Approved | week 6 | Boldness

Are you bold about your faith
 in Jesus?

The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. Acts 4:13 NLT

ἰδιῶται

idiotai - ordinary, untrained
,
, with no credentials, no religious status, and outside the traditional system.

… they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13

More Time With Jesus

Boldness increases

Spiritual impact intensifies

Spiritual hunger grows 

Less Time With Jesus

Boldness decreases

Spiritual impact diminishes

Drift from Jesus

“And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word.” Acts 4:29 NLT

“And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:29-31 NLT

[The religious leaders] arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. Acts 5:18

They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. Acts 5:18-19

When you walk in obedience to God, you wont be suprised
 by the miracles of God.

“Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.” At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. … Acts 5:20-21

Is your faith strong enough to believe
 in Jesus, but too timid to be bold
 for Him?

Discussion Questions:

What topics or things do you talk about boldly? Why are you bold about this thing?

Talk about a time when you had bold faith. How did your relationship with Jesus fuel your obedience to God?

On a scale of 1-10, how bold are you about your faith? How does your current relationship with Jesus impact your answer?

Share openly about your relationship with Jesus. Are there areas where you’re too timid to be bold for Him?

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Transcript

Worship And Opening Declaration

SPEAKER_07 0:04

Thank you a bad with all of the fake bitch of room What the board can do What the board can do It's gonna have Just a way that you do it's gone up It's gonna be a bad with all of the fake What the board can do It's gonna have Just a way to do it on the boat It's gonna be by the body with the Lord and by the Lord and Who am I to I've come a long way come on I've seen how you work there's so much goodness and grace much love and God Jesus because I know you are I can stay where I am we can't be small by I just can't turn back you're not done with me You're not done with me so much for watching You're not done You're not done with me so much more Come on because God is more than Who am I to deny Come on say that to deny Who am I kidding Who am I to deny Who am I Who am I to deny what the Lord can do Who am I to deny?

SPEAKER_03 4:36

Who are you to deny what the Lord can do? You carried something in today, you carried a baggage, a suitcase, something in your mind, and you thought, you know, God can't even mess with this. He can't even fix this issue. And this song was chosen weeks ago to remind you because that thing is not too big for God, it's not too much for God. He is not surprised, he already

God Can Handle Your Baggage

SPEAKER_03 5:03

has the answer. It is in the room with you. The Lord Jesus can and will fix it. You just have to handle it. Turn to your neighbor and say, won't he do it? Won't he do it? Take a seat. I got some things to share with you this morning. Number one, number one, hold your tears and your jeers. There is no first Wednesday this week. But good Friday's coming. Come on, somebody. Good Friday's coming this Friday at seven o'clock. We will remember the sacrifice. Pastor Sean has an amazing program planned for us. I'm so excited. He has been marinating on this for months. And it is

Good Friday Easter And Offering

SPEAKER_03 5:47

almost time. And so come and remember the sacrifice. It is such a good tradition for your children to come. They need to come and know that Easter is not about an Easter bunny. Come on, somebody. It's not about some Easter eggs. Hello? It is about Jesus is alive and he is a miracle worker. And so, fast forward to Saturday, we will have our outreach as we shine bright for Jesus right here in our neighborhood. The phone calls have been coming in all week. Is it free? Can I bring my kids? Will the Easter bunny be there? Well, yes, yes, and yes. We want you to come. We want all of you to come. You're all invited. It's gonna be so much fun, an opportunity to make Jesus known in the darkness of this world. And the people are so hungry. The world is so hungry for an answer right now, and we have it. You are all light carriers, and we're gonna do that on Saturday. And then Sunday morning, Jesus is alive. Easter Sunday is here. Bring a friend. There are invites in the back of every chair. We're not asking you to bring 10 people, we're asking you to bring one. The Lord is gonna put that person in your path this week. Did you know that they are way more, they are way more willing to say yes on Easter because it's tradition. So let's get them here on tradition and get them set free and on fire with Jesus. Come on. Because it's more than tradition, it's relationship. And so as you prepare your offering this morning, if you're a guest today, I'd like to welcome you. My name is Pastor Angela. We're so glad that you're here. Fill out a connect card, make sure you connect in some way so I can pray for you this week. We would love to do that. And as we give our offerings, it is my highest and best honor to pray for you as you prepare those things in your heart. Lord Jesus, we ask that you would bless this offering, that you would bless the tithers and the givers, that you would bless those that are obedient, that you would bless the widow's might. Lord, I proclaim the miracle of the flower and oil over this house. That there will always be just enough, that there will always be enough to do what we need to do, that they will never run dry in the name of Jesus. That you will bless the obedient hearts, that you will bless the generosity of this house, that we would touch the four corners of this world for your name. In Jesus' name, amen. Will you stand? Let's continue to worship.

