Moraine Valley Church

Our-Core / Week 3

                           

Our Core – World Changers –

Transformation is our Destination
    May 15, 2022

 

• Introduction:
  1. Who are we? Who is MVC?  Who are we together as a church, not who am I? That is the question we are addressing in this current series we are calling our core!
  2. The value we are going to talk about this morning you might think, “Really.  Come on are you crazy?  Us?  Me? – Let’s get realistic “that is great motivational speech but let’s get realistic let come back down to earth!”
     1. The value for this morning is “world changers! - Transformation is our destination. If you did not notice those are pretty big goals!
        1. World changers – world changers!  That is a pretty big assignment and that is a pretty big aspiration!
        2. Transformation – that is another pretty big goal – we are not just talking about seeing people change their behavior or morals, or switch their political allegiances, or start going to church.   We want to see people changed at the core of their being, turned upside down and inside out!
     2. Big aspiration is not it.  Just how are we going to do that?   

• This value tells us three things: who we are, where we are going and how are we going to get there!   Let’s start with who we are…

1. World changers!
   1. Yes, that is who we are, that is who you are if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, that is our identity because as we learned a few weeks ago those are the orders that Jesus, who has all authority in heaven and earth, left for His church.   
      1. Jesus left us a worldwide mission, one that starts at home and goes to the remotest part of the earth!   Making disciples of all the nations, preaching His gospel to all creation.
      2. In Acts 1 he calls us witnesses, in Matthew 5 he says we are the light of the world, 2 Corinthians 5 he says we are ambassadors of Christ.
   2. So we do this not because we are big thinkers or a uniquely gifted church with great capacities and abilities, rather we do that because that is what Jesus called/ordered us to do and be!
      1. Turn and read 2 Corinthians 3:4-6– made us adequate as ministers of the new covenant  
      2. Great commission – promise “Lo, I am with you always”
      3. Acts 1:8 that is why we were given the Holy Spirit to empower us to be His witness throughout the world.
      4. These words, which Watchman Nee says, are the words I live by moment by moment!   Nee quote

• The second thing we see in this value is where we are going 
• Transformation is our destination.
  1. The Greek word for transformation is metamorpho where we get the word English word metamorphous 
     1. Vines Dictionary explains it this way – “undergoing a complete change which, under the power of God, will find expression in character and conduct; morphe lays stress on the inward change!”  
     2. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 says it’s something that comes from the Holy Spirit as we behold Jesus, and as a result, the Spirit so deeply changes us that the very glory of God is reflected back out of us to others!   
  2. Transformation is not behavior modification or external conformity to standards whether they are the world’s standards, the church’s standards or even the Bible’s standards.  
     1. The Pharisees in the Scriptures were religious people who looked good on the outside but Jesus said on their inside they were full of dead man’s bones.
     2. That is what behavior modification or external conformity produces
  3. Transformation is a change at the level of our essential nature, the core of our being that goes so deep that it changes our attitudes, affections, thinking, desires, and actions!
• So where do we start with such a huge task?

