back to indexBerean Community Church Evening Devotions 4/11/2022
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We're gonna go ahead and get started with our service this evening. 00:09:04.000 |
Light of the world, you step down into darkness. 00:12:33.000 |
are important times for us to remember and appreciate 00:12:39.000 |
What we want to do in each of these devotion nights 00:12:43.000 |
and also to think of the many perspectives that are there 00:12:47.000 |
but also the experiences that our Savior went through. 00:12:51.000 |
We'll also be hearing testimony, salvation testimonies, 00:12:57.000 |
And tonight we have our brother Josh Malapudi 00:13:04.000 |
So as we prepare our hearts, would you please bow your hands 00:13:18.000 |
And Lord, we want to continue just to appreciate in our lives 00:13:23.000 |
all that you have done and all that you are to us. 00:13:29.000 |
we want to continue to reflect and to think deeply 00:13:37.000 |
We recognize, Father God, that there are so many elements 00:13:40.000 |
of his suffering, the magnitude of the cross, Lord, 00:13:46.000 |
But even leading up to it, we recognize that our Lord 00:13:49.000 |
truly set his face like Flint and that he was dedicated 00:13:53.000 |
to come to suffer and to sacrifice his life for us. 00:14:04.000 |
and that God, as we join together in worship, 00:14:12.000 |
And, Father, may our hearts be filled that more and more 00:14:17.000 |
and that our affection would rise to you, Lord. 00:15:19.000 |
Your name be louder, louder than any other song. 00:16:16.000 |
Your name be louder, louder than any other song. 00:16:36.000 |
And what can separate us from this amazing love? 00:16:55.000 |
And what can separate us from this amazing love? 00:17:26.000 |
Your name be louder, louder than any other song. 00:17:46.000 |
Your name be louder, louder than any other song. 00:18:40.000 |
Many times I've wondered at your gift of life. 00:19:02.000 |
Once again I look upon the cross where you died. 00:19:09.000 |
I'm humbled by your mercy and I'm broken inside. 00:20:06.000 |
Once again I look upon the cross where you died. 00:20:13.000 |
I'm humbled by your mercy and I'm broken inside. 00:21:03.000 |
Once again I look upon the cross where you died. 00:21:10.000 |
I'm humbled by your mercy and I'm broken inside. 00:21:31.000 |
Once again I look upon the cross where you died. 00:21:39.000 |
I'm humbled by your mercy and I'm broken inside. 00:22:28.000 |
Pastor Mark a few weeks ago asked me to share my testimony. 00:22:33.860 |
And thinking about it, I wanted to, I started wondering like why am I saved and kind of 00:22:44.500 |
And so I started searching and I found a whole bunch of old books from written in the 1800s 00:22:50.880 |
and 1900s of how missionaries came to my part of India, where my parents are from. 00:22:57.400 |
And it's been an interesting journey the past two weeks reading letters and correspondence 00:23:07.080 |
And it just blown me away how they struggled in every aspect, didn't have money, didn't 00:23:15.920 |
And the two missionaries that came to my area specifically, they went six years preaching 00:23:24.120 |
the gospel without anyone converting, which just blew my mind. 00:23:28.840 |
How can two people leaving their country of England sailing and struggling for six years 00:23:35.980 |
without any fruit and yet they persisted until my great, great, great grandfather heard the 00:23:46.620 |
And so I stand on the shoulders of a lot of sacrifice. 00:23:52.900 |
And it was a very humbling experience to just to read that. 00:23:56.960 |
And so for me, I grew up in a Christian family where being in India, if you're a Christian, 00:24:05.640 |
you have to kind of be willing to be ostracized by society. 00:24:12.760 |
And so it was just something I was born into. 00:24:18.200 |
Both my grandparents, my mom and dad side, they planted lots of churches, very active 00:24:39.680 |
Everything like not missing a Sunday, being active in Sunday school, the whole deal. 00:24:45.280 |
The church I grew up in sixth grade, they have tradition of giving new Bibles once you're 00:24:51.040 |
And I remember receiving a brand new NIV Bible. 00:24:56.180 |
And I challenged myself, I wanted to read the whole Bible within a year. 00:25:02.480 |
And so I remember I started reading, I toughed it through the genealogies. 00:25:09.440 |
