The Humble King and the Human Decision

• The Identity of Jesus as the Humble King [00:33:58 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces the theme of Jesus as the 'humble king,' noting that this combination is an oxymoron in human understanding but is the true identity of Jesus.
• Palm Sunday and the Triumphal Entry [00:33:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor sets the context of Palm Sunday, referencing Mark 11 and Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a donkey.
• Biblical Authority and Scripture Reading [00:36:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor emphasizes the church's commitment to the Bible as their authority and reads the account of the triumphal entry from Mark 11:1-11.
• Historical and Geographical Context of Jerusalem [00:39:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses personal travel experiences to describe the compact geography of Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, the Temple Mount, and the route Jesus took.
• The Triumphal Entry and Geography [00:41:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the physical location of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, noting the compactness of the route from the Mount of Olives and the significance of the road Jesus rode.
• The Meaning of Hosanna [00:44:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that 'Hosanna' means 'Lord, please save us,' serving as both a declaration of Jesus as Messiah and a prayer for salvation.
• Human Expectations vs. Divine Reality [00:45:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the crowd's desire for political liberation from Rome with Jesus' mission to save people from sin, noting that Jesus exceeds human expectations.
• Royalty and Humility [00:51:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that Jesus perfectly combines royalty (strength to rescue) and humility (meekness to submit to death), fulfilling prophecy in Zechariah 9:9.
• Prayer and Expectations [00:55:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that believers pray too small and should ask Jesus for more, noting that Jesus exceeds expectations and gives what is needed in His wisdom.
• Mob Mentality vs. Personal Decision [00:57:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor warns against following the crowd (which can shift from 'Hosanna' to 'Crucify'), urging listeners to make independent decisions about Jesus rather than following trends.
• Spiritual Awakening [01:00:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor cites Barna research showing a rise in personal commitments to Jesus, testifying to a current spiritual awakening in the world.
• Crowning Jesus as King [01:01:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor issues an invitation for both non-believers and Christians to crown Jesus as King, either through initial salvation or renewed devotion.
• Salvation and Discipleship [01:08:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor issues an urgent invitation for listeners to crown Jesus as king, give their lives to Him, and become disciples who make other disciples.
• Communion and Altar Ministry [01:10:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor instructs volunteers to prepare for communion and invites those who prayed to come forward to the cross for prayer and guidance.
• The Nature of Jesus' Kingship [01:11:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts Jesus' humble, serving kingship with the political power of Roman Caesars, emphasizing His death and resurrection.

• Sermon Illustration [00:34:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor lists popular oxymorons (pretty ugly, small crowd, bittersweet, jumbo shrimp) and his own favorites (unsweetened tea, skim milk, decaffeinated coffee) to illustrate the concept of contradictory terms, leading into the 'oxymoron' of a 'humble king.'
• Sermon Illustration [00:39:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes his visits to Israel, showing visual graphics of the Mount of Olives, the Dome of the Rock (site of the ancient temple), the Kidron Valley, and the Antonia Fortress to explain the compact geography of Holy Week events.
• Sermon Illustration [00:42:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains the tradition of burying people on the Mount of Olives facing the temple, hoping to be first in line when the Messiah comes, referencing Jesus' description of Pharisees as 'whitewashed tombs.'
• Sermon Illustration [00:48:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a Rolls Royce with security versus a 42-year-old John Deere tractor to illustrate Jesus' humble entry on a donkey instead of a warhorse.
• Sermon Illustration [00:49:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares personal anecdotes about things that exceeded his hype: seeing U2 in concert, visiting the Grand Canyon, and eating sushi (which he initially disliked).
• Sermon Illustration [00:53:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor imagines the perspective of Joseph of Jerusalem, whose donkey was borrowed by Jesus' disciples, highlighting the mundane reality of the biblical event.
• Sermon Illustration [00:56:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal prayer for relief from tinnitus (ringing in the ears) that has persisted for 15 years, illustrating persistent prayer.
• Sermon Illustration [00:56:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about praying for relief from tinnitus for 15 years, identifying with the 'persistent widow' who drives Jesus crazy until healing comes. He also recounts a story from Crossroads Summer Camp about a 16-year-old girl who hated religion because religious people's actions contributed to her father's death; she later gave her life to Jesus at camp and redirected her Arabic studies from revenge to missionary work.
• Sermon Illustration [01:11:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, contrasting His true, humble kingship with the Caesars and emperors of Rome, noting that Jesus came to serve, die, and be resurrected.

• Pastoral Charge [00:14:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > To personally reflect and ask God what specific change or work He desires to do in their lives during the upcoming week.
• Pastoral Charge [00:56:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor models persistent prayer for the congregation regarding unanswered requests, encouraging them to continue praying despite delays.
• Pastoral Charge [01:00:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > Prepare to make a personal decision to crown Jesus as king.
• Pastoral Charge [01:01:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > Pray for salvation and crown Jesus as king.
• Pastoral Charge [01:01:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > Surrender remaining areas of life to Jesus and invite someone to Easter services.
• Pastoral Charge [01:08:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > Close eyes, open heart, and pray a prayer of salvation.
• Pastoral Charge [01:09:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > Raise hand above head to publicly identify as having crowned Jesus as king.
• Pastoral Charge [01:10:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > Raise hand to indicate acceptance of Jesus as King
• Pastoral Charge [01:10:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > Stand up physically
• Pastoral Charge [01:11:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > Come forward to the altar for prayer
• Pastoral Charge [01:11:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > Come forward to take communion
• Pastoral Charge [01:11:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > Move to the designated cross area in the room

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:06:10] We're going to get started this morning by worshiping together.
[00:06:15] Psalm 118 says, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, and we will bless him from the house of the Lord.
[00:06:23] This speaks to Jesus.
[00:06:26] So this morning, from the top of the very part of the balcony and the back of this room all the way to the front, I want to invite you this morning to bless King Jesus, the one that we're welcoming in on this Palm Sunday.
[00:06:39] we want to raise all of our banners and say you are king jesus we want to behold you this morning so y'all sing this with us come on y'all all right here we go magnify him exalt his name together

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:07:11] from the rising of the sun until the day is done i will bless the lord come on everybody let's sing

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_16]
[00:07:19] that again exalt the other side church everybody so many different things i'm excited about you be in church with us this morning, welcome. We're glad you're here. My name's Jason. If I've never had the chance to meet you, if you're new with us this morning, we want to say welcome. Let's put
[00:10:53] our hands together for our new folks. Yeah, we're glad you're here and you picked a great Sunday to step in with all that's happening in the week ahead. But right now in our gathering, we're just
[00:11:06] going to pause for a moment and we're just going to hear some testimonies of some folks who are going public in their profession of faith with their faith in Christ through baptism this morning.
[00:11:16] So I'm going to turn it over to Chris and let him lead us through this moment.

