The Subtle Power of a Surrendered Life

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Pray together, Church.

For this is our confession.

Because of what you've done, we're able to say this, that we have overcome.

Earlier, speaking of things we said earlier, God, we said when we ended the model prayer or the Lord's Prayer, the way you taught your followers to pray, we acknowledge that yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory.

And when we say that, we need to also acknowledge that every day almost we look in the mirror and say the same thing to ourselves that I'm here building my kingdom with my power, and I'm gonna get all the glory.

That's just our human nature.

We crave glory so much so that we will steal it from you in order to rub it on ourselves like affirmation cream.

And so we don't want to sound so religiously noble that we think this way all the time.

We have to pray the Lord's Prayer to burn and jolt ourselves and awaken ourselves to the tragedy of what we're doing on a daily basis by spending our lives, building our kingdom, exercising our power, and claiming glory.

Our confession today, God, is that only you deserve glory.

That you created us to live lives in such a way to be deeply, intensely, and overwhelmingly successful, and yet you get all the glory for it.

That's why the Bible says, Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do all for the glory of God.

And so, Lord, increase our capacity to glorify you today by what you say from the text.

Holy Spirit, illuminate what's in the book today so that it gets into our head and our heart and finds expression in our hands this week.

We pray this in Christ's name, and everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

You can have a seat if you got a Bible.

I invite you to open it up to Luke chapter 19.

Luke 19 · chapter mention

Uh, we're going through the book of Acts, but today is Palm Sunday.

Uh, and I'll explain why it's called Palm Sunday in just a minute.

Uh, but I want to talk to you this morning about the subtle power of a surrendered life.

The subtle power of a surrendered life, because uh today is Palm Sunday, it's the beginning of holy week, and in biblical times, it is begins the last week of Jesus' life.

He was one of the only people, I would say, the only person on earth that knew what was happening on this day.

This is why I use the word subtle, the subtle power of a surrendered life.

I don't know about you, but for me, I'm more able to surrender if more people know that I'm surrendering.

Does that make sense?

Say amen.

Like, hello, everybody, look what a sacrifice I'm making.

I cleaned the kitchen and my wife didn't notice.

Please tell Jesus so I get credit for it.

That's not subtle, but that's how I think sometimes.

I even I'm such a depraved person, I even think, Lord, I pick my clothes up off the floor.

Points.

And so this is a subtle power of a surrendered life.

Now, let me say this before we get into the text.

There are some things that when you say them, they make no sense unless you understand the context in which they're being said.

Let me say it again.

There are some things in this world that you will say that other people will say that make absolutely no sense unless you understand the context that they spring from.

Like, for example, Marcy and I were visiting one of our shut-ins.

That's an old school church word right there.

A shut-in is somebody that's so old and they're physically incapacitated and they can't really get out and be as mobile as they used to be.

And so we're visiting one of our shut-ins this week, just hanging out with her.

I won't say her name, but it rhymes with Elaine Brewer.

Anyway, we're at Elaine's swanky new apartment at the 55 plus facility where I'm gonna put my wife.

Uh but we're hanging out there, and this came out of her mouth.

She said, We're just talking, she's telling us all about her antiques from Korea and here, this, that, and the other.

And oh, two ladies from our church went over and decorated her house.

And I was like, I am so glad I pastored people like that.

Uh, that's not a statement about me, it's a statement about them.

It's so it's humbling that I get to be their pastor.

And they're like, Oh, yeah, we'll decorate your apartment.

Give us all your stuff.

You sit there and just tell us where you want it, and we'll help you figure it out.

So we're talking about all this kind of stuff.

And then Elaine Brewer, who's like, I don't know, 118 years old, she says, Oh, by the way, the other day I looked down and I realized I misplaced my belly button.

I almost gagged.

I was just like, not because it just and I was like, I went hardy on him.

I like, I'm gonna go wait in the truck.

Uh, y'all just talk among yourselves here.

Uh, and I was just like, and then context, she has severe scoliosis.

