Well, good morning, everyone. Happy Palm Sunday. Did any of you guys get a palm or was that all just the kiddos?
We should have some extra ones, so we'll be sure to distribute some of those palms to you guys.
You know, it's a great time to be here, a great time to come to church and a great time for us to really just celebrate this wonderful time.
We think of the words Hosanna, right? Hosanna to the King. Can we say the word Hosanna together?
Hosanna, right? Hosanna. One more time. Hosanna, right? It's such we find in the gospel accounts, the triumphal entry where Jesus is riding in on a donkey.
And this time what we're going to do, we're going to open the gospel of John and we're going to go into chapter 12, verses 12 through 19.
And this is the John's account of what had happened. Some people use the gospel of Matthew.
I realize I've used the gospel of Matthew for the past two years, but the gospel of John is actually a very interesting one.
You know, it's great that we have four gospels giving us different perspectives of what was going on.
Different perspectives. And so that's going to be on page 1068 here, the triumphal entry.
And we're going to read the word together.
And we're going to see something that's fascinating.
Let's begin in prayer and we'll go right into it.
Father God, we thank you for this time in this celebration where we say the words Hosanna.
Hosanna to the King.
It's a wonderful time for us to really reflect on the last days in which Christ was here on the earth.
We think of the passion story and we think of how these people were laying down their palms as Christ was riding in on a donkey.
It's a wonderful story for us to celebrate and for us to recognize that Jesus is the King of Kings.
He is the Lord of all creation.
And Father, we ask that as we open the word, that your word will speak to us this morning.
We pray that there will be transformation, healing, as well as understanding.
I pray that this message will be understood in such a clear way.
And that it will motivate us to action, to live and love like your son, Jesus Christ,
who is the way, the truth, and the life.
Be with us together.
Let there be transformation in our lives.
It is in the name of Jesus that we pray and we all say together, amen, church.
So this scene here, the crowd is crying Hosanna.
And what's interesting as we'll see is you have Lazarus there in that scene.
And there's something that is very special about that.
The crowd crying Hosanna.
Jesus riding in on a donkey.
Jesus with Lazarus, the resurrected man beside him.
And the people as they're proclaiming the word Hosanna.
It is such a beautiful prayer.
So let's turn to the text.
It's going to be John chapter 12, verses 12 through 19.
And that is found in page 1068 in your ESVP Bibles.
Church, can we read this together?
Let's read it together.
Starting in verse 12, the triumphal entry.
The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, Hosanna.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel.
And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it just as it was written.
Fear not, daughter of Zion.
Behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt.
His disciples did not understand these things at first.
But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.
The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness.
The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.
So the Pharisees said to one another,
Now when's the last time you've read that particular account?
It's kind of a different one, right?
You have this scene where, again, Lazarus, the resurrected man, is there with Christ.
And that's something that is very interesting, right?
They're saying the words Hosanna, which, a fun fact,
When you proclaim Hosanna, it's saying the words, save us.
Save us, we pray.
What a fascinating understanding of that.
Right?
They're saying, they're praising, they're laying their palms down.
And they're saying, save us.
Well, when we think about the fact that Lazarus was raised from the dead,
And you, they had heard about it,
Just think for a moment.
Jesus, I want that too.
You have power.
And I want to come to you.
I want to lay down my palms, as it were.
I want to lay everything down at the foot of Jesus for your honor and for your glory.
And then you also have this scene where the Pharisees, they saw it,
And they're plotting, they're scheming against Christ.
Christ.
It's also interesting that the disciples didn't understand it until after the fact.
Until the resurrection.
I always love when things, little pieces like that are in there, right?
Which goes to show the importance of how things happen,
Not only in the gospel accounts, but things happen in our own lives.
How many of us, we may go through a certain situation,
And we don't understand it at the time.
I mean, we can be honest here and raise our hand.
I know many times.
I don't understand what's going on, but after the fact,
I understand more so.
And when we think about it,
We have to remember
That earlier in the gospel account,
You don't have to turn your Bibles here,
But if you have it open,
And you would like to,
It's not that far back,
Where Jesus is telling Lazarus to come out.
And that's something that should be noted, right?
This is where there's that command to come out,
And this resurrection that's happening.
And in fact,
Even when you look a couple verses before,
In John chapter 12, verse 9,
It talks about the large crowd of Jews that were learning that Jesus was there,
And there's the plot to kill Lazarus.
So there's a lot of movement that's going on here.
The power of Jesus Christ,
Who has power and authority over death itself.