And by the time I got to the story of David, I was hooked. 00:25:13.960 |
It was very exciting to hear just David's conquest. 00:25:19.040 |
I related to him because in school I was always picked last. 00:25:24.000 |
And so here's David being the smallest of his brothers. 00:25:33.320 |
I was excited because it went from boring to exciting, just reading the Bible. 00:25:38.560 |
Then I came to the history of David, where the part where he commits adultery with Bathsheba. 00:25:44.960 |
I remember reading it as a seventh grader confused why David, who experienced the power 00:25:49.760 |
of God in such a tangible way, could do something like that. 00:25:57.080 |
And I clearly remember reading the part where Nathan confronts David about his sin and tells 00:26:10.720 |
Although this, and it was at this point, I stopped reading. 00:26:14.240 |
I remember I stopped reading, I couldn't continue. 00:26:20.760 |
The next major challenge to my faith came in college as a biology major. 00:26:25.040 |
My professors started, regardless of whatever the course was, whether it was relevant to 00:26:30.400 |
evolutionary process or not, that's what they would start with. 00:26:33.680 |
And they would tell me to put my faith aside and my beliefs aside. 00:26:38.360 |
And so again, this started putting doubts and questions in my mind. 00:26:47.640 |
I ran into a talk given by Dr. Hugh Ross, an astrophysicist, who explained how the biblical 00:26:54.680 |
account isn't contradicted by science, but rather supported by it. 00:26:59.320 |
And in one of his talks, he talks about how the moment of Jesus' death on the cross, even 00:27:03.760 |
though it occurred at a specific time in history, the payment was applied throughout all time, 00:27:11.700 |
So it was this point, like, it really clicked. 00:27:13.920 |
Like when David sinned, and Nathan at the end says, "God has put your sin," it was just 00:27:20.720 |
one little statement where it says, "The Lord has allowed your sin to pass," which is, I 00:27:26.080 |
mean, that one statement covering all the craziness that David did, it's only made sense 00:27:37.600 |
And so in all my questions regarding evolution, it was through talks, listening, and researching 00:27:48.000 |
And it was just like all those questions I had, it was answered. 00:27:50.640 |
And this was over a course of years that my questions were answered, and to a point where 00:27:59.560 |
I was pretty confident, and yet my faith was just, it wasn't, it was, I didn't have the 00:28:08.920 |
I felt like I had the formula to get into heaven. 00:28:11.360 |
I knew that if I lived a good life, I did A, B, and C, and I was looking for a better 00:28:18.720 |
But one day I was listening to a sermon by John MacArthur, and he was talking about Matthew 00:28:26.360 |
I always thought Matthew 7, with the narrow and the wide road, I thought, "Okay, the narrow 00:28:30.440 |
is for people that are believers, and the wide is non-believers, Hindus, Muslims, whatever." 00:28:36.640 |
But he wanted to explain that, no, actually, they're all filled with people that think 00:28:40.920 |
they're going to heaven, that believe in Jesus. 00:28:45.120 |
And it was that sermon that really just opened my eyes. 00:28:51.840 |
And the cross-references for striving to enter the kingdom, it was nothing that I ever really 00:29:01.080 |
Even though I thought I was a Christian, I went to church regularly, my prayer life was 00:29:06.160 |
poor, I didn't really read the Bible that regularly, but it was that sermon that really 00:29:12.320 |
In Luke 13, 24, Jesus says, "Strive to enter the narrow door. 00:29:16.600 |
For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and not be able to." 00:29:20.800 |
And the word for strive was a word, agonizome, and the cross-references going back to Jacob 00:29:29.080 |
struggling with God, and in Matthew, how the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the 00:29:42.720 |
And it was that time that I started to question myself, am I striving? 00:29:48.640 |
And then going back to understanding the pain and suffering that Jesus took on the cross, 00:29:54.200 |
and I realized it was just a big magnifying glass on my own life, things that I haven't 00:29:59.960 |
And I feared that growing up in the church, I became somewhat desensitized to God's word. 00:30:11.920 |
