II Corinthians 5:21 -- "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
I Peter 2:24 -- "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that, having been dead to sin, we might live to righteousness. . ."
Matthew 20:28 -- "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many."
Thank you for taking the time to read the Weekend Sermon this week. I want to thank the Lord for providing me with the opportunity to post this message. I hope that everyone is in good health.
For the past several weeks, we have been in a study of the book of James. Today, we are taking a break from that series so that we can speak about the events of Palm Sunday. We will have posts for the Holy Week season, and there will be an Easter message next week. After that, we will resume our study in James.
Luke 19:28-40 is just one of the places where the Gospels record the events of Palm Sunday. Let me say that Palm Sunday has always been one of my favorite days in the Christian calendar. I think that is due in part to the fun that we used to have in church on that day. We would wave the Palm branches and have a time of praise to the Lord. One church that I went to on Palm Sunday had a reenactment of the Palm Sunday events with a live donkey.
On Palm Sunday, Jesus was preparing to enter Jerusalem for the final week before He went to the cross. Just as prophesied, Jesus the Messiah rode into the city on a donkey. As He came into the city, people spread their garments in front of His path. They also took the palm leaves and laid them in His path shouting, "Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." It was a time of praise directed towards Jesus. In only a few short days, the cries would be "Crucify him. We will not have this man to rule over us."
To me, Palm Sunday is about praise to Jesus for who He is and for what He has done. As Jesus was receiving the praise of the people on Palm Sunday, the Pharisees called on Jesus to tell the people to stop. Jesus told them that if the people stopped, the rocks would cry in praise of Him.
Palm Sunday reminds me that Jesus is the Lamb of God who was slain. He is worthy of all praise and adoration both now and evermore. Jesus Christ is King, As Philippians tells us, one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
One of the great chapters in all of the Bible is Revelation 5 that details that the Lamb who was slain is worthy of all praise and adoration. The Lamb who was slain is Jesus Christ who bore our sins in His body on the cross.
Revelation 5:11-14 tells us that right now, Jesus is in Heaven receiving the praise of the angels, heavenly creatures, the elders and those who are currently in Heaven. One day, every citizen of Heaven and all creatures on earth and in the sea will call out there praise to the one who is worthy of praise the Lord Jesus Christ. I can't wait to be part of that day when all of creation throughout the universe praises King Jesus.
One thing that I hope that all of us will do each day is spend time praising Jesus for who He is and for what He has done. Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity. He is the Son of God and God the Son. He has lived a holy and sinless life as our perfect example. He bore on sins on the cross that we might be redeemed. He rose bodily from the grave conquering death and hell. He is seated at the right hand of the Father where He makes intercession for those who are His own. He will remain in Heaven until the time comes to restore all things.
At that time, Jesus will return to this earth in power and great glory. He will establish His kingdom on this earth, and He shall reign forever and forever. I am eagerly anticipating that glorious day.
I hope that you can praise Jesus because He is your Savior and Lord. I urge you to place your faith and trust in the Risen Lord today if you have not done so. Ask Him to forgive you of your sin. Believe in your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead. Ask Jesus to rule and reign in your heart. The Bible says that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Amen.
Prayer Requests
Please pray for those harmed and grieving as a result of what happened in Boulder and Atlanta.
Please pray for those who were harmed by the bad storms in the United States. Pray that they will receive the aid that they need.
Continue to pray for peace. I heard that the most devastating conflict that is occurring in the world right now is in Yemen. Please pray that that country will find peace.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let's pray for those who live in Kyrgyzstan and Guinea-Bissau. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will have a different blog posting schedule. On Monday, I will post the verses. On Thursday, there will be a Maundy Thursday post. On Friday, there will be a good Friday post. The Sermon will be posted on Saturday. May God bless you all.
This was a sad and frightening week for me. As most of you probably know, there was a mass shooting incident in Boulder, Colorado this week. Previously, there was a mass shooting incident in Atlanta.
The terrible crime in Boulder was especially frightening for me because I know someone who works as an officer in the Boulder Police Department. When I heard that an officer was killed, I was very worried that it was the person I know. It was not.
These horrible crimes are all too familiar occurrences here in the United States. It is time for something to be done to try to stop these crimes. We need to adopt effective gun control measures in the United States. It is time for an assault weapons ban. High capacity magazines need to be banned. We need to implement background checks for all gun purchases with a waiting period before any gun is picked up. I also believe that those who own a gun should have a license, and they should have to carry liability insurance.
This isn't going to solve all of the gun violence problems here in the United States. We need to have better access to mental health care for our citizens as well. We must also stop the glorification of violence in entertainment and in games.
The church needs to step up and speak up against violence. We must preach the love and peace of our Lord and Savior.
Proverbs 27:9 -- "Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice."
Proverbs 17:17 -- "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity."
I Thessalonians 5:11 -- "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing."
Proverbs 18:24 -- "There are "friends" who destroys each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother."
John 15:13 -- "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
Thank God for the opportunity to post another sermon this week. I hope everyone is happy and doing well.
Today, we continue in James chapter 2. Last week, we learned that treating people differently based on race, socio-economic condition or ethnic group is a violation of the law of God. As followers of Jesus, we are called upon to do unto others as we would have done to us. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves.
In today's passage, we see that James takes the idea of breaking the law of God to a whole other level. He tells us that if a person breaks one law, that person is guilty of breaking every law. What is James attempting to teach us?
James is telling us what the Bible clearly tells us in many places. Everyone who has ever lived except for Jesus has sinned and violated the holy laws of God. We are told in Romans 3:23 that, " all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." John tells us in his first epistle that if we claim to be without sin, the truth is not within us.
Because we have all sinned, we deserve to receive the punishment for sin, and that is death and eternal serparation from God. However, God is merciful and He loves us. Jesus came and lived a sinless life. He bore our sins in His body on the cross. He then rose bodily from the grave conquering death and hell. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whoever accepts Jesus as Savior and Lord will receive eternal life and forgiveness of sins.
Now, since God has been merciful to us, we are to be merciful to others. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told us not to judge lest we be judged. Jesus also told us that if we are not willing to forgive, our sins will not be forgiven.
Christians are getting the reputation of being too judgmental and not acting like Jesus. We all need to remember that without the grace of God, we would be in a mess. No one is perfect. We can't see what is in someone's heart. Jesus can. That is why He is the ultimate judge. I think that the best thing that we can do is to spread the love of Jesus as much as we can, and we can leave the judgment to the Lord. Amen
Prayer Requests
I asked you to pray about the flooding in my area. Everything was Ok. Thank you for your prayers.
Please remember to pray for those hurt by the storms in the southern part of the United States.
Continue to pray for peace in the world. Let us concentrate on praying for Yemen this week.
For our prayer focus countries, let us pray for those in Kosovo and Egypt.
Next week, we will have a sermon for Palm Sunday. I will post the verses on Monday, and I will try to post something midweek. May God bless you all.
Today I would like to first of all thank the Lord that my town did not get hit by the tornado that was close by. Unfortunately, a subdivision about 2 miles northeast of where I live did have tornado damage. Please pray that these folks will be able to recover quickly.
My area is supposed to have heavy rain and flooding over the next 36 hours. Please pray that the rain will not be as bad as expected. Pray that my roof will hold up. Thank you for your prayers.
I do have an additional prayer request. I am having great difficulty at my part-time job. Please pray that the Lord will lead me in what I should do about this situation. Thank you again.
Matthew 16:25 -- "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."
Hebrews 10:23 -- "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."