And she said, My scoliosis got so bad that my belly button moved over here, so when I look down, it's not where it's supposed to be.

And I was like, stop, stop saying belly button.

Just stop, stop, stop.

I don't want to know about this.

I I didn't I didn't but when she first said it, I was just like, I I memo to self, never, never go visit a shut in.

Anyway, uh now by the same token, there's things that people said about Jesus that did not make sense unless and uh and until you understood the context that they grew out of.

Like one of the this is Jesus is entering the last week of his life, Palm Sunday.

It's called Palm Sunday because when he rides into Jerusalem, people took palm branches and they were waving them, going, Hosanna, glory to God in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

And so uh it that's at the this is at the end of his ministry, but no one knows it but him.

At the beginning of his ministry, there's a guy named John the Baptist.

He was a surly man, okay?

He was a man's man.

He had a beard that would make Wade Caldinger jealous.

This thing's like a bushy man.

And he sees Jesus, and the first thing he says, hear this phrase, because it did not make sense then.

Everybody's like, yeah, whatever.

That dude lives out in the desert, eats locusts and honey, okay?

He's liquored up on June bugs.

Uh, but they would they he sees Jesus and he just blurts it out.

Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.

And everyone's like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, right, right.

Anyway, that didn't make sense then.

But it makes sense as you get to the end.

It should make more sense to you after this morning.

Luke chapter 19, verse 20, uh, excuse me, 28 says this.

Luke 19:20

And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

And when he drew near to Beth Page in Bethany, at the moment at the mountain that is called uh uh Olivet, he sent two of his disciples, saying, Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied on which no one has ever yet sat.

Untie it and bring it here.

If anyone asks you, Why are you uh why are you untying it, you shall say, The Lord has need of it.

So those who were sent away, uh who were sent went and found it just as he had told them.

And as they were untying the colt, its owner said to them, Why are you untying the colt?

And they said, The Lord has need of it.

And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloak, their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.

And as they rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.

And as he was drawing near, already on the way down the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest.

And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples.

He answered, I tell you what, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.

And when he drew near and he saw the city, he wept over it, saying, Would that you, even you, had known on the this day the things that make for peace.

But now they're hidden from your eyes.

For the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and tear you down to the ground, and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.

And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.

He was teaching daily in the temple.

The chief priests and the and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

Now, when the Bible says that all the people were hanging on his words, anytime Jesus spoke, people's response was like in the Bible, one guy said, Hey, he doesn't speak as a scribe or a Pharisee, he speaks as someone who has authority.

So when Jesus would talk, it was like the old E.

F.

Hutton commercial.

When E.F.

Hutton talks, people listen.

So they were just like, I mean, like, not like religious people, I mean like the dregs of society who were like, What?

Did you just say shut up?

And Jesus is like, No, you shut up.

And they're like, huh, we want to hear you some more on this.

It's a that he's he's been ministering for three years now, and people are still hanging on his every word.

Now I talk about the subtle power of a surrendered life.

What do I mean?

Well, it kind of operates around four things you see in the text.

The first one is this is that God knows the future.

God knows the future.

Look, verses 30 to 32.

He tells them, Go into the village in front of you, and when you enter it, you will find a cult tied on which no one has ever sat.

Untie it and bring it here.

If they don't ask you, why are you untying this thing?

Just say, the Lord has need of it.

Do not go to Walmart and try this with someone's car, okay?

Uh by the way, just a little side note, biblical fun fact, it's this principle called Angaria.

Engaria, A-N-G-A-R-I-A.

It's not in the outline.

And basically it was this that a dignitary or a rabbi could procure personal property for personal use.

Again, a dignitary or a rabbi could procure a personal property for your personal property for their personal use.

And so this is what this is what's in play here.

Jesus is applied this principle of Angaria, just saying, hey, you're gonna go into the city.

Can you imagine Jesus saying this?

And then you get into the city and you're like, well, there it is right there.

How do you know that?

Because he's God.

Now, when I say that God knows the future, it's easy to sit here that right, even right.