He has addressed all the doubts I've had, and the realization that while, even while 00:30:17.000 |
I was living in sin, Christ still chose to love me and died for me. 00:30:23.720 |
I'm still learning, and through more careful reading of the Bible, which is ongoing, God 00:30:27.960 |
has been slowly correcting my understanding, resulting in a true relationship with him. 00:30:45.000 |
So at this time, I'm going to be walking through the events of that Passion Week on Monday, 00:30:50.680 |
and I want to begin by just going right into thinking through the events that's happened. 00:30:58.200 |
When we think about that week, I want to show you a little quick picture of how the disciples 00:31:07.160 |
in Christ would station themselves over in Bethany, and then walk into Jerusalem, repeatedly 00:31:13.200 |
going back and forth doing the various ministries. 00:31:16.480 |
So just really briefly, on Saturday night, they would go over to Bethany, which on the 00:31:21.480 |
pictures on your guys' right, and it's about almost two miles away, where they would have 00:31:27.340 |
to traverse and walk through the Mount Olives, and then they would pass by the Garden of 00:31:36.400 |
And I want to show you that because on Saturday they were there, Sunday they came in, in what 00:31:46.120 |
And then, in the evening, they returned back to Bethany, and on Monday, they're essentially 00:31:56.400 |
One, Jesus' interaction with this tree, and then Jesus entering into the temple, and then 00:32:03.000 |
So to begin first, there is this interaction that is kind of strange, and kind of odd when 00:32:10.220 |
And it's Jesus taking a look at a fig tree on the way to Jerusalem, and then cursing 00:32:18.320 |
It's in Mark chapter 11, verse 12 through 14, okay? 00:32:27.840 |
On the next day, when they had left Bethany, he became hungry. 00:32:32.320 |
Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if perhaps he would find anything 00:32:38.120 |
And when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 00:32:43.940 |
He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." 00:32:52.280 |
Now there is a little bit of confusion sometimes pertaining to this interaction with the fig 00:32:56.760 |
tree, because tomorrow morning, after they've gone home to Bethany for the evening, on their 00:33:03.380 |
way back, they interact with it again, and Jesus uses it as a teaching tool. 00:33:07.680 |
But here, what we have is Jesus first taking a look at the tree. 00:33:13.080 |
It's in full bloom, so to speak, but there's no fruit. 00:33:17.360 |
And so when you think about this, it seems okay. 00:33:20.560 |
It's just a natural progression of Jesus walking early in the morning, and just like you wake 00:33:27.820 |
But I want you to take a moment to think about how strange this would be. 00:33:31.560 |
Number one, that in the Passion Week story, this is a part of the narrative, right? 00:33:38.620 |
But two, how strange it must have been for the disciples to see their Lord, to see their 00:33:43.680 |
Master, walking towards this tree and going, "Bah! 00:33:49.880 |
And then he gets really harsh, really fast, and it amps up. 00:33:54.440 |
And you might even wonder, from the disciples' perspective, looking at Jesus' words, maybe 00:33:59.160 |
they're thinking, "Guys, let's not mess with him today. 00:34:03.240 |
He's like hangry, like really bad, angry from his hungers," or something like that. 00:34:08.800 |
Like, "Whoa, did Jesus Christ just wake up on the wrong side of the bed? 00:34:13.520 |
Was it a full week of just nonstop, and so he's fatigued and tired? 00:34:19.480 |
And as a matter of fact, if you'd imagine, if you saw someone talk that way, you would 00:34:27.120 |
almost wonder, like, "Are you being childish?" 00:34:34.120 |
If you're that upset, I'll find you something." 00:34:36.800 |
I wonder if perhaps those were the thoughts that perhaps would go through the mind. 00:34:40.320 |
But as you guys know, when we think of Jesus' reaction, this is a significant moment because 00:34:47.440 |
it has much to say about what Jesus is seeing, and how Jesus, but also the rest of Scripture, 00:34:53.600 |
in many significant moments, have used the example of the fig tree to talk about the 00:35:00.720 |