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:11:20] Yes, we are so excited to continue in worship with baptism.
[00:11:24] If you're new to church and you're not sure what baptism is, what we're going to get to see is today is two young ladies this morning.
[00:11:31] We have Charlotte and Miss Leah, who are going to be proclaiming Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
[00:11:36] And so when they say that, they're saying two things.
[00:11:38] They're saying Jesus Christ is their Lord, meaning that he is their authority, that they are going to channel all their decisions through the fact that Jesus Christ is their authority. And they're saying that he is their savior and savior, meaning that he is the Messiah,
[00:11:54] the anointed one, the one for thousands of years that was prophesied to come. And he came and he died for all of our sins. And they're proclaiming that they believe that that happened and that
[00:12:04] Jesus Christ has saved them. So when they go under the water, it symbolizes Jesus's death and burial.
[00:12:10] When they come out of the water, it symbolizes Jesus' resurrection.
[00:12:14] So we're going to get to hear their stories and what Jesus has done in their life.
[00:12:17] So if Ms. Charlotte, would you please read us your story?

[00:12:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:12:20] I decided to give my heart to the Lord when I learned He gave His Son Jesus to save me from my sins.
[00:12:28] So now I can live with Him in heaven forever.

[00:12:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:12:31] Amen. Yes. So good.
[00:12:34] All right.
[00:12:35] Ms. Charlotte, who is your Lord and Savior?
[00:12:39] It is based on your profession of faith in Jesus Christ.
[00:12:41] we baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So good. So good. Well, as they're transitioning out and Ms. Leah is coming in, we are so thankful and excited for
[00:13:00] the testimonies of these young ladies this morning. Oh, Ms. Leah, if you would, please read us your

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_18]
[00:13:08] story. Amen. Yes. Oh, Ms. Leah, who is your Lord and Savior? It is based on your profession of

[00:13:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:13:32] faith in Jesus Christ. We baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

[00:13:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_16]
[00:13:37] So good to be able to celebrate together as a church family when people are taking their next step and going public with this profession of Christ. And you know, over 2,000 years ago, on this day, Palm Sunday, Jesus, we're going to talk more about this through the course
[00:14:03] of the gathering as Clayton preaches this morning, but I just want to mention this about the day, about Palm Sunday, is so many people were gathered together in one spot declaring, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And as we continue in worship this
[00:14:17] morning, I really wanted to pause for just a moment and create some space for us to think about and really consider, you know, as we move into this holy week together, recognizing the different moments that happened over 2000 years ago on this week, and to really just think about
[00:14:35] our own lives today. And then ask God, really consider what do you want to see God do in your own life over the next week. Maybe it's, you know, you've been dealing with something, you're
[00:14:48] wrestling, you're struggling. Maybe it's just a moment of pure joy and you want your perspective to be shifted in a way that just aligns with heaven in a special way at some point this week.
[00:14:59] And so I just wanted to pause for a moment and consider that question. What do you want to see God do in you over the next week? It may be in the service today. It may be in just right now,
[00:15:13] opening up your heart in a way that you're able to receive what God speaks through his word for you in a brand new way. Because whatever that is, know that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday
[00:15:28] and today and forever. And so as we begin to, we're going to receive our tithes and offerings here in a little bit. And as we, as we begin to sing, we're going to sing about the same God who
[00:15:41] really was the same and is the same, was the same then as he is now, as he will be forever.
[00:15:47] And he really can do whatever it is that you need for him to do for you. So I'm going to pray for us. We're going to receive our tithes and offerings, and we're going to continue to sing.
[00:15:58] Just enjoy the time together today, church. God, we do love you. And Jesus, we do exalt you and recognize you as seated on your throne at the right hand of the Father. And Holy Spirit, we just
[00:16:10] honor you in this space, in this room. We open ourselves up to whatever you have for us.
[00:16:18] And so here in this moment, here in this time, we just say, thank you. We love you. Amen.

[00:19:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:19:37] you are the same god who are the same he's providing you were provided

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:19:47] you are providing we believe i'm the same god would you pray that sends a desperation in the

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:22:12] room as we were singing god answer prayers god provide god heal god save and this is the story the lord has taken me back to so i just want to be faithful in this moment the scene where there's a
[00:22:25] blind man and Jesus comes and he says what do you want me to do for you and this stuck out to me recently I've never paid attention to this word but the man said I want you to restore
[00:22:40] recover my sight I want to recover that was a word recover my sight and you see there's scenes where Jesus healed people who were blind from birth but here's a man who once saw and he lost
[00:22:53] what he had and he's asking for god to give it back with the son of man recover my sight and i just felt in this moment maybe there's some people in this room that you had something that i don't
[00:23:04] know if you lost it because the enemy stole it but there is faith in this room to say that the holy spirit is asking you what do you want me to do for you let faith rise up that the same god
[00:23:17] who did that we just sang about this is the same god who can do it now would he recover your joy would he recover just a perseverance to keep going i don't know what it is but would you just
[00:23:30] take a moment in prayer just answer that question through the lord in prayer what do you need him to recover in your life my god i need you need you we're desperate for you oh rock oh rock of ages i'm standing on your faithfulness your faithfulness we need you god
[00:24:57] Oh God, my God, I need you. Oh God, my God, I need you now. Oh, I need you now.
[00:25:14] Rock on rock of ages, I'm sending on your faithfulness to Calvary.
[00:25:47] Jesus bled and died for me I see his wounds, his hands, his feet My Savior on that cursed tree Body bound, entrenched in tea Laid him down, the entrance, the heavy stone Messiah still and all the saints
[00:28:30] My gains transfer, Jesus.

