# What Are You Doing?

An episode of [Elevation with Steven Furtick](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/216015753), 29 Mar 2026, 49 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/cbb40a38-726f-4243-a86e-b0ed01477640/c4bb59c3-9608-4e77-8234-b41c01522d35/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ff9164b2-aa64-410d-9ee1-b0ed0147765c

Ever find yourself asking God, “What are You doing?” Some seasons only make sense after you’ve gone through them. If you’re dealing with confusion, frustration, or unmet expectations, remember: God’s still working, even when you can’t see what He’s doing. If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: http://ele.vc/tIepfr Scripture References: John 12, verses 12-16 Mark 11, verses 1-5 Zechariah 9, verses 9 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: The Lord has been speaking to me. Open your Bible.
[0:03] Speaker 1: Stay standing, John chapter twelve.
[0:07] Speaker 2: You're like, well, Pastor Stephen, we were only in John
[0:09] Speaker 2: one last week. How did we get to John twelve
[0:12] Speaker 2: so quick?
[0:13] Speaker 1: Easter's coming. We had to hit fast forward. We're skipping
[0:17] Speaker 1: a few scenes.
[0:18] Speaker 2: But we're gonna see the Lord ride in to Jerusalem
[0:22] Speaker 2: on a donkey, and we're going to see what that
[0:24] Speaker 2: means for me and for you. John Chapter twelve, Verse twelve.
[0:30] Speaker 2: I want to give a couple of birthday greetings. It
[0:32] Speaker 2: is the thirteenth birthday of our Toronto campus.
[0:35] Speaker 1: Let's thank God for elevation Toronto. Praise the Lord.
[0:40] Speaker 2: Stephen Christen, the whole crew at Toronto, y'all go crazy,
[0:44] Speaker 2: y'all celebrate today.
[0:45] Speaker 1: It's a big birthday.
[0:47] Speaker 2: Our Raleigh location is moving into their brand new building today.
[0:52] Speaker 2: Let's go Raleigh. We're gonna have Resurrection Sunday and Raleigh
[1:00] Speaker 2: in a brand new build and it's going.
[1:01] Speaker 1: To be amazing. Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord.
[1:07] Speaker 2: This occasion that we celebrate today, of course, is mitigated
[1:11] Speaker 2: in his joy by the fact that for Jesus it
[1:14] Speaker 2: would represent his sacrifice as he rides into.
[1:16] Speaker 1: Jerusalem to give his life for you and I.
[1:19] Speaker 2: Now let me read the passage from John chapter twelve,
[1:22] Speaker 2: verses twelve through sixteen, picking up right here mid flow.
[1:27] Speaker 2: The next day, the great crowd that had come for
[1:31] Speaker 2: the festival heard that Jesus.
[1:35] Speaker 1: Was on his way to Jerusalem.
[1:38] Speaker 2: They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, Hosanna,
[1:43] Speaker 2: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
[1:47] Speaker 2: Blessed is the King of Israel. Now watch what Jesus did.
[1:51] Speaker 1: A study in contrast, Here are these.
[1:53] Speaker 3: Loud shouts from the crowd, and Jesus verse fourteen found
[2:00] Speaker 3: a young donkey and set on it.
[2:05] Speaker 1: As it is.
[2:05] Speaker 2: Written, do not be afraid, daughter's ion. See your king
[2:09] Speaker 2: is coming. In that good news, your King is coming.
[2:13] Speaker 2: Then that bless you to know your king is coming.
[2:17] Speaker 2: Tell somebody next to you, the King is coming. The
[2:19] Speaker 2: King is coming, the King, the King is coming. The
[2:22] Speaker 2: King is coming. See your King is coming. Seated on
[2:29] Speaker 2: a donkey's colt, h that's unexpected. Last week we talked
[2:35] Speaker 2: about the staying Jesus week when we talked about the
[2:39] Speaker 2: seeking Jesus.
[2:41] Speaker 1: This week we're going to talk about the seated Jesus.
[2:45] Speaker 1: Seated on a donkey's colt. Now one more verse I
[2:49] Speaker 1: want to give you, then you can be seated. This
[2:51] Speaker 1: is what I want to talk to you about today.
[2:53] Speaker 2: At first, his disciples did not understand all this. Only
[2:59] Speaker 2: after see, some things only make sense after only after.
[3:07] Speaker 2: Don't worry too much right now about what you don't understand.
[3:10] Speaker 2: Some things only make sense. Only after Jesus was glorified
[3:16] Speaker 2: did they realize that these things had been written about him,
[3:20] Speaker 2: and that these things had been done to him. And
[3:23] Speaker 2: that's where I want to stop today. I'm going to
[3:26] Speaker 2: give this message a simple title, and then we might
[3:28] Speaker 2: call it something different online.
[3:30] Speaker 1: But I'm just gonna put it after a question.
[3:32] Speaker 2: Today, give your neighbor my title, look at him and
[3:34] Speaker 2: say what are you doing?