Now when we think about fig trees, I'm not going to go deep into it. 00:35:05.640 |
Just real quick, I went on a long, long rabbit trail researching about fig trees preparing 00:35:11.040 |
for this message, and there is this crazy thing about fig trees and wasps. 00:35:17.440 |
I'm not going to tell you about it, but it's crazy. 00:35:22.000 |
It's a little gross, but what I'm going to say is that the fig trees have such a unique 00:35:27.120 |
relationship with wasps that they will be internally pollinated, and they're very, very 00:35:33.480 |
What's my point in sharing with you all this information? 00:35:36.480 |
Is that fig trees were supposed to be resilient trees that bore its fruit in whatever kind 00:35:45.080 |
Did you know that 90% of US's fig, like the little fruit, its production comes from California? 00:35:51.740 |
Because it was trained essentially to give fruit all year. 00:35:54.760 |
Fig trees naturally have two seasons, very close to the spring and fall, where they're 00:35:59.800 |
The point here in our context is, in this narrative, is Jesus saw that it was full of 00:36:11.120 |
This fig tree looked like he was going to bear fruit. 00:36:15.640 |
And so upon Jesus coming and looking at it carefully, there was no fruit at all, was 00:36:21.560 |
And it doesn't take much then to come to a point of quick conviction that what Jesus 00:36:25.960 |
saw was a mass of leaves, but no fruit in it, and therefore brings us to this conviction. 00:36:31.800 |
What Jesus saw just the other day was a mass amount of people, and yet no worship. 00:36:37.120 |
What Jesus is going to see regularly throughout the week is massive amounts of people constantly 00:36:46.540 |
They're very content to come and gather, but there was no prayer. 00:36:51.340 |
They're very content to come and perhaps do the ritual, but there was no intent and purpose 00:36:57.680 |
to receive what was supposed to be the purpose of the ritual. 00:37:04.200 |
Why was there such a significant buildup to the Passover, where everybody had to go through 00:37:09.040 |
all these conveniences of gathering together? 00:37:11.760 |
And you guys have heard that there was easily about a million people perhaps within one 00:37:17.520 |
city at that time for this important, significant moment that God had instituted. 00:37:26.480 |
Now the thing about it is, Jesus' reaction to this scenario then is he is upset. 00:37:34.440 |
And I'm not sure if it bothers you, I mean, this question, does it bother you whenever 00:37:43.000 |
I think that subconsciously I've been duped by too many images of Jesus where he's supposed 00:37:48.480 |
to be like a floating, stoic, like sage-like being, where he doesn't react in any way. 00:37:56.560 |
And what's more, my own reaction informs me that I forget Jesus has said, "The master 00:38:06.120 |
And when the master of the field sees that the trees are not bearing fruit, he actually 00:38:14.080 |
And it's not going to be left alone to take up space in the field. 00:38:22.440 |
Christ is looking at this tree and he's disappointed. 00:38:26.600 |
Here's a passage that Christ describing a parable, he says this, and I'm going to read 00:38:34.320 |
What has happened is there is a story that individuals tragically died because a building 00:38:40.160 |
And what Jesus says is in verse 5, "I tell you, no, unless you repent, you will all likewise 00:38:49.240 |
Verse 6, "And he began telling this parable, a man had a fig tree which had been planted 00:38:53.280 |
in his vineyard and he came looking for fruit on it and he did not find any. 00:38:57.920 |
And he said to the vineyard keeper, 'Behold, for three years I've come looking for fruit 00:39:08.180 |
So coming back to this question, why was Jesus so harsh with this tree? 00:39:19.440 |
But two, the fig tree has been used not only in this time but many significant times before 00:39:24.800 |
to talk about the entirety of God's chosen nation, not bearing the kind of fruit that 00:39:33.680 |
Chapter 9, verse 10, it says, "I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. 00:39:38.980 |
I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season, but they 00:39:43.700 |
came to Baal Peor and devoted themselves to shame and they became as detestable as that 00:39:55.620 |
There are so many passages from long ago with a long history of this kind of actually you 00:40:02.260 |