1. One life at a time!
   1. It is kind of like the question – how do you eat an elephant? – One bite at a time.  How do we reach the world?  One life at a time!
      1. It is not a matter of giving up the big dream; it is a matter of breaking the big dream down in to smaller pieces and just starting.
      2. Image of the ladder.  
   2. We need to remember that God has strategically scattered His church throughout the world and we together have this mission and not just MVC.
      1. That is why we partner with other organizations like Word Partners, churches in a conference we are part of called Converge and support missionaries in other parts of the world through our Global Outreach Team.   While we think and pray globally, we act locally.
      2. Like an offensive lineman, I am responsible for the man in front of me while the tight end takes care of his man, the guard takes care of his and the center takes care of his.
   3. So the next thing we need to consider is how can we, MVC, reach our piece of this world that God has entrusted to us?  
   4. Put up the whole value
      1. Therefore, we are going to change the world one life at a time one step at a time, just as you eat an elephant one bite at a time and climb a ladder one small step at a time.  Every person, every opportunity!
   5. God has strategically scattered each one of us (MVC) right here in the southwest area of Chicago at this time in history.  
      1. It will take each one of us being faithful to our call right among the people we live with, taking advantage of every small opportunity that comes our way whether it be an opportunity to speak for Jesus, act in Jesus behalf or express His heart to someone around you in need.  
   6. A few years ago we learn that Samuel had a small circuit the he lived his life out on yet he was deeply impacted the whole nation of Israel.  Read 1 Samuel 25:1 
      1. This response was because for over 40 years day in and day out he was faithful to the opportunities and needs in the circuit where God gave him to minister.   
         1. Jeff Manion calls it a repeated circuit of faithfulness!
         2. Turn and read 1 Samuel 7:15-17
      2. Most of Samuels’s life was lived out in a geographical area with a circumference of around 25 miles.   Take an area from this pulpit and draw a circle about 5-6 miles from here all the way around and that was his circuit.
      3. God is able to take our faithfulness in our area of responsibility and multiply its impact as Jesus took the few loaves and fish and multiplied it so much it fed over 5,000 people.
   7. Are you day in and day out being repeatedly faithful to the circuit God has given you?   Have you ever tried to identify your circuit?   
      1. Did this a few years ago while we were online, let’s do together today
      2. Hand out card of the circuit.   
      3. Put up power point of circuit and explain

 

 

Mother’s Day / Cathy Clarke / 5.8.22

Our-Core / Week 2

 Our Core – Mission Driven
Acts 1; Matthew 28   May 1, 2022    

1. Introduction:
   1. Two weeks ago on Easter Sunday, we learned that Jesus was raised from the dead.  Then the Bible tells us that Jesus walked on earth for 40 days before He ascended back into heaven.   What did Jesus do during those 40 days?
      1. Turn to Acts 1 where Luke summarizes for us the three main things Jesus was doing during that time. Read Acts 1:1-3
      2. Three main things:
         1. Giving them orders – commands
         2. Presenting Himself alive to them with many convincing proofs
         3. Talking to them about the kingdom of God – 
            1. Wouldn’t you have loved to be in on those discussions?
            2. I wish the Bible would have recorded those discussions! 
   2. This morning I want to focus upon the orders that Jesus gave them. We do not need to wonder about what those orders were because they are recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and right here in Acts.
      1. Yes, Jesus gave them orders, commands, directives, not some ideas or suggestions but some authoritative commands coming from the King Himself!
   3. Today is the second week of 6-week series regarding the core of MVC!   
      1. The purpose of this series is to help us understand who MVC is at our core.  Our unique makeup and personality as a church.
      2. To do that we are looking at our values and mission.
   4. The value I want to address today is this:  mission driven – mission is why we exist!  
      
      
      
      1. Our mission can be taken all the way back to the orders that Jesus gave to His church during those 40 days that He was walking on the earth after His resurrection and before His ascension back into heaven.
      2. We say this mission drives us because that is what motivates us to do what we do.   
         1. We are not driven in the sense of a taskmaster behind us driving us but rather we are internally motivated to do this mission because Jesus gave us orders that this is what we are to be about!  
         2. This is why we exist, this is why we do what we do, and out of our love for Him, this is why we do what we do!

• So now that we know that Jesus gave orders to his followers to do this let’s just take a quick look at this mission we were ordered to carry out.

1.  The mission
   1. Look down a few verses to Acts 1:8 – Jesus summarizes for them something that they had already heard on at least three other occasions before He ascended into heaven at the Mount of Olives.    Read  Acts 1:8
      1. They were going to receive the Holy Spirit to empower them for this mission!
      2. The mission was to be His witnesses – those who can tell others what they have heard, seen and experienced with Jesus
      3. They were to do it where they lived, the surrounding area and even to all the world!
      4. Basically, a worldwide mission telling others about Jesus!
   2. Listen to how Jesus said it to them before.
      1. Mark 16:15  
      2. Luke 24:47-48 
      3. John 20:21
         
         
         