[00:28:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:28:36] On church, when we praise the Lord together, we worship you.

[00:29:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:29:54] Your children, your servants.

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:30:14] Rachel.

[00:30:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_14]
[00:30:15] I'm going to go with Oprah.
[00:30:16] FDR.
[00:30:16] Jay-Z.
[00:30:17] Reagan.
[00:30:19] Freud is really influential.
[00:30:21] I'd probably say Jesus.
[00:30:22] Christ is the most significant person ever.
[00:30:24] Jesus Christ.

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:30:28] I think he was probably a man, and then he's been a symbol for a long time.
[00:30:32] I have no, I have no answer.

[00:30:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]
[00:30:33] I feel like even if you're not someone who is religious, he is still historically was a real person, even if he wasn't Lord and Savior.

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:30:40] He's the prophet of Christianity.
[00:30:44] Just a person, historical figure who obviously had an impact.

[00:30:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:30:48] I really don't know. Like, I don't think I'd have an answer to it.

[00:30:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:30:51] I do believe there is a higher power out there. Somewhere out there in the universe, in the galaxy, there is a higher power.
[00:30:57] I might not. I don't know who it is right now.

[00:31:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:31:00] Maybe it can give some hope and a reason for life.

[00:31:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:31:07] Someone who had a lot of significance on people or more of like an impact on them.
[00:31:12] I personally don't really know much about the historical context of like how real and true the story was documented in historical, you know, ways.

[00:31:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_15]
[00:31:21] I don't follow any organized religion.
[00:31:24] So I believe in God.
[00:31:25] I believe in source.
[00:31:26] i believe in you know jesus in the sense where but not in a more like a structured way i'm not

[00:31:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:31:36] religious um i mean i believe in something no i'm not religious i lost my i lost my faith i feel

[00:31:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]
[00:31:44] like he was someone that gave hope to people because my parents are christian and like they

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:31:48] really like jesus because of that reason um i would say he's a spiritual figure to be honest because I'm Christian and I always, you know, like as a child went to the church and like, yeah, he, I would say, guided a lot of people in the past.
[00:32:06] He will guide a lot of people in the future as well.

[00:32:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:32:08] Jesus to me is divine.

[00:32:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:32:15] Jesus is the son of God who came to the earth to die for our sins and save us so that we could be in eternity with God forever.

[00:32:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_14]
[00:32:24] He's a man that once lived just like the rest of us.
[00:32:27] But he led with an example to show us what it's like to be a positive and a good representation of God's will.

[00:32:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]
[00:32:39] Jesus is who saved us.

[00:32:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_14]
[00:32:41] He created everything, including you and me.
[00:32:44] My faith is God.

[00:32:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:32:46] My walk is Jesus.
[00:32:48] And you're going to make me cry.
[00:32:53] Oof.
[00:32:53] Wow.
[00:32:54] God is good.

[00:32:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]
[00:32:55] He's amazing.
[00:32:55] And once you get to know him, you fall in love.
[00:32:58] just think about the person you love the most. His love is like, it's so, it's so unconditional.
[00:33:04] When you think about it, you just want to cry. He is, he's, he's definitely, and without a doubt, the most significant person who has ever lived and who's still living right now because he rose
[00:33:16] from the dead and he's, he's alive and he's our living hope. And because of him, we have, we have

