willingly choose to liveoutside of the will of God.
When you arrive in heaven andyou say but Lord, I prophesied
(14:00):
in your name, but, lord, Iprayed for people in your name,
and he says depart from me, forI never knew you, man, that's
going to take the wind out ofyour sails, isn't it?
That ain't going to feel good,because guess what he's going to
do when he says that to you,he's going to hand you your key
to hell and you're going to getthat key.
(14:24):
You're going to unlock the gateand you're going to spend
eternity in a place that none ofus want to be.
I always love when I hear peoplesay I used to be this person,
by the way, I love to tell onmyself that hell is going to be
nothing but a party.
We're going to drink beer,listen to Jimmy Buffett, and
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we're just going to hang out andchill with my friends, because
we're all going to hell together, right?
Listen?
I ain't going to hell because Ipromise there ain't going to be
no Jimmy Buffett music.
For some of us, that's a goodthing, some of us that's a bad
thing.
I don't know.
I'm not a Jimmy Buffett fan,but here we are.
I'm telling you that, if that isyour concept of what hell is
(15:11):
going to be like, you aren't inyour word.
You've missed what God has toldyou.
It is going to be darkness.
It's going to be hot hotterthan Alva's coffee and she
drinks her coffee hot it isgoing to be.
There's going to be thegnashing of teeth.
That grinding of teeth, thatsound, that can you just like?
(15:33):
My wife grinds her teeth whenshe sleeps at night and I'm like
I have to go somewhere else andsleep because I can't take it.
That noise will be everlasting.
I'm not saying that becauseit's annoying, but it's that
constant torment that everybodyaround you is feeling.
You won't be able to see theirface, but you're gonna know
they're in pain.
You're gonna know they're inmisery.
Have you ever met anybody thatis in constant misery?
A miserable person?
(15:55):
You have to be around thembecause you work with them or
whatever, and you find that man,this person is never going to
be.
Listen, that's what hell isgoing to be like.
That is what hell is going tobe like.
Do any of us want to go?
No, we all sit here and we sayit, but we live outside of the
will of God, knowingly andwillingly Listen.
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I love to have conversationswith people.
This is a new one for me.
You're talking to somebody andsomething gets brought up and
you know the story, right.
And they don't have the wholething and you want to start
telling the story, right, right?
Anybody's ever been there?
Like, I've got deets that youdon't have.
I want to spill the tea, but Iknow if I do, what am I doing?
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I'm gossiping, and I know thatthat is the hardest one to get
past.
And let me tell you why it'shard to get past.
Because it's fun, right.
Because, even if I don't haveall the details, I like to fill
in the gaps with suspicion.
You know what I mean.
Like, connie ain't here withDale today.
I think they're separated.
So now listen, if Connielistens to this, she's going to
(17:02):
beat me up later.
But listen, but the first timethat somebody says that and
somebody overhears it and theygo to the next person, did you
hear?
Connie and Dale are separated,right.
And then, pretty soon, connieand Dale didn't even know they
were separated.
Pretty soon he gets back tothem.
They're like well, we'reseparated, but we're living in
the same house.
What's going on over here?
Right, we still.
What's happening Because that'san easy one and we look at that
(17:27):
as less painful as some of theother sins.
You're an alcoholic?
I can see that on the outside.
You're addicted to drugs I cansee that on the outside.
Those things are not sinful bythemselves.
I want to be clear.
The sin is putting them beforeGod, right.
(17:47):
So I'm not saying that somebodywho's addicted to drugs is
inevitably going to hell.
They have an opportunity tochange their lives, right.
But those of us who gossip, wewill gossip at the gates of
heaven.
We be standing in line talkingabout the people behind it.
Can you believe they're up here?
You want to make a bet theyain't getting in, is it true?
(18:10):
Is it true Because we thinkthat it is less damaging.
Now can I tell you something?
Here's where the problem is.
We think that it is lessdamaging.
The problem is when one personhears a small portion of that,
they take that and they run withit.
You ever played that telephonegame?
We should have done that thismorning.
(18:31):
That would have been fun.
Just started on one side of thesanctuary and saw what it ended
up by the time we got to it.
And here's what it would haveended up.