And people hearing about it and saying,
We've got to put a stop to this.
That's what's going on, right?
With the Pharisees here.
And so,
It is very interesting to see
That kind of thing that's going on.
And so we have to ask ourselves then,
The question is,
Well,
Okay, what does the text say, right?
The first thing
We have to understand, right?
As I was mentioning,
The words Hosanna means,
Save us, we pray.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, right?
A large crowd gathering had come to the feast.
They heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, right?
They have the palm branches.
And just that connection with the word Hosanna
Is actually found within Psalm 118, 25.
It is a prayer of desperation.
It is crying out, as it were, to the Lord.
And so in this sense,
When you have the scene of these crowds of people,
They are crying out to Jesus.
Much like how we find within the Old Testament,
Crying out to the Lord.
Psalms is a very good example
Where you see David constantly on the run.
He's constantly crying out to the Lord, right?
And we can see the humanity of that.
We can even think of how,
In our own situations,
There may be times where we are in trouble,
And we've got to cry out to Jesus.
Amen?
It's very important for us to understand that.
And so,
That psalm from Psalm 118,
I want to read it to you where it says,
Save us, we pray, O Lord.
O Lord, we pray.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
Isn't that fascinating?
It's almost a direct quote
That is coming from the Psalms
When Jesus is riding on that donkey.
How cool is that?
Save us, we pray, O Lord.
And so the king is on the donkey.
We have this fulfillment of prophecy.
It's a direct quote from Zechariah 9.9,
Where it mentions,
Your king is coming,
Sitting on a donkey's colt.
And I always love when you find these little,
Little tidbits.
These little details that are showing
The fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
And so it's important for us to know,
The king is coming on to the donkey,
Riding on in,
And the people they need,
In this moment,
For them,
And even for us to understand Palm Sunday,
We need to understand the full story.
How connected Palm Sunday is
With the passion story.
With the final words of Christ,
And Easter celebration as well.
And so,
His disciples,
They did not understand these things at first.
It took time.
And I mentioned this fulfillment of prophecy
From Zechariah 9.
It's the same thing.
Isn't it interesting?
Throughout all of scripture,
People are looking for Jesus,
And they find him in an unusual form.
For example,
When Jesus is being born in a manger,
Well, people were expecting something different.
Or in the case of here,
People were thinking of Jesus as a revolutionary.
One that would overthrow the government.
And then even when we've talked in our study of Revelation,
There was the part where John was looking for a lion,
And had found a lamb.
So we just see that very often,
There's these kind of,
You're looking for something,
But Jesus is there,
In an unexpected manner.
It's very,
Very powerful.
And so,
The text talks about when Jesus was glorified,
After the resurrections,
The disciples had to walk through those moments of Palm Sunday
Without understanding fully what was going on.
And so,
We go on then.
It's kind of interesting at the end of,
Of chapter 12.
Well,
Towards the end of chapter 12,
In verse 19,
The Pharisees said to one another,
You see that you're gaining nothing.
Look,
The world has gone after him.
And it's kind of interesting,
Because this is a scene,
Where they're kind of complaining,
Right?
They're kind of grumbling,
And they're saying,
This is a bad thing,
That the world is going after him.
But it's actually a fulfillment of prophecy,
If you think about it.
That people are coming to their Messiah.
The one that is going to change the course of history.
The one that is going to usher in from the old covenant,
Into the new covenant.
And so,
They are stating the obvious fact.
And we can,
We have the blessing of seeing that.
But in that moment,
What's interesting is that these Pharisees,
When they're talking about this,
The plot to kill Jesus,
The plot to kill Lazarus,
Was all because they wanted to maintain their power.
And that's very interesting.
They weren't,
They might have easily been convinced,
But they wanted to maintain to the status quo.
And that's something that we should note.
How sad it is,
To love your power so much,
That you're not even recognizing,
What is really going on here.
So the crowd had been with Christ,
When he called Lazarus out of the tomb,
And raised him from the dead.
And it mentions that this is the reason,
Why the crowd went to meet him,
When they had heard the sign,
Had been done.
We think about that.
I mean,
Can you imagine if you had heard about someone,
Who had been raised from the dead?
I mean,
Nowadays,
You'd have so many,
Controversy,
Is that,
You know,
A deep fake or not?
You'd have all this kind of stuff.
But in any sense,
It would be a lot of discussion going on.
A lot of talk,
A lot of photos and videos,
And people would be kind of wondering,
What's going on?