[3:37] Speaker 1: What are you doing? That's the message today. Well, don't
[3:42] Speaker 1: answer them just as a setup for a sermon. You
[3:44] Speaker 1: don't have to give him a report. Sit out. You
[3:46] Speaker 1: may be seated. What are you doing? Very common question?
[3:52] Speaker 2: Right you might just ask somebody that call him on
[3:56] Speaker 2: the phone, what are you doing?
[3:58] Speaker 1: Is it a good time or is it a bad time?
[4:00] Speaker 1: What are you doing?
[4:02] Speaker 2: You might have asked your kids at the other day,
[4:04] Speaker 2: what are you doing might've had a different tone and
[4:06] Speaker 2: inflection to it that way, What are you doing? Sometimes
[4:10] Speaker 2: you might ask yourself that, you know, after an hour
[4:15] Speaker 2: of scrolling stuff that you really don't want to look
[4:17] Speaker 2: at and you're not really interested in, and you don't
[4:19] Speaker 2: even really like cats, but you've been watching them do
[4:21] Speaker 2: stuff on your phone for like forty five minutes, what
[4:24] Speaker 2: are you doing? What are you You know what I'm
[4:29] Speaker 2: talking about, Like halfway through the stress eating exercise and
[4:32] Speaker 2: you're like, what are you doing? You know? You know,
[4:34] Speaker 2: like anytime I eat brisket after six thirty pm, I'm like,
[4:37] Speaker 2: what are you doing? You know this brisket is going
[4:39] Speaker 2: to make an encore.
[4:41] Speaker 1: Appearance tonight at about three am. What are you doing?
[4:45] Speaker 1: I just like the brisket. I don't know. I have
[4:46] Speaker 1: time to slow down and think about it and analyze it.
[4:49] Speaker 1: What are you doing?
[4:51] Speaker 2: Then there is that sense of a season of your
[4:54] Speaker 2: life when you even asked that question of God. Seasons
[5:00] Speaker 2: where it is not obvious or a parent, seasons where
[5:04] Speaker 2: you cannot point.
[5:04] Speaker 1: To answered prayers, what are you doing?
[5:08] Speaker 2: Seasons where you can't discern why He would remove a
[5:13] Speaker 2: certain someone from your life? What are you doing? I
[5:16] Speaker 2: needed them. Lord, don't you know I needed them? What
[5:20] Speaker 2: are you doing? What are you doing?
[5:23] Speaker 4: Lord?
[5:23] Speaker 1: Like God, I'm gonna.
[5:26] Speaker 2: Need you to go ahead and give me a job
[5:28] Speaker 2: right now, because I got bills right now.
[5:32] Speaker 1: And I know that there's gonna be streets paid.
[5:34] Speaker 2: With gold in heaven, but right now, that is not
[5:37] Speaker 2: a currency for me to pay my power bill right
[5:39] Speaker 2: here on this earth that you put me on.
[5:41] Speaker 1: Lord, What are you doing?
[5:43] Speaker 2: And that's what I want to preach about today, because
[5:45] Speaker 2: you know, the Disciples are not the only characters in
[5:49] Speaker 2: this story that I read you from John chapter twelve
[5:51] Speaker 2: that we call Palm Sunday. I actually want to look
[5:56] Speaker 2: at four different perspectives today from this passage.
[5:59] Speaker 1: And this is the way I'd like to take you
[6:00] Speaker 1: through the journey, because we're.
[6:02] Speaker 2: Gonna see what four different characters or groups were doing
[6:06] Speaker 2: in the story.
[6:07] Speaker 1: First, we're gonna look at the disciples and see what
[6:10] Speaker 1: they're doing.
[6:12] Speaker 2: And then we're gonna look at the crowds, the crowds
[6:14] Speaker 2: that were gathered, and we're gonna see what the crowds
[6:16] Speaker 2: are doing. And then we're gonna look at the donkey
[6:21] Speaker 2: and talk about what the donkey was doing. And then
[6:24] Speaker 2: I want to talk about the king and see what
[6:27] Speaker 2: he was doing, the disciples, the crowds, the donkeys.
[6:31] Speaker 1: And the king, and we'll have our outline for today.
[6:34] Speaker 2: Everybody say, the disciples, the crowds, the donkey, the king.
[6:41] Speaker 2: Put all four of those in the comments you're watching online.
[6:43] Speaker 2: Put the disciples, the crowds, the donkey, and the king.
[6:48] Speaker 1: What are you doing well?
[6:50] Speaker 2: The disciples, of course, are walking with Jesus, which sounds simple,
[6:54] Speaker 2: and it is simple until it isn't. It's easy for
[6:59] Speaker 2: us to judge the disciples when we read a verse
[7:02] Speaker 2: like John twelve sixteen.
[7:04] Speaker 1: At first, his disciples did not understand all this. Only
[7:07] Speaker 1: after Jesus was glorified did.
[7:09] Speaker 2: They realize these things had been written about him and
[7:11] Speaker 2: that these things had been done to him. There is
[7:14] Speaker 2: a part of you that wants to say, after all
[7:16] Speaker 2: you've seen and after all you've experienced walking with Jesus,
[7:22] Speaker 2: how could you still be wondering what he is doing?