Some of you just wrote that down.

You're like, okay, what's number two gonna be?

Have you realized that that doesn't buckle your knees anymore?

You're not like, honey, just hang on, hold me.

I got lightheaded when the preacher said that.

God knows the future.

Now, if you're an adult, here's what you're thinking right now.

Uh, okay, Lord, you know the future.

I'm in church, it's not Easter and no one died.

Uh, how about that mega million numbers if you know the future?

Amen?

I'll come back on Easter and Good Friday.

Break me off a little something here.

But if you're in the eighth grade and I say God knows the future, your mind should go to this.

Okay, if that's really true.

See, the issue is not does God know the future?

That is demonstrated all throughout the Bible.

The issue is really, can you and I be trusted with it?

So if you're in the eighth grade, what you should be thinking is, okay, if God knows the future, do I have to be boy crazy to get a guy interested in me?

Or if God knows the future, huh?

Then maybe he has a plan for my life that's better and big, bigger, and better and beyond anything I could ask or imagine.

See, we gotta stop, we gotta start, we gotta hear things for the first time, even if we've heard them before.

So the text demonstrates that God knows the future.

He says, Go into the city, you say, Oh, uh, okay, I got it.

Now, by the way, uh, Jesus knew the future and God trusted him with it.

He said, What do you mean?

In the chapter right before this, this is what Jesus says to his disciples a bunch of knuckleheads.

They thought, we're going to Jerusalem, we're gonna kick them out, we're gonna take over the house and the sinners, and we're gonna get to be in charge, baby.

Luke chapter 18, verse 31, Jesus says this, and taking the twelve, he said to them, See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man uh by the prophets will be accomplished.

Luke 18:31

For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles, and he will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon, and after flogging him, they will kill him.

And on the third day he will rise.

But they understood none of these things.

This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

Okay, you're smart people, so you should be thinking right now, okay, if you knew this was coming, I mean, I'm doing okay with the flogging and the beating, but you spit on me, we're gonna throw bones right here in front of God and everybody.

And he knew this was coming.

And so you should be thinking, okay, okay, if he knew this was coming, wouldn't he formulate a plan to avoid it?

And yet Jesus formulates a plan to experience it.

Why?

Here's the second thing you see in the text, and it answers the question okay, if you knew this, why would you why would you willingly go do that?

Here, the second thing the text tells us Jesus was compelled by what he values.

Jesus is compelled by what he values.

You should read the gospels and ask yourself, what does Jesus value?

And then just lay that down as a template over your life and ask yourself, what do I value?

What do we value?

You really want to get vulnerable?

Ask your kids today before you go to bed, hey, what do you think your mom and dad value?

And if they say, Well, I get in trouble if I'm honest, that's an indicator.

That's how you plead the fifth kids and don't get a beaten, all right?

Will I get grounded until midlife until this?

So Jesus is compelled by what he values.

So, so what here's the thing: he's facing a hard decision.

This it's not like Jesus was like, okay, we're gonna go to Jerusalem and I'm gonna get slaughtered on a stick.

Yay! No, he's in the Garden of Gethsemane after the triumphal entering, and it is so agonizing that he sweats drops of blood and he prays to his father and says, If it be possible, let this cup pass from me.

And then the next phrase he says, But nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done.

See, it's one thing to say at the end of the Lord's Prayer for your thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

Yeah, the kingdom and the power and the glory.

God has so much power and he gets so much glory by you and I not getting our way all the time.

You got to ask yourself, can I be comfortable with that?

Can I really be comfortable with that?

Because what's on display is what you value, not what you feel.

So when facing a hard decision in life, don't look to how you feel.

Instead, ask yourself, what do I value?

And let that clarify the decision you need to make.

It's important because you want your choices to reflect what you value.

Uh, and so uh, unless you were living in a cave or you don't own a TV, uh, the internet and TV went berserk on Monday because the Wall Street Journal dropped an article on Monday uh about a study about what Americans value.

They're they're considered your very important values.