SPEAKER_10 9:21

Stands above them all and dominions all hearts and positions, your name stands above them all, and the ancients all creation Holy You are lifting holy for you forgiven.

SPEAKER_05 10:09

If you've been redeemed, sing the song forever, if you are free, if you bear his name, sing the song forever. Come on and sing it out. We will sing the song forever.

SPEAKER_10 11:37

It's the greatest story, stand up on the name and so day, stand up.

SPEAKER_04 13:27

There's nobody like you, Jesus. You always only holy wine, holy foreign.

SPEAKER_10 14:15

Holy Holy Ford.

unknown 14:27

Holy, holy, homie.

SPEAKER_04 14:29

Reach out, holy, holy, holy. Hallelujah. Turn to your neighbor, give them a hug. Give them a handshake, give them a high vibe, and tell them that you're good to see them and it's good to see them in the house.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

Tell somebody next to you, welcome to church. I'm glad you're here. Good, good, good, good. It is Palm Sunday. How many of you remembered when Jesus rode into your life? That's the celebration of Jesus riding into Jerusalem, and all the people came and waved palm branches and shouted, Hosanna. It is that moment. They did it in hope. They did it hoping that this guy can change their life. We do it today and remember that moment because he's already

Palm Sunday Hope And Holy Week

SPEAKER_00 15:43

done the work. He's already paid the price and the sacrifice for us. And uh this kicks off Holy Week. This is for us. Uh, what what a powerful time where we'll walk through the the last week of Jesus as we walk towards Good Friday and uh Easter Sunday. And I know the Good Friday is a little bit somber, it's not, it's not, you're not gonna walk in and we're gonna celebrate on Good Friday. We're gonna just embrace the the depth of his sacrifice and the pain that he went through, and remembering that even though it gets dark on Friday, then here comes Sunday and the sun will shine, and we're gonna celebrate next week. So, with that said, I'm I'm certainly glad that you're here with us today. And everybody who's watching online, let's give it up for them who are watching online. Come on, somebody help me. You guys matter to us. Thank you for joining us online. Also, can we give it up for the band? Thank you guys so much. You're awesome. I wish y'all could just stay with me the whole time. Just play behind me. Give me a soundtrack to play, but we're gonna jump into God's word today. Today we get uh we finished the series last week, and you can go and and check that out. So we got two weeks where we kind of hit traditional messaging and messages. We're gonna open up God's word and look at Palm Sunday. We're gonna look at Easter Sunday. I hope to challenge you a little bit, even though you kind of know what's coming on Palm Sunday. You know what's coming on Easter Sunday, but uh this this week and next week, I'm gonna give you uh uh challenging messages and we're gonna grow closer to God and understanding. And then the the next week after that, I'm starting a uh a different kind of series where we're gonna look at how do I we know God's called us, he has purpose for us, but how do we deal with uh difficult people? And so the series is a little different, but it's called Sometimes People Suck. You know those people, you might be sitting next to those people. Just kidding, I know you're not sitting next to them, but we're gonna look at how do we how do we live out the love that God's called us to live and to love people. So that will start the week after Easter, so make sure that you're in position to hear that. Man, I'm excited about today. So we're gonna dive right in. Um we're gonna look at how Jesus rides into Jerusalem. We're gonna look at that passage in Mark chapter 11 here in just a moment. Jesus is riding into the city for the final week before he goes to the cross. And this is usually referred to as the triumphal entry. This is where it's like a parade. People are coming out because here comes this guy who they think this is the Messiah. He's gonna save us, he's gonna help us. They're shouting Hosanna. And uh I I want us to Today's message. If you if you're taking notes, we are not taking church, and so you have notes, you can pull them out right now. The title of today's message is You Were Created to Carry Jesus. And we're gonna look at the donkey's life. I know that that might be uh just a little bit different than usual. This is a past, this is a story that is told in all four gospels. So in the in the New Testament, when we see Jesus' life portrayed, we see this, but not every uh not not every story is is given in all four gospels, but this is one that we get to see four different times from kind of four different perspectives. And so we're gonna look in the book of Mark. And it talks about how Jesus is getting ready to ride in, so there's some preparations that need to be made. So Mark chapter 11, verse 1, as Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Beth and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, and Jesus sent two of them, two of the disciples to go ahead and go into the village over there, he told them, and as soon as you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there. That's what he's looking for. He's looking for a donkey. He sends them to go get him, and he says that no one has ever written untie