[7:25] Speaker 2: But keep in mind before you judge the disciples, that.
[7:28] Speaker 1: We know what they don't.
[7:32] Speaker 2: When you read John chapter twelve, you have an advantage
[7:34] Speaker 2: over the disciples because.
[7:36] Speaker 1: You know what they don't.
[7:38] Speaker 2: You know about the third Day they don't you know,
[7:42] Speaker 2: perhaps about the messianic fulfillment that is represented in this passage, because.
[7:48] Speaker 1: You have a cross reference in your Bible.
[7:50] Speaker 2: And it says if you want to read John chapter twelve,
[7:52] Speaker 2: verse fifteen about the king writing on a cult a
[7:55] Speaker 2: baby donkey, that that's taken from Zechariah nine to nine,
[7:59] Speaker 2: which is in the Old Testament, And just as soon
[8:01] Speaker 2: as you can flip the pages, you can go, oh, well,
[8:03] Speaker 2: of course he wrote on a donkey.
[8:04] Speaker 1: Zachariah prophesied it five hundred years ago. He's fulfilling prophecy.
[8:08] Speaker 2: They don't know that because they are living that, and
[8:14] Speaker 2: certain things in your life while you are living them
[8:17] Speaker 2: don't look like they look after they're over. There's a
[8:22] Speaker 2: difference between looking at something and living in something. So
[8:26] Speaker 2: when we see Jesus riding in on a donkey, we
[8:29] Speaker 2: see it as a sign of humility and peace and
[8:32] Speaker 2: prophecy fulfilled for them.
[8:35] Speaker 1: It was very confusing to watch.
[8:37] Speaker 2: The Master and the CEO of the universe uber into
[8:40] Speaker 2: Jerusalem to do the most important task that a human
[8:44] Speaker 2: has ever done. You know what they don't, And it's
[8:47] Speaker 2: important to remember that we get a big picture of Jesus.
[8:51] Speaker 1: From John's Gospel.
[8:52] Speaker 2: We know about him turning water into wine, and they
[8:54] Speaker 2: saw that. And we know about him talking to a
[8:57] Speaker 2: woman at a well, and they saw that.
[8:58] Speaker 1: And we know about him feeding five and.
[9:00] Speaker 2: Hungry souls and women and children, and they saw that.
[9:03] Speaker 2: But they saw all these things while they walked with him.
[9:07] Speaker 2: And we worship him because we read about these things.
[9:10] Speaker 1: But they had to walk with him as they realize
[9:14] Speaker 1: these things.
[9:14] Speaker 2: And sometimes it is easier to worship a Jesus that
[9:18] Speaker 2: you read about than it is to walk with a
[9:22] Speaker 2: Jesus who is frustrating your expectations and confusing your emotions
[9:28] Speaker 2: by heading to the cross when you need him to
[9:31] Speaker 2: be a king. So I just want to talk about
[9:33] Speaker 2: for a moment, for all of you who are going
[9:35] Speaker 2: through a season of your life that looks like what
[9:38] Speaker 2: are you doing?
[9:40] Speaker 1: Keep walking?
[9:42] Speaker 2: Keep walking because the what ifs that you have about
[9:45] Speaker 2: your marriage, the what ifs that you have about your health,
[9:48] Speaker 2: the what ifs that you have about your children, the
[9:51] Speaker 2: what ifs that you have about your career, the what
[9:53] Speaker 2: ifs that you have about your emotions, the what ifs
[9:56] Speaker 2: that you have will only be answered when you walk.
[10:00] Speaker 2: So keep walking. That's all the disciples did they walked
[10:04] Speaker 2: with him. The Disciples are walking. Everybody say the Disciples
[10:09] Speaker 2: are walking, and the disciples are walking with the Jesus
[10:13] Speaker 2: that they do not fully understand even though they have
[10:16] Speaker 2: been radically changed, even though they have been wonderfully exposed.
[10:21] Speaker 1: The Disciples are living in it.
[10:25] Speaker 2: And there is a difference between living in it and
[10:27] Speaker 2: looking at it. Now you're like you already said that,
[10:29] Speaker 2: I'm gonna say it again, because it is so easy
[10:32] Speaker 2: for you to look at somebody else's life and envy
[10:35] Speaker 2: them and be jealous of them. But you might be
[10:39] Speaker 2: jealous of a life that you're only seeing the front
[10:41] Speaker 2: side of. And if you ever saw the backside of
[10:44] Speaker 2: their life, you might not be bitter about yours. Because
[10:48] Speaker 2: there is a chance that the cost that they are
[10:50] Speaker 2: paying to be who they are is greater than the
[10:52] Speaker 2: toll that you would want to pay. So don't be jealous,
[10:56] Speaker 2: and also don't judge. Judge because we are all walking.
[11:04] Speaker 2: We are like the Disciples.
[11:06] Speaker 1: There are things that we don't understand and we will not.
