The Unexpected King - April 13, 2025

It is my privilege to invite you to today's sermon podcast.

I have made the Apostle Paul's prayer request my own.

When he states in Ephesians 6, 19, Pray also for me, that whenever I open my

mouth, the words may be given to me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.

May today's sermon come alive to you and aid you in your understanding of God's plan for your life.

Praise the Lord for the freedom that we have in Jesus Christ.

A freedom not to sin, but freedom to be released, to do what God planned for

each and every one of us to do, to live in the righteousness that he brings.

And so we are thankful to the Lord for that.

Well, it is Palm Sunday as the kids so wonderfully led us. And,

you know, if we want to have a procession, we could do that.

The old days, Church of Nazarene, man, they were running the aisles with hankies

in the air and everything.

I didn't grow up Nazarene, but I've heard stories. And those were some spirit-filled times.

And so if we want to do that, hey, adults, we'll bring the kids in and let them watch us run the aisles.

Authentically, though, filled with the Holy Spirit. So we just don't do it to do it.

And if you want to do that during the week, you know, people walk laps around

some malls. You can walk laps around the church or in the sanctuary.

You have to work around Mary. She cleans very well, the whole church. But that can happen.

Hey, I want to tell you a story about Umbrella Faith.

It's an important story. You see, back several years ago in a small town,

there was some trouble that was happening.

Now, this isn't a Western story. This isn't an old West, you know,

kind of movie or anything.

But in this town, they were suffering because they were in the midst of a drought.

They had no rain for a record amount of days.

Their water supply was shriveling up. It wasn't like today where we have irrigation

systems that can traverse the desert and bring water to places where there's

not supposed to be water, where there's just supposed to be barren land.

They were kind of trying to farm in a place that was similar to this,

but without the irrigation that we have.

And so the town council said, we need to do something about this.

And this was in the day and the age when there was no separation between church

and state in these small towns.

Boy, when they had an issue, they would come together at the local church and they would pray.

And so the pastor, the city leaders called for a prayer meeting,

said, hey, come out and let's seek the Lord to see what he will do to end this

drought, to bring us water for our crops, to bring us water for our cattle,

to bring us water for the other livestock that we have, to bring us water so we can take a bath.

So they met at the local church, and one by one, they came in, families.

They came in with heavy hearts. You could see the anxiety on their face,

the worries about losing the crops on the land that they had invested over and

over again through the generations.

And you could just see that. You could hear the tone in their voice as they spoke to one another.

I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know how we're going to make ends meet.

Who's going to want to buy this property if we have to move?

But then, out of nowhere, comes a little girl,

umbrella in hand, walking into the church with a big smile on her face,

excited that she was going to gather with the whole town, and they were going

to pray that God would end this drought.

She came in, and of course, people snickered. They giggled at her and said,

whose kid is that anyway?

But here she came, coming in, could not wait to gather and pray.

She had faith that God was going to do something.

It wasn't like us adults sometimes where we pray and we say,

okay, God, we think you're going to do something.

This girl had faith that God was going to move. She had a different level of

expectation than most of the other folks that had gathered together to pray,

Folks, I hope that we can have an umbrella kind of faith And I hope that with

an umbrella kind of faith We can ask God, even in our impossible situations

Even with our expectations,

maybe we can just lay those aside You see, when we look this morning at the

story of the triumphal entry The account of the triumphal entry We have a lot

of people that had some expectations on the Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem.

They expected big things to happen, but they did not expect the kind of king that Jesus would be.

See, the unexpected king that we're talking about, this unexpected king is a

king that, boy, he'll surprise us if we give him a chance. I've got a short

video I want to play for you.

A weary people waited, watching, wondering, when will the prophecies be fulfilled?

When will God's promises come true?

When will the Messiah return to David's throne?

At the perfect time, the king of the Jews did arrive, fulfilling every single

prediction the prophets made about him. Still, Jesus was nothing like that.

Music.

Comes courtesy of Bible Study Fellowship. I don't know if you've ever been involved

with them, but they've got some great Bible study materials.

When we think this morning about the triumphal entry, as it's called,

Palm Sunday, the entrance of the King to Jerusalem, we see quickly a contrast.