Mark 11 The Donkey Chosen

SPEAKER_00 19:42

it and bring it here. If anyone asks what you're doing, because this is kind of a weird thing, like go get the donkey, it doesn't belong to us, it's somebody else's donkey. But if anyone asks you what you're doing taking this donkey, he says, just say the Lord needs it and will return soon. Just say the Lord needs it and return soon. So I love this idea that the Lord needs the donkey. I I think that we can just as easily say today that just like don't a donkey, the Lord needs us, but I need you to understand something from the get-go that God doesn't need you and God doesn't need me. And so when he says the Lord needs it, um the Greek word there is really more less of a oh I'm desperate, I need this to happen, or else I can't do what I need to do, because that's what we would normally think of. I I need my keys so I can start my car, and if I can't start my car, I can't go where I need to go. So it's less of a an obstructive thing where God needs you to fit so that everything else can happen. It is more of an opportunity, like the Greek word there kind of refers to an employment opportunity. So when when Jesus says the Lord needs this donkey, he's like, God has an opening, God has an opportunity, and this donkey will fit that opportunity. And so when we think about the word how God needs us, God doesn't need us, need us. He created the earth, he created everything, he owns everything, it's all his anyway. But he has an opportunity for all of us. So I just thought I'd make that clear before we go into verse number four. It says the two disciples left and found the colt standing in the street, right where Jesus told them to be. Now, as I as I read this and as you read this, I need you to understand that this is like a Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And when he says Hosanna, it's like they're shouting, please save us, rescue us. They have an expectation that at some point a Messiah is going to come riding into this city, and they're shouting out, maybe this is the one, save us. They were laying down their clothes on the ground and waving palm branches and creating this parade, trying to see Jesus, not because he had healed people, not because uh of anything that he had said. They are expecting, they're in Roman um the Romans have taken over the city. They're in occupation, oppression, they're they're uh they're not free people. And so when this guy comes riding in, what they think is this could be our new king who's been prophesied. This guy could be the one. And I uh I was trying to imagine a time in our in modern culture where we are desperate enough to shout out, please rescue me, please save me. And it I couldn't think of a lot of examples, but I I remembered reading uh an article not too long ago, a short article about how often someone jumps or falls off a cruise ship. And it happens way more than you might think. In fact, it's about every two weeks someone falls or jumps off of a cruise ship. I thought this is like a once-a-year thing, but it's actually like every couple of weeks it happens. And then I found out even more than that, it's very common for people, way more common than I thought, for people to be lost at sea and adrift. In fact, the Coast Guard, the US Coast Guard reports rescuing about 13, on average, 13 people a day. Lost at sea, right? 13 people, that's about 5,000 people a year. Who are like lost, they're rescuing at sea. So I thought I thought this happens like once a year, maybe. Well, like a few times, it's rare. It's not, it happens all the time. So these are the people, imagine if you fell off a cruise ship, which all those people don't survive. That's uh, and you would think that it would be easy to rescue them, but it's not. Because once someone falls into the vast ocean, if a boat comes along, or uh imagine the Coast Guard flying along, what are you gonna do when there's this chance that you could be rescued? You're gonna be shouting, waving your hands. You're probably if you have anything, you're gonna be waving it, maybe trying to flash a mirror or a piece of glass or like something. You're desperate because this might be your one chance to shout, please save me. So I imagine that the people who are this is not just like a yay, everybody parade. This is like this could be the one we in fact, 500 years before it was prophesied that a savior would ride, a messiah would ride in to save Israel. And so they knew that here, this guy fits the bill. He fits the prophecy. Let's get out there, get everybody you know, this could be our king coming to rescue us. And I'll read you in Zechariah chapter 9, verse 9. You we see this prophecy, rejoice greatly, daughter Zion, shout, daughter Jerusalem, see your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, a foal of a donkey. So, first thing we need to look at is that this is an unlikely, an unlikely picture of salvation or of rescue. Because if I'm thinking of a rescue, I'm not thinking of a donkey. I'm thinking of a king riding in on a horse with a sword and an army behind him. That's not what they see. They see a donkey, which is not the picture of strength and power to come and rescue us. So now I don't have any experience with donkeys. In fact, I try to look, think back through my life and about I I've pet a donkey before, but I have no like personal, um, I never had a relationship or to our family, or we never owned a donkey or anything like that. So I've never ridden a donkey that I know of, but I thought, you know what? I've followed this donkey on TikTok. And this donkey loves uh rubber chickens. So people from all over the country, all over the world, send this donkey rubber chickens, and he kind of flips out every time he gets a new one. So I thought, let's look at what a donkey does.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

