“Turning
Point” By Brother Kenneth Ray April 1st,
2012 A
turning point is a point at which something changes direction; a point
in time
when a decisive change occurs. Every
day
can be a turning point.
Today is what we have come to know as Palm Sunday. The original Palm Sunday
was a turning point:
Jesus rode victoriously into Jerusalem, and a week later, he had been
crucified. This
year Palm Sunday falls
on the same day as something we know as April Fool’s Day, or All Fool’s
Day. Let me tell
you something: God
is foolish. 1
Corinthians 1:23
…the foolishness of
God is wiser than men…
God may be foolish, but He is no fool.
Palm Sunday is in Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19, and
John
12. We read how
Jesus is riding a colt
into the city of Jerusalem. Luke
19:38
…Saying Blessed be the King
that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven…
People are taking branches of palms
and placing them in the street to welcome Jesus into the city. He was a celebrity. You notice that the crowd
was saying, Peace
in Heaven,” because there was no peace on earth.
We may not think of Palm trees as being
anything special today, but in the culture back then, the plm tree
played a
very important part in their culture.
Laying down palm branches was like laying down
cashmere. For
Jesus, this is more than just a grand entrance;
it is a point when the direction of His life and His ministry will
change.
The Bible tells us of many turning points: King Saul lost his kingdom
(1 Samuel 13:8-14);
King David lost his son (2 Samuel 12:13-21); Saul the Pharisee became
Paul the
Apostle (Acts 9:3-21); just to name a few.
Jesus spake these words:
"Now is my
soul
troubled; and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour: but for
this
cause came I unto this hour." (John 12:27)
In our own lives we have turning points. John
12:25
…he
that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
This
verse speaks to the daily fight that a Christian, that any person,
faes in the battle of having Jesus enter into your city victorious one
day, and
then a week later you counting it as foolish and saying, “Away with
this man,
give us Barabbas.” (Luke 23:13-18)
Does
anybody know where the expression, “Sunday best” came from? I know that we’re supposed
to give God our
firstfruits, but who decided that we need to get dressed up to worship
God? If you want to
see some peope get
excited, bring up wearing blue jeans to church.
Even if the boss talks about ‘casual Friday’ at
work, somebody will
always ask about blue jeans. Why? Because they’re more comfortable. The rule here is, if you
are bringing the
message, or in the music group, or you are an usher, no jeans; dress
nicer than
that, but, anybody else, just be decent and presentable. Matthew
27:17
…Whom
will ye that I release unto you?
Barabbas or Jesus… Choose
you this day whom ye will serve (Joshua
24:15), Barabbas or Jesus. Also,
read
the rest of the story of the crucifixion. Matthew
27:20
…the
chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude…
How
can you choose Barabbas over Jesus?
Going along with co-workers and friends, especially
on Sunday
morning. Holding
bad feelings, and not
talking to that person, but talking about them to others. Grading everything and
everyone, at least in
your own mind, and not offering any soutions. Now,
Barabbas was a murderer and a thief (John 18:41).
Peter
said, in Acts 3:14: "But
ye denied
the Holy One and the Just and desired a murderer to be granted unto
you;” This is not
the turning point that Christ
came for. He came
victorious so that you
could have victory and live victorious by Him and through Him. We are the ones who are
supposed to be making
a difference.
From the very
beginning, God gave us free will.
Choose
to live among the living. We
can be
reconciled to Christ; that’s what Jesus is all about.
It’s simple math: just like 1+1=2, me and
Jesus equals a majority. Matthew
22:32
I
am the God of Abraham and
the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob…
Let
me ask you something: Is that a statement or a question? Why does it end with a
question mark? Anyway,
Jesus went on to say, “God
is not a God of the dead, but of the living.” Let
us all turn to Christ and be among the living.
Will you carry the pastor?
Will
you carry your brothers and sisters?
Will
you and I be useful? It’s
easy to shout,
“Hosanna!” It’s easy to talk about the goodness of Christ. What good am I? Whose life has been
affected by me? Come
out of the crowd and be as the colt that
one loosed to bear forth Jesus to the people and be useful in His cause. Stop being called a
Christian and start
living as one.
Don’t let this message
be thought-provoking, because if it’s thought-provoking, then you’ll
end up not
doing anything with it. Apply
it to your
life; let it grade you. Apply
His
teaching. Sermon notes by Pete Shepherd |
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