can call it tragedy or you can call it this fruitlessness. 00:40:07.180 |
And what I'm saying is as Jesus re-enters into Jerusalem, that's exactly what Christ 00:40:13.960 |
So when we think about it, he enters into the temple and what does he see? 00:40:17.540 |
He sees again that in Jerusalem day to day there are so many people, lots of leaves, 00:40:24.980 |
Because in the next scene what he sees is that the temple is full of people but no prayer. 00:40:32.540 |
The temple is full of people doing merchandise exchange, and coin changes, and business, 00:40:40.580 |
And what happens as you know is Jesus drives out the merchants and here I want to read 00:40:44.300 |
to you the story continuing on in Mark chapter 11, verse 15 through 19. 00:40:50.040 |
So Mark 11, 15 through 19 says this, "Then they came to Jerusalem and he entered the 00:40:54.500 |
temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple and overturned 00:40:59.380 |
the tables of the money changers in the seats of those who were selling doves. 00:41:03.940 |
And he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. 00:41:06.780 |
And he began to teach and say to them, 'Is it not written, "My house shall be called 00:41:11.740 |
a house of prayer for all the nations, but you have met at a robber's den." 00:41:17.220 |
The chief priests and the scribes heard this and began seeking how to destroy him, for 00:41:22.860 |
For the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching. 00:41:26.080 |
When evening came, they would go out to the city." 00:41:29.800 |
So very much the connection I'm trying to make for you is like a tree that on the outer 00:41:35.700 |
appearances is in many ways I guess you could say in full bloom. 00:41:42.340 |
If you remember how Jerusalem looked, it was beautiful. 00:41:47.620 |
Remember how I showed you that little picture of the walk from Bethany over to Jerusalem? 00:41:51.460 |
Do you recall how the disciples would walk that? 00:41:54.340 |
They would stop at the Mount of Olives because they're elevated. 00:41:58.540 |
They would just sit there and be like, "Wow, Jerusalem is amazing. 00:42:07.480 |
But unfortunately, Jesus was looking at this scenario and saying, "This is all wrong. 00:42:14.500 |
This is not the purpose by which God has established this place, these people, why he's called 00:42:24.300 |
And so one of the meditation questions that I want you to think about is as we're walking 00:42:29.700 |
through the events, sometimes it's important to think like, "Whoa, if we drop ourselves 00:42:35.300 |
down, we too perhaps could be drawn along by the hype, by the sheer size, by the visual 00:42:44.180 |
glory of everything and just think everything's awesome. 00:42:54.700 |
Maybe they're even thinking like, 'Dude, there's hope for our economy. 00:43:00.980 |
But could you imagine walking into that kind of scenario and you be the one thinking, "No, 00:43:15.900 |
How could the people lose their way so much that in the temple where they were taught 00:43:24.500 |
You think from the Jewish perspective, they were taught to be cautious. 00:43:28.120 |
They were taught to recognize that coming into the place of worship before God was an 00:43:33.340 |
incredible privilege but also a threat to your life because of the holiness of God and 00:43:45.080 |
You could only postulate that, yes, there were crooks. 00:43:49.640 |
They knew that you, if you were a Jew, had to come in, you had to take your Roman coin 00:43:54.220 |
and you had to change it for a shekel, right? 00:43:56.940 |
There was a specific kind of sanctuary-use coin for the Jews that they had to offer up 00:44:09.180 |
There are people who are taking advantage of the situation. 00:44:11.780 |
Could it be that the leaders had long ago lost their way? 00:44:15.180 |
That they were no longer people who are mediating and serving God and making sure that the voice 00:44:20.060 |
of God was going forth but they were using their positions just to pad themselves. 00:44:30.180 |
Or could it be just that the people in mass, it was just nice? 00:44:39.780 |
Yes, we still have to come and do the sacrifice. 00:44:42.500 |
Yes, we have to still come for the Passover but if we're doing it, then let's make it 00:44:51.500 |
But what I want us to focus on now is as we're walking through the events, think about Christ 00:45:00.220 |