Hello, donkey. What are you doing over there? Come on, I got you a new chicken. It's from Brian from Wisconsin. Hiya. We gotta look at him. It's a pig legged pirate. He put a tattoo on his neck.

SPEAKER_00 27:19

He really wants the chicken.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

Okay, you ready?

SPEAKER_00 28:00

He plays with it for a long time. He loves the chicken. That's interesting to watch the way a donkey is, right? It's interesting to see. I I thought this was super interesting because this week I want us to talk about um, I want us to talk about donkeys and how God is still looking for donkeys like us. Last week it fits perfectly with last week's message because last week I called us all idiots, right? The Greek word idioti, which which it says that the the religious people were um were

God Chooses Unlikely People

SPEAKER_00 28:39

amazed because the disciples were just ordinary idioti. They were just ordinary, untrained people. And I think the same is so true when you look at God is looking for people who don't necessarily fit the likely, like if we're looking for a savior, if we're looking for a king to ride in, if we're looking for an answer to a problem, God often chooses the unlikely to do the unbelievable. God chooses the unlikely to do the unbelievable. And there's some things in our lives where we're thinking, God, I need you to show up. I need you to change this. In fact, this morning when the prayer team came up to the front and you brought forward prayer requests, and we're there are all kinds of requests and needs and things where we need God to show up, and yet so often we have this picture in our mind, well, I just need uh a stack of cash that would solve everything. I just need a king to ride into my life to say, here's an answer. But the the way he chooses to solve problems, the way he's the way he answers prayer, instead of getting a king with a sword and army, he sends a donkey. Lowly, he sends a lowly answer. And often he chooses what doesn't seem ideal, but it's it's God's choice. And God's choice doesn't seem ideal, but it it's his choice. In fact, you look in the uh the from the Old Testament to the New Testament, the the people that God chooses to use, like Moses. Moses had a speech impediment. Moses, of all people, Moses didn't think he was the one. Moses said, pick somebody else. I'm not your one, God, I'm not your man. Because Moses had insecurities and speech problems, and he said, Well, at least if you're gonna send me, send somebody else with me who can help me. God chooses Pete, Jesus chooses Peter as a fisherman, and Peter, we know, has all kinds of flaws. In fact, I love Peter because I can see myself in Peter. Peter does all Peter often does the worst possible thing. That's me, God. I'm gonna do the worst thing at the worst time, right at the wrong time. But yet you still want to use me. God chooses Abraham at way past his prime. God, if you're gonna use somebody, use them when they're young, when they have all the energy to do it, right? All the reasons why we would say, You can't use me, God. He chose fishermen that that everyone would look down on. He chose Elijah who had all kinds of depression issues. Thomas was full of doubt. 1 Corinthians says it this way in ver in chapter 1, verse 27, but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things. God's ideal. Sometimes we just don't see it. And so we disqualify ourselves when God comes and says, Hey, I need you. We say, uh, no, you don't, God. If you knew everything about me, you wouldn't want me. He chooses the lowly things of this world, the despise things, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are. So God has his own way, and it's not gonna look like our way. You know why he does that? You know why God picks the people that no one else would pick? He picks the lowly, the foolish, the weak things. And so whenever I say yes to God and the job gets done, I can't say, okay, I did that. I mean, you guys wouldn't believe it, but I did some pretty amazing things. So we start get, we start to, it's easy for us to feel like we did it, but if if we can step up knowing God, I am not the one, like Moses. The Bible says that Moses was the most humble man on earth. And so he chose him. Like, I know this is not me, God, it must be you. But how much more amazing is it when you turn around and look at your life and think, I don't know how I got here, but it had to be God because I know it wasn't me. That's the way he likes to do things. So, in the time that I have left, I want us to look at lessons from the donkey. I want us to learn some lessons from the donkey because I believe that God's still looking for some donkeys. And some of you and me, I'm not just pointing at you, we're donkeys sometimes. We're very steadfast, is probably the best way to put it, not hard-headed. We're doing we just do things the way we do it, and say we resist any other way. So, lessons from the donkey that we can learn.

