Jesus Saves

Jesus Saves

  • Date

Sermon Notes

NOT Canceled- Jesus Saves

  • God’s Sovereignty is not canceled. 
    • God is in control, he for us and with us. 
      • Helps our anxiousness and worry 
  •  The Church is NOT Canceled 
    • That even though face to face gatherings are canceled, being the church is not. That in this crazy season of isolation, A called people that gathers to worship Jesus and love one another and scatters to worship Jesus and love others. 
    • It just looks different. We, for now, gather online, love each other through Zoom and phone calls (Randy Sutton called randomly just to check in) and being wise so as to not promote the spread of Covid-19). But we also scatter to worship Jesus and love others. That also looks different, but again, being the church IS NOT CANCELED, so be creative and look for ways to serve and love your neighbor. 
  • This week, NOT Canceled: Jesus Saves 
    •  John 12:12-15
      • Context
        • The triumphal entry recorded in all 4 Gospels
        • People knew about his healings, feeding thousands from a few loaves of bread and a few fish, (todays context it’s like he took 2 rolls of toilet paper and turned it into 1000’s of rolls of toilet paper, yes lord!), facing off with the religious leaders of the day, and he just raised Lazarus from the dead! There is a ton of hype around this guy named Jesus. 
    • Maybe this is the king who will set us free! 
      • Free from what? Roman oppression. Can you imagine a constant threat to your way of life? Just one example: only a few decades before the triumphal entry that Herod killed all the children under 2 in Bethlehem. Imagine? Young rural couple/ soldiers come, kill your baby and leave. With no higher courts to go to, and no military to back you, you simply have to deal with it. 
    • There was also biblical hope of a coming king that will save the people of God. Maybe Jesus is the guy?
      • In our text is loosely quoted from 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. Zechariah 9:9

  • The palm branches represent their desire. It was political in nature. It was not “save us from our sin”, it was “save us from our oppression”
    • The palms don’t come from a biblical background, at least at this point. Rev. 7:9 mentions palms in the hands of the great multitude dressed in white robes, but this use of palms is from a politic background, after a victorious battle, the Maccabees enter into Jerusalem with palm branches to celebrate. They were proclaiming and affirming Jesus as their king… BUT, 
  • The king they wanted was not the King that came.  In one acticle I read in Christian Research Institute 
    • “The irony of his acceptance as the new Davidic King by the crowds who would only five days later cry for his execution should be a sobering reminder of the human tendency to want God on our own terms.” http://www.crivoice.org/cyholyweek.html
  • It’s interesting to note, Jesus did not save them from their oppression but did go deeper, because God had a plan to save them from what was really causing oppression, their sin. 

1. Jesus Saves

  • Hosanna means “save us, I pray / Help us, I pray”
    • Positive affirmation that this person is here to help or save!
  • Vs. 14, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

Psalm 118:19–25, Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

    • We know this to be Jesus, but they didn’t get it… 

Psalm 118:25–26, Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!

    • We know this, but now more than ever we find ourselves asking, does Jesus still save? Not from our sin but from our situation. 
    • We no longer have to imagine a constant threat to our way of life… It’s here. And it’s affecting us. Does Jesus still save? Will he save us from this virus? I don’t know, I but I know Jesus still saves, it just might look different then we think. 

2. Jesus Still Saves

    • Here’s what I know. 
      • a. God is in control, he is for us, and with us
      • b. That his plan still involves his church
    • Therefore, our God loves you and has a plan for you. 
      • I believe Jesus is still saving us right now… 
        • He is saving us from our entitlements. 
        • He is saving us from our busyness, at least some of us. 
        • He is saving us from our self-reliance 
        • He is showing us our need for one another
    • Is Jesus still saving? Yes! 
      • If we can simply open our eyes and see that God is saving us from soo much right now, this season can be redeemed to his glory and your joy. 
    • Does Jesus still save? 

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

  • This is true, but in my years of serving Jesus that often my definition of what’s good is different than what God’s is. But we can trust God that it will all work out! 
    • God heals, God delivers, God does the miraculous, BUT, we are not promised tomorrow…. Ghandi has said,  “live like you’ll die tomorrow, learn like you’ll live forever” but I say, “live like you’ll die tomorrow, die knowing you’ll live forever” 
    • Jesus saves, Jesus still saves,  but let’s not pretend that we have all the answers. 
      • Is it not said that his ways are higher than our ways, we don’ know why this is happening, but it’s ok to not know and it’s ok to not be ok. 

APPLICATION

  • We remember, God is in control, he is for us and with us, he loves you and has a plan for you, his church, and remember, Jesus saves & Jesus still saves. 
  • VS.15,  “Fear not”, fear not church, your humble King has come to save, Jesus is still saving, and so we cry, Jesus, save us!  We cry “Hosanna”, Help us, I pray. 
    • JESUS, SAVE US 
  • Before we take communion, let’s spend some time in prayer, 
    • PRAY FOR HEALING
      • Lead into and take communion. 

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