And with the same anger that he has against the tree, he directs at the people that he 00:45:04.780 |
sees and he starts to go into this mode where he drives out the merchants. 00:45:16.700 |
And there was this question in my mind like if we're walking through the events of history, 00:45:21.660 |
how do we feel the indignation that Jesus feels? 00:45:28.180 |
How do I come to a point where I'm like, "Oh my goodness, that is right. 00:45:34.340 |
This is appropriate, proper, and righteous of you to feel this." 00:45:39.940 |
And I found it because I recall that this was not the first time. 00:45:48.680 |
Early in the scriptures, John chapter 2, right after Jesus performs his early miracle of 00:45:53.700 |
turning water into wine, you know, Jesus was already doing ministry, right, in a sense. 00:46:01.420 |
That means Passover has come around multiple times. 00:46:04.100 |
Do you think the first time he saw that he was okay? 00:46:07.900 |
And he thought like, "Oh well, what can you do?" 00:46:10.860 |
Early on in Jesus' ministry in John chapter 2, it records a time when Jesus entered the 00:46:15.180 |
temple during the Passover when everybody gathered and a similar scenario happened. 00:46:24.300 |
And it says, "The Passover of the Jews was near and Jesus went up to Jerusalem and he 00:46:28.980 |
found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves and the moneychangers 00:46:35.260 |
So he made a scourge of cords and drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the 00:46:39.860 |
oxen and he poured out the coins of the moneychangers, overturned the tables. 00:46:44.260 |
And to those who were selling the doves, he said, 'Take these things away. 00:46:48.020 |
Stop making my Father's house a place of business.'" 00:46:55.220 |
Does that have then the same effect for you where you realize Jesus already were warning, 00:47:02.860 |
clearly teaching, correcting, and telling these people, "What you do in the house of 00:47:12.300 |
But that means with resiliency, with stubbornness, they refuse to bear the fruit. 00:47:19.840 |
And so when I asked the question earlier, "Is it strange that Jesus was so upset at 00:47:24.300 |
And is it strange to you that when Jesus enters into the temple, he is enraged? 00:47:34.140 |
You know how stubborn this is going to be, that upon repeated correction, rather than 00:47:39.620 |
yielding that which they know because the guilt is already upon them, they're going 00:47:44.860 |
to decide, "You know what we need to do is we need to get rid of this guy." 00:47:48.940 |
And so what I want you to see is that in many ways the temple, yes, many have gathered, 00:47:55.220 |
yes, leaves all around, the temple is Ichabod. 00:47:59.260 |
Long ago there was a scenario where this idea of Ichabod meant that although the walls of 00:48:05.180 |
the building are there, the glory of God has already departed. 00:48:10.820 |
And that is the only reason why that temple could ever be destroyed because no power of 00:48:20.740 |
So then there is grieving, there is frustration, there is anger. 00:48:24.500 |
And I have a slide for you to think about Jesus' actions upon seeing these things. 00:48:29.860 |
And I want us to just think about what he's doing and how when sometimes when we read 00:48:35.460 |
of it, we may not think how profound it is, but I want you to imagine you seeing an individual 00:48:46.620 |
There is a sense that, hey, something solemn and great is going to happen here, but he 00:48:51.140 |
makes an incredible scene where Jesus drives out merchants. 00:48:56.340 |
He literally tells them, "Get out of here, right? 00:49:01.740 |
And then obviously people are going to start fighting back and asking, "Who are you? 00:49:07.940 |
And then to make it even matters worse, he takes the tables with all the coins and he 00:49:12.540 |
smashes them over and flips them upside down, right? 00:49:16.900 |
And perhaps people are thinking, "Oh my goodness, this guy, he's filled with the evil spirits. 00:49:27.660 |
And in our eyes, he would seem just like a crazy man. 00:49:30.780 |
This is out of control, rampant, angry person. 00:49:34.060 |
But what's more, he prevents anybody from carrying merchandise through. 00:49:43.260 |
Now, can you imagine you looking at something so upsetting that you would do those things? 00:49:52.340 |