[11:10] Speaker 2: Until after I heard about a poem that Corey ten.
[11:14] Speaker 1: Boone used to love. I thought that she wrote it,
[11:18] Speaker 1: but I found out that She.
[11:19] Speaker 2: Was quoting it from Grant Colfax Tuller, who was a poet,
[11:25] Speaker 2: And I want you to listen to this because she
[11:28] Speaker 2: read it as a Holocaust survivor. She read it after
[11:32] Speaker 2: forgiving people who tortured her family. She read it after
[11:37] Speaker 2: surviving something that most of us would have stumbled over.
[11:41] Speaker 2: And she read this poem called the Weaver. My life
[11:46] Speaker 2: is but a weaving between my God and me. I
[11:50] Speaker 2: cannot choose the colors. He weaveth steadily. Oftentimes he weaveth sorrow,
[11:57] Speaker 2: and I, in foolish pride forget he sees the upper.
[12:04] Speaker 1: And I the underside the underside.
[12:10] Speaker 2: Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease
[12:14] Speaker 2: to fly, will God unroll the canvas and reveal the
[12:18] Speaker 2: reason why the dark.
[12:21] Speaker 4: Threads are as needful in the weaver's skillful hand as
[12:27] Speaker 4: the threads of gold and silver in the pattern he
[12:31] Speaker 4: is planned.
[12:33] Speaker 2: What she's saying is, I don't see the picture from
[12:36] Speaker 2: my perspective. I don't see what his hands are doing
[12:41] Speaker 2: while I am going through the hardships of my life.
[12:46] Speaker 1: And it is the weaver that I worship, and I
[12:50] Speaker 1: walk with him, and I talk with him but I
[12:52] Speaker 1: often wonder what are you doing? I can tell I
[12:57] Speaker 1: might need to break this down a little bit. So
[12:58] Speaker 1: let me show you something. Holly and I have a
[13:02] Speaker 1: great marriage. Great marriage.
[13:06] Speaker 2: Yeah, I picked the right partner and I'm reaping the
[13:08] Speaker 2: benefits ever since.
[13:10] Speaker 1: Praise the Lord for our twentieth anniversary.
[13:15] Speaker 2: A while back, Shell made us this, this cross stitch.
[13:23] Speaker 1: Can you see.
[13:23] Speaker 5: It kind of right? Like you can kind of tell
[13:30] Speaker 5: what it is. It kind of looks like she didn't
[13:33] Speaker 5: do a good job.
[13:35] Speaker 2: It kind of looks like she needs to go back
[13:37] Speaker 2: to cross stitch class, take a couple remedial weeks. But
[13:40] Speaker 2: of course if you see the other side, you can
[13:45] Speaker 2: see she did pretty good.
[13:48] Speaker 1: You can see she made.
[13:49] Speaker 2: Me look just like I did on that faithful day
[13:53] Speaker 2: with no beard, standing before my wife in my s
[13:55] Speaker 2: and case suit about three sizes too big for me.
[14:00] Speaker 1: And there we are.
[14:02] Speaker 2: Like this.
[14:04] Speaker 1: On this side.
[14:05] Speaker 2: But every marriage does have an underside. And I just
[14:12] Speaker 2: want you to remember when you look at everybody's Easter
[14:14] Speaker 2: pictures on Instagram. In about a week, they're showing this,
[14:19] Speaker 2: but they probably went through this in the car before
[14:21] Speaker 2: they got the seers to take the picture.
[14:23] Speaker 1: That's a callback. Reference from the eighties.
[14:28] Speaker 2: You see what I'm saying. This is zin back in y'all,
[14:32] Speaker 2: what are you doing? This is what it looks like,
[14:37] Speaker 2: and this is how it's lived. I said, this is
[14:43] Speaker 2: what it looks like, and this is how it's lived.
[14:48] Speaker 2: She got out the car the other day and she
[14:51] Speaker 2: asked me, does my hair look good messy or bad messy? Now,
[14:54] Speaker 2: after twenty something years, I can tell you that the
[14:58] Speaker 2: answer to that automatically is a good mess But I
[15:00] Speaker 2: can also tell you there is a.
[15:01] Speaker 1: Difference between good messy and bad messy. And good messy is.
[15:10] Speaker 2: When you are trusting God in your life to work
[15:13] Speaker 2: out the details that you can't control, and you are
[15:16] Speaker 2: trusting God's sovereignty in your life for situations that.
[15:19] Speaker 1: Are too big for you.
[15:21] Speaker 2: Good messy is in a marriage where we fight for
[15:24] Speaker 2: the marriage, where we fight with each other instead of
[15:29] Speaker 2: against each other, and we fight for each other because
[15:32] Speaker 2: every marriage has an underside. Every marriage that looks like
[15:36] Speaker 2: this looks like this somewhere. Every marriage that looks like
[15:40] Speaker 2: this where the couple has their debts paid off had
[15:43] Speaker 2: conversations about are you really bringing that coffee.
[15:45] Speaker 1: Table into my house? And did it really cost I.