Let's look at the account from the Scripture, Matthew 21, 1 through 11.

I invite you to stand if you're able and willing, and hence I'll honor the Word

of the Lord this morning.

The Scripture says, As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the

Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, Go to the village

ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there with her colt by her.

Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you,

tell them the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet.

Say to the daughter of Zion, See, your king comes to you gentle and riding on

a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

The disciples went and did just as Jesus instructed them.

They brought the donkey and colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches

from the trees and spread them on the road.

The crowds went ahead that went ahead of him, and those that followed shouted,

Hosanna to the Son of David!

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

Hosanna in the highest. When Jesus

entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, Who is this?

The crowds answered, This is Jesus the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.

Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Lord, may it impact us,

impact our heart. Lord, may we grow in our faith today.

Lord, we receive your word in the name of Jesus.

Lord, may it have an impact and a transformative effect on our soul,

we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. You can be seated.

So the question we want to answer this morning is, who is this unexpected king? Who is this one?

While the crowd had these great anticipatory feelings and there's excitement

in the air, I think much like our children as they were shaking their tambourines

and their palm leaves, walking around the church sanctuary this morning.

Here, Jesus enters Jerusalem during the Passover at the beginning there,

a time that's filled with hope and expectation.

And they wanted, the Jews, they wanted a Messiah.

They needed to be freed from the Roman opposition. They needed to be free from

the oppressing Romans that were there.

And they called out, they wanted the Messiah. Now, many Messiahs had come before,

but none had ever entered Jerusalem.

None would dare do that, but here comes Jesus. And it's this question,

who is this that the Scripture points out to us?

Who is this that's coming into town like this and submit to you that this is

Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the unexpected King?

So as we look back, we can see who is this? First of all, Jesus is the King who fulfills prophecy.

In verse 4, the scripture says, this took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet.

Well, which prophet are we talking about? We're talking about the Old Testament

prophet of Zechariah, who hundreds of years before this even took place,

had testified, had prophesied what was going to happen.

Zechariah's prophecy here being fulfilled from Zechariah 9.9,

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.

Shout, daughter of Jerusalem. See, your king comes to you, righteous and having

salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

And this unfolded right before the people.

They saw this taking place.

No doubt Zechariah's words were in their minds as they saw Jesus coming in, riding on this donkey.

You know, they had some expectations of a powerful military leader that would

come into town and overthrow the oppressors and restore God's kingdom right then and there.

They had these great expectations that this was going to take place.

Where did they get these expectations that wasn't advertised by the disciples?

It wasn't advertised by Jesus himself that he was going to do these things.

But if we look at Zechariah 9 again, we can kind of see where all the crowd

got this idea that this Messiah would come, where he wouldn't hold back and

he would go in and he would clear things out.

See, here's what the people expected as we look to Zechariah 9, 9 through 13.

It's a fuller picture to understand what was going on in the mind of the Jews right now.

See, first of all, they expected a triumphant king to enter into Jerusalem.

One that would stop the battlements from attacking Ephraim or Israel and Jerusalem or Judah.

Here's what it says in Zechariah 9, 10. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim,

the war horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken.

He will proclaim peace to the nations. He will rule, or his rule will extend

from sea to sea and from river to the ends of the earth.

They expected this triumphant king to come.

That's what was prophesied, and that's what was in their mind.

Man, aren't you excited? I don't think it's just for the guys,

but aren't you excited when your team gets the number one draft pick or trades

up to get that prospect, and you know this player is going to change your team's future?

It's going to be one of those franchise players that you read about,

that history books speak about.

I'm telling you, Aston Genty, he's the guy this year. I can't wait till that draft comes around.

See, when you know someone's going to make a change, you can't wait.

I know we're kind of against change. We don't like to change that much.

That's just human nature.

But when you've been oppressed, when you've been held back, when you have been

not allowed to worship God freely like you want, like you think you need to,

well, then you can't wait for change to happen.

We experience that sometimes in our own nation. We can't wait for there to be

governmental change because we know certain things are going to be easier to do than others.