         
   3. Now turn to Matthew 28 where we see what is called the great commission  
      1. Note the context here –on a mountain in Galilee read Matthew 28:16-18
      2. “Therefore” connects v18 to v17.   
         1. Note what follows is built off Jesus’ authority over heaven and earth, in other words Jesus’ right to tell us what to do – to give us orders.
      3. Now listen to the mission that Jesus gave us that is based upon His authority.  It is going to sound a lot, like what we already heard with a worldwide mission but He expands on it and clarifies it more for us here. Read v18
         1. Make disciples
         2. Three ways we do it – 
            1. Going – be intentional to go share the gospel both where you live and around the world
            2. Baptizing – those who respond to the gospel should make a public witness through baptism that they are now followers of Jesus
            3. Teaching us to observe and then spend the rest of our lives learning what Jesus taught us and more importantly obeying it.

• Thus, all of this brings us back to and explains why MVC is mission driven!

1.  Application
   1. Thus, MVC is a church that is driven by the mission Jesus gave to the church!  That is driven, or motivated and shaped by the mission that our King Jesus gave us.   We want to be intentional about making disciples for Jesus.    
      1. The reason we do what we do and pursue what we pursue is because of the mission that Jesus gave to us!
      2. We summarize it like this – following Jesus and impacting others.   
      3. Following – being baptized after believing in Him as a public witness of your faith in Him.  And seeking to obey everything He taught us
      4. Impacting – being intentional to tell people who do not know Jesus about Jesus and teaching those who do know Him what Jesus wants us to obey!
   2. This is the way we try to put it on the lower shelf when it comes to this value of MVC being a mission driven church.
      1. We believe that we carry the hope of Jesus to the world. We have been placed in our church and community for the sake of others. When each of us plays our part families are strengthened, believers grow, the hurting are healed, the lost are found, and our community is blessed. 
      2. This is the difference our lives can make when we follow Jesus in obedience, impacting others by bringing the gospel to the lost and helping others believers grow in their relationship with Jesus!
      3. God has supernaturally and strategically placed each one of us at MVC throughout the southwest area of Chicago in our families, homes, jobs, schools, relationships, to bring the gospel to the lost and help believers grow!
      4. This is why we exist as MVC; this is what shapes what we do!  
   3. As we move to baptisms this morning, we see two people following Jesus mission to be baptized after they believed the gospel!
      1. In both of these baptisms, we see two extra people in the waters with them because they are some of the people who impacted them for Jesus by either telling them about the gospel or helping them grow in obedience to all that Jesus calls us to do!

Our-Core / Week 1

Our CORE: Better Together

Romans 12:3-6 April 24, 2022

I. Announcement

A. Update on mortgage and Easter offering:

1. Mortgage

a) Christmas 2020 – just 16 months ago, our mortgage was $780,000

b) Christmas 2021 - $358,000

c) End of April – $112,000 that is a $246,000 reduction in 4 months:

2. Easter offering

a) As of today - seed gift of $30,000 plus $56,000 in offering we have

$86,000 in hand

b) There is still a need of $99,000 to complete both projects of the parking

lot and the auditorium lights.

3. My hope by the end of the year is that the mortgage, parking lot and the

auditorium lights will all be completed and paid for!

a) Ongoing funds to continue to give

b) Write either mortgage, parking lot or lights

4. We can begin the work right away because the company doing the lighting

has the time to do it now and is going to allow us to begin the work right

away and we can just pay them as the money comes in.

a) What a gift, but we do not want to abuse their grace to us.

b) So pray and give as God blesses you!

5. When I think of what has happened in these two offerings I cannot help but

feel like Paul did in 2 Corinthians 9:12-15 when speaking about their giving.

Read

B. Pray for offering

II. Introduction:

A. One thing that has always amazed me is that fact that God can be so creative with

so little.

1. The best example of this that I know of is the fact that we all are made up of

the same basic stuff – take a head for instance – we all have two eyes and

two ears, one nose and one mouth and different amounts of hair and some

skin.

a) Look around, we all look so different yet we are all made up of the same

six basic elements.

b) God has nuanced each of these elements and how they interface with

each other to make us all unique!

