Crossroads Community news

April 1, 2015 · 0 Comments

Sunday March 29th, 2015
We entered the sanctuary with reverent hearts ready to worship our King, with palm branches we proclaimed “Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Palm Sunday is a special time of honor, we remember all Jesus has done and still does today; He gives hope to sinners to be reconciled with God, so we hail Him King. Pastor Don shared announcements and prayed, “Dear Father God on this day we set time apart to thank you for your Son and rejoice in all that He did for us. He is Lord of our hearts and we praise Him, Let our shouts of joy draw everyone near you, in Jesus name, Amen.”
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Jesus’ path to the Cross. Jerusalem was buzzing with excitement as preparations for the Passover Celebration were taking place,(Exodus 12:12-13). This celebration required every Jewish family to come to Jerusalem to offer their sacrifices and partake of the Passover feast so Jerusalem was bursting with people. Jesus entering Jerusalem riding on a donkey was a fulfilled prophecy, (Zechariah 9:9, Luke 19:28-31). This was the only time Jesus rode on a donkey other than when his mother Mary was carrying him in her womb and entered Bethlehem, we know this as scriptures say he walked,(Mark 1:16,John 9:1). Another important fact is this donkey had never been rode on. For God it is important that everything offered to Him is the first in all things, unblemished, pure, and new, (Leviticus 9:2). When we bring the best, we honor Him as the only God and we do not put anything above Him which aligns with the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me,” Exodus 20:3. The next fact to notice is when the disciples replied to the owners of the donkey that Jesus needed it, no argument was made, and they let the colt go. Maybe it was because Jesus was well known for His many miracles and especially raising Lazarus from the dead just a few days prior, but God was in control of the situation and his prophecies are always fulfilled so the Holy Spirit spurred them to give them the colt.
For Jesus to choose to enter Jerusalem on this particular day would have weighed heavily on Him as he knew how the week would end, and yet he still chose to do it as His love for us compelled Him do so for He came to seek and save the lost, Luke 19:10. People welcomed Him and lay their garments on the ground swaying palm branches and they proclaimed, ”Hosanna!,(Luke 19:36-38). If we want to praise and worship Him, how would we do it? We could complement Him, speak highly of Him, do acts of kindness in His honor, thank Him, sing and possibly even dance. This is what we are called to do for Him, to exalt Him and live for Him,(1 Peter 2:9). Unfortunately there are hindrances to our genuine open praise for Jesus one of which is pride. When we fellowship in church it facilitates our praises as we are with likeminded people, we sing, we clap we share testimonies with excitement, however when we are at our work place or amongst friends we feel embarrassed so rather than act as we should we act poorly. We ought to remember the embarrassment Jesus suffered for our sake and ask God to make us bold, to fill us with love and gratitude for Him to rid us from pride. Another hindrance to praising our Lord is doubt. If we don’t trust a certain mechanic, would we recommend him to someone else? It is important to learn to trust God, believe in His word, the more we read the Bible, rely on Him in prayer and see Him work in our lives we will know Him more. It is all about developing a relationship with him. James 4:8 says “Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” So whatever hinders we should lay it before him. The Day Jesus entered many were joyfully praising Him and laying whatever they could at His feet but others did not seize the opportunity to lay their burdens down and be at peace with God.
We can depict in Scripture that Jesus was sensitive, He wept at the death of Lazarus. John 11:34-36. He wept over Jerusalem, He had compassion on them. Luke 19:41, Mark 6:34. Jesus wept over Jerusalem because he knew they didn’t understand who He was and how he was going to deliver them. They thought he would be a mighty warrior king who would defeat the Romans and set them free from military oppression. They did not realise that their greater need was a spiritual deliverance. Jesus saw the emptiness of their spirits and souls, he saw their burdens and struggles and saw that they had missed the boat so to speak, his message of an internal peace was misunderstood so it caused him sorrow. He longed to hold them all under his care but sadly he knew many would reject him and risk their eternal lives.
Beloved our hearts should be like Jesus for the lost and broken, we should weep over those who have not found peace with God and desperately seek them and share the saving news of Jesus so they too can have an all fulfilling relationship with Him. When we take the time to invite someone to church we don’t know what could happen but if we never invite them we certainly will never see them rejoice with us and praise our Lord and Saviour for giving them peace and Joy! So this week lay your pride, your fears and embarrassment down before the Lord and trade them in for boldness to invite someone to meet Jesus next Sunday! Asherey Shalom!
To learn more visit www.shelburnecrossroadschurch.ca