Jesus is brought into Jerusalem by the crowd who is filled with expectations, hopes, and dreams for Jesus to the next King, starter of a revolution. The problem is, that's their idea of Jesus, not what he told them he was. So often we project our expectations onto others, instead of letting them be to us who they are. By Pastor Lars Hammar. Palm Sunday, 2024
Tough Jesus? - Palm Sunday sermon 2023
Is Jesus a tough guy, who endures pain without flinching, or the Messiah who embraces weakness so we can be weak together? Palm Sunday 2023. By Pastor Lars Hammar
A Godly Mind - Palm Sunday Sermon - April 10, 2022
The mob cheers Jesus on as he rides into Jerusalem. But are they cheering him for who he is, or who they want him to be? There was a temptation for Jesus, to turn the mob into a political movement and take earthly power. Yet, he was of a different mind, one that resists the temptations of power and seeks the way of humility. By Pastor Lars Hammar.
Bible Readings: Luke 19:28-4028After he had said this, [Jesus] went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
Philippians 2:5-11 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.
My Dignity Cannot Be Taken - sermon Palm Sunday
Being generous and loving means that sometimes you will be taken advantage of, and give to those who might not need it. But when they try to make fun of you for it, remember that your dignity does come from their opinion of you, but from being a child of God. By Pastor Lars Hammar.
Isaiah 50:4-9a
4The Lord God has given me
the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens—
wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught.
5The Lord God has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious,
I did not turn backward.
6I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.
7The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
8he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.
9aIt is the Lord God who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
Humility - Palm Sunday - Apr 5, 2020
Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. He has the crowd behind him, and the ability to take political power, if that’s what he wanted. And yet he refuses to take the power over others in the way of this world. On the flip side, he knows that the donkey is symbol of the old Kings David and Solomon, and that by riding it into Jerusalem he’s making a statement about power and the way of God.