2. You can say the same about our personalities up as well – we are all unique

in the way that God has nuanced our affections, emotions, intellect, desires,

dreams, etc. - no two personalities are the same.

B. The same is true with churches!

1. We are all basically made up of the same stuff: the Bible, worship,

fellowship, communion, prayer, a mission, vision, values, strategy, goals, and

theology!

2. But just like every person is unique so each church is unique and different

from others by the way the things that make up church are nuanced within

each church!

3. In my way of thinking, when it comes to Bible believing, Jesus trusting

churches it is not a matter of one being better than the other but rather an

issue of each being gloriously different for God’s unique purposes for that

unique church in that location at that time!

C. So today starts a six week series where we can better understand just who MVC

is, how we are unique from other churches that are like us and what is at our core

that makes us who we are!

1. Thus we are calling this series “our core”

1. “Our” because it is both personal and plural. This is not about an individual

as to who they are but who we are as a church, the people of MVC what

makes us unique as MVC

2. “Core” because that talks about the core, the heart, the foundation or the

central part of who we are.

a) Just like the core muscles in our body control and stabilize our bodies so

the other parts of it can do what they need to do so the core of MVC

controls and stabilizes who we are in everything else we do!

D. In this series I am going to just introduce us to our mission and values.

1. Power points that overview each point.

a) Mission

b) Values

• Today I want to start with …

II. Together strong – together is our vehicle

A. Power point of this value

1. A vehicle is simply the means by which you get from one place to another.

a) Each person is equally valued and each person is equally needed at MVC

to get us to be a church where people are following Jesus and impacting

others!

2. We see three areas in particular where our community together impacts us:

a) Discipleship – reaching others for Christ and becoming more Christ-like

ourselves!

b) Carrying one another’s burdens

c) Spurring each other onto our next steps in growth

B. Now we just got done with a series called “revitalized” and one of the key themes

of that series was “together.” So we already have spent ten weeks speaking about

the importance of togetherness if MVC is going to be a vital church in this area

and if we will be the kind of church that revitalizes people’s lives!

C. So today I want address one key question: “Why do I not desire or feel the need

to connect with others or the corporate body in a significant way?

1. I believe the answer to this question is addressed in Romans 12.

2. It is a passage I know well because God personally confronted me with this

passage many years ago when I felt like I did not need others in the body!

D. Turn to Romans 12:3-6

1. Structure

a) V 3- an attitude

b) V4-6 - a fact about the church of Jesus Christ.

2. Read verses 3-6.

3. The point of v 4-6 it is that we are not just like a body but we really are a

body - a spiritual body made up of many members where each one has

different gifts and different functions.

E. Now in light of this context v3 answers our question “Why do I not desire or why

do I not feel a need for the rest of the body”

1. Remember that v3 is an attitude that talks about the way we think about

ourselves!

2. So as I read note that v4 explains why we should not think this way about

ourselves,

3. Read v3-4

4. Simply we are not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to, in a

prideful or puffed up or self-important way, - do not think that you are better

than others but rather we are to think of ourselves with in a sound, sensible

level headed way.

5. Why v3c – because God has allotted to each individual member of the body

of Christ a measure of faith!

a) In other words everyone has something to contribute to the church!

b) We all have different gifts and functions within the church and like a

body that means we are truly interdependent upon each other for the

health of ourselves and the church.

c) So we desperately need one another just as much as the human body

needs every one of its different members!

B. Bottom line - “pride has blinded them to their need for others and they do not feel

the need or desire for others in the body of Christ.

II. Concluding application

A. The real test of this is not how well you know these verses but how deeply you

are actually connecting with others in the body of Christ for living life and doing

our mission together for the glory of God.

B. I told you God confronted me with this truth a number of years ago while I was in

seminary. I was sitting in the bleachers by a swimming pool at about 5 am in

Dallas, Texas as I had driven a young man to swim practice for his swim team.