And quite frankly,
A lot of people would want to see,
What's going on.
And so they go over,
And we can see that Lazarus,
Is this living proof.
What's fascinating is,
Knowing that Lazarus,
Is being resurrected from the dead,
It's showing Christ's power over death.
And for the Jewish people,
They understood the resurrection.
And they wanted to be resurrected as well.
And we can see as well Lazarus as the living proof.
So the they wanted to destroy the evidence,
Is the Pharisees talking.
They wanted to put an end to the movement that was going on,
As it were.
Even when it says,
A few verses earlier,
When it says,
The chief priests made plan to put Lazarus to death as well,
Because on account of him,
Many of the Jews were going away,
And they were believing in Jesus.
So it's saying right there within the text,
What is going on?
They are losing their power,
And they are losing their influence there.
And so,
Yeah.
Very interesting to see with,
With all of this.
We have to ask ourselves the question,
Right?
As,
Here at Ontario Community Church,
We want to read the text,
And see what is initially going on.
The second thing that we do,
Is we interpret it.
What does this mean?
Right?
That's very important for us.
And then the third thing is,
What do we do about it?
So the people came to be saved like Lazarus.
Right?
They're shouting the words,
Hosanna.
Right?
Second thing being,
Those in power feared the movement of God.
And the third is that God works in ways,
We may not understand until later.
And so for that first point,
The crowd heard what Jesus did.
They came because of a sign,
And they saw a man that was dead,
And was raised to life.
And they're saying,
Save me, Jesus.
Save us, Jesus.
You saved him.
Save me too.
And not only,
What's wonderful about this is,
Not only is this crying out,
Physical saving,
But also the spiritual saving.
And so we have to think,
When we are crying out to Jesus,
It's important for us to recognize,
That we need Christ in our lives.
That we have to receive salvation,
And make that decision,
To receive the greatest gift,
That has ever been given to humanity.
And that not only affects,
Our physical lives here on the earth,
But it affects our spiritual lives.
Do you realize,
That that single decision,
Affects two lives essentially.
That's a very powerful decision.
It's much bigger than,
You know,
What college you're going to go to,
What kind of car you're going to buy.
I have a friend of mine,
That just bought a brand new car,
And talking about how,
All the decisions,
You know,
What kind of seats,
And what color,
And what not.
It's nothing,
Compared to the greatest decision,
That will affect,
Those two lives,
On earth,
And in heaven.
And so every Hosanna,
We have to think,
Save us.
It is answered,
By the cross.
By the death,
The burial,
And the resurrection,
Of Jesus Christ.
That is just,
Absolutely powerful.
The second thing then,
Is that,
Those in power,
They feared,
The movement,
Of God.
Now,
In that,
It's important for us,
To recognize,
What is going on.
In John,
Chapter 11,
Verse 48,
You don't have to turn there,
But it's very interesting,
What the,
There's the plot,
To kill Jesus.
In verse 47,
The chief priests,
And the Pharisees,
Gathered the council,
And said,
What are we to do?
This man,
Is performing many signs,
If we let him,
Go on like this,
Everyone will believe in him,
And the Romans,
Will come,
And take away,
Our place,
In our nation.
So when I'm talking about,
The loss of power,
They were truly afraid,
That they would lose everything,
That they had in place.
A direct quote in that,
And that's not even that far,
From what we see,
Within the triumphal entry.
These people,
Were afraid of losing their power,
And it's interesting,
Notice,
The Pharisees do not deny,
The miracles.
They don't deny the signs.
In fact,
They recognize them.
And,
Despite that,
They are fearing,
The consequences,
That will directly affect them.
And I think that's something,
That we should definitely,
Take note of,
When you have,
The movement,
Of the Holy Spirit,
Movement in our own lives,
Sometimes God works,
In ways that is unfathomable.
I know when I think,
Of my own life,
And how God has worked,
Specifically in my life,
The challenges,
The people I've met,
The journey,
Has been remarkable.
And when you think of,
How God works in your life,
There are going to be changes,
That happen in your life.
But when God is on your side,
There is absolutely nothing,
For you to be afraid of.
And just know,
You may very well change,
The status quo in your own life,
As well as other people.
But there's nothing,
For us to be afraid of.
And in that sense,
We can see,
That these Pharisees,
Are so,
They're holding on,
To their power,
With everything that they have.
And they care more about the power,
Than the miracles that are happening.
May we,
Not be like that.
When God is working in our lives,
May we follow,
Where he is calling us,
What he would like for us to do,
In our lives.