[00:33:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:33:22] hope. Who is this man? That's the question we've been answering throughout this entire series through the gospel of Mark. And today we come to Palm Sunday, a day that we get to read about in
[00:33:43] Mark chapter 11. And today we're going to watch Jesus as he makes his triumphant entry into the holy city of Jerusalem on a day that we call Palm Sunday. And as we look into the scripture today,
[00:33:58] we're going to see another part of Jesus' identity. This beautiful unveiling of who Jesus is today, we're going to see that Jesus is the humble king. The humble king. Now those two words don't naturally go together in our minds when we think of someone who is humble. We don't typically
[00:34:20] think of a king and we think of someone who is a king. We don't think of someone who is humble.
[00:34:25] it is what they call an oxymoron. Two words that don't necessarily go together. Humble king is an oxymoron. I did a little research and by research, I mean, I Googled it.
[00:34:39] Google gave me, in their opinion, whoever they are, three of the most popular oxymorons. Pretty ugly is an oxymoron. You can't be both pretty and ugly. Small crowd is an oxymoron. Bittersweet, they don't go together. You can't be both bitter and sweet. And this is an old school oxymoron.
[00:35:04] This made the top four. Jumbo shrimp, that's an oxymoron. Well, I just thought I would come up with my own three top three favorite oxymorons.
[00:35:16] I'm not Google, but I'm Clayton and I can have my own oxymorons.
[00:35:21] So here are my top three oxymorons.
[00:35:24] Things that don't make sense and things that don't go together.
[00:35:28] Unsweetened tea.
[00:35:31] Why?
[00:35:34] Why, why, why?
[00:35:35] There's no answer to that question.
[00:35:37] Number two, these are going in order.
[00:35:39] Skim milk.
[00:35:41] just offensive to a holy God. No reason in the world you should ever drink skim milk.
[00:35:49] You might live longer, but you'll die miserable. So what's the use?
[00:35:54] And my favorite oxymoron, this one even hurts my feelings to say it, decaffeinated coffee.
[00:36:02] No benefit whatsoever. Why not just drink water? Humble King, it is more than an oxymoron. It is actually the identity of our King Jesus, a different kind of king than they were looking for on Palm Sunday. I want to read the scripture to you from Mark 11, 1 through 11, and then I'm
[00:36:29] going to show you some visual graphics of exactly where this story took place. This is Mark chapter 11, as we journey through this gospel together, I hope that you will notice what we're doing as a
[00:36:44] teaching team is we're showing you what we're about as a church. We believe the Bible. We preach and teach the Bible. We stand on the Bible. The Bible is our authority. The Bible is God's revelation to
[00:37:01] us of who he is and what he's like. And we go to the Bible today to see Jesus going into Jerusalem and much like King Solomon's coronation as king, now Jesus is being coronated, but in a completely
[00:37:17] different and unique way. Mark chapter 11, beginning in verse one, when they approached Jerusalem at Bethpage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and told them, go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you'll find a colt tied there
[00:37:38] on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. And if anyone says to you, why are you doing this? Say, the Lord needs it and we'll send it back here right away.
[00:37:54] so they went and found a colt outside in the street tied by a door they untied it and some of those standing there said to them what are you doing untying the colt they answered them just as
[00:38:12] Jesus had said so they let them go they brought the donkey to Jesus and threw their clothes on it And he sat on it. Many people spread their clothes on the road and others spread leafy branches
[00:38:31] cut from the fields. That's why we call it Palm Sunday, by the way. Those who followed shouted, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our
[00:38:52] father, David, Hosanna in the highest heaven. He went into Jerusalem and into the temple.
[00:39:02] And after looking around at everything, since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the 12. That's the story of Jesus' triumphal entry to Jerusalem on a day we celebrate today, Palm Sunday. I want to show you, if you'll allow me, two pictures that will give you a visual
[00:39:25] mindset of where this happened and what it looks like today. I've been to Israel 12 times. Hope and pray that we get to go back again soon. We are praying for the peace of Jerusalem and peace in
[00:39:40] that region of the world. And as I have journeyed there, I have been amazed at how compact the nation of Israel is. And throughout this series, we've tried to give you some visuals so that you
[00:39:52] can see what it looked like. And I'm going to show you today what the city of Jerusalem looked like as Jesus was traveling down this road on the back of a donkey to go into the city of Jerusalem to
[00:40:04] the Temple Mount. This first picture is actually a picture from the Mount of Olives. So the Mount of Olives is essentially where I'm standing. And I want you to look right here. This is what we
[00:40:17] call the Dome of the Rock. Now, this is where the temple would have stood. This is not the temple today. This is built by the Muslims hundreds and hundreds of years ago, but this is where the
[00:40:30] temple stood. Now, if you see that golden dome, behind it is the city of Jerusalem. And if you were to continue to go this direction, the upper room is over here. So you can imagine what it was
[00:40:44] like for Jesus to have dinner with the disciples, the last supper with the disciples. And that would have happened up in this area. All of these trees that you see, this is called the Temple Mount
[00:40:56] Complex. And if you continue to go all the way over here, this is where Antonia Fortress would have been. Thousands of Roman soldiers would have been stationed there and their job was to keep the
[00:41:07] peace of Rome in Jerusalem. Down below me here is the Kidron Valley. And this Kidron Valley is a valley that Jesus would have crossed as he would have gone up to the Temple Mount. Behind the Temple
[00:41:21] Mount, actually back this direction, would have been where tradition says Jesus was crucified and buried. And you can go there today to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Now, isn't it amazing when you see this view right here, how small and compact everything is for Holy Week. So as we
[00:41:39] enter into Holy Week, beginning this week, going into Easter, where we celebrate his resurrection, don't think in terms of a big, gigantic swath of geography where everything happened during Holy Week. It literally happened almost entirely in this frame right here, this picture frame right
[00:41:57] here. Now don't miss this. Over here we have these trees. These trees are planted along this wall.
[00:42:06] This wall goes parallel to the road. If you go down the hill, that is the road that Jesus would have ridden on the donkey into Jerusalem. And by the way, this is the exact same route right here
[00:42:19] down this road. This is the exact same route that King Solomon rode into Jerusalem when he was being coronated as the king of Israel. This is from the Mount of Olives looking towards the city
[00:42:37] of Jerusalem. This is literally the view that Jesus would have had as he rode into the holy city. Let me show you another picture. This is the Mount of Olives. This is actually the Mount
[00:42:51] of Olives. Now you can see at the very, very top, we have here graves. This entire mountainside is covered with tombs. When Jesus called the Pharisees whitewashed tombs full of dead men's bones, this is what he was referring to. Why are there so many tombs and graves along the Mount
[00:43:14] of Olives? Because the Mount of Olives faces the temple and the people who were buried there and are still buried there today. They wanted to be first in line when the Messiah came.
[00:43:27] But I want to show you even further over here. You see this wall? This wall that runs parallel from the middle of the screen all the way down? That is the road. This is the road that Jesus
[00:43:38] would have ridden down on the donkey. And I want you to imagine what it was like that day on this road. Hundreds and maybe even thousands of people lining that road, and they are waving palm
