What Are You Doing?

0:00:01.240 --> 0:00:03.880 The Lord has been speaking to me. Open your Bible. 0:00:03.960 --> 0:00:06.600 Stay standing, John chapter twelve. 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:09.559 You're like, well, Pastor Stephen, we were only in John 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:12.280 one last week. How did we get to John twelve 0:00:12.680 --> 0:00:13.280 so quick? 0:00:13.760 --> 0:00:17.320 Easter's coming. We had to hit fast forward. We're skipping 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:18.640 a few scenes. 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:22.320 But we're gonna see the Lord ride in to Jerusalem 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:24.680 on a donkey, and we're going to see what that 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:30.480 means for me and for you. John Chapter twelve, Verse twelve. 0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:32.800 I want to give a couple of birthday greetings. It 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:35.480 is the thirteenth birthday of our Toronto campus. 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:40.040 Let's thank God for elevation Toronto. Praise the Lord. 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:44.040 Stephen Christen, the whole crew at Toronto, y'all go crazy, 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:45.360 y'all celebrate today. 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:47.000 It's a big birthday. 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:51.440 Our Raleigh location is moving into their brand new building today. 0:00:52.200 --> 0:01:00.000 Let's go Raleigh. We're gonna have Resurrection Sunday and Raleigh 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:01.840 in a brand new build and it's going. 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:05.240 To be amazing. Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord. 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:11.000 This occasion that we celebrate today, of course, is mitigated 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:14.200 in his joy by the fact that for Jesus it 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:16.720 would represent his sacrifice as he rides into. 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:19.120 Jerusalem to give his life for you and I. 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:22.200 Now let me read the passage from John chapter twelve, 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:27.400 verses twelve through sixteen, picking up right here mid flow. 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:31.679 The next day, the great crowd that had come for 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:35.600 the festival heard that Jesus. 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:38.480 Was on his way to Jerusalem. 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:43.440 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, Hosanna, 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:47.560 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:51.360 Blessed is the King of Israel. Now watch what Jesus did. 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:53.840 A study in contrast, Here are these. 0:01:53.800 --> 0:02:00.400 Loud shouts from the crowd, and Jesus verse fourteen found 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:04.480 a young donkey and set on it. 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:05.880 As it is. 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:09.760 Written, do not be afraid, daughter's ion. See your king 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:13.040 is coming. In that good news, your King is coming. 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:16.440 Then that bless you to know your king is coming. 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:19.239 Tell somebody next to you, the King is coming. The 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:21.959 King is coming, the King, the King is coming. The 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:29.240 King is coming. See your King is coming. Seated on 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:35.400 a donkey's colt, h that's unexpected. Last week we talked 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:39.200 about the staying Jesus week when we talked about the 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:40.200 seeking Jesus. 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:44.360 This week we're going to talk about the seated Jesus. 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:49.600 Seated on a donkey's colt. Now one more verse I 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:51.080 want to give you, then you can be seated. This 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:52.560 is what I want to talk to you about today. 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:59.800 At first, his disciples did not understand all this. Only 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:06.080 after see, some things only make sense after only after. 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:09.920 Don't worry too much right now about what you don't understand. 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:16.200 Some things only make sense. Only after Jesus was glorified 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:20.280 did they realize that these things had been written about him, 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:23.680 and that these things had been done to him. And 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:26.160 that's where I want to stop today. I'm going to 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:28.560 give this message a simple title, and then we might 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:30.920 call it something different online. 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:32.120 But I'm just gonna put it after a question. 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:34.560 Today, give your neighbor my title, look at him and 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:35.720 say what are you doing? 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:42.640 What are you doing? That's the message today. Well, don't 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:44.680 answer them just as a setup for a sermon. You 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:46.600 don't have to give him a report. Sit out. You 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:51.880 may be seated. What are you doing? Very common question? 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:56.080 Right you might just ask somebody that call him on 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:57.120 the phone, what are you doing? 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:00.000 Is it a good time or is it a bad time? 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:01.640 What are you doing? 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:04.080 You might have asked your kids at the other day, 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:06.280 what are you doing might've had a different tone and 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:10.760 inflection to it that way, What are you doing? Sometimes 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:15.400 you might ask yourself that, you know, after an hour 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:17.800 of scrolling stuff that you really don't want to look 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:19.760 at and you're not really interested in, and you don't 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:21.440 even really like cats, but you've been watching them do 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:24.960 stuff on your phone for like forty five minutes, what 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:28.960 are you doing? What are you You know what I'm 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:31.960 talking about, Like halfway through the stress eating exercise and 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:34.200 you're like, what are you doing? You know? You know, 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.400 like anytime I eat brisket after six thirty pm, I'm like, 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:39.880 what are you doing? You know this brisket is going 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:41.560 to make an encore. 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:45.000 Appearance tonight at about three am. What are you doing? 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:46.960 I just like the brisket. I don't know. I have 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.120 time to slow down and think about it and analyze it. 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:50.120 What are you doing? 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:54.159 Then there is that sense of a season of your 0:04:54.240 --> 0:05:00.440 life when you even asked that question of God. Seasons 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:04.040 where it is not obvious or a parent, seasons where 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:05.240 you cannot point. 