And we have to think also,
That specifically,
I'm talking about power,
That is depending,
Not only on control,
But resisting the movement of God.
That's an important thing as well.
Having hardened hearts,
Is a very common thing,
That many of the Pharisees had.
And it's important for us,
When we think of God,
And how he calls us into salvation,
He also calls for us,
For our hearts to be softened,
For our minds to be changed,
And for our spirits to be renewed.
All of these kind of things,
It is part of,
Being a new creation,
And constantly being that work in progress.
When we follow God,
He is going to change us,
In some remarkable ways.
And the third thing then,
Is that God works in ways,
That we may not understand until later.
How many of us wish we understood,
Right?
Then and there, right?
Okay God,
I know exactly what's going on,
Everything will be good, right?
I think at one point or another,
We would all be raising our hands, right?
I wish I understood what was going on,
And then it's like,
It's kind of like,
Oh, wow.
That's what you were doing?
It's really remarkable in that.
And as I mentioned,
I keep going back to that verse 16,
That the disciples didn't understand,
These things at first,
But when Jesus was glorified,
They remembered,
After the resurrection,
They needed the full gospel story,
To understand fully,
What was going on.
That's important for us,
In the same way.
God will reveal things to us,
In his time.
Much like how God answers prayer,
In his time, right?
We want things to happen instantly,
Right?
How many of you guys have ordered,
A three hour delivery from Amazon?
Let's be honest here, right?
You pay the extra five bucks,
And you're like,
Eh,
But I get it in three hours though,
And you wrestle with that.
Or my favorite is,
When you have your ramen noodles,
Right?
They say it's instant,
But is it really instant?
No.
We have all of these things,
In this kind of culture,
That we live in,
That's based upon,
What we determine,
And what we say.
That's not how it works,
In the eyes of God.
It's all about,
His divine timing,
And purpose,
And trusting in that.
And we see within scripture,
The fulfillment of prophecy,
The time frame in which God is working,
Is far beyond our understanding.
And that's okay.
The mind of God is certainly beyond,
Any of us here in the room.
And any of humanity for that matter.
And so,
In that capacity for,
The people,
They didn't fully understand,
Until the proper time.
And we can see a direct link,
Into our own lives,
Of how we may not understand,
Until the proper time.
And so,
In this,
You saved him,
Save us too,
Right?
Physical and spiritual.
I mentioned that,
That is the beauty of salvation.
I talked about the Pharisees.
And so,
This leads us then,
To our application.
In every sermon here,
It's important for us to read the text,
Look at what's going on,
And to learn the underlying lessons.
But the third thing,
That's also important,
Is for us to have the question,
What do we do about this?
Sometimes,
You may have experienced,
Or you may be someone,
Who likes to read,
And get a lot of knowledge,
Right?
But it's also important,
To live out that knowledge,
Right?
To be able to embody it,
In your very lives.
Especially,
When it comes to scripture.
Read the text,
Let it move within your heart,
Let it transform your life,
And then you've got to act upon this faith.
You've got to be able to live,
And love like Jesus Christ,
Knowing,
That we are a,
Work in progress.
Now,
I want to show you something that's,
Remember when I mentioned,
The word Hosanna,
Save us,
We pray.
Isn't that a proclamation?
Right?
And so,
Our application,
Is understanding,
Hosanna.
Number one,
Save us.
That we cry out,
To the king.
Right?
That we cry out,
To Jesus.
We ask him,
To come into our very lives.
The second thing,
Is that we pray,
We worship the king,
Who has come.
And we proclaim,
We tell the world,
That he is here.
To cry out to the king,
Hosanna begins,
As a,
As a plea,
Save us,
Lord.
And we speak,
To the same Christ,
That that crowd,
Was speaking to.
We speak,
To the same Christ,
Who raised,
Lazarus from the dead.
Who performed,
These many miracles,
Who spoke,
In parables,
And is,
The fulfillment of prophecy.
The constant,
That we need,
In our lives.
And let me tell you something,
When we think of,
The world,
As it is,
The wars that are going on,
The rising gas prices,
The uncertainty,
That's happening,
Within the community,
And even within this nation,
And within this world,
We,
Place our trust,
In the living God,
Who is our firm foundation.
It is a time for us,
Not only to celebrate,
But to trust in God,
Fully.
Knowing that he,
Is our constant,
No matter how much,
We change,
Or however much,
The world changes.
Now can I get an amen,
For that?