[00:43:50] branches in an act of worship. The palm branch signified peace. They are taking off their coats and they're throwing their coats down on the road so that Jesus can ride over the top of their outer
[00:44:03] garments. Imagine what it was like to hear thousands of people shouting, Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And by the way, this same mountain where Jesus was coronated as he rode into the city
[00:44:18] in a triumphal entry as king is also the mountain where the Bible says when Jesus returns, this is where he comes.
[00:44:26] This is where his foot will touch the ground at the second coming of Christ.
[00:44:30] And I long for that day.
[00:44:31] I long for that day.
[00:44:33] I pray for that day.
[00:44:34] I wanted you to see a visual of what it looked like that day.
[00:44:39] This is the Mount of Olives as Jesus rode down that mountain across the Kidron Valley up into the city of Jerusalem.
[00:44:47] What does the word Hosanna mean?
[00:44:50] The people are shouting Hosanna that day, but what does it actually mean?
[00:44:54] And here's what it means very simply.
[00:44:56] Lord, please save us.
[00:45:00] It's a declaration that Jesus is Messiah, King, and Lord.
[00:45:05] It's also a prayer.
[00:45:07] Lord, we need you to save us.
[00:45:10] But I wanna show you that everybody that day had different expectations of Jesus, much like we do. And the expectations that many people had that day when they shouted, Hosanna, Lord, please save us. What they meant that the subtext to that
[00:45:28] is, please save us from the Gentiles. Please save us from these dirty pagan Romans. Please save us from this occupation. Save us from these unfair taxes we're paying to this pagan empire ruled by this godless Caesar. Save us from the occupying power. Bring back the throne of David. Bring back
[00:46:01] the glory of Solomon. Give us our own nation. Give us our own country. Get rid of these idolatrous occupying powers so that we can be a nation again. And our own hearts are often filled with expectations of Jesus. I got to tell you, when I pray every day, when I ask
[00:46:24] God for things, maybe you're praying for these things too. God, save me from this sickness.
[00:46:32] Save this person from the anxiety that they feel because of their job or this depression that they're going through because of circumstances in their life.
[00:46:42] Save me from this worry.
[00:46:44] Save me from this financial stress.
[00:46:46] Save me from this relationship that I can't figure out.
[00:46:50] Save me from the endless hamster wheel of trying to work and get ahead, but feeling like I never can.
[00:46:57] When we pray, Lord, help me.
[00:46:59] Lord, I need your assistance.
[00:47:02] We are in essence praying the same thing.
[00:47:06] Hosanna, God, come and save me.
[00:47:08] I need you.
[00:47:10] I can't do this by myself.
[00:47:12] Imagine that day, if you will, just go with me.
[00:47:14] Imagine that you're there on the side of the Mount of Olives and it's almost like a ticker tape parade.
[00:47:21] So you've seen these parades when a team wins the Super Bowl and they go back to their city and they have this big parade that goes down the main strip or a baseball team wins the World Series
[00:47:31] and everybody is out there and they're wearing their gear and they've got on the jersey and they're clapping and cheering as the players go by.
[00:47:39] That's what it was like that day.
[00:47:40] But Jesus is not riding like a Roman general or a Roman Caesar would have ridden in to Rome.
[00:47:47] He's not coming in victory on the back of a horse of war, a bright white stallion bred for war.
[00:47:55] Jesus is riding on the back of a donkey.
[00:47:58] a beast of burden, a work animal. I was actually thinking about this just this morning early as I was praying about today. And if I could put it in terms that make sense to me,
[00:48:10] it would be like instead of Jesus riding into Jerusalem in a Rolls Royce accompanied by a security detail, he's riding into Jerusalem on a 42-year-old John Deere tractor with plows or a bush hog on the back of it.
[00:48:28] I'm not coming so that you will just be impressed with my glory.
[00:48:32] I'm coming to do work.
[00:48:35] There is work to be done in Jerusalem.
[00:48:38] And everybody that day, they saw a throne for Jesus.
[00:48:45] Jesus that day was the only one who saw a cross.
[00:48:49] He knew that a cross awaited him that day.
[00:48:53] And I want you to imagine what it would have been like if you were in that crowd, waving palm branches, taking off your outer garment, throwing it on the ground in front of Jesus as an act of worship.
[00:49:03] What would your expectations been that day for Jesus?
[00:49:07] And I believe that Jesus is gonna expose some of our expectations today.
[00:49:11] And for many of you, I want you to know that Jesus can exceed the hype.
[00:49:17] Whatever you think Jesus can do, he's even better.
[00:49:20] I was trying to think in my life, is there anything, because most of the time I'm kind of a hype guy. I wake up very excited every morning.
[00:49:27] I do. I wake up at 5.15 and I'm like, it's going to be a great day. I'm going to drink coffee and it's going to get even better. And the day is filled with possibilities and I'm kind of a hype
[00:49:39] guy. So I get excited about things. And a lot of times I get disappointed because the thing I get excited about is not as good as I had imagined it in my head. There are three things in my life
[00:49:49] that have exceeded the hype. Can I mention them to you? Seeing U2 in concert, better than I imagined, exceeded the hype. I'm going to say this. This is in the Bible. I haven't found it yet,
[00:50:03] but U2 is the greatest rock band of all time. Better than the Beatles, better than Led Zeppelin, better than Bruce Springsteen. Fight me. It's in the Bible. I just haven't found it yet.
[00:50:13] The Grand Canyon was better than the hype. Been to the Grand Canyon many times and it took my breath away the first time I saw it. One other thing, I didn't believe it. People hyped it up
[00:50:23] forever. And when I finally tried it, it was better than the hype. And that's simply sushi.
[00:50:27] Way better than the hype. I swore I would never eat it. Raw fish is bait to catch real fish so that you can clean and deep fry that fish. But then when I ate sushi, I was like, I was wrong.
[00:50:40] You all were right. I'm sorry. Let me eat sushi. I just want you to know Jesus exceeds the hype.
[00:50:46] He's way better than we think he is.
[00:50:50] Let me just show you what I learned from this passage of scripture and maybe you can go on this journey with me.
[00:50:54] Number one, what we see in Mark 11, Jesus embodies both royalty and humility.
[00:51:01] Together in one man, the God man, Jesus is both our regal king, royalty, and he is also humility.
[00:51:12] Coming to serve, to lay down his life, to be the servant, the suffering king, the suffering Messiah who will die in our place.
[00:51:23] He is both of these at one time, royalty and humility.
[00:51:27] He is royalty because he had enough strength to rescue us from sin and darkness.
[00:51:35] But he is humility because he had enough meekness to submit to his assignment when his father sent him to die.
[00:51:43] And if Jesus had only been royalty, it would not have been enough. If he had only been humility, it would have not been sufficient. But in one man, the God man, we see perfect royalty and perfect
[00:51:55] humility combined. But I want you to know that when Jesus rode into the city that day, he wasn't just making a statement. He was fulfilling prophecy. Zechariah 9.9. Jesus knew this verse very well. And Mark shows us Jesus' fulfillment of this prophecy when Zechariah
[00:52:17] writes in chapter 9, verse 9, rejoice greatly, daughter Zion. Shout in triumph, daughter Jerusalem.
[00:52:28] look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. And then when you go to Mark 11, you realize that this is the
[00:52:53] moment Israel had waited for. This is the moment Jesus was born for. Humble, riding on a donkey, a donkey that had never been ridden by a human before. Also, by the way, a donkey that was
[00:53:08] borrowed from people who had not expected it. Side note, can you imagine being, you know, Joseph of Jerusalem? You're hanging out at your house. You're inside having dinner with your family, you're eating some bread, maybe some fish or eating olives and eating grapes. You look