Jesus Knows You By Name

SPEAKER_00 33:30

The first thing is this, and you can write this in your notes because we are a note-taking church. The first thing is Jesus knows me. Jesus knows me. And this is a pro this is an idea that may not even fit into your mind. It's profoundly huge of an idea that will change your life if you will get this in that Jesus knows you. God knows you. He knows you by name, he knows everything about you. It's no accident. He made you on purpose and formed you and fashioned you in your mother's womb. He knows every detail about your life, about what you've been through. He knows what happened to you last week, he knows what they said about you, he knows what they did to you, he knows what you did, he knows every bit of it. And sometimes that's hard to believe. It's hard to think about. We don't want to think about it. Well, if God knows everything about me, then I'm in trouble. He knows everything about you. Just like he knew the donkey would be there in the second verse, it says Jesus sent the two of them, go to the village over there. As soon as you enter, you will see a donkey tied there that no one's ever ridden. How did he know? How did he know that the donkey would be there? I'll tell you how he knew. Because he's God. How does he know everything about you? How does he know your story? How does he know what you've been through and the uh what how what brought you here to this moment right here? How does he know what's gonna happen when you leave? Because he's God, because he knows, he knows everything. And if you're wondering today, God, I don't know how I got here. Like, I don't even know what I'm doing here. Can I tell you that he knows you're here and that he has a purpose and he has plans and he has orchestrations that we don't fully understand? Like, how did he know the donkey was there? And it had never been ridden before. The next question I would ask is how why would he care if I'm here? Why would he care that I've been through all the things that I've been through? I'll tell you why. Because you and I were precious to him. Because when he formed you and fashioned you in your mother's womb, he cares about you so much. And we just get to thinking, Well, God, if you could just pay attention to me for just a second. No, he cares, he's attentive to you. I'll prove it to you in scripture. In Luke chapter 12, Jesus says, Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? In other words, are they like so cheap? Like almost nobody, like they almost have no value. Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs on your head are numbered. Look at your neighbor's head. Some of you said, Don't look at me, don't look at me. Forgot to brush my hair this morning. The very hairs on your head are all numbered. He knows all of them. He that that means the smallest detail of your life. Why did he say the hairs on your because the smallest detail of your of your life that you think doesn't matter if I have extra hair here or an extra hair or missing one, he cares. It matters to him. He's concerned with the things that we're concerned with and the things that we don't think even matter. And then he says this Jesus says, Don't be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows. Just those simple words, you're worth more. And you might be sitting here thinking, well, you know, there's people who are worth a lot more. Listen, you are worth more. And you might need to hear it this morning that you are worth more than you think you're worth to him. He knows you, and you are worth more to him. And with that in mind, you also need to know that you can't hide from God. But not in the way that, hey, you can't hide, you better watch out. You better stay on the good list. Or else this is not that. This is this is him saying, you matter, and you can't go anywhere to get away from his love. When we first moved into this building, even before there was anything of value in this building, in fact, we first put the cameras up all over the building. I thought, well, I'm not sure what we're actually protecting because if someone breaks in, they're just gonna they'll probably leave more value than they would take. We had camera, we still have cameras. About a year ago, probably I watch all the people who come on the cameras. So I like uh Angela and I joke that that's our favorite TV show. We just watch all the cameras. So you guys come and have a small group. We don't even listen. We're just like, oh, there they are. I wonder who's coming now. So about a year ago, my my camera rang, the the camera app rang. And um about 11 o'clock at night, and y'all would be shocked at how many, how much traffic foot people just walk through. That's why we leave the basketball goal outside because we're thinking, uh, I watch people play basketball at three o'clock in the morning, and I don't know who they are, never met them. They just come and go and play, and they don't break anything, so we just leave the ball out for them so they'll have something to do besides break something. This guy was walking, and uh I thought, he does that. It rang. I I sat up, picked up my phone, and I thought, this guy doesn't look, he's up to no good. I can tell. He just doesn't look like he's he's not he's not going anywhere. He's kind of like he's looking or he's prowling around, just like he's like looking very suspicious. And so sure enough, he walks around to the back of the building on this side along the path, and um he starts reaching up and messing with the window, and I thought, oh, he's gonna try to, and so sure enough, he's trying to like get the window open, and I thought he's trying to break in. And so I push the button that let me talk to him from the cameras, and I said, Hey! And he just jumps around like immediately I said, Don't do that. You're on camera, the cops are on their way. Immediately, he like looks both ways, and it's like he could he gets up against the building like he's trying to hide. I'm like, You're too late for that, you can't hide. He takes off running to try and get away, and sure enough, we I just I got my shoes on and drove up to the church, and I met a few other um of you who live nearby, and he was gone, and it was all fine. But it's it's weird how sometimes actually the cameras come on with with lights, so you should know you're on camera. But sometimes we think that God's not watching us, and God doesn't need high-tech, he doesn't need any technology to keep cameras on us, and God's not waiting behind the camera to say, hey, I'm watching you, you better be good. But God has purpose for us, and everywhere we go, everything we've done is recorded. He knows it, and he's and yet it matters. We're precious to him. You can write this down. He doesn't cancel you, he's not waiting to cancel you, he doesn't cancel you, he has compassion on you. All the all of the struggle that we think, oh, God's gonna get me for this. I better, I can't even pray right now. I can't work, I can't even go to church right now because God He would kick me out. We feel this shame and we feel this guilt. That's not what He wants, He wants to give us compassion. So, the second thing you need to know from the donkey's perspective is this not only does Jesus know me, number two, Jesus wants me. Of course, he knows everyone, he knows everything, but he also desperately wants you. Not because he needs you to accomplish his thing, but because you're made to be part of his plan. You fit into his plan.