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:07.720 To answered prayers, what are you doing? 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:13.600 Seasons where you can't discern why He would remove a 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:16.720 certain someone from your life? What are you doing? I 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:20.840 needed them. Lord, don't you know I needed them? What 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:23.200 are you doing? What are you doing? 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:23.479 Lord? 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:26.680 Like God, I'm gonna. 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:28.039 Need you to go ahead and give me a job 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:32.000 right now, because I got bills right now. 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:35.000 And I know that there's gonna be streets paid. 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:37.440 With gold in heaven, but right now, that is not 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:39.920 a currency for me to pay my power bill right 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:41.400 here on this earth that you put me on. 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:42.159 Lord, What are you doing? 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:45.880 And that's what I want to preach about today, because 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:48.880 you know, the Disciples are not the only characters in 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:51.680 this story that I read you from John chapter twelve 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:56.400 that we call Palm Sunday. I actually want to look 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:59.080 at four different perspectives today from this passage. 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:00.680 And this is the way I'd like to take you 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:02.679 through the journey, because we're. 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:06.479 Gonna see what four different characters or groups were doing 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:07.599 in the story. 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:10.919 First, we're gonna look at the disciples and see what 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:11.440 they're doing. 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:14.120 And then we're gonna look at the crowds, the crowds 0:06:14.160 --> 0:06:16.080 that were gathered, and we're gonna see what the crowds 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:19.560 are doing. And then we're gonna look at the donkey 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:24.520 and talk about what the donkey was doing. And then 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:27.320 I want to talk about the king and see what 0:06:27.400 --> 0:06:31.960 he was doing, the disciples, the crowds, the donkeys. 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:33.599 And the king, and we'll have our outline for today. 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:40.280 Everybody say, the disciples, the crowds, the donkey, the king. 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:43.520 Put all four of those in the comments you're watching online. 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:47.840 Put the disciples, the crowds, the donkey, and the king. 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:50.080 What are you doing well? 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:54.240 The disciples, of course, are walking with Jesus, which sounds simple, 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:59.039 and it is simple until it isn't. It's easy for 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:01.919 us to judge the disciples when we read a verse 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:03.719 like John twelve sixteen. 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:07.919 At first, his disciples did not understand all this. Only 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:09.800 after Jesus was glorified did. 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:11.840 They realize these things had been written about him and 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:13.960 that these things had been done to him. There is 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:16.080 a part of you that wants to say, after all 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:20.200 you've seen and after all you've experienced walking with Jesus, 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:25.440 how could you still be wondering what he is doing? 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:28.760 But keep in mind before you judge the disciples, that. 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:30.560 We know what they don't. 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:34.640 When you read John chapter twelve, you have an advantage 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:36.240 over the disciples because. 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:37.920 You know what they don't. 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:42.720 You know about the third Day they don't you know, 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:48.280 perhaps about the messianic fulfillment that is represented in this passage, because. 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:50.360 You have a cross reference in your Bible. 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:52.480 And it says if you want to read John chapter twelve, 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:55.560 verse fifteen about the king writing on a cult a 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:59.280 baby donkey, that that's taken from Zechariah nine to nine, 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:01.320 which is in the Old Testament, And just as soon 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:03.120 as you can flip the pages, you can go, oh, well, 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:04.400 of course he wrote on a donkey. 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:08.080 Zachariah prophesied it five hundred years ago. He's fulfilling prophecy. 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:14.000 They don't know that because they are living that, and 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:17.240 certain things in your life while you are living them 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:21.960 don't look like they look after they're over. There's a 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:26.520 difference between looking at something and living in something. So 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:29.360 when we see Jesus riding in on a donkey, we 0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:32.679 see it as a sign of humility and peace and 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:35.040 prophecy fulfilled for them. 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:37.559 It was very confusing to watch. 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:40.640 The Master and the CEO of the universe uber into 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:43.920 Jerusalem to do the most important task that a human 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:47.880 has ever done. You know what they don't, And it's 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:51.520 important to remember that we get a big picture of Jesus. 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:52.160 From John's Gospel. 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:54.840 We know about him turning water into wine, and they 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:57.040 saw that. And we know about him talking to a 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:58.480 woman at a well, and they saw that. 0:08:58.520 --> 0:09:00.360 And we know about him feeding five and. 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:03.920 Hungry souls and women and children, and they saw that. 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:07.439 But they saw all these things while they walked with him. 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:10.760 And we worship him because we read about these things. 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:13.959 But they had to walk with him as they realize 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:14.680 these things. 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:18.679 And sometimes it is easier to worship a Jesus that 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:21.920 you read about than it is to walk with a 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:28.079 Jesus who is frustrating your expectations and confusing your emotions 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.200 by heading to the cross when you need him to 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:33.720 be a king. So I just want to talk about 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:35.600 for a moment, for all of you who are going 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:38.840 through a season of your life that looks like what 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:39.680 are you doing? 