Nothing like how it startedright.
So here's what happens we allsit in a group and we all
conversate and we have a greattime and we all leave.
And there are two people leftand one of them looks at the
other and goes.
Can you believe they said thatto you?
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Can you believe that Jennywould have said to Vicky Hickey
oh, I don't like the color ofyour sweater today.
Can you believe that she woulddo that?
And then the next thing, youknow, we've created this
animosity inside of the body,amen.
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And now every time Vicky Hickeywalks in, I'm looking at her
sweater and going that is anugly sweater.
And now, every time VickiHickey walks in, I'm looking at
her sweater and going that is anugly sweater.
And my opinion of VickiHickey's ability to dress
herself has just gone throughthe floor.
I have allowed somebody else'sopinion of a person that I love
dearly change my opinion of them.
I have not allowed theinspiration of the Holy Spirit
(19:38):
to move in my life.
I have not allowed my ownopinion to be valid.
I've allowed the opinion ofsomebody else to take over.
You know the other one that weget in the church a lot.
We get this a lot in the churchnot just this church, but in
church a lot.
There are cliques, there aregroups, there are pockets.
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Listen, I'm going to tell yousomething.
That group of men that I sentthat to this morning if you
didn't get that text in your Ididn't get the text.
Let me tell you something.
That group of men got that textbecause they come alongside me.
When I say I need help, theyshow up.
When I need prayer, they showup.
I'm not being mean, I'm sayingif you want to be part of that,
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call me, let's be part of thattogether, because I want that
group to grow so big that it'snot just men in our church.
Right, I want so many men to go.
These guys got it going on.
I want to be part of that.
That's what I want.
That's my desire.
That's not my desire just forthis building, but for the
kingdom of God, for the kingdomof God.
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Listen, that story will turninto something that it's not.
Pretty soon we'll be tellingpeople.
Well, can you believe thatPastor Michael didn't send that
text to whoever?
I'm not trying to leave you out, I'm really not.
I want to remind you that Jesushad 12 disciples.
Those were the people thatJesus trusted and counted on.
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It's not about cliques, it's notabout groups.
A lot of times it's about notchoosing to be involved.
If you want to be connected, beconnected.
I can tell you right now, daveis never going to tell you he
doesn't want to talk to you.
If you call Dave and say, hey,can we get dinner?
I have something I want to talkabout.
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Even if it's just for the food,dave's going to be excited.
We want to minister to the menin our lives.
We want to be able to love onthe people in our life.
The problem is is our fleshwants to blame those people for
not including us.
You have every opportunity tobe included in everything that
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you do.
See, when Jesus entered intoJerusalem and you have two
groups of people shoutingHosanna opposite sides of the
spectrum, one saying we know heis the God who will save us from
our sin and the other groupsaying he is the God who will
save us from Caesar, we realizethat we have two different
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groups of people standing infront of us, amen.
The question is, how do webridge the gap?
See, when Jesus went to thecross to die for our sin, all of
those people who thought thatJesus was coming to save them
from Caesar were a little bitdisappointed, because that
wasn't how it was supposed to goin their eyes.
(22:35):
I don't know if they expectedhim to flip some more tables or,
to you know, set something onfire or start a mutiny or a riot
, or what they expected Jesus todo, but they thought he was
going to save them fromoppression.
Instead, he gave them salvation.
And when they realized it,after Jesus hung on the cross,
(22:58):
the earth got dark, it shook andthe veil was torn from top to
bottom.
Guess what they realized?
Even the Roman soldiers whocrucified him realized he was
the God who saves, amen.
And I'm going to tell you, thechurch today does not know a God
who saves.
We know a God who will give uswhat we ask for.
(23:21):
See, the problem is theprosperity gospel tells us that
if we ask, we will receive.
And that's just how it works.
Listen, if you ask and it is inhis will you will receive it.
Lord, I want this belly to goaway, sick of shaking when I
stomp right.
I can say that all day, but Godhas given me the tools to do it
(23:44):
.
It was called a treadmill, butI decided to sell it.
I know that there is somethingchanging in the move of God,
that God is doing somethinggreater than he's ever done
before, but we can't understandit because we're looking for the
tangible.