It's important for us,
To recognize,
In times,
Such as this,
That we cry out,
To Jesus,
And we trust in him,
As that firm foundation,
As the anchor,
For our souls.
And we also have,
To think that,
For those of you,
Who are not Christian,
There's an invitation,
For you,
To be saved.
There's an invitation,
For you to respond,
By making that decision,
The greatest decision,
You can make,
In this life,
And directly affects the next.
For those that,
Are Christian,
Or maybe you've been distant,
Maybe you've had those moments,
Where you just had life,
Beating you down.
And,
It's still important,
To cry out to the Lord.
As I mentioned earlier,
How David was constantly,
On the run.
He had armies,
And enemies,
Rising up against him.
People that were plotting,
Against him.
He cried out to the Lord.
Go through the Psalms,
There's quite a few of them.
Psalms of victory,
And triumph.
Fear,
Abandonment,
Confusion,
Being alone.
All of these types of emotions,
No matter what you are going through,
May you,
Turn to the living Christ.
The King,
Of kings.
The one that is,
Riding on that donkey.
The one that we say,
Hosanna to.
Remember the heart,
Of Hosanna,
And remember that,
Jesus saves.
And so,
We think of this,
In here.
That famous Romans passage,
Everyone who calls,
On the name of the Lord,
To be saved,
To remind us,
That Jesus saves,
Right?
In this,
I want to go back actually,
We pray,
To worship,
The King who has come.
The crowd had laid palm branches,
And they lifted up their voices.
They're gathering together,
As an assembly.
They're gathering together,
Publicly.
In the same way,
May we be encouraged,
To come together,
To worship the living God.
Amen.
It's so important,
For us to gather together,
And to make efforts,
As best as we can,
Because there is something,
That is beautiful,
When we all gather together.
Not only,
Is there transformation,
That happens on an individual level,
There is also transformation,
That happens within churches,
Within church bodies,
Within households,
And even within communities.
For us to come together,
Worshiping God,
For us to sing songs,
And to hear from the word of God,
Also,
For us to be present,
With one another.
I cannot tell you,
In my own experience,
And maybe you've had,
A similar experience,
The people that you meet,
That help you,
On your spiritual journey.
The ones that can call,
Or text you,
Or visit with you,
And check in on you,
Celebrate with you.
It's just like,
When we celebrate,
When someone makes a decision for Christ,
Or when someone gets baptized,
Or when someone,
Is on the road,
To recovery from addiction.
Whatever it may be,
We build up one another,
Because we are part of the process.
We are part of the process of being,
We are in process,
Of being transformed individually,
As well as collectively.
It's very important for us,
To recognize that.
And so,
I want to tie in a little bit of revelation here,
As we've gone over revelation,
Just as those four living creatures,
In Revelation 4,
Were praising the Lord,
They were praising God,
Without ceasing,
May we continue,
To worship the Lord,
And may our worship,
Extend beyond Sunday,
Into the words that we speak,
Right?
Our word and our deed,
Our word and our action,
What we say and what we do,
May it be in alignment,
Don't let it be not in alignment,
That would be hypocritical.
We've got to have our lives,
In alignment with where God wants us to go.
And it's important for us as well,
We pray to the Lord,
But we also pray for transformation,
In our own lives,
The people that we know,
Certainly let this be a call for you,
To pray for those,
Pray for your community,
Pray for your city,
I love,
I think it's in 2 Timothy,
Where it says to pray for those,
Who are in authority,
Why is that in there?
It's important, isn't it?
Pray for those,
Who are in authority,
And it goes on,
So that you may live a peaceful life,
It actually explains,
Why you want to do that,
Right?
We pray for those in authority,
Whether that's city leaders,
Those that are on the school board,
It could be government,
Could be your boss,
It could be anybody,
But it's important for us to continue to pray,
Pray for your city,
Your family,
Your neighbors,
Pray that there will be transformation,
Do you realize,
You can pray for the heart of the governor,
Or pray for the heart of the mayor,
Or pray for the heart of the representative,
Whoever it is,
And I'm not trying to call anybody out in this,
I'm just saying,
Recognize how important it is,
I remember,
It was a couple years ago,
I went to a pastor's meeting,
And they had this sheet,
And it had,
Your governor,
Your representative,
Your mayor,
And it had a list of all of these people,
And I'm like,
I don't know,
I don't know all the people,
I don't know all their name,
They wanted you to write their names down,
So you specifically could pray for them,
That God would influence their life,
That if they weren't a believer,
That their heart would be transformed,
That they would receive salvation,
And that they would make good godly decisions,
It's important for that.