Certain things will reflect God's rule and reign easier than when someone's not in power.

Folks, they wanted a triumphant king, one that would bring victory to them.

And they thought, I wonder if this guy riding in here, he's already fulfilled

one of the prophecies riding into Jerusalem.

Maybe he's the one. They had this expectation. They were also expecting a rescuing

king who would set the captives free from the surrounding nations.

Again, Zechariah 9, verse 11 and 12.

Zechariah 9:11

As for you, because of the blood of

my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.

Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope.

Even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you. Wow, what a promise.

The people could not wait to be rescued. Rescued from the taxation that was taking place.

Rescued from the humiliation that took place.

Rescued from the reputation of being a people that did not follow God like their ancestors did.

Or maybe a little bit too much like their ancestors did.

They wanted a rescuing king, someone to come in and to rescue them.

They were also expecting a warrior king who would lead the armies against the

occupying nations, against the occupying forces.

In Zechariah 9.13, I will bend Judah as I bend my bow and will fill it with

Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece,

and make you like a warrior sword.

Well, the prophet is not mincing words in his prophecy here,

saying that there's going to be a fight ahead.

I remember watching when I was a kid, the Rocky movies. Oh yeah.

And they had me at the first one when I was a kid, running up those steps and,

yeah, Adrian, you know, all that kind of stuff.

But one of my favorites in that whole series is Rocky. I think it's Rocky IV.

When Rocky goes to fight the Russian, I think it's Rocky IV, the big Russian.

And me and my brother, we always like to box around anyway, but we would act

the scenes out in this movie.

You haven't met my brother. He's bigger and a little bit more stronger.

He's a wrestling champion, not professional wrestling, but high school wrestling.

But I remember we were playing and he was the Russian. And I remember him saying, I must break you.

And they would pound fists together. So we would act that out,

you know, silly kid stuff, but the memories are there.

That's the warrior king. The people were looking for someone that would break

the occupiers, that would come in and, boy, just see God's rule and reign reestablished

here through the Messiah.

Last but not least, they were expecting a righteous king who would evoke God's

help to wipe out their most dastardly foes.

If you read from Zechariah 9, 14 through 17, you can see what the scripture

says here. Then the Lord will appear over them.

His arrow will flash like lightning. The sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet.

He will march in the storms of the south, and the Lord Almighty will shield

them. They will destroy and overcome with sling stones.

They will drink and roar with wine. They will be filled like a bowl and used

for sprinkling the corners of the altar.

The Lord, their God, will save them on that day as the flock of His people.

They will sparkle in His lands like jewels in a crown.

How attractive and beautiful they will be.

Grain will make the young men thrive, and new wine the young women.

There's going to be a new righteous rule in Israel, a new righteous rule in

the land that will benefit the people because of the Messiah,

because of the righteous king coming in, doing what is right.

And so the people were so excited that this king coming in was fulfilling the

prophecies from Zechariah, not just that, but many more.

And so who is this king? Well, he's also the king who inspires worship.

In verse 3, as we read, the scripture says, The crowds that went ahead of him

and those that follow shouted, Hosanna to the son of David!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!

The Hosanna we know means save us now!

Hosanna, save us! The cries for help.

And this king here, as he was coming in, they were worshiping him.

Not just that, but by their actions. they would take off their cloak.

Their outer coats, if you will, take them off, and they were throwing them down

to let Jesus go in on a carpeted highway.

Those that didn't have cloaks were cutting off branches and putting them down,

a sign of their submission to this king.

The disciples even took their cloaks and put them on the donkey so that Jesus

would not have to just sit bareback on there, but would ride in like that.

There was a submission that they were willing to make in honor,

in worship of this Messiah that was coming into town to do what they thought he was going to do.

They were inspired to worship this new king and all the possibilities that might

be there, all the possibilities that could happen. They were celebrating.

Boy, they were adoring.

They really believed he would be their political liberator.

That was their expectation.

That was what they had hoped Perhaps that

was even what they were taught But they missed the deeper spiritual liberation

that this king would bring The deeper need of humanity Just other than to be

set free physically And in the moments What that would mean for their eternity.