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:40.840 Keep walking? 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:45.640 Keep walking because the what ifs that you have about 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:48.480 your marriage, the what ifs that you have about your health, 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:51.040 the what ifs that you have about your children, the 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:53.440 what ifs that you have about your career, the what 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:56.200 ifs that you have about your emotions, the what ifs 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:59.400 that you have will only be answered when you walk. 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:04.319 So keep walking. That's all the disciples did they walked 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:09.000 with him. The Disciples are walking. Everybody say the Disciples 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:13.600 are walking, and the disciples are walking with the Jesus 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:16.600 that they do not fully understand even though they have 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:21.400 been radically changed, even though they have been wonderfully exposed. 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:24.760 The Disciples are living in it. 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:27.800 And there is a difference between living in it and 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:29.560 looking at it. Now you're like you already said that, 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:32.200 I'm gonna say it again, because it is so easy 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:35.760 for you to look at somebody else's life and envy 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:39.040 them and be jealous of them. But you might be 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:41.560 jealous of a life that you're only seeing the front 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:44.600 side of. And if you ever saw the backside of 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:48.160 their life, you might not be bitter about yours. Because 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:50.240 there is a chance that the cost that they are 0:10:50.280 --> 0:10:52.720 paying to be who they are is greater than the 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:55.800 toll that you would want to pay. So don't be jealous, 0:10:56.240 --> 0:11:03.760 and also don't judge. Judge because we are all walking. 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:05.839 We are like the Disciples. 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:09.280 There are things that we don't understand and we will not. 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:14.600 Until after I heard about a poem that Corey ten. 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:17.559 Boone used to love. I thought that she wrote it, 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:19.520 but I found out that She. 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:24.920 Was quoting it from Grant Colfax Tuller, who was a poet, 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:28.080 And I want you to listen to this because she 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:32.760 read it as a Holocaust survivor. She read it after 0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:37.559 forgiving people who tortured her family. She read it after 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:40.880 surviving something that most of us would have stumbled over. 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:46.840 And she read this poem called the Weaver. My life 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:50.120 is but a weaving between my God and me. I 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:56.280 cannot choose the colors. He weaveth steadily. Oftentimes he weaveth sorrow, 0:11:57.160 --> 0:12:03.920 and I, in foolish pride forget he sees the upper. 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:10.559 And I the underside the underside. 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:14.679 Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:18.800 to fly, will God unroll the canvas and reveal the 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:21.280 reason why the dark. 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:27.440 Threads are as needful in the weaver's skillful hand as 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:31.599 the threads of gold and silver in the pattern he 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:32.240 is planned. 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:36.120 What she's saying is, I don't see the picture from 0:12:36.200 --> 0:12:41.480 my perspective. I don't see what his hands are doing 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:46.240 while I am going through the hardships of my life. 0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:50.280 And it is the weaver that I worship, and I 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:52.440 walk with him, and I talk with him but I 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:57.280 often wonder what are you doing? I can tell I 0:12:57.360 --> 0:12:58.880 might need to break this down a little bit. So 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:02.560 let me show you something. Holly and I have a 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:05.839 great marriage. Great marriage. 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:08.120 Yeah, I picked the right partner and I'm reaping the 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:09.199 benefits ever since. 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:15.079 Praise the Lord for our twentieth anniversary. 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:21.880 A while back, Shell made us this, this cross stitch. 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:24.000 Can you see. 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:29.960 It kind of right? Like you can kind of tell 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:33.320 what it is. It kind of looks like she didn't 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:34.120 do a good job. 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:37.000 It kind of looks like she needs to go back 0:13:37.000 --> 0:13:40.520 to cross stitch class, take a couple remedial weeks. But 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:45.679 of course if you see the other side, you can 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:47.280 see she did pretty good. 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:49.880 You can see she made. 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:53.240 Me look just like I did on that faithful day 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:55.800 with no beard, standing before my wife in my s 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:58.200 and case suit about three sizes too big for me. 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:00.960 And there we are. 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:02.920 Like this. 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:05.720 On this side. 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:12.559 But every marriage does have an underside. And I just 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:14.520 want you to remember when you look at everybody's Easter 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:18.000 pictures on Instagram. In about a week, they're showing this, 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:21.520 but they probably went through this in the car before 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:23.080 they got the seers to take the picture. 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:24.800 That's a callback. Reference from the eighties. 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:31.920 You see what I'm saying. This is zin back in y'all, 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:36.200 what are you doing? This is what it looks like, 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:43.800 and this is how it's lived. I said, this is 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:48.680 what it looks like, and this is how it's lived. 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:51.120 She got out the car the other day and she 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:54.720 asked me, does my hair look good messy or bad messy? Now, 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:58.120 after twenty something years, I can tell you that the 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:00.360 answer to that automatically is a good mess But I 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:01.880 can also tell you there is a. 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:10.680 Difference between good messy and bad messy. And good messy is. 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:13.680 When you are trusting God in your life to work 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:16.440 out the details that you can't control, and you are 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:19.800 trusting God's sovereignty in your life for situations that. 