1. I sat in the bleachers as I was reading Romans 12:3-6

2. It was like the Holy Spirit held up this verse like a mirror that revealed my

thinking “I really do not need other believers … I am walking with Jesus and

reading His Word and I am doing just fine – me and Jesus, Jesus only Jesus is

enough!

3. At the same time it is like God shone a light into my thinking where I all of a

sudden realized all the people that God had used in my life to get me to

where I was that day.

4. Until that moment I did not realize how foolishly arrogant and ignorant I was

about the role that other people have played in my life.

a) People who have prayed for me

b) Teachers at Moody who had shaped my thinking up to that time

c) People who gave us large financial gifts to help us go to seminary and

free me up to spend most of my time studying rather than trying to just

pay the bills.

d) People further down the road who had invested their time in discipling,

coaching or counseling me.

e) Friends who loved me, encouraged me, bore burdens with me, warned

me and even at times rebuked me!

f) Pastors at MVC, Bill Johnson and Clem Bilhorn, who had invested in,

taught and modeled for me a life of grace and truth!

g) And yes, my wife who in hundreds of practical ways day in and day out

ministered to me both with grace and truth.

C. Could it be that pride and arrogance and ignorance is holding you back from

being all God has created you to be and MVC from being all God has called us to

be because you are living the me life rather than the we life!

D. Take a moment to consider who are some of the people who have gotten you to

where you are today? I will guarantee you that each of us have scores upon

scores of them.

1. Right now come up with 3 – 5 specific names along with how they

specifically have impacted you!

2. Commit yourself to contact them this week and just say thanks.

3. As you do this you not only will encourage them but you will also break the

hold of pride in your life and build in the humility of acknowledging the role

of others in your life!

Easter at MVC / 4.17.22

Evidences of the Resurrection

April 17, 2022

A. Easter Sunday! This is Super Bowl Sunday for the Christian and causes

Christianity and Jesus Christ in particular stand out from all other religions in the

world!

1. Did you know there are 4200 religions in the world but only one empty tomb?

2. Of those 4200 religions   of the world’s population practices one of the five

major religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.

3. Main person/being and or prophet

a) Buddhism - Siddhartha Gautama who is known as Buddha,

b) Hinduism - Brahman,

c) Judaism – many put Moses at top,

d) Islam – Muhammad ,

e) Christianity – Jesus Christ

B. Out of all the religions of the world April 17, 2022

C. And all the religious leaders in the world, only one has a leader who died and rose

again from the grave. No other religion or religious leader claims that.

1. So the resurrection of Jesus Christ makes Christianity and Jesus Himself stand

out from all other world religions and religious leaders.

D. Christianity stands or falls on the validity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

1. John Stott says, “Christianity is in its very essence a resurrection religion.

The concept of resurrection lies at its heart. If you remove it, Christianity is

destroyed!”

1. The Bible itself says this in the strongest of ways! – Listen 1 Corinthians

15:14,17-19

B. Thomas Arnold (professor of modern history at Oxford) said, “No one fact in the

history of mankind is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort [than the

fact that] Christ died and rose from the dead!”

1. Listen to what this Cold Case detective and former atheist, J. Warner Wallace

said:

2. Many people who have been totally hostile against Christianity and have set

out to disprove the claims of Jesus were converted in the process. To do so

they almost always focus upon disproving the resurrection of Jesus Christ

3. One, a lawyer Josh McDowell and the other a journalist Lee Strobel were

converted to Christianity and faith in Jesus through the indisputable evidence

of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

4. They both wrote books about their experience:

a) McDowell

b) Strobel

C. If you want to look into this more for yourself, you can follow up by looking at the

tract that we handed out to you when you came in this morning “Looking for the

Truth about Easter.” We also have a limited amount of copies available at the

Welcome Center of the two books I just mentioned.

● This morning I want to share with you, just three evidences that helped persuade

people like this. Let’s start with the

II. Historical records

A. We need to remember that the Gospels, the place where the resurrection is

recorded, are not just stories but actual historical events.

B. I do not know of any book that has been more closely examined by critics, both

those who are friends and foes, both believers and non-believers, than the Bible to

see if its records are accurate.