[00:53:29] outside and there are some random guys and they're about to steal your car. They're literally untying your donkey. And you're like, excuse me, that's not your car. What do you think you're doing? Jesus needs it. Oh, okay. Well, if Jesus needs it, then go ahead and take it. They probably
[00:53:48] had no idea that Jesus was going to ride that donkey all the way in. Second side note, I'm sure that for the rest of their life, anytime they had an opportunity, they were like, hey y'all, can I
[00:54:00] tell you a story? You're never going to believe what happened to us. That donkey right out there, yeah, Jesus rode that donkey, our donkey. Don't know why he picked us. I'm not flexing, but I'm
[00:54:12] kind of flexing. It was our donkey that Jesus borrowed to ride into Jerusalem in his coronation is king. What amazing beauty that Jesus is both royalty and humility. And I want you to know that
[00:54:25] Jesus is both of those for you. He is strong enough to be your king, but he is humble enough to be your friend. I also see this, that when we look at Jesus today on Palm Sunday, Jesus doesn't
[00:54:39] just meet our expectations. He actually exceeds them. He's way better than we dreamed. People that day wanted Jesus to just kick out the Romans, overthrow the Roman empire, push all of the people out of Jerusalem that don't belong here just so us Jews can be here and we can worship God in our
[00:55:02] way. Jesus, however, loved them too much and he loves you too much. Listen to me, church. Jesus loves you too much to allow your happiness to terminate in your circumstances. He exceeds them.
[00:55:21] I'm convinced that our problem is not that we pray too big and we ask Jesus for too much.
[00:55:29] I'm convinced our struggle is that we pray too small and we don't ask Jesus for enough.
[00:55:37] He exceeds their expectations that day.
[00:55:41] And their expectations were so small.
[00:55:44] They just wanted a political leader.
[00:55:46] They just wanted an earthly king, but he had come to inaugurate a kingdom.
[00:55:52] And you can imagine that day that some of the very same people who were there shouting, Hosanna, Lord, please save us, had no idea that this man had come to save them from their sins, not just from the Romans.
[00:56:07] Can I ask you a question this morning, church, across all of our campuses?
[00:56:11] What do you expect Jesus to do for you?
[00:56:14] What do you want Jesus to do for you?
[00:56:16] What is it that you need Jesus to do for you?
[00:56:20] There are some things in my life that I've been praying for every single day that haven't happened yet.
[00:56:26] This morning, sitting by the pool at my house, I prayed for God to take away the ringing in my ears again.
[00:56:32] They've been ringing for 15 years.
[00:56:34] He hasn't done that yet.
[00:56:35] And I'm gonna keep praying until he does.
[00:56:37] I'm gonna be the persistent widow that drives him absolutely crazy until one day he heals my ears.
[00:56:43] What are you praying for right now?
[00:56:45] What have you stopped praying for because you got tired of waiting on Jesus to give it to you?
[00:56:49] What have you gotten frustrated about with Jesus that you asked for but because you didn't get it in the time and the way that you wanted it, you have now quit praying for it?
[00:56:58] Maybe today, Christian, maybe today, sisters and brothers, is the day that that prayer gets resurrected in you, that that faith gets resurrected in you, that that remembrance gets raised back to life in you. And you realize Jesus is so good. He doesn't
[00:57:13] give me what I want when I want it, but he gives me what I need in his own wisdom and in his own way. I also see here that you and I need to be careful of the mob mentality because there's a
[00:57:27] mob that day. The crowd is honestly a mob. And you know what the mob is shouting that day? It's true and it's good. But the mob, the crowd that day, they are shouting, Hosanna, Lord, please save us
[00:57:41] now. And you gotta be careful of the mob mentality because the mob, the mentality of the crowd, the social media influencers, mainstream media, all the voices around us, you know what the mob does? The mob will grab hold of your heart and drag you from pillar to post. The mob will lift
[00:58:04] you up, and the mob will tear you down. Can I prove it to you? The same crowd shouting that particular day, Hosanna, just a few days later, will be shouting, crucify that man. The same mob
[00:58:21] that deifies will also crucify. So what I want you to do today is I want you to make your own decision about Jesus. Don't just listen to what the mob says, because the mob often gets it wrong.
[00:58:35] What Jesus wants for you is Jesus wants you to set him apart in your own heart as Lord and King. Jesus wants you to make your own decision because Jesus is not trendy. Jesus is
[00:58:49] timeless. Jesus is not a mullet and parachute pants, bell bottoms and tight rolled jeans.
[00:58:58] These are trends I've seen come and go in my life. No, Jesus is the timeless son of God who will not be drug around by the mob.
[00:59:07] He stands still in time, unchanging, never ending love, grace, power, and salvation.
[00:59:18] And you get to make a decision.
[00:59:22] All of us are Messiah makers.
[00:59:24] All of us want someone to come and save us.
[00:59:26] A politician, a bank account, a Roth IRA, investments, our health.
[00:59:32] We all look for somebody or something to save us because we're all Messiah makers.
[00:59:37] But the true Messiah, the true God, is the one that says, this is who I am and I will not change for you.
[00:59:45] You can come to me and I will change you.
[00:59:50] And you know what Jesus is doing right now on the earth?
[00:59:52] He's changing people.
[00:59:53] He's saving people.
[00:59:55] If you follow me on Instagram or social media, you probably get tired of me posting this stuff, but I'm not gonna stop.
[01:00:00] There is an awakening happening in our world, and it's not mob mentality. It's actually spiritual awakening. Let me show you a graphic right now of what just came out, some research from Barna.
[01:00:12] In 2021, 54% of Americans said they had made a personal commitment to follow Jesus that's still important in their life today. That was four years ago. Now today, four years later in 2025, That number has risen from 54% to 66% in four years, a 12% increase in people who have made
[01:00:35] a personal decision to give their life to Jesus. And in about seven minutes, I'm going to give you an opportunity to make a personal decision to crown Jesus as your king. It's happening in the
[01:00:49] world. I'm a pastor here at New Spring on our team, but I'm also an evangelist and I have been for 38 years, and I can testify as an eyewitness, I have never seen more people come into faith in
[01:01:00] Christ. I'm talking like repenting of their sin and giving their life to Jesus than I'm seeing right now. Thursday night at our Greenville campus, Greenville, good morning, there were seven people on Thursday night who with eyes open, lights on, everybody looking, adults, stood to their feet in
[01:01:16] a room full of hundreds of people and said, I make a decision to give my life to Jesus and crown him as king. It's happening in our world right now. And that brings me to what I really want to say.
[01:01:30] You can crown Jesus as your king. You can. You can make a decision independent of the crowd.
[01:01:43] You can. If you've never crowned Jesus as king, you can pray, Hosanna, Lord, come save me today.
[01:01:52] And if you are a Christian and you have already crowned Jesus as your king, you can make a decision today to live for him in areas of your life that you haven't fully devoted to him,
[01:02:06] to invite someone to Easter services next weekend so that they can come and they can have an opportunity to crown Jesus as king.
[01:02:16] Because there were a lot of voices that day shouting Hosanna.
[01:02:20] But what I wanna drill down on in these last few minutes us what was happening in their hearts and what's happening in your heart today. This is, you know, we're springtime. It's beautiful outside. The birds are singing, the trees are blooming, the flowers
[01:02:35] are growing. And for me, that always means summer camp season. We're in summer camp season at New Spring. Gauntlet's coming up. We're almost full. Well, we are full. We're on our way to raising a million dollars so that we can fund Gauntlet. I think as of today, we're right at