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:20.600 Are too big for you. 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:24.520 Good messy is in a marriage where we fight for 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:28.840 the marriage, where we fight with each other instead of 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:32.520 against each other, and we fight for each other because 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:36.360 every marriage has an underside. Every marriage that looks like 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:40.120 this looks like this somewhere. Every marriage that looks like 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:42.920 this where the couple has their debts paid off had 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:46.240 conversations about are you really bringing that coffee. 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:48.800 Table into my house? And did it really cost I. 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:50.480 Remember the first time she told me she wanted to 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.360 spend four hundred dollars on a coffee table. I said, 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:55.600 you better find one that has some dings and dents 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:58.080 in it. You better find one that's busted out the 0:15:58.080 --> 0:15:58.800 top of it. 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:00.840 Four hundred dollars for a coffee table. 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:05.160 See, because we are still weaving together our values for money, 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:07.720 she has a value for a coffee table. I didn't 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:09.160 even drink coffee at the time. 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:10.160 How am I supposed to. 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:12.520 Pay four hundred dollars for something I don't even drink. 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:13.640 I'm not even gonna use. 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:18.560 It looks like this every marriage, in terms of sexual relationships, 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:21.960 in terms of communication, in terms of conflict. 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:23.640 Management, it always looks like this. 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:26.680 So what I'm trying to say is, don't confuse what 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:29.800 it looks like with how it's lived. Or you might 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:33.320 give up on something great because of something gross, and 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:37.600 you might give up on something miraculous because of something messy. 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:40.800 And when God is bringing something together in your life, 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:48.720 remember you have to trust him with the underside. That 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:52.160 might be the whole word for somebody today. Trust him 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:55.920 with the underside. I know it's ugly, but trust him. 0:16:56.160 --> 0:16:59.600 I know it's crazy, but trust him. I know it's confusing, 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:02.680 but trust him. I know is not coming together as 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:05.359 fast as you want it, but trust him. I know 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:08.240 you can't figure out what it is yet, but trust him. 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:09.880 I know everybody around. 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:13.560 You is acting kind of judgmental, but don't judge the underside, 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:16.880 because in God's hand, the dark threads are just as 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:20.639 important as the light threads, and all things work together 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:23.440 for the good of them who are called according to 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:24.080 his purpose. 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:26.359 So if he called me according to. 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:29.800 His purpose, that means there will be an underside that 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:34.120 he oversees, and I cannot judge what He's making by 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:36.800 the moment that I'm in, or I will be like 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:40.080 the disciples that saw the cross as a failure. 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:43.560 But this was not the failure. This was the foundation. 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:48.520 And isn't it amazing that the disciples walked with Jesus into. 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:50.959 The most confusing moments of their life. 0:17:51.440 --> 0:17:54.040 But the most confusing moment was the one that He 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:57.880 used the most. I can tell you, looking back on 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:01.119 forty six years of living, some of the times that 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:03.480 I was most confused were some of the times that 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:07.479 He most used. So don't give up on God just 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:09.560 because you're on the underside. 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:10.879 It might be ugly. 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:14.400 On the underside, it might be uncomfortable. On the other side, 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:18.200 it may be inconvenient. On the underside, it may be embarrassing, 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:21.679 it may be humiliating. You might have to ask some questions. 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:30.120 You may not understand until after when Jesus was glorified, 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:35.400 they got it. And then they went, oh, is this 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:44.280 and the faith is to the faith is to make 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:56.080 it through the lows so you can get to the oh. Oh. 0:18:56.800 --> 0:19:03.720 And meanwhile the disciples are walking and the crowds that's 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:09.359 number two are waving, and they are waving palm branches. 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:13.679 And these palm branches are not random. I remember a 0:19:13.680 --> 0:19:16.359 few years ago in church. Actually it must have been 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:18.119 about fifteen years ago, because this is back when I 0:19:18.200 --> 0:19:20.200 used to copy everything my buddy Perry Noble did in church. 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:21.680 God I know what I was doing. 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:24.280 And he had people break these glow sticks one Sunday, 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:26.520 and on Palm Sunday, they all raised them in the air, 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:28.080 and they were singing, shine your light and let the 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:30.240 whole world see for the glory of the risen King. 0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:32.439 And everybody broke the glove stick and raised it up 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:34.600 in the air on Palm Sunday, and we were using 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:36.520 it to represent all the people we wanted to see 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:38.840 come to Christ, and we were raising the glow sticks. 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:41.200 And I read this young girl on Twitter. She said, 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:43.680 my mom asked me, did we have palm branches in church. 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:44.960 On Palm Sunday? And I had to tell her no, 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:45.960 they had glow sticks. 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:48.560 And I was like, that's just elevation, right, Like not 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:50.600 a lot of tradition around here. In fact, this is 0:19:50.600 --> 0:19:52.920 the first time I've preached on the donkey on Palm 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:57.919 Sunday in about ten to fifteen years. But before I 0:19:57.960 --> 0:20:01.280 can even talk about the donkey, I gotta talk about 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:08.159 the crowds, because we named this Sunday after what the 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:12.200 crowds held in their hand and what they waved as 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:16.919 a sign of victory. The palm branch represented victory like 0:20:17.480 --> 0:20:19.240 when a great conquering. 