Untied For Freedom And Community

SPEAKER_00 41:22

What do we know about the donkey? We know that the donkey was inexperienced, it had never been ridden. We know the donkey was alone because he showed you he said you'll find a donkey. We know the donkey was weak because he wasn't a workhorse, he was slow because he he wasn't a steed, he was a lowly donkey. He might portray the wrong image. He might, uh people might reject Jesus because he was riding a donkey. All these reasons, all these same things that we share with the donkey, the reasons why we disqualify ourselves that God, you can't use me because I I'm not as strong as that person. I'm I'm way more weak. I might be more slow than the next guy. I can't think that fast, God. I don't, I'm not, I'm not as good as the person that you need. And so we disqualify us and we think, God, you don't want me. Jesus, you don't want me in your church. You don't want me as a part of your plan and your purpose. And yet he does. It says that they went and they found the uh the colt there and they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it, and he sat on it. So they accomplished the will of Jesus, and the parade went on. There's some people in the room today that when when Jesus comes and says, I want you, here's the problem. When they came to find the donkey, the donkey was tied to something. It says they untied the donkey. Some of us, the Lord comes for us and he says, I got a plan for you, I got a purpose for you, and you're tied to something else that you never should have been tied to. Maybe it's ambition, maybe it's an insecurity, like, oh, I just can't go because you're all tied up in your own insecurity. Maybe it's shame or guilt or fear or addiction. There's a thing that's tied to you, and the Lord's saying, I want to untie you, but you got to be willing. Stop resisting, stop fighting me. Why does he why does he want to untie us? Why does God still want to untie people? It's because he wants us to be free. He wants us to be free. So, three quick things. Jesus wants me free. You have to embody that and embrace that. And until He, until you acknowledge that He wants you free, you're gonna stay tied to the thing that you don't want to be tied to. Galatians 5 1 says this it is for freedom that Jesus and that Christ has set us free. It is for freedom, and God wants you to be more free than you want you to be.