[15:48] Speaker 2: Remember the first time she told me she wanted to
[15:50] Speaker 2: spend four hundred dollars on a coffee table. I said,
[15:53] Speaker 2: you better find one that has some dings and dents
[15:55] Speaker 2: in it. You better find one that's busted out the
[15:58] Speaker 2: top of it.
[15:58] Speaker 1: Four hundred dollars for a coffee table.
[16:01] Speaker 2: See, because we are still weaving together our values for money,
[16:05] Speaker 2: she has a value for a coffee table. I didn't
[16:07] Speaker 2: even drink coffee at the time.
[16:09] Speaker 1: How am I supposed to.
[16:10] Speaker 2: Pay four hundred dollars for something I don't even drink.
[16:12] Speaker 1: I'm not even gonna use.
[16:13] Speaker 2: It looks like this every marriage, in terms of sexual relationships,
[16:18] Speaker 2: in terms of communication, in terms of conflict.
[16:21] Speaker 1: Management, it always looks like this.
[16:23] Speaker 2: So what I'm trying to say is, don't confuse what
[16:26] Speaker 2: it looks like with how it's lived. Or you might
[16:29] Speaker 2: give up on something great because of something gross, and
[16:33] Speaker 2: you might give up on something miraculous because of something messy.
[16:37] Speaker 2: And when God is bringing something together in your life,
[16:41] Speaker 2: remember you have to trust him with the underside. That
[16:48] Speaker 2: might be the whole word for somebody today. Trust him
[16:52] Speaker 2: with the underside. I know it's ugly, but trust him.
[16:56] Speaker 2: I know it's crazy, but trust him. I know it's confusing,
[16:59] Speaker 2: but trust him. I know is not coming together as
[17:02] Speaker 2: fast as you want it, but trust him. I know
[17:05] Speaker 2: you can't figure out what it is yet, but trust him.
[17:08] Speaker 1: I know everybody around.
[17:09] Speaker 2: You is acting kind of judgmental, but don't judge the underside,
[17:13] Speaker 2: because in God's hand, the dark threads are just as
[17:16] Speaker 2: important as the light threads, and all things work together
[17:20] Speaker 2: for the good of them who are called according to
[17:23] Speaker 2: his purpose.
[17:24] Speaker 1: So if he called me according to.
[17:26] Speaker 2: His purpose, that means there will be an underside that
[17:29] Speaker 2: he oversees, and I cannot judge what He's making by
[17:34] Speaker 2: the moment that I'm in, or I will be like
[17:36] Speaker 2: the disciples that saw the cross as a failure.
[17:40] Speaker 1: But this was not the failure. This was the foundation.
[17:44] Speaker 2: And isn't it amazing that the disciples walked with Jesus into.
[17:48] Speaker 1: The most confusing moments of their life.
[17:51] Speaker 2: But the most confusing moment was the one that He
[17:54] Speaker 2: used the most. I can tell you, looking back on
[17:58] Speaker 2: forty six years of living, some of the times that
[18:01] Speaker 2: I was most confused were some of the times that
[18:03] Speaker 2: He most used. So don't give up on God just
[18:07] Speaker 2: because you're on the underside.
[18:09] Speaker 1: It might be ugly.
[18:10] Speaker 2: On the underside, it might be uncomfortable. On the other side,
[18:14] Speaker 2: it may be inconvenient. On the underside, it may be embarrassing,
[18:18] Speaker 2: it may be humiliating. You might have to ask some questions.
[18:21] Speaker 2: You may not understand until after when Jesus was glorified,
[18:30] Speaker 2: they got it. And then they went, oh, is this
[18:37] Speaker 2: and the faith is to the faith is to make
[18:44] Speaker 2: it through the lows so you can get to the oh. Oh.
[18:56] Speaker 2: And meanwhile the disciples are walking and the crowds that's
[19:03] Speaker 2: number two are waving, and they are waving palm branches.
[19:10] Speaker 2: And these palm branches are not random. I remember a
[19:13] Speaker 2: few years ago in church. Actually it must have been
[19:16] Speaker 2: about fifteen years ago, because this is back when I
[19:18] Speaker 2: used to copy everything my buddy Perry Noble did in church.
[19:20] Speaker 1: God I know what I was doing.
[19:21] Speaker 2: And he had people break these glow sticks one Sunday,
[19:24] Speaker 2: and on Palm Sunday, they all raised them in the air,
[19:26] Speaker 2: and they were singing, shine your light and let the
[19:28] Speaker 2: whole world see for the glory of the risen King.
[19:30] Speaker 2: And everybody broke the glove stick and raised it up
[19:32] Speaker 2: in the air on Palm Sunday, and we were using
[19:34] Speaker 2: it to represent all the people we wanted to see
[19:36] Speaker 2: come to Christ, and we were raising the glow sticks.
[19:39] Speaker 2: And I read this young girl on Twitter. She said,
[19:41] Speaker 2: my mom asked me, did we have palm branches in church.
[19:43] Speaker 1: On Palm Sunday? And I had to tell her no,
[19:45] Speaker 1: they had glow sticks.