1. The outcome of those who study it closely is that the Bible is the most reliable

writings of antiquity!

2. Listen to what Luke said about his gospel read Luke 1:3-4

3. Sir William Ramsay, a Nobel Prize recipient, spent fifteen years seeking to

undermine Luke’s credentials as a historian and to refute the reliability of the

New Testament.

a) He finally concluded “Luke is a historian of the first rank … this author

should be placed along with the very greatest of historians!”

C. Even authors outside the Scriptures who were non-believers in Jesus Christ have

referred to His resurrection. One of those was a man named Josephus who was a

first century Roman-Jewish historian. He said this:

1. Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call Him a

man, for he was a doer of wonderful works…He was [the] Christ; and when

Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned

Him to the cross, those that loved Him at the first did not forsake Him, for He

appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold

these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning Him….

● The second evidence to the resurrection of Jesus were the

III. Eyewitnesses in Jerusalem

A. The resurrection was preached in the same town, Jerusalem, where the

resurrection took place and where the tomb was located.

1. Anyone could have gone to the tomb, that was in a very well known place, by

a very simple afternoon walk to disprove there claims, yet none did.

2. At the time of Jesus, a high stone wall surrounded the entire city, about four

miles long, it protected an area of about a square mile, where about 25,000

people lived.

B. Listen to what Paul said about eyewitnesses: 1 Corinthians 15:4-8

1. Mentioning the twelve is key because all but one of them suffered a martyr’s

death (1 – Exiled and imprisoned on an island just west of Turkey for the rest

of his life) for their testimony and preaching about the resurrected Jesus.

a. People will only die for what they believe to be true, not for what they

know to be false or a lie!

b. Quote from Chuck Colson – see attachment

2. Five Hundred- to say that most of them are alive until now. In a sense, he

was saying, “If you do not believe me you can ask them!” 1

Corinthians15:6-8

3. To mention James, his half-brother is key because His family did not believe

in Jesus’ claims during His life and according to Mark 3:21 actually thought

Jesus had lost His mind. So he would have seen the resurrected Jesus as a

non-believer but came to faith after seeing Him

4. Paul mentioning himself is key because he was a bitter enemy to Jesus and

His resurrection as he went around persecuting those who claimed this, yet

this hostile witness of the resurrection was totally transformed by the

resurrected Jesus

● The final piece of evidence was provided by the apostles as well – their …

IV. Transformed lives

A. You need to remember that these apostles who powerfully proclaimed the

resurrection of Jesus and who died for their claims about Jesus were the same ones

who just days before Jesus’ death denied Him, deserted Him out of fear for their

own lives and were discouraged over the loss of their leader!

B. What changed them so drastically? It could only be the fact that they encountered

the resurrected Jesus who showed them that even death could not stop them and

the reception of His very Spirit into their lives turned them upside down!

● People down through history who have believed the claims of the resurrected Jesus

have been transformed. I want you today to hear the story of one of them:

V. Gary Olson

Palm Sunday / 4.10.22

Palm Sunday SAVIOR KING 

Matthew 21:1-10 & Luke 19:38-44

April 10, 2022  

1. Introduction:  
2. Many of you know and experience me as pastor, my wife knows and experiences  me as husband, my three daughters know and experience me as dad, and my  grandchildren know and experience me as grandpa.  
3. Recently my grandson, whose name is Johnny, who also comes here to MVC,  asked me “Are you a pastor?” and I said, “Yes, I am” Then he said, “I’m  going to call you Grandpa Pastor.” That is because Johnny knows me as both  a grandpa and a pastor.  
4. Actually the name Jesus Christ is the joining together of two different  identities and works that Jesus does, just like I am Grandpa Pastor to Johnny  so our Lord is Jesus Christ to us.  
5. a) Jesus means savior and refers to Him as the one who delivers us from sin  and danger  
6. b) Christ means Messiah – or simply referring to the one that God promised  throughout the Old Testament to send to be both their savior and their  king.  