And I want to tell you what those people wanted And what those people received

We can receive that now today And so let's check this out.

We first want to look that Jesus Christ is the triumphant king.

They hoped he was, kind of didn't meet their expectations at the time.

But I want to tell you now today that Jesus is that one that is triumphed.

Jesus Christ, the triumphant king, he brings peace through his gospel.

That's the gospel of reconciliation between God and between people like you and like me.

It's because of what Jesus, the King, the triumphant King did,

that we can have this one-on-one relationship with the creator of the universe,

with God himself, each one of us, our own sinful flesh.

I think sometimes it's our greatest enemy, but Jesus, he wipes that out.

He wipes that away by redeeming us.

Here's a scripture that I read usually at funerals, but today I think it's very appropriate.

Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 15, 54 through 57, when the perishable has been

clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality,

then the saying that is written shall come true.

Death has been swallowed up in victory.

Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God.

He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the triumphant King, even now.

We have the power of God. We serve that risen Savior that we sing about.

We sing about having victory in Jesus.

Why? Because Jesus is that triumphant King.

But Jesus Christ is also that resurrecting King, that rescuing King.

He rescues us as captives, dead in our trespasses and taken captive by our sin and darkness.

And his weapons are the good teachings that he brings.

In 2 Timothy 2, Paul writes to young Timothy and says in verse 22,

Flee from the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness,

faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments,

because you know these produce quarrels.

And the Lord's servant must not quarrel. Instead, he must be kind to everyone,

able to teach, not resentful.

Those who oppose him, he must gently instruct in the hope that God will grant

them repentance, leading to the knowledge of truth, and that they will come

to their senses and what?

Escape from the trap of the devil who has taken them captive to do his will.

Jesus rescues us, rescues us out of our sin.

Jesus Christ is the rescuing king.

That good teaching, those good practices that Paul told Timothy,

they serve as a way to rescue, to recognize what Jesus Christ has done.

Well, Jesus Christ is also a warrior king.

Don't lose sight of this.

Lot of people see Jesus as meek and mild, and yeah,

but if you were one of the money changers in the temple here on the next day

or so, I don't think you'd think he's very much meek or very much mild as he

clears out the temple courts there, as he declares,

this is a house of prayer, not a den of thieves.

Jesus is a warrior king who does battle with Satan, who defeated him and his

armies once and for all, consuming them in righteous fire and throwing them

into the lake of fire, tormented by God's wrath day and night.

That's what we're looking forward to, that final nail in the coffin.

Revelation 19, 11 through 16, I saw heaven standing open, and there before me

was a white horse whose rider was called Faithful and True.

With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire,

and on his head are many crowns.

He has a name written on them that no one knows but himself.

He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.

The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed

in fine linen, white and clean.

Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.

He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads of the winepresses of the

fury of the wrath of God's army.

On his robe and on his thigh has this name written, get this.

King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

We are talking about a warrior king, a king that is not afraid to fight for

you, a king that once and for all will take care of this problem of sin,

once and for all will take care of this enemy, this deceiver, this Satan,

and all that follow him.

This King of kings and Lord of lords is who Jesus is.

Finally, as we ask, who is this? As we really want to worship God,

because we have this victory that comes from him,

he's triumped because he's rescued us from sin and the grave,

because he is a warrior, but also Jesus Christ is the righteous King.

Is himself God, and he has the power of God to do all things perfectly.

And I think we need to be grateful to God for that.

In 1 John 2, John writes, My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.

But if anyone does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense,

Jesus Christ, the righteous one.

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours,

but also for the sins of the whole world.

We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.

The man who says, I know him, but does not do what he commands is a liar.

The truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him.

This is how we know we are in him. Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

How did Jesus walk? He walked righteously.

He walked in an upright manner. He walked in such a way that it was attractive

to those who were dead and dying in their sin.

That would evoke questions and sometimes anger within the people that he spoke to.

Folks, we are called to walk in this way, this righteous way.

I love what John says. I write this to you so that you will not sin.

To live above the fray of sin, I want to tell you, is a possibility. Why would John say that?

But he also says, hey, if you fall, there's remedy for that in Jesus.