And it was studied from 1998 to 2023.

And shocker, everyone was in a tizzy because they were uh on TV and media.

Oh my gosh, what Americans value has gone down.

Our values have changed since 1998.

And I just thought, really?

That shocks you?

Have you not been to the mall?

Look around.

So here's some key categories.

I brought you a little graphic here.

Here's some key categories where Americans, what we value, these are very important values, have gone down.

In 1998, patriotism, 70% of the people in America said that is a value.

2023, 38%.

Religion, 1998, 62 percent.

Today, 39%.

That's why sometimes you invite people to church, they're like, why?

Why?

Having children.

By the way, there's a billboard on Highway 90 right here in Richmond.

This is a big thing, it says, Stop having kids.

I almost went to jail because I drove by, and this is the redneck, and he just he just kind of flares up.

My orphan just kind of said, You know what?

You give me three gallons of diesel, we can solve this.

I wish I didn't think that way, but I did.

It was like a bottle rocket.

And I can you just imagine our pastor's not here today, he's at Fortman County jail for arson.

Yes, that is put up by a bunch of liberals from out in Portland that think kids are are deforesting the Brazilian rainforest and ruining the climate.

I was just like, oh, help me, Jesus.

Uh 1998, uh, having children, 59% of people said that's a that's a value.

Today, 30%.

Look at me.

Kids by nature are inconvenient.

And I'm not clowning on you kids, wherever your students are sitting.

They just are only people who don't have kids just got offended.

If you've got kids and I said kids by nature are inconvenient, you're like, talk to mama, my man.

You got no idea.

Mine are sucking the life out of me.

I beat them on the way to church in the back of the station wagon this morning.

Yeah.

Yes.

But look at me.

You were not put on this earth just to live for yourself.

Kids rescue you because y'all are like, ah, I tell people all the time in counseling, in premarital counseling, hey, marriage is where selfish people go to die.

Oh, we're not selfish.

Shut up.

Don't send me emails, you homeschoolers.

Pastor, please don't say shut up.

Sometimes, boys and girls, that's the only word that fits the moment.

Shut your yapper, okay?

Some told me the other day, I said, here's the thing.

You don't realize how selfish you are.

I told this girl, she's like, he's he's my soulmate.

I said, he is such a selfish pig, he's got a curly tail in his pants right now.

You just can't see it.

I don't think that's funny.

You just wait.

You just wait.

And then you get it sorted, you burn off that epidural layer of selfishness, and then you have a baby.

And the baby cries out in the middle of the night, and your husband goes, He's not asleep.

He's making that noise.

And then you're like, Okay, okay, I can barely walk, I can go get the kid, and the kid's crying out, and you're like, I'm such a noble wife, and I'm a good mother, and your husband's like, I'm such an intelligent, sneaky man, and I'm like, Yeah.

These people were hoarse, and they're like, Are you saying we're selfish?

This is sign language.

Yes, yes, by nature, we're all selfish.

Yes.

Having children, community involvement.

1998, 47%.

Today, 27%.

Look at me, we've become radically self-centered.

It's individualistic.

Me, me, and more me.

The only thing that's increased as something we value is money.

Money.

In 1998, 31% of people said this is important.

Today, 43% of people.

We've become basically more selfish, more self-centered, more greedy, and more godless.

Now, here's what you ought not to do: you ought not to turn into chicken little and be like, the sky is falling, the sky is falling.

What you and I should do is look around and go, man, this is a ripe environment for the gospel.

Don't be fatalistic, be full of faith.

And also, if that if that study on the Wall Street Journal, people in the church here were sitting, did you see it?

Yes, I read it this morning with my morning coffee.

And I was like, I wasn't surprised, I was confirmed.

I was like, Yes, this is the world that I look around and see.

Here's the third thing.

Speaking of seeing, here's a third thing you see in this subtle power of the surrendered life is that God thinks a lot about Jesus.

God thinks a lot about Jesus.

Verses 40 to 44.

Look at him there in the text.