0:20:18.880 --> 0:20:21.360 King would take a new. 0:20:21.280 --> 0:20:24.240 Territory and come back into town on a war horse. 0:20:24.560 --> 0:20:28.040 They would wave these palm branches and these myrtles, and 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:34.719 they would shout, HOSEA, blessed is he who comes in 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:38.080 the name of the Lord, and they do it three times, Joseanda, 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:41.960 blessed is he. Because the victory was coming back and 0:20:42.000 --> 0:20:44.000 they would wave the branches tomba. 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:47.160 Hoosella, blessed is he. 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:49.800 This is a scripture that they were quoting from Psalm 0:20:49.920 --> 0:20:56.760 one eighteen, verse twenty six. Hosella, blessed is he who. 0:20:56.560 --> 0:20:58.280 Comes in the name of the Lord. 0:20:58.400 --> 0:21:03.080 Now Jesus is headed to a cross, and he's coming 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:06.200 through Jerusalem, and about one hundred and twenty thousand people 0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:10.000 are gathered to celebrate the Passover festival and is crowded 0:21:10.040 --> 0:21:12.320 in the streets of Jerusalem. 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:16.560 And they're shouting out save now. That's what Hosanna means, 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:19.480 save now, because don't we want. 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:21.480 God to get it out of us and get us 0:21:21.480 --> 0:21:24.320 out of it right now? And don't we want God 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:26.920 to do what He's gonna do right now? And since 0:21:26.960 --> 0:21:30.000 they just got word that Lazarus was in the ground 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:33.800 but he got up, maybe they figured that this prophet, 0:21:33.840 --> 0:21:37.840 this priest, this messiah, whatever he was, could do for 0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:40.960 them what they had waited for the king to do. 0:21:41.040 --> 0:21:44.960 And so they are shouting Hosanna, blessed is he who 0:21:45.000 --> 0:21:46.359 comes in the name of the Lord. 0:21:46.400 --> 0:21:47.919 And they're shouting loud. 0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:51.359 I believe that as they are shouting Hosannah, which is 0:21:51.440 --> 0:21:55.840 a praise word Jesus can already hear the echoes of 0:21:55.920 --> 0:21:59.679 crucify Him, which the same crowds would be shouting on 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:07.040 frid Don't ever get too attached to people's praise. Don't 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:09.360 ever get too attached to people's praise. 0:22:10.200 --> 0:22:12.240 Because if you live by it, you'll die when they 0:22:12.320 --> 0:22:12.920 take it away. 0:22:14.400 --> 0:22:16.640 Even don't be too attached to When your kids think 0:22:16.680 --> 0:22:18.920 you're a good parent. Sometimes you might have to take 0:22:18.960 --> 0:22:21.119 their phone and they might call you the devil. 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:22.680 Now what you're gonna do about it? 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:25.800 You're run in a popularity contest or a household. Don't 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:29.880 be too attached to people's praise. Don't even be too 0:22:29.880 --> 0:22:33.280 attached to your parents' praise. Sometimes your parents see you 0:22:33.320 --> 0:22:35.920 as their product, and they can't even guide you as 0:22:35.920 --> 0:22:38.320 good as God can because they're trying to get you 0:22:38.359 --> 0:22:40.920 to fulfill something that they didn't accomplish in their life. 0:22:41.200 --> 0:22:43.639 And only God can show you what your next step is. 0:22:44.040 --> 0:22:44.879 So don't be too. 0:22:44.760 --> 0:22:46.040 Attached to their praise. 0:22:46.680 --> 0:22:48.760 If you live when they give it, you'll die when 0:22:48.760 --> 0:22:49.560 they take it away. 0:22:49.920 --> 0:22:52.800 Don't be too attached to people's praise. Don't be too 0:22:52.880 --> 0:22:53.960 attached to the likes. 0:22:54.160 --> 0:22:56.760 Don't be too attached to the encouragement of your boss. 0:22:56.960 --> 0:22:59.359 What you're gonna do if your boss moves divisions, what 0:22:59.440 --> 0:22:59.879 you're gonna do. 0:23:00.080 --> 0:23:01.480 You get a boss that doesn't. 0:23:01.160 --> 0:23:03.879 Like you, You're still gonna work hard because you're God's child. 0:23:04.280 --> 0:23:07.600 Jesus never moved by the approval of people. Jesus never 0:23:07.720 --> 0:23:11.000 moved for the yaize of the crowds. Jesus never moved 0:23:11.040 --> 0:23:14.400 for the high fives, even of his own disciples. Jesus 0:23:14.520 --> 0:23:18.359 was not moved by the crowd. He moved through the crowd. 0:23:18.560 --> 0:23:24.240 I'm going somewhere. The disciples are walking. The crowds are waving, 0:23:24.560 --> 0:23:28.359 and they are shouting Hosanna. But they will not still 0:23:28.400 --> 0:23:31.040 be shouting when he is led like the lamb to 0:23:31.080 --> 0:23:34.280 the slaughter. They will not still be shouting when pilot 0:23:34.359 --> 0:23:37.080 puts him up, turns him over, and hangs him to die. 0:23:37.240 --> 0:23:40.359 They will not still be shouting on Saturday when his 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:42.080 body lays in a tomb. 0:23:42.240 --> 0:23:43.440 What are you trying to say? 0:23:43.800 --> 0:23:52.960 Don't confuse loud with loyal, don't confuse loud with loyal. 0:23:53.600 --> 0:23:57.000 The crowds are waving, The crowds will wave. That's fine. 0:23:57.560 --> 0:24:01.879 But Jesus was not moved by the crowds, and I 0:24:01.880 --> 0:24:05.160 don't know who this point is for, because it's really 0:24:05.240 --> 0:24:07.680 just an incidental point to get me to the main 0:24:07.720 --> 0:24:08.919 point of this message. 0:24:09.440 --> 0:24:15.119 Because while the crowds are waving the donkey, can we 0:24:15.160 --> 0:24:16.520 talk about the donkey? 0:24:17.119 --> 0:24:20.600 I know we're all impressed by Palm Sunday, Well why 0:24:20.640 --> 0:24:24.000 can't we call it donkey Sunday because it. 0:24:23.960 --> 0:24:25.520 Doesn't have the same ring to it. 0:24:26.480 --> 0:24:30.840 Because while the disciples are walking and the crowds are waving, 0:24:30.920 --> 0:24:34.400 watch what the donkey is doing. The donkey is waiting. 0:24:36.440 --> 0:24:38.440 So now the crowds are. 0:24:38.680 --> 0:24:41.120 Walking, calm down for it, give it to him slow. 0:24:41.840 --> 0:24:47.200 The crowds are waving Hosanna, Hosanna, and the donkey is waiting. 0:24:47.200 --> 0:24:50.280 Now this is really fun. Go back to John chapter eleven, 0:24:50.359 --> 0:24:50.840 verse four. 0:24:51.680 --> 0:24:54.040 You know, John doesn't give a lot of details about 0:24:54.040 --> 0:24:57.119 the donkey. In fact, when he talks about the donkey, 0:24:57.160 --> 0:24:59.520 he says something so simple you almost just read right 0:24:59.560 --> 0:25:05.440 over it said, Jesus found a young donkey and sat 0:25:05.520 --> 0:25:10.840 on it. And that's all the details we get from John. John, 0:25:11.040 --> 0:25:14.560 like a true man, just gives you the bottom line. 0:25:14.600 --> 0:25:16.479 Hey found a donkey and he sat on it. But 0:25:16.520 --> 0:25:19.480 you know what this tells me. I'm speculating, But I 0:25:19.520 --> 0:25:20.240 have good reason. 0:25:20.280 --> 0:25:21.159 I studied. 0:25:22.359 --> 0:25:25.760 John wasn't one of the disciples that got sent to 0:25:25.800 --> 0:25:29.639 get the donkey. That's what it tells me. It's like 0:25:29.680 --> 0:25:31.440 my kids fighting around the table. You know, they'll be 0:25:31.440 --> 0:25:33.320 trying to tell a story at dinner and they'll be like, 0:25:33.520 --> 0:25:35.720 shut up, let me tell it, or I'm sorry. 0:25:35.560 --> 0:25:37.120 We're at church, we're pastor Stanley. 0:25:36.920 --> 0:25:39.760 Please be quiet, please park it onto my voice. 0:25:39.880 --> 0:25:42.000 That's what they say. At my table. What's your table? 0:25:42.200 --> 0:25:43.359 They say, shut up? At your house? 0:25:43.520 --> 0:25:47.520 What's wrong with you? You're a terrible parent. They say, 0:25:47.920 --> 0:25:51.280 shut up? Is my story, Let me tell it? And 0:25:51.320 --> 0:25:55.680 I almost felt when John said Jesus found a young 0:25:55.760 --> 0:25:58.760 donkey and sat on it and then just went right 0:25:58.800 --> 0:26:02.040 on to someone eighteen twenty six in the palm branches 0:26:02.200 --> 0:26:05.160 and all of the wonderful things. I almost felt Peter 0:26:05.560 --> 0:26:09.800 speak up and say, shut up, John, you weren't there. 0:26:11.080 --> 0:26:11.800 Let me tell it. 0:26:12.840 --> 0:26:15.520 So in Mark's Gospel, flip over to Mark real quick, 0:26:15.520 --> 0:26:20.239 because this is the underside. This is the side of 0:26:20.280 --> 0:26:22.600 the story from the one who was there. In Mark 0:26:22.720 --> 0:26:26.000 chapter eleven, you get a little fuller account. You get 0:26:26.000 --> 0:26:28.280 more than just Jesus found a donkey and sat on 0:26:28.320 --> 0:26:30.960 it in and rode on into Jerusalem. You get a little 0:26:31.000 --> 0:26:34.400 bit clearer picture, and you get a little bit more detail. 