(1) John 1:41  

(2) Listen to what the Jews said about him in the trial before Pilate -  Luke 23:2-3 (king)  

(3) Listen to what the chief priests and the scribes said about the Christ  at the cross Mark 15:31-32 (savior and king)  

1. c) If anyone understood the concept of what the Messiah was, the Christ  who was promised to come as their king to be savior, it would have been  the Jews and the religious leaders of the Jews.  
2. That is what Palm Sunday is all about – the triumphal entry, the time when Jesus  came to present Himself to them as the Christ, their king and savior and they 

rejected him which began a week of rejecting Jesus repeatedly as their king and  savior.  

1. My concern this morning is that many Christians know Jesus as their personal  savior but they do not recognize him as their personal king! We do it to our own  hurt.  
2. The triumphal entry was one of the major turning points in Jesus’ life and actually  in the larger story of the Bible as the long awaited Messiah/Christ had come and  presented himself to them as their king and they rejected him.  

• Turn to Matthew 21 where we see the story of the Triumphal Entry  II. The Triumphal Entry  

1. Matthew 21:1-9  
2. Read 1-5  
3. a) V5 – king coming on a donkey – Matthew is putting in an editorial  comment on this story to let us know that what Jesus was going to do  was predicted by Zechariah 9:9 – that their king would come to  

Zion/Jerusalem riding on a donkey.  

1. b) Jesus coming into Jerusalem on a donkey should have been a picture that  was worth a million words that every Jew should have known especially  their religious leaders.  
2. c) Story of Al Richmond at Easter musical and play – a full blood Jew who  was trained in Jewish schools all his life was radically saved when he  saw the one portraying Jesus coming down the aisle on a real donkey!  
3. Read 6-9  
4. a) Matthew tells us here how the crowd responded as they shouted out  praises to Jesus calling Him the Son of David.  

(1) That phrase is important because the Old Testament identified a  coming king who would save them as coming from the line of  

David.  

1. b) On top of that, the Old Testament made it clear that this Christ who was  coming to save them and be their king was going to be God Himself.  
2. So while Matthew shows us the response of the people, Luke shows us the  response of the religious leaders, those who should have understood best just what  was going on. Turn to Luke 19:37 
3. Read v37-38  
4. a) Again, we see the crowd responding with praise to God and here we see  that some in the crowd were actually calling Jesus the King who comes  in the name of the Lord.  
5. Read v39 -40  
6. a) But the religious leaders had a very different response as they told Jesus  He should strongly denounce what they are saying and correct them.  
7. b) Jesus response shows that what is happening is so big that if the crowds  themselves do not shout out in praise then the stones themselves will cry  out!  
8. Note Jesus’ response to this – read 41  
9. a) Note in v41 that Jesus wept. This is the Greek word for a loud crying  and wailing. Jesus was deeply troubled and grieving over what just  happened  
10. b) Read v42  

(1) Know = understand  

(2) This day was the day that peace was being offered to you. I, as the  Messiah, was offering you salvation from your sin and enemies  

and to be your king who would provide peace – internal tranquility  

and external harmony with your enemies.  

1. c) Now there enemies will overthrow them. Read v43-44b  
2. Now we see the reason why Jesus responded the way He did with such deep  grief and crying and consequences. Read 44c  
3. a) The word for visitation here indicates a visit from God  
4. b) Simply they did not recognize that the Messiah, the Christ, the King who  was God Himself had come to town today to save them and rule over  them for their good.  
5. This began a week of continual rejection of Jesus as their Christ both in trials  and ultimately at the cross when the charge put above His head on the cross  was “King of the Jews”  

• So what are the implications for you and me here today?  