He says, This uh after the, I mean, the people are crying out, Hosanna, glory to God in the highest.

And the Pharisees are a little bothered.

They're like, Hey, Jesus, tell these people to shut up.

I mean, they're making too big a deal out of you.

And Jesus is like, Is that possible?

But he says it like this.

He says, Hey, uh, he answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.

And when he drew near, he saw the city and he wept over it, saying, Would that you, even you had known on this day the things that would make for peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes.

For the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side.

Look at me.

That's not just Jesus talking about Jerusalem.

That's what it feels like to be an individual who doesn't believe in God.

Eventually, your enemies, whether it's opioids or addiction or alcohol or food or weed or whatever, they surround you and they hem you in on every side and they bring you to the ground.

God thinks a lot about Jesus.

What do you mean?

There's two things in the text that bear that out.

Number one, everything God created is created to worship Jesus.

Everything that God created is He created to worship Jesus.

So if you're here today and you don't worship Jesus, you are living in violation of your created purpose.

Hey, where do you get that?

Jesus, hot out of the mouth of Jesus, he says, Hey, I'm not gonna tell these people to stop making much of me, because if they didn't, the rocks would cry out in worship of me.

Why?

Because everything God created.

Now I ain't hating on you, I ain't mad at you.

You're like, hey, my mom told me if I come to Palm Sunday and Easter, she'd pay my mortgage this month.

I'm glad you're here.

I'm not mad at you, I'm not here to make you feel bad, but I am here to love you enough to tell you the truth.

A long time ago, a really smart man named Augustine said this.

He said, God, our hearts are made for you, and they are restless until they find their home in you.

If you don't believe in God, you'll have a relationship with his son Jesus.

Look at me, beloved.

There will be a restlessness inside of you the rest of your life.

And all the anti-anxiety meds in the world will not make that go away.

Why?

Because you and I were created by God for a relationship with God.

Not religion, but relationship.

And God thinks a lot of Jesus.

Why?

Because everything God created is created to worship him.

And secondly, everyone who doesn't believe experiences judgment.

Everyone who doesn't believe.

See, God has a lot of stock, a lot of faith, thinks a lot in Jesus, because to not believe in him comes at a great cost for Jerusalem, but also for individuals who do not believe.

What Jesus says here, by the way, when he says, hey, your enemies will surround you, they'll hem you in, and They will overwhelm you.

It comes to pass.

Imagine that.

Again, remember, God knows the future.

It comes to pass in 70 AD when a man named Titus led the armies of Rome and they sacked the city of Jerusalem and destroyed it.

I mean, laid waste to the place, just like Jesus said.

Now, why is that a big deal?

If you watch the news today, see, look at me.

The Bible and the news come together.

Why?

Because God's always raised up other nations as a form of judgment on his people.

Now, someone uh you may be here in this room, and I'm not gonna say your name, but it's like, hey, Pastor, I watched the news, and it seems like uh China and Russia and Iran are coming together to form this axis of evil, to which I responded, God has always raised up other nations to judge his people for being disobedient to God.

Well, that doesn't bring me comfort, Pastor.

It shouldn't.

Now, am I saying that God's judging America?

No, no, but I'm also not saying, oh, America's a Christian country, we'll be fine.

No, America is a country that has Christians in it.

It's not a Christian country.

Just look around at our leaders.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's just so I just God thinks a lot of Jesus.

He's always raised up other nations as a form of judgment, and judgment has always come through other nations.

For Jerusalem, it was Rome.

Jesus is like, oh, would that you, even you, knew for the things that make peace.

Ask yourself a practical question this morning.

Do you know what brings you peace?

What brings you peace?

What do you lay down at night and you feel at peace?

You feel clean on the inside.

You don't wake up the next day and I just feel a little disgusted with myself.

Here's the last thing I want you to see about this power of a surrendered life.

That there's a purpose.

There's a purpose to this.

May we start off and said, hey, this is the subtle power of a surrendered life.

We don't do subtlety well.

Jesus was the master of subtlety.