We're looking for the thingthat we can touch, not the thing
(24:07):
that we can feel.
See, when we start talkingabout how pliable our hearts are
and whether or not we're ableto receive the word of God for
what it is.
See, a lot of times when weread the word, we read the words
.
See the difference.
I'm reading the words.
How many of us have ever readthe Bible?
(24:28):
And you walk away.
You're like I don't even knowwhat I just read.
Even as a pastor, that happensto me, right?
You get up at six o'clock inthe morning I'm going to do my
devotion today.
I crack my Bible when I read it.
I, six o'clock in the morning,I'm going to do my devotion
today.
I crack my Bible when I read it.
I get in the car.
I'm like I don't even know whatI read.
This one begat that one.
That one begat this one.
Lo and behold, someone said somestuff.
What just happened in my life?
(24:48):
I wasted 15 minutes of my life.
I have no idea what happened.
Right, because I was readingthe words and not the word.
I wasn't focused on thespiritual.
I needed to check in the box.
Right, because I wasn't lookingfor a God who saves, I was
looking for a God who provides.
Now the beauty is the word tellsus that even if you look at the
(25:12):
lilies, if you look at thesparrow, if he will provide for
them, he will also provide forus.
And why are we worried if hewill provide for the things that
don't really change the world,if the lilies are so beautiful,
they're close, why do we worryabout what we wear?
Now, I want you to wearsomething, but I don't care what
(25:37):
color your shoes are.
I don't care if you're wearinga sports jacket or sweatpants
like Tina Newman today.
It doesn't matter to me.
What matters to me is whetheror not your spirit is in line
(25:58):
with God.
If your heart is, I don't careif you think Vicky Hickey's
sweater's ugly.
Anyway, jenny, I think hersweater's beautiful.
She never said that, vicky.
I just wanted to be clear, Iknow, but it's that rumor thing
that starts.
You know what I mean.
Like, I just wanted to be superclear.
(26:18):
It was just joking.
It's just joking.
She never said that we knowthat we serve a God who saves.
Every person I hope in thisbuilding knows that we serve a
God who saves.
So when I pray God's perfectwill in your life, know that I
am not praying that you get whatyou want, but that God moves so
mightily in your life thatwhatever you want, if it's not
(26:39):
what he desires for you, thatyour heart will be okay with
that.
Whoo Lord, sometimes I have todo that for myself.
Listen, I'll tell you this.
Yeah, I'll share it.
How's that go?
My wife's not in here, so I cantell you.
Also real quick.
(27:00):
My sister-in-law, mybrother-in-law, one of my
nephews they're here in the backHaven't been here for a while
because we scare them.
I'm just kidding.
I'm just kidding.
But I joked with them thismorning and I said now, listen,
we're going to do nothing butministry time this morning
because you know we're going tohave you guys up there on the
floor and they're all likeholding onto the seat of their
(27:21):
chair.
And then this morning happenedyou joke about those things and
then God does something with it.
Right, he's got a sense ofhumor.
I'm thankful for that.
But they're in here, so I haveto be careful how I tell this
story, because they will tell onme.
Oh, also, my kids are in here,they'll tell on me.
Emmett's like yeah, buddy, sayit, Dare you.
(27:44):
So a couple of months ago,alyssa and I had been very
prayerful about the churchfinances and where the church
was headed and what we wanted tosee the church be able to do
Okay.
So we were very mindful of thechurch finances and because we
look at them regularly, like weknow where we're at and we can
kind of project what's going tohappen and so we decided to give
(28:04):
back one of my paychecks everymonth For three months.
We committed to that to see ifit made a change in the church's
finances strong enough that weneeded to reevaluate how I was
compensated.
So we made that decision and Itold council.
Now I need you to understandsomething that's our vacation
money.
Like we wanted to go onvacation and we saved to do that
.
I don't know about you guys,but I don't have $10,000 laying
(28:25):
around to go on a cruise, right?
Anybody else got that?
If you have 10 grand, can Iborrow it, because I'd really
like to go on my cruise.
But here's what happened.
We started praying, believingthat God was going to provide
those finances through work,through my job, because I get a
quarterly bonus and we believedthat God was going to give us
the full amount to pay for thecruise and we were going to go.