If you fall, if you mess up, if you make a mistake, there's still a remedy in Christ Jesus.

So folks, we are worshiping this king. We're worshiping this king because of

who he is. He is who all those people expected him to be on the road on that

day going into Jerusalem.

But yet that day was yet to come.

As he entered into town here, we see he is also the king who shakes things up.

Not just stirred, but I think the Greek word literally is to shake something

up. You know, shake your yoo-hoo.

You know, shake that chocolate milk up so that all the good stuff gets saturated in there.

The king, don't laugh at me.

I like chocolate milk. I don't like Yoohoo, though. You don't know what Yoohoo is? Oh.

Don't worry, you're not missing nothing. Jesus is the king who shook things up.

Jesus' focus was on fulfilling God's mission.

That's what he was focused on. I don't think he was worried too much about the

crowds that were there that day.

He was focused on what he was going to have to do. If you read in the passages,

or excuse me, the verses following this, you see Jesus goes into Jerusalem.

He looks around, kind of surveys everything, and then he goes to Bethany where Lazarus was.

What lay ahead for Jesus in the week that was to come was horrific.

A lot of mental anguish and testing by the religious folks.

No doubt a lot of arguing about Scripture and what it meant.

There was some scheming behind the scenes, even with one of his very closest

that he had chosen to come and follow him that would betray him.

A night in anguish after having an intimate meal with his closest followers,

in which he presented himself to his disciples as a servant,

washed their feet, had one of the top disciples say, you're not washing my feet.

But then later relenting, where Jesus would prophesy that someone would betray

him and in fact all of them would leave him.

And again even one of his closest ones would betray him three times before the

rooster signaled a new day.

Jesus was going to face all of this he was going to shake things up in Jerusalem

ever since Lazarus ever since he raised Lazarus from the dead a week or so ago,

there's a plot to kill him,

a plot to end his life who is this king? he's the king that shakes things up.

Who is this king to you? Check this out. We saw in the video,

there was the bright star that reflects back to Jesus' birth.

Even then, Jesus was shaking things up. Even then, Jesus was stirring things up.

Think about Matthew 2, verse 3. It says, when King Herod heard this,

Matthew 2:3

he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him.

The king was stirred up, was shaken up because of a little baby that was being born.

And kings from afar were coming to worship Jesus. this baby,

inquiring about where he was.

It was the king that shakes things up, even with his disciples.

When they are in the region of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked them a question

in Matthew 16, 13 through 20.

He asked his disciples, who do people say the Son of Man is?

They reply, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others,

Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

And Jesus asked this question that I hope you can feel him asking you today.

But what about you? Who do you say that I am?

Of course, the ever impetuous Simon Peter speaks up. You are the Christ,

the Son of the living God.

There's an interaction after that in this passage that's worth reading.

A testament to who Peter was going to become and how God was going to build his kingdom.

Even here in Caesarea Philippi, the midst of the pagan world where the flute

god Pan was worded, small g.

None of them gods, none of them idols, none of that had anything to do with

what Jesus was going to do. He was going to establish his kingdom in the midst of all that.

Because he was the warrior king. He was the righteous king.

He was the king that was worthy of their worship. The forces of evil were going to be torn down.

Even here, as they were in the midst of all this happening, Peter makes the

great confession, you are the Christ, you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

Jesus stirred things up. Jesus shakes things up even with the crowd after he

goes through this week of tormenting and testing.

The end, before the crucifixion, says the chief priest in Matthew 27,

Matthew 27:20

verse 20, the chief priest and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas

and to have Jesus executed.

Which of these two do you want me to release to you? Asked the governor.

Barabbas, they answered, excuse

me. What shall I do then with Jesus who is called Christ? Pilate asked.

And they answered, crucify him.

I think as many times as they said, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the

name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

As they cheered that on Sunday when he entered in, I think they cheered,

crucify him just as much.

Boy, how fickle crowds are.

How fickle and how easily public opinion can be switched and changed and influenced.

But here Jesus was still shaking things up.

We know just hours later, he would be taken, marched out with the cross to Golgotha,

the place of the skull, and he would be crucified there.