0:26:34.720 --> 0:26:36.360 And I want to read it to you from Mark 0:26:36.440 --> 0:26:37.320 chapter eleven. 0:26:37.760 --> 0:26:42.760 As they approached Jerusalem, same disciples walking toward Jerusalem, and 0:26:42.920 --> 0:26:46.200 King Tibeth, Phage and Bethany. At the Mount of Olives, 0:26:46.520 --> 0:26:48.520 Jesus sent two of his disciples. 0:26:48.560 --> 0:26:51.159 We don't know which too. I'm speculating that it was 0:26:51.160 --> 0:26:53.960 Peter based on the nature of the job. 0:26:54.400 --> 0:26:56.720 You know, you got some disciples that you need to 0:26:56.760 --> 0:26:59.479 pray for you, and then you have some disciples that 0:26:59.520 --> 0:27:01.920 you need to do other stuff for you that isn't 0:27:02.000 --> 0:27:03.000 quite as spiritual. 0:27:03.480 --> 0:27:05.760 And watch what Jesus told him to do verse. 0:27:05.600 --> 0:27:09.360 Two, saying to them, go to the village ahead of. 0:27:09.320 --> 0:27:12.760 You, and just as you enter it, you will find. 0:27:12.520 --> 0:27:16.600 A cult that's a baby donkey tied there which no 0:27:16.640 --> 0:27:18.240 one has ever ridden. 0:27:18.880 --> 0:27:20.720 Untie it and bring it here. 0:27:21.520 --> 0:27:25.440 If anyone asks you why are you doing this, say 0:27:26.240 --> 0:27:32.360 the Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly, Skinner, 0:27:32.359 --> 0:27:35.240 I can't skip over this and talk about the donkey 0:27:35.440 --> 0:27:38.520 being borrowed, because I'm thinking about the fact that Jesus 0:27:38.560 --> 0:27:40.080 borrowed two things around Easter. 0:27:40.800 --> 0:27:44.160 One was a donkey and one was a tomb. 0:27:45.440 --> 0:27:48.520 But see it wasn't exactly borrowed the appropriate way, right. 0:27:48.760 --> 0:27:51.920 This is not technically how you should borrow something, right. 0:27:52.440 --> 0:27:54.840 And so that's why I think that Jesus needed Peter 0:27:55.400 --> 0:27:58.720 to do something that was so dumb that it would 0:27:58.720 --> 0:28:01.760 take a dumb disciple to do it. Do I have 0:28:01.880 --> 0:28:06.400 any dumb disciples in the room today who aren't the smartest, 0:28:07.640 --> 0:28:12.360 who aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the drawer. But Jesus, 0:28:12.400 --> 0:28:15.080 if you need something to hit something, I'll hit something 0:28:15.160 --> 0:28:15.560 for you. 0:28:15.960 --> 0:28:16.600 That's Peter. 0:28:17.040 --> 0:28:20.399 Peter's kind of dull, but he'll do it. Tell your neighbor, 0:28:20.440 --> 0:28:24.280 I'm dull, but I'll do it. That's why I think 0:28:24.320 --> 0:28:26.239 the Lord called me to start the church when I 0:28:26.320 --> 0:28:29.680 was twenty five, when I was dumb enough to do stuff. 0:28:30.000 --> 0:28:32.640 I didn't know how to run a profit and lost statement. 0:28:32.960 --> 0:28:35.119 I didn't know how to check a ledger. All I 0:28:35.200 --> 0:28:37.359 knew how to do was ask the Lord. And if 0:28:37.400 --> 0:28:39.960 the Lord told me to give everybody glove sticks, I 0:28:40.080 --> 0:28:41.320 gave him a glow sticks. 0:28:41.640 --> 0:28:43.720 I didn't care if aunt Ethel liked it or not. 0:28:44.160 --> 0:28:46.640 I was dumb enough to break a gloss stick and 0:28:46.720 --> 0:28:47.800 tell him Happy Easter. 0:28:48.360 --> 0:28:50.880 I was dumb enough to do some stuff. And the 0:28:51.000 --> 0:28:52.040 problem with some. 0:28:51.960 --> 0:28:55.120 Of us is that we've gotten smarter than a donkey. 0:28:55.560 --> 0:28:58.320 But when Jesus was looking for something to come into 0:28:58.400 --> 0:29:01.680 town on, he did not look for a scholar. He 0:29:01.720 --> 0:29:04.600 did not look for the head of the class. He 0:29:04.680 --> 0:29:07.920 did not look for a valedictorian to be his decil. 0:29:08.360 --> 0:29:09.880 He said, I need a donkey. 0:29:10.320 --> 0:29:13.640 I wonder who I can trust enough to take my 0:29:13.840 --> 0:29:18.480 word without detail, to take my word without explanation, to 0:29:18.640 --> 0:29:21.520 take my word without the cross reference, and. 0:29:21.600 --> 0:29:26.600 Do what I need you to do now. 0:29:28.120 --> 0:29:34.040 The Bible says in verse five of Mark chapter eleven, 0:29:35.360 --> 0:29:40.280 there's some people standing there asked what are you doing? 0:29:44.640 --> 0:29:48.960 Just like the title of our sermon, Just like they 0:29:48.960 --> 0:29:54.040 were wondering about Jesus, and they're wondering what Jesus is doing. 0:29:54.520 --> 0:29:57.200 Jesus, are you really gonna let them kill you like this? 0:29:57.600 --> 0:30:01.680 Jesus, are you really going to ride up into Jerusalem 0:30:01.680 --> 0:30:05.560 in a jalopy? I mean, Jesus, you're a king. Don't 0:30:05.560 --> 0:30:08.080 you hear them calling you a king? A king can't 0:30:08.160 --> 0:30:11.320 drive a kiah. Jesus at least let us put in 0:30:11.640 --> 0:30:14.240 a good word with somebody who has a train. 0:30:14.320 --> 0:30:17.160 You know they got luxury donkeys. You know they got. 0:30:16.960 --> 0:30:20.200 Big grown donkeys. Did you say you want a baby donkey? 0:30:20.400 --> 0:30:22.920 A little donkey? Can we at least get a big 0:30:22.960 --> 0:30:25.760 donkey Jesus? And Jesus said, no, I need to be big, 0:30:25.840 --> 0:30:27.600 So I need what I ride on to be small 0:30:27.680 --> 0:30:29.600 so they can see how big I am. 0:30:30.120 --> 0:30:30.640 Oh God. 0:30:31.640 --> 0:30:34.640 And so what God will do if you have the 0:30:34.760 --> 0:30:38.240 faith to trust him with stuff that you don't understand, 0:30:38.880 --> 0:30:41.280 is that he will pick something that you never would 0:30:41.320 --> 0:30:44.720 have chosen, and he will ride into situations that you 0:30:44.840 --> 0:30:46.040 never would have gone into. 0:30:46.440 --> 0:30:48.160 Who is this message for today? 0:30:48.480 --> 0:30:51.640 The King is coming, but he's not coming in a chariot. 0:30:51.880 --> 0:30:54.760 The King is coming, but he's not coming with a banner. 0:30:55.080 --> 0:30:57.480 The King is coming, but he's not gonna do what 0:30:57.560 --> 0:30:58.680 you wanted him to do. 0:30:59.120 --> 0:31:00.920 He's gonna do on a donkey. 0:31:01.320 --> 0:31:05.360 But if you got enough faith to untie that donkey, 0:31:05.640 --> 0:31:08.240 if you got enough faith to obey what he. 0:31:08.360 --> 0:31:11.440 Show you, here's the word of the Lord. 0:31:12.040 --> 0:31:16.200 God said, Obey it now and I'll explain it later. 0:31:17.400 --> 0:31:21.160 Obey it now and I'll explain it later. 0:31:22.800 --> 0:31:24.719 So I know this doesn't make sense. 0:31:25.600 --> 0:31:28.320 I know it looks like a mess, but it's a 0:31:28.320 --> 0:31:29.520 good kind of messy. 0:31:30.040 --> 0:31:32.720 I know you don't understand why I would ride into 0:31:32.760 --> 0:31:33.840 town on a donkey. 0:31:34.240 --> 0:31:38.200 I imagine the disciples untieing the cult, and somebody says, 0:31:38.400 --> 0:31:41.600 what are you doing untieing that cult? There's somebody in 0:31:41.640 --> 0:31:44.240 a situation right now, and maybe even the voices in 0:31:44.240 --> 0:31:46.200 your head are saying, what are you doing forgiving them? 0:31:46.280 --> 0:31:47.959 What are you doing moving on for that? What are 0:31:48.000 --> 0:31:50.200 you doing in church today? What are you doing trying 0:31:50.200 --> 0:31:52.760 this again? What are you doing going back into recovery? 0:31:52.880 --> 0:31:54.920 What are you doing studying the Bible? What are you 0:31:54.960 --> 0:31:57.360 doing praying and worshiping God? What are you doing being 0:31:57.440 --> 0:31:59.360 nice to them after they were nasty to you? What 0:31:59.400 --> 0:32:01.000 are you doing get back up again after you fell 0:32:01.040 --> 0:32:03.520 out seven times? What are you doing watching another business? 0:32:03.680 --> 0:32:05.800 What are you doing taking another step? What are you 0:32:05.880 --> 0:32:08.240 doing calling that family member and saying, let's try again? 0:32:08.480 --> 0:32:10.760 What are you doing taking your next step? What are 0:32:10.760 --> 0:32:12.400 you doing stumbling into tomorrow? 0:32:12.680 --> 0:32:14.440 What are you doing? Still trusting God? 0:32:14.680 --> 0:32:17.880 Hands lifted hard, praising him, not with hands to say 0:32:17.960 --> 0:32:19.600 save now, but hands. 0:32:19.320 --> 0:32:22.200 To say I trust in God? Enough to obey you 0:32:22.320 --> 0:32:27.440 now and you can explain it later. 0:32:29.400 --> 0:32:33.360 Oh, the Lord said to tell you the donkey was found, but. 0:32:33.440 --> 0:32:35.320 It wasn't free yet, so. 0:32:35.480 --> 0:32:38.920 Hot fought somebody in Say you're about to be set 0:32:39.000 --> 0:32:44.000 free because that donkey. 0:32:44.760 --> 0:32:48.080 Oh, I gotta preach about the donkey. I gotta preach 0:32:48.120 --> 0:32:50.840 about the donkey to somebody. 0:32:50.440 --> 0:32:55.200 Who feels useless, to somebody who feels common, to somebody 0:32:55.240 --> 0:32:56.120 who feels. 0:32:55.840 --> 0:32:56.640 Like your life is. 0:32:56.720 --> 0:32:57.360 And mone. 0:32:59.040 --> 0:33:04.720 Can we think about the fact that for five hundred 0:33:05.040 --> 0:33:09.320 years it has been prophesied that Jesus would ride into 0:33:09.480 --> 0:33:11.120 town on a donkey. 0:33:12.360 --> 0:33:15.640 So that means for fifty. 