[19:46] Speaker 2: And I was like, that's just elevation, right, Like not
[19:48] Speaker 2: a lot of tradition around here. In fact, this is
[19:50] Speaker 2: the first time I've preached on the donkey on Palm
[19:52] Speaker 2: Sunday in about ten to fifteen years. But before I
[19:57] Speaker 2: can even talk about the donkey, I gotta talk about
[20:01] Speaker 2: the crowds, because we named this Sunday after what the
[20:08] Speaker 2: crowds held in their hand and what they waved as
[20:12] Speaker 2: a sign of victory. The palm branch represented victory like
[20:17] Speaker 2: when a great conquering.
[20:18] Speaker 6: King would take a new.
[20:21] Speaker 2: Territory and come back into town on a war horse.
[20:24] Speaker 2: They would wave these palm branches and these myrtles, and
[20:28] Speaker 2: they would shout, HOSEA, blessed is he who comes in
[20:34] Speaker 2: the name of the Lord, and they do it three times, Joseanda,
[20:39] Speaker 2: blessed is he. Because the victory was coming back and
[20:42] Speaker 2: they would wave the branches tomba.
[20:44] Speaker 1: Hoosella, blessed is he.
[20:47] Speaker 2: This is a scripture that they were quoting from Psalm
[20:49] Speaker 2: one eighteen, verse twenty six. Hosella, blessed is he who.
[20:56] Speaker 1: Comes in the name of the Lord.
[20:58] Speaker 2: Now Jesus is headed to a cross, and he's coming
[21:03] Speaker 2: through Jerusalem, and about one hundred and twenty thousand people
[21:06] Speaker 2: are gathered to celebrate the Passover festival and is crowded
[21:10] Speaker 2: in the streets of Jerusalem.
[21:11] Speaker 1: And they're shouting out save now. That's what Hosanna means,
[21:17] Speaker 1: save now, because don't we want.
[21:19] Speaker 2: God to get it out of us and get us
[21:21] Speaker 2: out of it right now? And don't we want God
[21:24] Speaker 2: to do what He's gonna do right now? And since
[21:26] Speaker 2: they just got word that Lazarus was in the ground
[21:30] Speaker 2: but he got up, maybe they figured that this prophet,
[21:33] Speaker 2: this priest, this messiah, whatever he was, could do for
[21:37] Speaker 2: them what they had waited for the king to do.
[21:41] Speaker 2: And so they are shouting Hosanna, blessed is he who
[21:45] Speaker 2: comes in the name of the Lord.
[21:46] Speaker 1: And they're shouting loud.
[21:48] Speaker 2: I believe that as they are shouting Hosannah, which is
[21:51] Speaker 2: a praise word Jesus can already hear the echoes of
[21:55] Speaker 2: crucify Him, which the same crowds would be shouting on
[21:59] Speaker 2: frid Don't ever get too attached to people's praise. Don't
[22:07] Speaker 2: ever get too attached to people's praise.
[22:10] Speaker 1: Because if you live by it, you'll die when they
[22:12] Speaker 1: take it away.
[22:14] Speaker 2: Even don't be too attached to When your kids think
[22:16] Speaker 2: you're a good parent. Sometimes you might have to take
[22:18] Speaker 2: their phone and they might call you the devil.
[22:21] Speaker 1: Now what you're gonna do about it?
[22:22] Speaker 2: You're run in a popularity contest or a household. Don't
[22:25] Speaker 2: be too attached to people's praise. Don't even be too
[22:29] Speaker 2: attached to your parents' praise. Sometimes your parents see you
[22:33] Speaker 2: as their product, and they can't even guide you as
[22:35] Speaker 2: good as God can because they're trying to get you
[22:38] Speaker 2: to fulfill something that they didn't accomplish in their life.
[22:41] Speaker 2: And only God can show you what your next step is.
[22:44] Speaker 2: So don't be too.
[22:44] Speaker 1: Attached to their praise.
[22:46] Speaker 2: If you live when they give it, you'll die when
[22:48] Speaker 2: they take it away.
[22:49] Speaker 1: Don't be too attached to people's praise. Don't be too
[22:52] Speaker 1: attached to the likes.
[22:54] Speaker 2: Don't be too attached to the encouragement of your boss.
[22:56] Speaker 2: What you're gonna do if your boss moves divisions, what
[22:59] Speaker 2: you're gonna do.
[23:00] Speaker 1: You get a boss that doesn't.
[23:01] Speaker 2: Like you, You're still gonna work hard because you're God's child.
[23:04] Speaker 2: Jesus never moved by the approval of people. Jesus never
[23:07] Speaker 2: moved for the yaize of the crowds. Jesus never moved
[23:11] Speaker 2: for the high fives, even of his own disciples. Jesus
[23:14] Speaker 2: was not moved by the crowd. He moved through the crowd.