(28:49):
It was a big number Now, it'shappened before, but it was a
big number Now, it's happenedbefore, but it was a big number.
And so I said to Alyssa I saidI'm going to believe with you.
I said, but I'm going to sayGod, do what you do, right,
because I don't want to get myhopes up.
So I started, we just prayedtogether and we just believed
that that's what God was goingto do.
My bonus came and it wasn'teven half of what we needed.
(29:09):
Disappointing, disappointing,right.
And we were a little bitdisappointed that that was the
case.
And then Sunday came and wewalk into the building and we do
our thing and at the end ofservice I always ask how was the
tithe?
As my counters are finishing upand they said really good,
(29:30):
$7,800.
That was more money than we hadin the checking account.
People, do you understand that?
Because we were obedient towhat God had told us to do, that
we didn't receive the blessingthe church did.
You guys were blessed becausewe were obedient to what God had
(29:52):
called us to do.
Now we could have sat on that,we could have kept our mouths
shut and we could have gone on acruise.
Pastor, appreciation comesaround in October.
I know that when we choose tolive inside of the will of God
and we choose to believe in aGod who saves and a God who is
(30:12):
good in all things, we can neverbe disappointed in who he is
and what he does.
Amen, because even if it's notfor you and it's for somebody
else, if God takes what you didand he blows it up big for
somebody else, you should feelgood about that.
You should be excited that Godis still on the move.
Right, because I'll tell you.
You should be excited that Godis still on the move.
Right, because I'll tell you,unless you know something that I
(30:33):
don't know, god has notabdicated the throne.
He has not given up what he isdoing.
He is still operating in fullforce, but sometimes we don't
know what it looks like, and sothen we blame him for not giving
us our selfish desires.
Amen.
(30:56):
None of that was in my notes.
Here's my final line Are weworshiping Jesus for who he is
or for what we want him to dofor us.
Amen.
What are we doing today?
Are we giving him praise,hosanna, hosanna because he is
the God who will save us fromsin, or are we saying Hosanna
because he is the God who willsave us from whatever minor
(31:19):
inconvenience we have in life?
The Bible tells us that the loveof money is the root of all
evil, and sometimes I strugglewith that because I love money,
but I don't love money more thanI love Jesus.
I don't love money more than Ilove my family.
(31:40):
If it was, lose everythingtoday and still have my family,
I'll take it all day, every day.
We'll live in a cardboard boxunder a bridge as long as I can
take my Monopoly game with me.
We're good.
Yes, with the expansions.
God is good all the time andall the time.
(32:02):
God is good.
We know that, but we have tobelieve it.
We have to live it.
We have to walk in it.
Amen.
Let's pray together.
Live it.
We have to walk in it.
Amen, let's pray together.
Father, I thank you and I praiseyou for the path that we are on
today.
Lord, I pray that you guidethis church, this council,
father, all of your people thatare entrusted into us, lord, I
(32:26):
pray that you just continue toopen their eyes and make their
hearts pliable to what it isthat you're doing in this place,
father.
Lord, excite people for themove that's happening here today
.
Lord, not the move that's justin this building, but the move
that is in our lives.
Give us excitement whensomething happens to those
(32:53):
around us that we may notunderstand, and we may even look
at it and say I wish I couldget that.
Lord, we know that yourblessings are abundant and that
anything that you do forsomebody else, you can do for us
, and whatever you do for us,you can do for somebody else and
, lord, that means you can bringthem into your fold.
For us.
You can do for somebody elseand, lord, that means you can
(33:15):
bring them into your fold.
Father, that salvation canhappen today for anyone.
Lord, we cast off no person inthis building.
There is no person that couldwalk through these doors that we
cannot love, because your wordtells us that you are love and
we want to be more like you.
Lord, I pray for these peopleas we move from this place.
(33:36):
Lord, I pray that you give themrevelation, knowledge about
this holy week that they're ableto celebrate and be excited
about all that you did, all ofthe things that happened to you
in this week, and allow it tolead us back here to celebrate
your resurrection next Sunday.
I thank you and I praise you.
Give you praise, honor andglory this day in the mighty
(33:57):
name of Jesus, and the churchsays Amen.
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