0:33:16.160 --> 0:33:22.160 Decades, five hundred years, God has been getting this donkey's 0:33:22.440 --> 0:33:23.880 DNA ready for. 0:33:23.880 --> 0:33:27.560 Jesus to sit on it. Because look what Jesus said. 0:33:27.560 --> 0:33:29.200 I don't know if his verse three mark chapter eleven 0:33:29.280 --> 0:33:30.640 or verse four, but we're gonna find it on the 0:33:30.640 --> 0:33:34.240 screen today because I gotta show you this. I gotta 0:33:34.280 --> 0:33:36.000 show you this. Tell somebody you got to see this. 0:33:37.840 --> 0:33:43.400 It's actually verse two go to the village ahead of you. 0:33:43.760 --> 0:33:46.480 Side note is not behind you. God is moving you 0:33:46.560 --> 0:33:49.240 forward in this season. It's not behind you. It's not 0:33:49.360 --> 0:33:51.720 behind you. It's not gonna be anybody who left you 0:33:51.800 --> 0:33:53.120 that God uses to bless you. 0:33:53.480 --> 0:33:54.280 It's ahead of you. 0:33:54.560 --> 0:33:57.280 It's not gonna be anybody that walked away. See, because 0:33:57.280 --> 0:33:59.240 there's somebody in there. I'm preaching to you, and somebody 0:33:59.320 --> 0:34:01.760 just left your life recently, and you thought, God, what 0:34:01.800 --> 0:34:06.280 are you doing removing them? And God said, I'm making. 0:34:05.320 --> 0:34:08.319 Room for me to move. So I had to get 0:34:08.400 --> 0:34:11.120 that out of the way. Because what I'm gonna bless you, 0:34:11.160 --> 0:34:12.120 Oh God, what I'm. 0:34:12.040 --> 0:34:14.920 Gonna bless you with, is always ahead of you. 0:34:14.920 --> 0:34:18.000 Go to the village ahead of you, and just as 0:34:18.040 --> 0:34:20.440 you enter it, it's not gonna take long. 0:34:21.080 --> 0:34:23.759 When you get to where I send you, you will 0:34:23.800 --> 0:34:28.400 find a cult, a donkey, a baby donkey there which 0:34:28.520 --> 0:34:30.920 no one has ever ridden. 0:34:31.520 --> 0:34:34.680 Untie it, set it free and bring it here. 0:34:34.719 --> 0:34:36.680 Now there's an important detail, no. 0:34:36.600 --> 0:34:39.240 One has ever ridden it. So that means this. 0:34:39.200 --> 0:34:45.680 Donkey, this cult, this baby donkey, this unclean animal, this 0:34:45.760 --> 0:34:48.520 thing that the King wanted to ride in on and 0:34:49.719 --> 0:34:53.160 reserved it. He made sure that no one ever sat 0:34:53.239 --> 0:34:55.880 on this donkey, so that he could be the first 0:34:55.920 --> 0:34:57.080 one to sit. 0:34:57.120 --> 0:34:58.040 On this donkey. 0:34:58.280 --> 0:35:02.680 God said, it wasn't rejection, it was preparation. It wasn't rejection, 0:35:03.120 --> 0:35:07.080 it was reservation. God was saving you for this moment 0:35:07.440 --> 0:35:10.040 because there's something he wants to do in your life. 0:35:10.400 --> 0:35:13.760 And God said, I want a donkey that is inexperienced. 0:35:13.760 --> 0:35:16.120 Isn't it crazy? If we would have been submitting our 0:35:16.160 --> 0:35:18.840 resume to bring the King into Jerusalem, we would have 0:35:18.920 --> 0:35:22.399 listed our experience, but our very experience that we would 0:35:22.400 --> 0:35:25.680 have listed would have disqualified us for the job, because 0:35:25.719 --> 0:35:29.280 God said, I want a donkey that stumbles into Jerusalem. 0:35:29.480 --> 0:35:32.160 I want a donkey that's awkward to write on. I 0:35:32.239 --> 0:35:33.880 want a donkey that no one. 0:35:33.800 --> 0:35:36.160 Is set on because I'm doing a new thing. 0:35:41.280 --> 0:35:53.560 Happy Palm Sunday, everybody. Because while the disciples are walking 0:35:54.920 --> 0:36:00.560 and the crowds are waving, and the donkey is waiting. Oh, 0:36:00.600 --> 0:36:03.960 I figured, if we can't be good disciples, at least 0:36:04.040 --> 0:36:05.320 let us be good donkeys. 0:36:07.400 --> 0:36:09.640 At least let us invite the presence of. 0:36:09.640 --> 0:36:13.439 God into our situation. Even if we're awkward, at least 0:36:13.480 --> 0:36:18.880 let us stumble forward. Because the disciples are walking, the 0:36:18.920 --> 0:36:23.759 crowds are waving, and the donkey is waiting, and all 0:36:23.800 --> 0:36:27.840 that time, the King, the King. 0:36:29.400 --> 0:36:37.960 Is weaving. My life is but a weaving between my 0:36:38.040 --> 0:36:38.640 God and me. 0:36:40.160 --> 0:36:42.640 I can't talk to anybody else about this right now, 0:36:42.760 --> 0:36:46.600 but it's between my God and me. Nobody else is 0:36:46.640 --> 0:36:49.600 really seeing the mess on the underside of my family 0:36:49.680 --> 0:36:54.840 right now. But it's a weaving between my God and me. 0:36:55.160 --> 0:36:59.440 I cannot choose the colors. He weaveth steadily. Oft times 0:36:59.440 --> 0:37:02.120 he weave it, and I and foolish pride forget. 0:37:02.160 --> 0:37:06.920 He sees the upper and I. 0:37:08.400 --> 0:37:12.520 The undersigh. The Lord told me to tell you keep walking. 0:37:12.560 --> 0:37:21.640 He's weaving. Keep walking. He's weaving. He's weaving. See because 0:37:21.680 --> 0:37:25.279 at some point, the Bible says that after Jesus was glorified, 0:37:25.719 --> 0:37:28.960 this is his death, this is his burial, this is his. 0:37:29.000 --> 0:37:31.120 Resurrection, this is his ascension. 0:37:31.640 --> 0:37:34.919 The Bible says that the disciples did what Jesus told 0:37:34.960 --> 0:37:38.239 them to do, even though they didn't understand it. Will you, 0:37:40.280 --> 0:37:43.319 while you're asking God, what are you doing? Maybe he's 0:37:43.400 --> 0:37:47.200 asking you the same, what are you doing? Because there 0:37:47.200 --> 0:37:49.480 are some things in this season of your life where 0:37:49.480 --> 0:37:51.960 he's called you to trust him, and he's called you 0:37:52.040 --> 0:37:54.720 to have integrity, and he's called you to be kind, 0:37:55.000 --> 0:37:57.440 and he's called you to be patient, and he's called 0:37:57.480 --> 0:37:59.560 you to be giving and he's called you to be 0:37:59.600 --> 0:38:02.200 a serve, and he's called you to prayer, and he's 0:38:02.239 --> 0:38:04.719 called you to worship, and he's called you to pray. 0:38:04.920 --> 0:38:09.600 So can you and will you do what he gave 0:38:09.719 --> 0:38:14.200 you to do? As they are untying the donkey, the king, 0:38:14.800 --> 0:38:20.800 Jesus is weaving. See he's weaving. They're walking, crowds are waving. 0:38:21.080 --> 0:38:25.560 A donkey is waiting, and Jesus is weaving. He's reaching 0:38:25.640 --> 0:38:29.960 back five hundred years, all the way to Zechariah's prophecy. 0:38:30.280 --> 0:38:32.400 And he says, I can't have a pretty horse. 0:38:32.680 --> 0:38:35.800 Zechariah didn't say a pretty horse, he said a donkey. 0:38:35.960 --> 0:38:37.720 I gotta sit on a donkey. 0:38:37.440 --> 0:38:39.880 Because the word said a donkey, and I got to 0:38:39.920 --> 0:38:42.600 fulfill the word. God knows the word he spoke over 0:38:42.640 --> 0:38:45.000 your life. God knows the word that was in your 0:38:45.080 --> 0:38:47.840 spirit before your body came out of your mother's womb. 0:38:48.200 --> 0:38:50.920 God knows what he has for you. God knows the 0:38:51.000 --> 0:38:52.279 plans he has for you. 0:38:53.480 --> 0:38:59.920 And he's weaving. He's weaving some things together. It was 0:39:00.120 --> 0:39:02.640 only after he got up from. 0:39:02.440 --> 0:39:06.920 The grave that they realized what he did on the cross. 0:39:07.000 --> 0:39:09.440 They realized he was cross stitching. 0:39:16.280 --> 0:39:20.360 I said, They realized that he was cross stitching. 0:39:20.400 --> 0:39:24.120 They realized that every drop. 0:39:24.160 --> 0:39:29.480 Of blood he said was on purpose. It was not spilled, 0:39:29.840 --> 0:39:33.319 it was born out. And God says, nothing will be 0:39:33.440 --> 0:39:36.759 wasted in the hands of the weaper, not once here, 0:39:37.280 --> 0:39:49.479 not one broken heart, not one lonely night. Because while 0:39:49.520 --> 0:39:54.240 the disciples were walking, and while the crowds were waving 0:39:54.280 --> 0:39:57.799 and the donkey was waiting, there was a king who 0:39:57.880 --> 0:40:02.480 was weaving. I know when they had their moment. But 0:40:02.600 --> 0:40:10.560 at some point Peter looked at John and said, oh, oh, 0:40:10.640 --> 0:40:11.680 the donkey. 0:40:13.040 --> 0:40:15.959 The donkey. And John's like, what are you on about, Peter. 0:40:17.040 --> 0:40:18.480 The donkey, Yeah, the. 0:40:18.520 --> 0:40:21.319 Donkey, the one that Jesus didn't tell you to go 0:40:21.360 --> 0:40:23.279 get because he knew you were too quiet to say 0:40:23.280 --> 0:40:25.560 what he needed to say. And John's like, shut up, Peter, 0:40:25.640 --> 0:40:28.239 Well what about the donkey? And Peter, I don't know 0:40:28.239 --> 0:40:30.040 what he was thinking about that night, but he just 0:40:30.080 --> 0:40:34.359 goes Zechariah, Zechariah Cecariah nine to nine Zechari. I mean 0:40:34.480 --> 0:40:36.600 there were't actually technically chapters and verses in the Bible 0:40:36.600 --> 0:40:37.759 at this point in time, but gold me, for the 0:40:37.760 --> 0:40:40.520 sake of an illustration, he goes Zechariah nine nine. 0:40:40.520 --> 0:40:41.400 It was an old Testament. 0:40:41.520 --> 0:40:45.520 Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion, Shout, daughter Jerusalem, see your king 0:40:45.600 --> 0:40:49.000 comes to you, righteous and victorious, lovely and riding on. 0:40:49.000 --> 0:40:51.680 A donkey on a colt, the full of a donkey. 