[01:02:54] $600,000. Thank you for being so generous. I know many of you are still praying about what God would have you to give. And camp season for us as a church is always a time we celebrate life change
[01:03:05] because students make decisions. They give their lives to Jesus and then we come back and have Gauntlet Sunday and we baptize and we get to disciple those kids, those students, the next generation. For Shari and I, it also means Crossroads Summer Camp. This is our 30th year
[01:03:21] of Crossroads Summer Camps. I can't believe it. I felt like we were just babies when we started doing it. And so we're celebrating and praying. We're preparing for summer camp. And I'll think back to all the things I've seen happen at Gauntlet and even at Crossroads. There is this
[01:03:36] one story that always reminds me of the power of crowning Jesus as King. This was probably eight, nine years ago. It was at Anderson University. First night of Crossroads summer camp. And I bumped into a friend who introduced me to a young lady. She was around 16 years old.
[01:03:57] And I said, hey, welcome to Crossroads. I'm glad you're here. She literally looks at me. There's no embellishing to what she said. This is exactly what she said. I didn't want to come. And I don't
[01:04:06] want to be here. I thought, I'm really sorry. Why did you not want to come? She goes, I hate religion. I hate it. And I just learned to ask questions. I said, what happened to you? She said,
[01:04:23] religion killed my dad. Religious people murdered my dad. And now I don't have a dad because of religious people. I hate religion. I said, what happened to your dad? She said, he was deployed overseas and an IED blew up and killed him and his body was pretty much torn apart. So yeah,
[01:04:48] religious people killed my dad and I hate religious people. And I want to spend the rest of my life trying to figure out a way to get even with them. I said, what do you mean? She said, I'm studying
[01:04:58] Arabic because I want to learn how to speak Arabic so I can take revenge on the people that killed my dad because I hate them. And her face was just filled with bitterness and hurt. And that was
[01:05:12] Monday night of summer camp, Thursday night rolls around. I preached the gospel. I gave an invitation and the first person that I saw stand up was that girl. I was looking toward that direction of the
[01:05:26] room at Anderson university when she stood up to her feet and I had to, I had to blink and make sure I was seeing it right. It was her. And I thought, man, she just gave her life to Jesus.
[01:05:37] and I'm in the lobby after the message was finished and she walks up to me and I said, hey, I saw you stand up.
[01:05:47] Can you tell me what happened?
[01:05:49] And the first thing I noticed is that she was smiling.
[01:05:51] She wasn't smiling on Monday.
[01:05:54] She said, I just got saved.
[01:05:56] I just gave my life to Jesus.
[01:05:57] I said, you did?
[01:05:59] Well, I saw you stand up.
[01:06:00] So you understand what it means?
[01:06:02] Oh yeah, I understand what it means.
[01:06:05] I'm so glad I came to camp this week.
[01:06:07] I said, I am too.
[01:06:09] She said, I have a question for you.
[01:06:11] Is it possible to like get saved and feel called to ministry in the same moment?
[01:06:16] I said, yeah, that's what happened to me when I was 14.
[01:06:19] It doesn't happen to many people, but that's my testimony.
[01:06:22] She goes, well, I stood up tonight because I wanted to become a Christian, but I also wanted to go into ministry.
[01:06:28] I think God might be calling me into ministry.
[01:06:30] I said, that's awesome.
[01:06:32] What do you think you might wanna do?
[01:06:33] She goes, well, I just had this thought.
[01:06:38] You know, I know Arabic and I'm only 16 and I can already speak it and read it.
[01:06:46] Maybe instead of me learning Arabic so I could kill the people who murdered my dad, maybe God wanted me to learn Arabic so I could become a missionary to Muslims and share the love of Jesus with people
[01:07:00] that need it really, really bad.
[01:07:02] Do you think I could do that?
[01:07:04] I said, yeah, yeah, you can do that.
[01:07:23] There's nothing in the world like the moment when somebody just crowns Jesus their king.
[01:07:33] I can't ever forget it when it happened to me.
[01:07:37] I just can't get over it.
[01:07:40] He won't let me go.
[01:07:42] He won't leave me.
[01:07:46] He'll never leave you or forsake you when you crown him as your king.
[01:07:51] It is the most real thing in the whole world.
[01:07:54] It lasts forever.
[01:07:58] And it's the reason you were born.
[01:08:02] So I wanna ask you right now, will you just crown Jesus as your king?
[01:08:05] He loves you so much.
[01:08:08] and he is here right now in this room.
[01:08:12] He is right there with you talking to you.
[01:08:16] He loves you so much.
[01:08:21] And this is the moment I believe some of you are gonna crown him as your king.
[01:08:26] So would you close your eyes and would you open your heart to Jesus right now?
[01:08:31] Just pray this to him if you need to give him your life.
[01:08:37] If you are lost without him and confused and disappointed, you can have confidence for the first time today in your soul that you are born again.
[01:08:47] Pray this to Jesus.
[01:08:49] If you know it's the moment for you to crown him as your king, just pray this to him in your heart.
[01:08:56] Jesus, save me now.
[01:09:01] Please save me.
[01:09:05] I give my life to you.
[01:09:08] I crown you as my king.
[01:09:13] Forgive me of my sin.
[01:09:18] Take control of my life.
[01:09:22] I receive your love, Jesus.
[01:09:24] I love you.
[01:09:28] Thank you, Jesus.
[01:09:31] You're a king.
[01:09:33] You are my king.
[01:09:34] king of kings. If you just asked Jesus to come into your life and you meant it for real, I just want to be very simple in how I ask you to do this. Let's not mess around. If you just
[01:09:52] met the king and you prayed that prayer, would you just raise your hand straight up above your head at your campus, in your room? Come on, raise your hand up. If you just crowned Jesus as your king,
[01:10:02] if you just prayed that prayer, would you just raise your hand up to the Lord at your campus right now? Praise God. I'm going to invite everybody at every campus to stand up on their feet. Go ahead and stand up on your feet, everybody together. In your room, in your
[01:10:21] campus, there is a cross. It's either up toward the front or it's over toward the side. I'm going to invite our volunteers to come forward now. Our ministry teams are going to prepare to serve you
[01:10:33] communion. They're going to be prepared to pray for you at the altars and around the sides. But if you just prayed those words to Jesus and you crowned him as your king, what I'm asking you to do,
[01:10:48] you have made a decision today.
[01:10:51] I'm gonna ask you to make another decision.
[01:10:53] While I'm praying and we prepare our last song and we prepare to respond, I want those of you that need prayer to come forward and pray with a volunteer.
[01:11:03] Believers, you can come and take communion.
[01:11:05] But if you prayed those words to Jesus today, crowning him as your king, that humble king is now your Lord and savior.
[01:11:11] Would you go to the cross in your room?
[01:11:15] People are gonna be moving every which way in your room.
[01:11:17] I want you to move to the cross and some of our volunteers are gonna be there to pray with you and help you follow your king because that's what we wanna do.
[01:11:27] We wanna help you become a disciple that makes disciples.
[01:11:31] So Jesus says, people begin to prepare to move.
[01:11:35] Thank you so much that you rode into Jerusalem that day as a real king, a true king, different than the Caesars and the emperors of Rome.
[01:11:45] You came to do work.
[01:11:47] You came to serve.
[01:11:48] You came to die and you came to be resurrected.
[01:11:52] And today we have experienced that resurrection power.
[01:11:55] And I pray as people begin to move and respond, that specifically everyone who prayed to receive you by faith and crown you as king, God, I pray you give them the courage to move to the cross in their room
[01:12:07] so they can have a conversation with a friend to help them begin following Jesus.
[01:12:14] In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