unknown 43:59

God

SPEAKER_00 44:00

God has plans for you that are bigger than your plans for you. So he wants me free. Second, Jesus wants me in community. Notice that they didn't just go and untie him. Jesus sent the disciples to go and untie him. We could have just made him untied, but he sent disciples. And yet what happens when the Lord sends disciples, when the Lord sends someone to help us and to come around us and lead us, what do we do? I don't trust you. I like Jason, but he's got Pastor in front of his name. So I don't I don't know about that. I've been I've been done wrong by somebody called Pastor before. I got small group leaders, I don't know about them. But Jesus wants me in community. So we have to follow the community. Maybe that today that means a small group or serving on a team or getting together with other people. Who are you doing life with? It feels like one of those cliche things that we say all the time, but it's so real, it's so important. So Jesus wants you for me. Jesus wants to be in community, and the third one is Jesus wants to be close. He has more for you. He has more for me. This week I was blown away by the testimony in one of my small groups that happens right here on Wednesday nights. I won't tell the whole thing because it's his story to tell, but I will tell you one part that was just so amazing to me that he's he started telling the story about how when he first came to church he just felt like such an outsider. He had he had never been involved and never been like never accepted that God would ever love him and that he was worth anything, and that and so it was it was a moment, and some of you guys remember um Brother Gentry Anderson. He passed away a few months ago, but there he touched so many of our lives, including myself. He I remember the first time I ever met him. He used to call me, he would walk into any room and he would say, Hey, man of God. At first I thought he was just telling me that because I was the pastor, but then I realized he said it to everybody. He was calling people man of God, and so Jose's telling this story like gentry walked up to him and said, Hey, man of God, and that was just the thing he said. And then he would share and share scripture and always encouraging people. And Jose thought, he's he shared this part. He said that I never thought I was a man of God until he kept calling me man of God. And he said that something clicked inside of him that after he had heard that over and over from Gentry, and Gentry was encouraging him, he just decided, okay, if he thinks I can be a man of God, maybe I can be a man of God. And so he started taking steps and joining small groups and joining uh Bible studies, and he joined our minister and training uh program because he didn't think he was a man of God, but because gentry kept telling him he was, and he said, after gentry passed, that God just hit him with this idea that now he had to take that and start speaking the same faith into other people to help people walk towards Jesus. Like what an amazing picture of how God knows us more than we know ourselves, and he wants us to be free. Jose did join the freedom group. I think that's really what small groups is about. That's why that in fact that's why we have small groups at all. It's not so we can just get together, is because I know that freedom happens, healing happens, deliverance happens. Like miracles happen in small groups, way more than they happen right here on Sunday morning. He sets us free, he puts us in community, and then we're able to get close to him, we're able to become who he made us to be. I think what what so often happens is that we start walking toward freedom and we forget why we're free. Think about if the donkey would have been untied and then went with the disciples, but then he didn't go to Jesus. That was the point from the beginning that Jesus said, Bring him to me. So I will challenge you with this last challenge. Don't get so comfortable with church and community that you miss Christ. Don't get so caught up in the pro we have lots of programs on Easter. We get well activities and Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday, and church for through the summer, and all the stuff that we do, all the programming, it's all meant to lead people to Jesus. It's all meant to bring people close.