And what I would like to call our attention to is, think about this then. 00:49:57.820 |
Jesus himself, he is such a patient being, right? 00:50:08.380 |
Even to those who were, yes, tax collectors, even to those who just talk, talk, talk, and 00:50:13.420 |
even to those who were promiscuous, the prostitutes, Christ was actually very patient. 00:50:22.820 |
But what sets him off is he says, "My house shall be called a house of prayer. 00:50:32.980 |
And I pray that we would meditate on those things. 00:50:36.060 |
As we think through this day, this is a day when Jesus expresses his indignation, frustration, 00:50:43.500 |
and anger, not just of one thing, but of a constant pattern of resiliency, like defiance 00:50:52.100 |
against God's rebuke, and this inability where they would just bear the outside, they were 00:50:57.380 |
just so content to bear the externals, and yet not bear true fruit. 00:51:04.940 |
And so from here we know that upon Jesus calling people out, Jesus making this kind of scene, 00:51:10.980 |
the religious leaders are so livid, are so angry, the scripture says, that they were 00:51:16.660 |
now thinking and devising of how to destroy him. 00:51:21.660 |
And so after today, once the day is done, Jesus and the disciples will go back into 00:51:25.220 |
Bethany, but here and now, essentially, in the next days, we're going to see a ramping 00:51:29.460 |
up of the contention and the conflict between Jesus and the leaders. 00:51:34.220 |
For today, as we wrap up, I want us to think about some of the important points of this 00:51:39.260 |
day, recognizing we know that Christ has dedicated himself to walk to the cross, but as he's 00:51:47.340 |
going, he is revealing just how sinful the situation is. 00:51:52.340 |
One of the things I remember and take to heart is when Jesus looks upon Jerusalem, he talks 00:51:57.060 |
about how this is a wicked and perverse generation. 00:52:03.540 |
And truthfully speaking, every generation has, including ours. 00:52:08.140 |
And when he weeps over the city of Jerusalem, who have gathered together, and he wishes 00:52:14.500 |
that they would have received him, he wishes he could have taken them in, but they were 00:52:18.740 |
just so content to do their normal thing, to sprout leaves, but no fruit. 00:52:26.380 |
Likewise, for us, we want to just take a moment to think about our faith. 00:52:31.240 |
It is a temptation for us to just be content to look like we're here and present, but we 00:52:38.740 |
do not want our hearts and we do not want our faith to be fruitless, amen? 00:52:42.740 |
So let's take some time, if you would now bow your heads, and take a minute or two in 00:52:49.740 |
And after just a few moments, I will lead us in a time of closing prayer. 00:55:41.480 |
especially as a church we're going through First Peter, 00:55:47.400 |
that you have called us for incredible purposes, 00:55:52.000 |
an incredible value, that we would be called children, 00:55:56.560 |
and therefore we would be your own precious possession, 00:56:08.040 |
And I pray, Father God, with this sense of purpose, 00:56:11.360 |
we would desire to come with fruits of faith, Lord, 00:56:17.400 |
and a desire to know you in deeper and greater ways, 00:56:20.640 |
and God, that we would be used for your purposes. 00:56:29.000 |
and I pray for anybody here who's been struggling, 00:56:32.280 |
who feels like they've been dry just showing up, 00:57:06.200 |
and I ask that you would regularly grant to us 00:57:20.460 |
We thank you, Lord, it's in Christ's name we pray, amen. 00:57:23.800 |
Let's all rise together for the closing praise song. 01:01:20.840 |
And again, Lord, for our Savior to walk this earth. 01:01:30.440 |
We thank you, Lord, that you endured the sins of the people. 01:01:35.440 |
We thank you, Father God, that Christ was long-suffering 01:01:45.840 |
allegiance, the forgetfulness, the complete neglect, 01:01:52.280 |
that God Christ suffered through all those things. 01:02:05.640 |
But Lord, we wanna pray also that tonight we gather, 01:02:14.180 |
that you help us to prioritize you in such a way 01:02:17.400 |
that our daily walk would truly be abiding with you. 01:02:30.780 |
each morning reflection passages for the week. 01:02:35.820 |
there are some questions there for you to take time