Jesus is the king who shakes things up. Can I ask you, has he shaken things

up in your life? Has he made things go topsy-turvy sometimes?

Has he ever changed your plans, or is that just me and my family?

That tends to shake things up, right? Right? Jesus is the one,

this king, who's not afraid to upset the status quo, to bring about transformation in your own life.

So I ask you, who is Jesus?

Who is this? Is he your king today?

Is this Jesus, the one that you're willing to lay your cloak down for,

to take that off, which conceals and maybe which even protects you?

Doesn't work with the jacket. Are you willing to take that off and to expose

who you are? Lay that at the foot of Jesus.

Willing to submit and say, Hosanna, save now. Save me now.

Save me from my expectations of who I think you are and show me who you really are.

We can put God in a box. We can think we got Jesus figured out and then something

happens and you're faced with the reality that you don't know as much as you know.

You can go to Scripture and you can find the answer and that will bring comfort

to you, but there's still times where you just got to submit yourself to God completely.

I know what your Word says, God, and I believe it, but help my unbelief.

Help me to get through these difficult times. Help me to get through the good

times where I'm tempted to be prideful, to be proud, to stand up and to say,

It was all me. I did it all.

Rather than trusting the God who gave you the strength to do what you did,

gave you the wisdom to do what you did, to give you the knowledge to know what to do.

Folks, lay down your cloaks. That's a simple action step today.

Settle the question.

Is Jesus and what role does he play in your life? You got that settled?

Well, no greater time than this time of year to settle that.

If you didn't do it at Christmas, boy, this is a great time.

You missed out on a lot of time between Christmas and now, but settle that.

If he's the king, the king, not just a king, but the king, if he's your king,

like he's my king, then that's going to make a difference in who you are and

how you live and how you chased after and follow him.

Make Jesus your king today.

Kneel at the throne of grace while you're able to do so. Give your life over to Jesus.

Not only that, but align your life with Jesus' mission.

We have these great reminders every time we get together to worship,

that we are about the mission of Jesus to seek and save that which is lost.

And we know that God is patient. He's so graceful and gracious.

He's willing that no one should bear perish, but everyone come to repentance,

to have that change of heart, that change of mind.

Hey, the change of action, that follows what happens in here and what happens up here.

Sometimes and usually immediately, but sometimes it takes a while.

Let's be about the mission of being grace-filled people, having grace toward

others as God has their way, His way in their life.

Third this morning, let's live out the message.

Let's live out the message that Christ is king. Live out the message that Jesus

Christ, he is worthy of our praise.

That Jesus Christ, he is the king of kings. He is the Lord of lords.

That Jesus Christ is the unexpected king. And I'm going to tell you,

he's still the unexpected king because there's people that you're going to share

him with that weren't expecting that at all.

They weren't ready to, oh, you're going to share Jesus with me? Yeah.

Let's not stop doing that. This morning, as we sing our final song,

Lord, I lift your name on high, let's sing that from our heart that knows that Jesus is King.

Let's sing that from our soul. And in the midst of that, boy,

if you're struggling with something, let's take care of that.

If you've never accepted Christ as your Savior, would you talk to me?

Come and let me introduce you to this King that I've been preaching about today.

Let me show you the way to live and to follow after Him.

Let me help you to live into the freedom that he brings, the joy that he brings,

the meaning and purpose in life.

He's not a tyrant king who holds you under his thumb, but he lifts you up and

he frees you and he brings you to be a part of his mission in the kingdom that

he has established and that will be established forevermore.

Each one of you is invited to take part in. Boy, see me if you don't know this king today.

Let me pray, and we're going to sing this closing song. Father,

I pray, God, that your word would impact our hearts and lives.

Lord, that we know you are the king. You are our king. God, you are my king.

And we will serve you and follow you all the days of our life.

Lord, we submit ourselves to you now. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.

I want to thank you for joining today's sermon podcast. You can find a copy

of today's sermon, as well as other sermons, and the sermon outlined from today

on our church's website,

www.mvcnaz.org.

It is my prayer also that you will seek out a church home that recognizes the authority of the Bible.