[23:18] Speaker 2: I'm going somewhere. The disciples are walking. The crowds are waving,
[23:24] Speaker 2: and they are shouting Hosanna. But they will not still
[23:28] Speaker 2: be shouting when he is led like the lamb to
[23:31] Speaker 2: the slaughter. They will not still be shouting when pilot
[23:34] Speaker 2: puts him up, turns him over, and hangs him to die.
[23:37] Speaker 2: They will not still be shouting on Saturday when his
[23:40] Speaker 2: body lays in a tomb.
[23:42] Speaker 1: What are you trying to say?
[23:43] Speaker 2: Don't confuse loud with loyal, don't confuse loud with loyal.
[23:53] Speaker 1: The crowds are waving, The crowds will wave. That's fine.
[23:57] Speaker 7: But Jesus was not moved by the crowds, and I
[24:01] Speaker 7: don't know who this point is for, because it's really
[24:05] Speaker 7: just an incidental point to get me to the main
[24:07] Speaker 7: point of this message.
[24:09] Speaker 1: Because while the crowds are waving the donkey, can we
[24:15] Speaker 1: talk about the donkey?
[24:17] Speaker 2: I know we're all impressed by Palm Sunday, Well why
[24:20] Speaker 2: can't we call it donkey Sunday because it.
[24:23] Speaker 1: Doesn't have the same ring to it.
[24:26] Speaker 2: Because while the disciples are walking and the crowds are waving,
[24:30] Speaker 2: watch what the donkey is doing. The donkey is waiting.
[24:36] Speaker 2: So now the crowds are.
[24:38] Speaker 1: Walking, calm down for it, give it to him slow.
[24:41] Speaker 2: The crowds are waving Hosanna, Hosanna, and the donkey is waiting.
[24:47] Speaker 1: Now this is really fun. Go back to John chapter eleven,
[24:50] Speaker 1: verse four.
[24:51] Speaker 2: You know, John doesn't give a lot of details about
[24:54] Speaker 2: the donkey. In fact, when he talks about the donkey,
[24:57] Speaker 2: he says something so simple you almost just read right
[24:59] Speaker 2: over it said, Jesus found a young donkey and sat
[25:05] Speaker 2: on it. And that's all the details we get from John. John,
[25:11] Speaker 2: like a true man, just gives you the bottom line.
[25:14] Speaker 2: Hey found a donkey and he sat on it. But
[25:16] Speaker 2: you know what this tells me. I'm speculating, But I
[25:19] Speaker 2: have good reason.
[25:20] Speaker 1: I studied.
[25:22] Speaker 2: John wasn't one of the disciples that got sent to
[25:25] Speaker 2: get the donkey. That's what it tells me. It's like
[25:29] Speaker 2: my kids fighting around the table. You know, they'll be
[25:31] Speaker 2: trying to tell a story at dinner and they'll be like,
[25:33] Speaker 2: shut up, let me tell it, or I'm sorry.
[25:35] Speaker 1: We're at church, we're pastor Stanley.
[25:36] Speaker 2: Please be quiet, please park it onto my voice.
[25:39] Speaker 1: That's what they say. At my table. What's your table?
[25:42] Speaker 1: They say, shut up? At your house?
[25:43] Speaker 2: What's wrong with you? You're a terrible parent. They say,
[25:47] Speaker 2: shut up? Is my story, Let me tell it? And
[25:51] Speaker 2: I almost felt when John said Jesus found a young
[25:55] Speaker 2: donkey and sat on it and then just went right
[25:58] Speaker 2: on to someone eighteen twenty six in the palm branches
[26:02] Speaker 2: and all of the wonderful things. I almost felt Peter
[26:05] Speaker 2: speak up and say, shut up, John, you weren't there.
[26:11] Speaker 1: Let me tell it.
[26:12] Speaker 2: So in Mark's Gospel, flip over to Mark real quick,
[26:15] Speaker 2: because this is the underside. This is the side of
[26:20] Speaker 2: the story from the one who was there. In Mark
[26:22] Speaker 2: chapter eleven, you get a little fuller account. You get
[26:26] Speaker 2: more than just Jesus found a donkey and sat on
[26:28] Speaker 2: it in and rode on into Jerusalem. You get a little
[26:31] Speaker 2: bit clearer picture, and you get a little bit more detail.
[26:34] Speaker 1: And I want to read it to you from Mark
[26:36] Speaker 1: chapter eleven.
[26:37] Speaker 2: As they approached Jerusalem, same disciples walking toward Jerusalem, and
[26:42] Speaker 2: King Tibeth, Phage and Bethany. At the Mount of Olives,
[26:46] Speaker 2: Jesus sent two of his disciples.
[26:48] Speaker 1: We don't know which too. I'm speculating that it was
[26:51] Speaker 1: Peter based on the nature of the job.
[26:54] Speaker 2: You know, you got some disciples that you need to
[26:56] Speaker 2: pray for you, and then you have some disciples that
[26:59] Speaker 2: you need to do other stuff for you that isn't
[27:02] Speaker 2: quite as spiritual.
[27:03] Speaker 1: And watch what Jesus told him to do verse.
[27:05] Speaker 2: Two, saying to them, go to the village ahead of.