Well, I don't know what you mean.

It's the last part there, verses 45 to 48, where Jesus comes in and he cleanses the temple.

He acts in the moment in light of eternity.

Well, what do you know?

Unless you understand what's happened in this passage and his behavior doesn't make sense.

You're like, why is Jesus go ballistic?

Because they're celebrating what's called Passover.

Passover is a Jewish feast, it's a celebration of God's deliverance of his people from slavery.

And here they were.

Jesus looks around and he says, Hey, my father's house has been called a house of prayer, and you've made it a den of robbers.

Passover was the celebration of God delivering his people from slavery in Egypt and providing for them in the wilderness all the way into the promised land.

And Jesus gets to the temple, and these people were supposed to be celebrating our freedom, and they're putting people in financial bondage because these crooked charlatans, these opportunistic vendors, set up shop in the temple.

Because here's what would happen at Passover.

You had to select a lamb, every family selected a lamb, and they got the lamb and they took it to their house and they had to keep it in their home for five days.

Why for five days?

Because they had to make sure at the end of that five days that the lamb was without spot or blemish and could be sacrificed.

You could not offer up a defective lamb, a sick lamb, you couldn't have like a one-eared, three-legged lamb.

Hey, this one was on sale.

No, no.

During that five-day period, listen to me.

During that five-day period, if anything was found to be wrong with the lamb, you had to get rid of it and get another one.

Because God wanted a spotless sacrifice.

And then at the end of the five-day period, if the lamb was proven to be without defect, it could be sacrificed.

Now, remember I talked about the word subtle in the very beginning?

Because I'm trying to get more subtle as I get older.

Jesus was the master of you say, Well, why do you say that?

Well, uh, because he rides in, and I hear the line in an old Derek Webb's song there are thieves and salesmen living in my father's house.

I know how they got in here, and I know how to get them out.

And he's turning over tables.

Jesus is going crazy, cleansing the temple because judgment always starts with the house of God.

Now, remember I told you about Passover, he rides in, he's like, What are you guys doing?

You're exploiting people at the church.

Are you kidding me?

Come on, man.

This is not what this is about.

This is not an organization, this is an organism.

And Jesus drives them out.

Now, here's the subtle part.

It's important you understand what all is happening so you can see clearly what God is doing.

The day Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the donkey.

Look at me.

It's the day all the families are selecting their Passover lambs.

The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that there were as many as 250,000 lambs being selected that day.

And Jesus rides in.

No one says, Oh, now, by the way, let me put the dots together.

You mean three and a half years ago when John the Baptist, the woolly mammoth, said, Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world?

Oh, because Jesus wasn't like riding the donkey going with a bullhorn.

Hey, everybody, look what I'm doing.

No, he rides in.

All you hear in the background is people just selecting their lambs.

Here's the second thing you have to understand.

They had to keep the animal for five days to inspect it.

This is called Passion Week.

Passion is the amount, the way, not the way we think of passion, but the way the Bible thinks of passion, passion week, it's the amount of suffering someone is willing to endure in pursuit of a goal.

And so for five days, starting here, Jesus rides in.

And then what happens over the course of this next five days is he gets passed around from this person to this person to this person to this person.

And they don't want to have, they want to judge him.

They're like, hey, he's guilty of this.

He says he's he's God, he says he's king, he says he's gonna tear down the temple.

I'll tell you what, we just got this new sanctuary.

You better not do anything to the sanctuary.

And they just pass him around.

So this is what happens.

And then here's the third thing: the animal had to be without blemish or defect.

Remember, I told you that?

They keep him for a week to make sure the last person Jesus gets sent to is a guy named Pilate.

Remember what Pilate does?

See, this is where the Bible is not a bunch of disconnected one-off stories.

It's one story with one central character, and it's not me and it's not you, it's Jesus.

And so Pilate, remember, Passover lamb, you get him, you take him home, you keep him for five days, and at the end of that fifth day, you got to look and make sure he's without without blemish or defect.