[01:12:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:12:16] This is my, here is where, this is my surrender.
[01:14:28] This is my surrender.
[01:15:17] Here is where I can every, this is my surrender.

[01:15:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[01:15:27] I will make my soul can be saved.

[01:18:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:18:30] There's only one truth.
[01:18:32] There's only one life.

[01:18:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[01:18:34] Without receiving the prayer that you need,

[01:23:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_16]
[01:23:41] at the top of the gathering where that gives us a good nudge in the direction of remembering to, he wanted for his sight to be restored, restoration of something that you need.
[01:24:00] I don't know if the prayer team members don't mind just hanging out right here by the cross.
[01:24:08] And if that's you and you need prayer, as soon as I bless and say amen, then come down front and receive the prayer that you need for restoration.
[01:24:17] So I'm going to throw that in front of us before we get into our conclusion.
[01:24:20] Hey, this is Palm Sunday, but there is a whole holy week of recognition and honoring ahead for us.
[01:24:29] And so I want to throw some things your way so that you're aware and that you can come join us for multiple things happening this week here at the church.
[01:24:35] to recognize Holy Week.
[01:24:37] And so the next time we're going to gather in this room, we'll be right back here on Sunday morning.
[01:24:42] But there's a lot happening over in the East Building between now and then.
[01:24:46] Starting tomorrow morning at 6 a.m., we're going to have a prayer room that's open for several times throughout every day.
[01:24:54] So this prayer room is an intentional space designed for you to come in and spend time with God during Holy Week, going to different prayer stations to recognize the different events that took place during Holy Week
[01:25:06] and spend some time with the Lord.
[01:25:08] Now, this is a drop-in prayer room.
[01:25:09] It's going to look and feel a bit different than a prayer gathering.
[01:25:12] So if you've joined us for 21 days of prayer, expect something different for this.
[01:25:17] It's open from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. for two hours in the morning and then for two hours during lunch at 12 to 2 o'clock.
[01:25:27] So if you want to come join us, if you show up at 6.15 in the morning, you're not going to be late.
[01:25:32] It's drop-in prayer.
[01:25:33] So come in, spend the whole two-hour block each time with us, or come in for just a little bit of your lunch break if you're able to slip away and come spend some time in the prayer room.
[01:25:42] We're really excited about the intentionality that God's led us to to have this space open all week long.
[01:25:48] So Monday through Friday morning, 6 to 8 o'clock, but also 12 to 2 o'clock Monday through Thursday.
[01:25:56] And then on Friday at 12 o'clock, we're going to gather over in the East for our Good Friday service. If you've joined us for that over the last several years, it's just a powerful time where we gather together as a church on Good
[01:26:09] Friday to recognize and honor the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. So if you want to come join us, bring somebody with you to our Good Friday gathering. Kids are welcome to come to our Good
[01:26:19] Friday gathering over in the East. Bring your kids with you. We will not have Kids Spring open and available for that service. It's at lunchtime, 12 o'clock on Friday. We'll keep it to one hour,
[01:26:30] just so you know. So if you're able to slip away for your lunch break, it's going to be 12 to 1. We hope to see you there Friday. And church, this year, we're not going to gather
[01:26:38] on Saturday. We're not going to have a Saturday Easter service. We want to, for this year, we want to recognize and keep in line with Silent Saturday. And so I want you to spend that time
[01:26:48] with your family, and then on Sunday morning, church, come back, bring people with you, 9-15, 11-15 for our Easter gatherings back in this room, and we want to equip you to invite somebody with you. So as you leave today, there's going to be invite cards available at the doors. Pick those
[01:27:05] up. Come back ready to just celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Sunday morning for Easter. We hope you guys have a great, great week, and I want to dismiss us with a blessing today from number six, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine on you and be
[01:27:23] gracious to you. The Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace. We love you guys. We'll see you around this week.