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Fellowship Bible Church - Mullica, Hill N.J.

Palm Sunday: Superficial or Sacrificial Worship?

Palm Sunday: Superficial or Sacrificial Worship?

Our Vision: Together, strengthening you to change your world for Christ.

Locations & Times

Fellowship Bible Church

590 Jackson Rd, Sewell, NJ 08080, USA

Sunday 9:15 AM

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TODAY'S LESSON:

Palm Sunday
Superficial or Sacrificial Worship?
THROUGHOUT JESUS’ MINISTRY:

•Jesus CLAIMS to be the Messiah and God.

•The people ACCEPT him—superficially.

•Jesus TESTS them—sacrificially.

•The people REJECT him.
Luke 4:22
And all spoke well of him and marveledat the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

Luke 4:28-29
28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.
Luke 4:23-27
23 And he said to them…25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
On Palm Sunday, Jesus CLAIMS to be the Messiah & God:
•He fulfills OT prophecy (Zech. 9:9)
•He reveals miraculous powers (Mk. 11:2)
Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Mark 11:2-3
2 “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’ ”
Our Lord’s “triumphal entry” was …a triumph. His conquest would be spiritual and not military. A Roman general had to kill at least 5,000 enemy soldiers to merit a Triumph; but in a few weeks, the Gospel would “conquer” some 5,000 Jews and transform their lives (Acts 4:4). Christ’s “triumph” would be the victory of love over hatred, truth over error, and life over death.

--Warren Wiersbe
The people ACCEPT him—superficially.
The crowds followed as long as Jesus offered temporal blessings, security and safety.
Jesus TESTS them—sacrificially.
The crowds dispersed if Jesus promised future blessings but asked for temporal sacrifices (Jn. 15:18).
Matthew 16:24-26
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?
Crucifixion is a shocking metaphor for discipleship. A disciple must deny himself (die to self-will), take up his cross (embrace God’s will, no matter the cost), and follow Christ.
ESV Study Bible
John 15:18-20
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If God is truly God, he is worthy of worship. And that doesn’t change when our faith is tested.
When our faith is tested, we can be assured that God is for us not against us.
Luke 22:31-34
31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” 33 Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” 34 Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”
Romans 8:31-37
31 If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? … 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?... 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
THROUGHOUT JESUS’ MINISTRY:

•Jesus CLAIMS to be the Messiah and God.
•The people ACCEPT him—superficially.
•Jesus TESTS them—sacrificially.
•The people REJECT him.
The people REJECT him—their worship is merely superficial. It knows nothing of sacrifice.
Do we worship the Lord SACRIFICIALLY or SUPERFICIALLY?
To worship the Lord sacrificially, ask yourself 2 questions:
•What do you love?
•What do you believe?
Idolatry is seeking security and meaning in someone or something other than God
A.R Bernard
To worship the Lord sacrificially, ask yourself 2 questions:
•What do you love?
•What do you believe?
John 4:23-26
23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
Mind and heart belong together. Strong, passionate desires for God flow from and encourage the faithful, thoughtful study of God—his nature, character and works.
Bob Kauflin
Romans 12:1-2
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.