Pilate, the last person they sent him to, he's like, orders a bowl of water, washes his hands, and says, I find no fault in him.

And what God is saying from heaven is, you now have a lamb without spot or defect that can be sacrificed for your sins.

It's not a religious ritual, it's a reality.

And here's the subtlety part about it: no one got that.

They're just like, crucify him.

Now, by the way, preachers always like to be uh homiletically lazy and say, Oh, the crowd is fickled when we're fickled, two different crowds.

It was Jewish pilgrims on when he fries in on Palm Sunday, going, Glory to God in the highest.

At the end of the week, it's the local yokels, the townspeople that the Pharisees had stirred up.

And they're like, Yes, we gotta kill him.

Pilate tries to get out of it and says, I tell you I got this guy Barabbas here.

He's got a rap sheet as long as your arm.

D.A.

Alvin Bragg has pardoned him and reduced every every felony down to a misdemeanor.

Oops, I did it again.

Say, you live in a crooked country when crime's not legal anymore.

And so we got we got this guy, and then we got this Jesus over here, and he says he's gonna destroy the temple.

Who do you want?

Already see the one?

Oh, give us Barabbas.

Okay, look at me.

Even when you make the wrong decision, you still got to decide what you're gonna do with Jesus.

What shall we do with Jesus who's called the Christ?

Crucify him.

Look at me.

That wasn't their idea.

That's God's idea.

These religious morons are just be part characters in this grand narrative that God is unfolding.

So finally, Jesus is crucified as the Passover lambs, as the lambs are being sacrificed.

Subtle, surrendered, and powerful.

Let me say it again.

Subtle.

No one knew, no one put it together until he dies on the cross.

And there's a Roman centurion standing at the base of the cross.

He looks up and he says, Surely this was the Son of God.

She agrees.

Yes, look at me.

You all got kids.

That's it.

They know they're gonna get beat now.

Save me, people, save me.

You ever notice when you put your hand over their mouth and try to make a they get louder?

No, if you're visiting day, I'm not making light of that.

My had a meltdown one time in Walmart.

Just threw herself on the floor.

And some women came walking over, like, oh sir, you need to you need to back up.

All right, this ain't my first rodeo with this one, all right?

And she she had it all, she sat up and she looked around, and I said, if you're not done, lay back down and cry.

You got everybody's attention.

She laid back down.

I said, She's mad because she didn't get candy.

Well, you should buy her candy, you should stop talking.

This is mine.

I'll raise her.

All right, Masson, you done?

She got up.

Yes, sir, I'm done.

Okay.

Here, let's get back in the cart.

And the lady's like, sir, what's your name?

Nunya.

That's my first name, and my last name is business.

Nunya Business.

And my first morning is like, I'm sorry, Daddy.

It's okay.

Your dad doesn't care what strangers think.

I don't care what you think in this moment.

You ain't getting candy.

And not because I don't love you, I fear your mother.

So, your kids have done that before?

Ain't no big deal.

Look at me.

Subtle.

Surrendered and powerful.

Subtle.

Surrendered and powerful.

Is it enough for you to do the right thing when no one understands how right the thing you're doing is?

Subtle.

Surrendered.

Powerful.

Today at lunch, I want you to pick three words that best describe your life.

Because the three words that describe the life and the atoning death of Jesus are subtle.

Surrendered.

Not my will, but your will.

Powerful.

Let's pray together.

If you're a guest, just relax.

We like to teach the Bible and then give you some soul space to think about it.

And so I'll voice a prayer and some questions come up on the screen.

We think about these and talk about these in our community groups.

Let me pray.

God thinks that uh little kids remind us not to take ourselves so seriously, not to be some uppity adults.

We're like, oh my gosh.

No.

We can't even manage our own self.

We're not gonna look at anybody else.

Lord, thank you for your subtle life.

Thank you that you would heal people and say, I don't want you to tell anybody because I don't want a surface following.

I don't want people to follow me for the stuff I do.

I want them to follow me for who I am.

I don't want people to live for relief.

I want people to live for the truth and surrendered.