0:40:51.840 --> 0:40:54.239 I thought it was crazy when he sent us to 0:40:54.239 --> 0:40:56.440 get the donkey. I thought it was weird when he 0:40:56.480 --> 0:40:58.279 sent us to get the donkey. I thought it was 0:40:58.360 --> 0:41:00.880 crazy when he let me go through it and he 0:41:00.880 --> 0:41:03.239 didn't stop it. I thought it was crazy. When the 0:41:03.320 --> 0:41:05.719 doctor said you have this disease and you're gonna have 0:41:05.760 --> 0:41:08.240 to go through treatment. I thought that it was crazy, 0:41:08.360 --> 0:41:10.280 and I asked, God, what are you doing? 0:41:10.480 --> 0:41:12.440 But now I realized that there. 0:41:12.320 --> 0:41:15.359 Was a purpose that he was fulfilling that I. 0:41:15.280 --> 0:41:18.640 Could not see at the time. And I'm telling you 0:41:18.920 --> 0:41:20.040 to trust. 0:41:19.719 --> 0:41:30.239 Him in the lows so you can get to the oh. 0:41:30.560 --> 0:41:34.160 And I came to encourage somebody keep walking. Tell your 0:41:34.200 --> 0:41:39.000 neighbor keep walking. He's weaving. He's weaving. That's what you 0:41:39.120 --> 0:41:41.760 gotta believe in every season of your life. 0:41:41.880 --> 0:41:43.719 He's weaving. He's weaving. 0:41:43.960 --> 0:41:46.360 And as you're going through things that you don't understand, 0:41:46.520 --> 0:41:48.920 give me John Chapter twelve, verse sixteen, and I'll close 0:41:48.960 --> 0:41:52.799 with this. The Bible says At first they did not understand. 0:41:54.000 --> 0:42:01.040 Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize these things 0:42:01.120 --> 0:42:04.640 had been written about him, and these things. 0:42:04.320 --> 0:42:06.359 Had been done to him. 0:42:06.520 --> 0:42:10.560 And only did they see after he was glorified, that 0:42:10.680 --> 0:42:15.719 while they were walking, he was weaving. I want you 0:42:15.800 --> 0:42:19.680 to know he's weaving the good things and the bad things. 0:42:19.719 --> 0:42:21.879 All things work together for the good of those who 0:42:22.200 --> 0:42:24.320 love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. 0:42:24.760 --> 0:42:25.720 The King is weaving. 0:42:28.640 --> 0:42:31.280 The disciples are walking, the crowds are waving, the donkey 0:42:31.360 --> 0:42:31.760 is waiting. 0:42:31.800 --> 0:42:35.480 But Jesus King, Jesus is weaving. 0:42:36.400 --> 0:42:38.359 And you got to believe that in seasons of your 0:42:38.360 --> 0:42:40.120 life when people leave you, and you got to believe 0:42:40.280 --> 0:42:42.040 in seasons of your life when people come. 0:42:42.040 --> 0:42:44.880 He's weaving. They all left Jesus at the cross. He 0:42:45.000 --> 0:42:46.000 never stopped weaving. 0:42:47.040 --> 0:42:49.920 Don't let who leaves you stop you from believing in 0:42:49.960 --> 0:42:51.160 the one who. 0:42:50.960 --> 0:42:52.560 Is weaving and knitting. 0:42:52.640 --> 0:42:56.800 He's a cross stitcher, And with every step of faith 0:42:56.840 --> 0:43:01.400 you take, that's another stitch he's weaving. He's weaving some things, 0:43:02.080 --> 0:43:04.560 your gifts and your weaknesses. 0:43:04.760 --> 0:43:05.480 He's weaving. 0:43:05.600 --> 0:43:08.440 You're past and you're present. 0:43:08.640 --> 0:43:12.800 He's weaving the good days and the bad days. He's weaving. 0:43:14.280 --> 0:43:17.920 The places are strong and the places you're not. He's weaving. 0:43:18.280 --> 0:43:20.320 The King is weaving. 0:43:21.560 --> 0:43:24.200 And so when you see your king coming on a colt, 0:43:25.000 --> 0:43:29.160 don't be surprised. He likes to show up in situations 0:43:30.000 --> 0:43:34.080 that look small. He likes to show up in vehicles 0:43:34.480 --> 0:43:35.400 that seem weak. 0:43:36.680 --> 0:43:39.320 And when he weaves his strength with your. 0:43:39.160 --> 0:43:42.600 Weakness, somebody shout, the King is coming. 0:43:43.920 --> 0:43:46.360 Come on, touch seven people tell him the King is coming. 0:43:47.480 --> 0:43:50.239 Everybody get up on your feet and shout, say the 0:43:50.360 --> 0:43:51.200 King is coming. 0:43:52.040 --> 0:43:57.240 The King is coming. I'll have to be afraid. I'll 0:43:57.280 --> 0:44:01.880 have to turn around. I'll have i give up. I'll 0:44:01.880 --> 0:44:05.840 have to give that. The King is coming. Turn my 0:44:05.960 --> 0:44:08.400 mind up. The King is coming. 0:44:08.800 --> 0:44:13.560 The King is coming, Sunday's coming, Glory is coming. 0:44:13.920 --> 0:44:18.040 That three is coming, right through is coming. Feeling is coming. 0:44:21.640 --> 0:44:27.200 He's weaving, he's weaving. Keep walking, he's weaving. Keep praying. 0:44:27.239 --> 0:44:30.680 He's weaving. He knows what he's doing. God is a 0:44:30.800 --> 0:44:31.640 cross stitcher. 0:44:33.320 --> 0:44:37.240 You may not understand it right now, but after Jesus 0:44:37.320 --> 0:44:42.720 is glorified, you will understand. Oh he took me through 0:44:42.760 --> 0:44:44.279 that to show me who he was. 0:44:44.800 --> 0:44:47.959 Oh, he took me through that. So that he could 0:44:47.960 --> 0:44:50.759 be for me what I could not be for myself. 0:44:50.880 --> 0:44:55.160 Oh it was good for me that I was afflicted, 0:44:56.560 --> 0:44:59.800 because the times for me that were the most confusing, 0:45:00.120 --> 0:45:03.000 the times he used the most What are you doing, God? 0:45:03.640 --> 0:45:05.200 What are you doing? I'll tell you what I'm doing. 0:45:05.360 --> 0:45:09.719 I'm weaving. I'm weaving. I'm weaving. I'm weaving. I got 0:45:09.760 --> 0:45:13.680 good hands. Bring me my blanket. I close with this. 0:45:15.239 --> 0:45:17.719 I was walking out to preach to you, and I 0:45:17.760 --> 0:45:20.719 saw this on my couch, and I thought maybe this 0:45:20.760 --> 0:45:22.280 could help me get my point across. 0:45:25.280 --> 0:45:27.160 Because when I say he's weaving. 0:45:28.960 --> 0:45:31.680 And when I say that you have to trust him 0:45:31.719 --> 0:45:37.080 with the underside, you could look at this and faintly 0:45:37.080 --> 0:45:41.520 make an outline of what it was. John Chapter twelve, 0:45:41.560 --> 0:45:46.560 verse sixteen. They did not understand all of this at first. 0:45:47.800 --> 0:45:49.560 They did not understand. 0:45:49.600 --> 0:45:51.280 All of this at first. 0:45:51.360 --> 0:45:54.279 My life is but a weaving between my God and me. 0:45:56.880 --> 0:45:59.200 They did not understand. While they were walking. They did 0:45:59.200 --> 0:46:01.879 not understand the crowds were waving. They did not even 0:46:01.960 --> 0:46:02.799 understand while the. 0:46:02.760 --> 0:46:10.080 Donkey was waiting. But on the other side, I saw 0:46:11.960 --> 0:46:18.319 it was his hands. It was his hands. It was 0:46:18.360 --> 0:46:18.920 his hands. 0:46:20.719 --> 0:46:25.240 You see. 0:46:25.320 --> 0:46:28.759 How when you're on the under side. It's kind of ugly. 0:46:29.719 --> 0:46:31.719 You're like, I think this is God, but I'm not sure. 0:46:31.760 --> 0:46:33.359 I don't know if this is God. And I'm just 0:46:33.440 --> 0:46:34.200 been feeling. 0:46:33.960 --> 0:46:42.640 Unfair right now. But when it's sorry, I'll practice my 0:46:42.680 --> 0:46:44.200 illustration for next week. 0:46:43.960 --> 0:46:46.880 For Easter, when the guests come, when it's his hands. 0:46:49.239 --> 0:46:51.000 And then, and then I wanted to tell you. 0:46:52.440 --> 0:46:57.960 To trust on this side what you can only trace. 0:46:58.000 --> 0:47:07.320 On this side. He's weaving. 0:47:10.520 --> 0:47:15.240 Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize these things 0:47:15.280 --> 0:47:17.719 had been written about him, and that these things had 0:47:17.760 --> 0:47:20.359 been done to him, and that these things God used, 0:47:20.560 --> 0:47:23.920 and these things and these things and good things and 0:47:24.000 --> 0:47:27.720 bad things, and high things and low things and pretty 0:47:27.760 --> 0:47:29.600 things and painful things. 0:47:29.640 --> 0:47:33.799 He's weaving. He's weaving. Father. 0:47:33.880 --> 0:47:36.080 I bless you for your word today spoke to me 0:47:36.160 --> 0:47:39.279 so much as I remember the times in my life 0:47:39.280 --> 0:47:41.240 that I've looked back and seen that you were weaving 0:47:41.280 --> 0:47:44.400 while I was walking, that you were weaving while I 0:47:44.520 --> 0:47:47.839 was waiting. I praise you today, Lord, because you brought 0:47:47.880 --> 0:47:51.719 somebody here to be reminded of the skillful touch of 0:47:51.760 --> 0:47:56.239 your hand, the weaver's hand. I thank you that today, Lord, 0:47:56.239 --> 0:48:00.759 as we stare into Easter Sunday and anticipate your resurrection. 0:48:01.680 --> 0:48:05.960 That you have given us the faith to face Friday 0:48:06.200 --> 0:48:08.240 knowing that the weaver will. 0:48:08.160 --> 0:48:11.520 Never leave our side. Father, you know who you're speaking 0:48:11.560 --> 0:48:15.000 to today. You know their name, you know their need, 0:48:16.080 --> 0:48:16.520 You know the. 0:48:16.480 --> 0:48:19.080 Need beneath the need, beneath the need that presents itself 0:48:19.120 --> 0:48:19.800 as the problem. 0:48:19.880 --> 0:48:22.080 And you are the weaver. God. 0:48:22.120 --> 0:48:24.080 I thank you that all things do work together for 0:48:24.160 --> 0:48:26.240 good for those who you love and are called according 0:48:26.280 --> 0:48:30.520 to your purpose. And may we be better than the 0:48:30.560 --> 0:48:33.400 disciples were because we know what the disciples did it. 0:48:34.560 --> 0:48:38.200 May we walk in the light of our resurrected Savior. 0:48:39.000 --> 0:48:43.800 May we worship our weaver who works all things together 0:48:45.000 --> 0:48:45.480 for good.