III. Implications 

1. In preparation for this message, I traced every reference to Christ and King in the  New Testament and one thing jumped out to me about 2/3rds the way through.  About 99% of references to Christ either referred to Him as Savior or King.  
2. There are two different ways to respond to Him. We trust Him as Savior and  we obey Him as King - trust and obey for there is no other way, to be happy  in Jesus but to trust and obey.  
3. a) We must trust Jesus as our Savior from the penalty of sin, and we must  continue to trust Him every day to deliver us from the power and effects  of sin in our life  
4. b) But as our King, we must also take His lead in our life as King and  follow him with submission and obedience!  
5. Let’s talk about Savior  
6. The Christ came to save His people from both the domination that sin had  over them and the domination that other nations had over them.  
7. a) In His first coming, He dealt with the domination of sin and in His  second, He will deal with the domination of other nations over Israel.  
8. So if you are here today and do not know Jesus as your personal Savior do  you recognize that God is seeking to visit you today with the good news of  who Jesus Christ really is?  
9. a) He wants to deal with that tendency within us that wants to run our own  lives our own way apart from what God says, those things that ultimately  end up hurting others and us!  
10. b) Basically, that is what sin is  

(1) Running my own life my own way not caring what God said!  (2) Falling short of the standard, which God set for us to live by!  (3) The penalty for that is death – eternal separation from God in a real  place of fire called hell  

1. c) Jesus is God’s solution for our sin problem when at the cross God placed  all our sins upon Him to pay the penalty for our sins by dying for us.  Then He rose from the dead three days later to offer us a brand new heart  and life, one that is eternal and free from the power of sin.  
2. d) Believing who Jesus is and what He did on the cross and resurrection  was done for me is how we respond to John 3:16 
3. So believing, faith, trust, relying is the way we respond to Jesus Christ as our  Savior  
4. a) Maybe today is the day that God is visiting you! - Invite  
5. How about Christ as King and a few synonyms for that in the Bible is Lord and  Master, how are we to respond to King Jesus, the Lord and Master.  
6. Listen to what Jesus said. Turn to Luke 6:46  
7. a) Read v46 – it is inconsistent and incongruent to call Jesus my Lord and  King and not obey Him.  
8. Let me ask you this –  
9. a) To follow what our King says we need to know what He says in His  Word. Do you know your Bible?  
10. b) Secondly, are there any areas of your life right now you know are not in  submission and obedience to Jesus  

(1) Thoughts, affections, attitudes, actions, habits?  

(2) So you want me to get specific – ok – I will. Let’s get to the heart  and crux of the matter.  

(a) Read Matthew 6:24 – no one can serve two masters, two  

lords, two kings  

(b) Even our money – are you giving to the Lord’s work and  

seeking His leadership with every penny you own or are  

you running your own bank account your own way without  

any knowledge or concern for what Jesus says.  

(c) Lower shelf – ok – are you regularly, every paycheck  

putting aside as a first fruit a generous amount of your  

salary to give to the Lord’s work right here in your church?  

(3) You cannot serve God and money at the same time – one is king of  your life and the other is not. Which is it in your life?  

(a) Tony Evans says it something like this – God never has the  heart of a man until He has the wallet of the man!  

1. Bottom line today – Palm Sunday is the day Jesus entered into Jerusalem to  present Himself as the King to obey and Savior to trust.  
2. Today as Jesus visits MVC through this message, will you recognize Him for who He is and respond to Him as the Savior to trust and the King to obey! 
3. As we prepare for worship let me read you two passages to prepare us and  recognize just how big this day and moment was as Jesus presented himself to be  their King  
4. This is where the religious leaders drew the red line, the line in the sand  where there is no return when it came to rejecting Jesus’ claim to be the  Christ, the king of Israel, God Himself!  
5. a) Turn and read Matthew 26:63 – 68  
6. Why would the high priest be so upset at this statement by Jesus.  (1) Listen to Daniel 7:13-14  

(2) Context – God the Father, the Ancient of Days was sitting on a  throne of fire with a river of fire coming out in front of Him. Now  we see this Son of Man, Jesus coming with the clouds of heaven  right through the river of fire up to the Ancient of Days.  

(3) Read 7:13-14  

1. Worship 

Revitalized / Week 10

Let’s Get Real / Week 9 / Pillars of Truth

Let’s Get Real / Week 8/ Is the Bible Reliable?

Let’s Get Real / Week 7 / Is the Bible Really the Word of God?