I wonder, God, if there's anybody in here today that's never surrendered to you, that never just said, you know what, I've lived my whole life for myself.

I'm sick of myself, I'm gagging on the insufficiency of me and power.

You tell us in Acts we'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, and it'll give us a capacity that we by nature do not have.

Lord, we just confess that.

We need your power.

So, Holy Spirit, just brood over us for a moment while we think about our lives and what we heard today and what we do with it.

Oh Jesus, that's just like you to say to people, you bring all your history, and I'll bring the bread and the wine.

Because you are the bread, and you are the wine.

It's not lost on us.

That the bread and wine is better and more satisfying and sufficient than our history.

So I pray for anyone that's afraid of their history, afraid of their past.

Just in this moment, you just let them hear you saying to them, Hey, you bring all your history, and I'll bring the bread and the wine.

We'll have us a party where all the drinks are on me.

That's the God of the Bible.

That's the God that says, Ali Ali Infree, come out, come out wherever you are.

This is the subtle, powerful, consequential life.

We're humble today, and we get it.

And now that we get it, we're responsible for it.

So we say thank you.

And we say thank you in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

If you're our guest today, I want to say thanks for being here.

You're always welcome, okay?

Uh, we believe uh that you were created by God in the image of God for a relationship with God.

And listen to me.

Uh uh, we also believe that you're uh old enough to relate and respond to God without being manipulated or made to feel guilty.

And so every time you come here, we're gonna teach the Bible and tell you the truth, and we're gonna give you some soul space for you and God to interact, okay?

So if you have any questions about anything you heard or saw today, some of our pastors be available down front.

I'm gonna ask Jesse if she would to be down front because some of you are like, I don't want to talk to none of you religious knuckleheads.

I want to talk to that woman.

Uh, the Bible says it like this in 2 Corinthians chapter 1.

2 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

We comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

She has received some things from God that we haven't.

And so she'll be available.

If you'd like to just you may just want to come up and just say, Hey, I so appreciate your honesty and authenticity.

Whatever, okay?

We got a few things going on in the life of our church we want to make you aware of.

So give your attention to our screens for announcements this week.

Here's a look at what's happening at Grand Park Way Baptist Church.

If you're new, text welcome to 281-626-5707.

This way we can know you're here and get you connected with the church.

Good Friday is the church's remembrance of what happened at the cross.

During our service, we will sing, celebrate, and meditate on the meaning of Jesus' sacrifice for our sins.

We will gather this Friday, April 7th, at 7 o'clock p.m.

in the new sanctuary.

Please register for child care by April 4th.

We are partaking in America's Foundation for Suicide Prevention's Hike for Hope event on April 15th.

This walk is an opportunity to bring people together to generate awareness along with raising funds for suicide prevention in our community.

If this interests you, please join our Grand Parkway team.

We're calling all adults 16 over to the varsity.

We'll have lunch and fellowship on April 19th in the gathering room from 10 30 a.m.

to 12 30 p.m.

We hope to see you there.

Finally, as a reminder, our women's spring Bible study, armor of God standing firm, starts April 26th from 6.30 to 8 30 p.m.

in the gathering room.

We'll be taking a look at Ephesians 6 and the armor God gives us so we can stand firm.

You can register for all of these events at grandparkway.org.

If you have any questions or want someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

By the way, men, that armor of God studied for women is from 6 30 to 8 at night.

It's just a four-week study.

Uh, let's encourage our wives to get away from us and get a break.

Amen?

That was your wife saying amen.

You were like, me, me, me.

Your wife's like, Amen, yes, yes, yes.

Uh we'd like to conclude our service with spoken blessings if you would stand to your feet.

Hold your hands out.

Jesus knew.

When you rode into this church this morning, Jesus knew what you did last night, and the day before, and in 1986, that you hope nobody f ever finds out about.

And he rode into the city that day to atone for it.

Not to cover it up, but to take it away so that it never has power over you again.

Depart now and live in the freedom that is yours because of Jesus.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you.