The third thing then,
We proclaim,
Tell the world that he is here,
And we think in this scene,
Of how these people had heard about Lazarus,
Right?
You probably have people who were there in the moment,
Seeing what's going on,
And rushing off and telling everybody,
Right?
Because it's talking in the text,
That the crowds were gathering,
Because of what had happened,
That kind of excitement,
For that kind of miracle,
Goes to show us,
The kind of excitement,
That we should have,
For Jesus Christ,
To not get caught up on,
Things that divide us,
But to get to the point,
And the point being,
We proclaim the name of Jesus Christ,
We tell people,
That Jesus is here,
We tell people the gospel story,
That Jesus died,
Was buried,
And he rose again,
We tell people our testimony,
And how God has transformed our lives,
There's many different ways,
And capacities,
In which we can tell the world,
That he is here,
In John chapter 12,
Verse 17,
The crowd that had been with him,
When he called Lazarus out of the tomb,
And raised him from the dead,
Continued to bear witness,
What a wonderful example,
What a wonderful story,
They didn't stop,
They had seen something,
Life changing,
I mean literally life changing,
Right?
They wanted to tell everybody about it,
And that's important,
The crowd came,
Because somebody told them,
What Jesus did for Lazarus,
And in the same way,
Think about the power,
Of the gospel message,
Think about the power,
Of your testimony,
Your story,
What Christ has done in your life,
Think of that as the palm branch,
That you lay before him,
You're laying down,
For him,
And when we think,
That the Pharisees had said,
The world has gone after him,
That's the point,
That's the mission,
We are called,
To make disciples,
To tell the world,
That Jesus is here,
And that we proclaim,
The name of Jesus,
Ask yourself the question,
Who will hear the name of Jesus,
This week?
What an amazing time,
For us to,
Invite people,
To church,
Invite people,
To an Easter Sunday,
It is really,
A wonderful time,
And opportunity,
For you to do that,
And so,
Isn't that fascinating?
The actions,
That we can do,
Come from the simple word,
Hosanna,
Proclaiming it,
And asking God,
To save us,
And to continue,
To pray to the Lord,
And so,
In closing,
Lazarus,
The resurrected man,
He walked,
With Jesus,
Into Jerusalem,
If I was raised from the dead,
I'd be following Jesus,
All the way over there,
Absolutely,
You bet,
He better be following Jesus,
Into Jerusalem,
And the crowd laid palms,
And they cried out,
Hosanna,
Save us,
To the king,
Who is riding on the donkey,
And the Pharisees,
They panicked,
They're freaking out,
Because their hearts,
Are more focused,
On power,
They even recognize,
The miracles,
That are happening,
But they're not willing,
To give up,
That control,
The disciples,
Well,
They didn't understand,
Really any of it,
Until after the resurrection,
But it's in there,
And we gotta recognize,
God will reveal,
In the proper time,
The king has come,
And he is still here,
And this Palm Sunday,
We cry out the word,
Hosanna,
Save us Lord,
We pray the name,
Of Jesus,
And we proclaim,
We lift,
His name,
On high,
Hosanna,
So in closing,
Can we say the word,
Hosanna together,
Hosanna,
Let's say it again,
Hosanna,
One more time,
Hosanna,
Let's pray together,
Father God,
We proclaim the name,
Hosanna,
We proclaim,
Your name,
We lift,
Your name on high,
And we mean,
Those words,
That you save us,
For those of us,
Who have not made a decision,
Have not received salvation,
We pray a movement,
A stirring of the heart,
A changing of the mind,
To receive salvation,
To believe in the death,
Burial,
And resurrection,
May we be,
In prayer,
Praying for change,
Within this community,
Praying for change,
Within our families,
And certainly,
That people will come to know,
Your son Jesus Christ,
And certainly,
May we proclaim,
Your son's name,
In this Easter season,
May we lay down,
Our palm branches,
At the foot of the king,
And may we recognize,
That you reveal,
A full understanding,
Of things in the proper time,
We're so grateful,
For your son,
We're so grateful,
For who he is,
And what he continues,
To do in our life,
I pray that this message,
Was preached clearly,
That it may be understood,
But also,
That it may stir our hearts,
To live,
To receive salvation,
To grow in you,
And to be moved,
To live and love,
Like your son Jesus,
We love you,
So much,
And we thank you,
For this time,
And this opportunity,
For us to gather together,
It is,
In the name of Jesus,
That we pray,
And we all say together,
Amen,