Trade Heavy Burdens For Jesus

SPEAKER_00 49:06

In verse 6, uh Matthew chapter 21, verse 6, it from a different perspective says they brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set him on them. Last thing, and it's this from the donkey's perspective, Jesus knows me, he wants me. And number three, Jesus is what I carry. I think there's a lot of people in the room, it's very difficult to carry the addiction, it's very difficult to carry the anxiety, it's very difficult to carry an offense and unforgiveness, and all the things that we carry instead of Jesus. It's very difficult to carry them at the same time. To be a representative of Jesus, and because all those other things they push us away from carrying Jesus, and we disqualify ourselves and say, God, I can't, Jesus, I can't carry you right now. I can't represent you because people will reject you if they see me, and so we stop carrying Jesus. Can I ask you in your life, have you stopped carrying Jesus? Or maybe today's the day where you just decide from this day forward, I'm gonna carry Jesus everywhere I go. I'm gonna be a representative, I'm gonna let him shine in my voice in every every room that I walk into. When I go to work, when I go to school, whenever I go home, I'm gonna represent, I'm gonna carry Jesus. That's our mission. Through this through Holy Week, we'll celebrate, we'll rejoice, we'll go through, we'll do all those things, and yet we'll have an invite card, and we'll pray, and we'll let the weight of the gospel be carried by our voices. We'll let the weight of prayer for the hope that someone else's life could be transformed and changed. Listen, I'm not telling you you have to do it all. You don't have to, you don't have to change anybody's life. You just have to carry the gospel. And that might be as easy as carrying an invite card and asking, hey, come sit with me on Easter Sunday. Because people who will never say yes, they'll say yes on Easter. Invite someone, let let take a chance on what God could do to change their life. You know someone who needs their life changed. If you can get them in this room and let them sit next to you, another thing you can do. Next week on Sunday morning, we're gonna do it twice at the end of both services, and we usually just bow our heads and pray. I'm gonna ask you to do something to help me. At the end of both services, I'm gonna ask everyone to pull out a card, it'll be right at the on the back seat back in front of you. And I'm gonna ask you to fill out that card. Now, watch. You probably all fill out a connect card before, but somebody who their first time coming to church next week, they they may be less uh likely, they may be more reluctant to fill out a card. But if the person on their right and their left are pulling out the card, everybody pulls out the card. And if you come to two services, fill it out twice. Because there might be someone who they're like, Oh, I guess if everybody else is doing it, I'll pull out my card. And and because there's gonna be a question, just one question on that card that matters more than anything else, and it's for them to make a decision to follow Jesus. So we're carrying the gospel, we're gonna carry the message. So I'm asking you to trade what you've been carrying to carry Jesus, trade what is heavy for what is holy. Why does it matter? Because if I'm if I'm carrying something holy, whether it's a card or it's the gospel of Jesus Christ, if I'm carrying his message, then I have to be very careful about the way I live my life. That doesn't mean you have to be perfect, that doesn't mean you have to get it all right because you won't, I won't, I don't. But I'm very careful. Last week I was at my nephew's birthday party and they asked, Can you move the cake from the counter to the table? And the cake, if you've ever moved a cake that's like on cardboard and on plastic, you're like, Oh no, I'm not the right one to move this. I will drop this cake on the floor. So I'm picking the cake up and I'm moving it and I'm being so careful. It's sliding. I've got like I've got a grip on it. Why? Because the cake matters. If we drop the cake, the birthday party's ruined. Why does it matter how I carry this and how I talk and how I live my life and the things I put on Instagram, the things I put on Facebook? Why does it matter? Because me carrying this and me carrying the gospel, me carrying the message with my life is I can't mess up. I imagine the donkey walking down the street thinking, I've got I've I'm carrying a king. What do you think the donkey was thinking? If he was that smart, I don't know. Don't trip. This is important. I'm doing something so important. This matters. I'm telling you, relate, what we do this week matters because somebody's life is gonna be changed. Because we are the donkey this week. We get to carry something that will absolutely won't look like what everybody thinks it will look like, but it absolutely will change someone's life forever. And so we we're gonna carry Jesus. So I want us to pray together. I want you to stand up on your feet, and I just want us to make a commitment. From this day forward, I'm gonna carry Jesus. From this day forward, even if I have to be the unlikely messenger, I'm gonna carry Jesus and let God do what he wants to do, let his plans be fulfilled. And that takes uh an amount of surrender, and okay, God, I don't understand it, but I'll I'll follow you. So I would invite you to surrender your life to him today. And if you've never done that before, we're gonna say a prayer together, and I would invite you to repeat after me and just hand your life over to a savior, over to a God that wants to have compassion, who wants to untie you, who wants to put purpose and a plan on your life. He formed you and fashioned you in your mother's womb, and he knows you and wants you. And now it's time to step into purpose. Would you just bow your head and close your eyes right where you are? And

Prayer To Surrender And Closing

SPEAKER_00 55:39

would you repeat these words after me if you're ready to surrender your life to him today? Would you say these words, Jesus? Today I give you my life. I choose to follow you, and I choose to carry you everywhere I go. Forgive me of my sin. Breathe new life into me. I want to trade all of the bad things in my life for what you have. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Let's put our hands together for everybody who said that prayer. I love you guys, and I'm excited about what God is doing in us. The worship team is gonna come and we're gonna worship and cloth closing. I will see you Friday night, and I will see you for Easter Sunday. Bring somebody with you. God bless you. You're dismissed in Jesus' name.

SPEAKER_01 58:29

Carry this uh into this holy week, and we'll see you on Friday night at seven. Have a great day.