[27:09] Speaker 1: You, and just as you enter it, you will find.
[27:12] Speaker 2: A cult that's a baby donkey tied there which no
[27:16] Speaker 2: one has ever ridden.
[27:18] Speaker 1: Untie it and bring it here.
[27:21] Speaker 2: If anyone asks you why are you doing this, say
[27:26] Speaker 2: the Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly, Skinner,
[27:32] Speaker 2: I can't skip over this and talk about the donkey
[27:35] Speaker 2: being borrowed, because I'm thinking about the fact that Jesus
[27:38] Speaker 2: borrowed two things around Easter.
[27:40] Speaker 1: One was a donkey and one was a tomb.
[27:45] Speaker 2: But see it wasn't exactly borrowed the appropriate way, right.
[27:48] Speaker 2: This is not technically how you should borrow something, right.
[27:52] Speaker 2: And so that's why I think that Jesus needed Peter
[27:55] Speaker 2: to do something that was so dumb that it would
[27:58] Speaker 2: take a dumb disciple to do it. Do I have
[28:01] Speaker 2: any dumb disciples in the room today who aren't the smartest,
[28:07] Speaker 2: who aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the drawer. But Jesus,
[28:12] Speaker 2: if you need something to hit something, I'll hit something
[28:15] Speaker 2: for you.
[28:15] Speaker 1: That's Peter.
[28:17] Speaker 2: Peter's kind of dull, but he'll do it. Tell your neighbor,
[28:20] Speaker 2: I'm dull, but I'll do it. That's why I think
[28:24] Speaker 2: the Lord called me to start the church when I
[28:26] Speaker 2: was twenty five, when I was dumb enough to do stuff.
[28:30] Speaker 2: I didn't know how to run a profit and lost statement.
[28:32] Speaker 2: I didn't know how to check a ledger. All I
[28:35] Speaker 2: knew how to do was ask the Lord. And if
[28:37] Speaker 2: the Lord told me to give everybody glove sticks, I
[28:40] Speaker 2: gave him a glow sticks.
[28:41] Speaker 1: I didn't care if aunt Ethel liked it or not.
[28:44] Speaker 2: I was dumb enough to break a gloss stick and
[28:46] Speaker 2: tell him Happy Easter.
[28:48] Speaker 1: I was dumb enough to do some stuff. And the
[28:51] Speaker 1: problem with some.
[28:51] Speaker 2: Of us is that we've gotten smarter than a donkey.
[28:55] Speaker 2: But when Jesus was looking for something to come into
[28:58] Speaker 2: town on, he did not look for a scholar. He
[29:01] Speaker 2: did not look for the head of the class. He
[29:04] Speaker 2: did not look for a valedictorian to be his decil.
[29:08] Speaker 1: He said, I need a donkey.
[29:10] Speaker 2: I wonder who I can trust enough to take my
[29:13] Speaker 2: word without detail, to take my word without explanation, to
[29:18] Speaker 2: take my word without the cross reference, and.
[29:21] Speaker 1: Do what I need you to do now.
[29:28] Speaker 2: The Bible says in verse five of Mark chapter eleven,
[29:35] Speaker 2: there's some people standing there asked what are you doing?
[29:44] Speaker 2: Just like the title of our sermon, Just like they
[29:48] Speaker 2: were wondering about Jesus, and they're wondering what Jesus is doing.
[29:54] Speaker 1: Jesus, are you really gonna let them kill you like this?
[29:57] Speaker 2: Jesus, are you really going to ride up into Jerusalem
[30:01] Speaker 2: in a jalopy? I mean, Jesus, you're a king. Don't
[30:05] Speaker 2: you hear them calling you a king? A king can't
[30:08] Speaker 2: drive a kiah. Jesus at least let us put in
[30:11] Speaker 2: a good word with somebody who has a train.
[30:14] Speaker 1: You know they got luxury donkeys. You know they got.
[30:16] Speaker 2: Big grown donkeys. Did you say you want a baby donkey?
[30:20] Speaker 2: A little donkey? Can we at least get a big
[30:22] Speaker 2: donkey Jesus? And Jesus said, no, I need to be big,
[30:25] Speaker 2: So I need what I ride on to be small
[30:27] Speaker 2: so they can see how big I am.
[30:30] Speaker 1: Oh God.
[30:31] Speaker 2: And so what God will do if you have the
[30:34] Speaker 2: faith to trust him with stuff that you don't understand,
[30:38] Speaker 2: is that he will pick something that you never would
[30:41] Speaker 2: have chosen, and he will ride into situations that you
[30:44] Speaker 2: never would have gone into.
[30:46] Speaker 1: Who is this message for today?
[30:48] Speaker 2: The King is coming, but he's not coming in a chariot.
[30:51] Speaker 2: The King is coming, but he's not coming with a banner.
[30:55] Speaker 2: The King is coming, but he's not gonna do what
[30:57] Speaker 2: you wanted him to do.
[30:59] Speaker 1: He's gonna do on a donkey.
[31:01] Speaker 2: But if you got enough faith to untie that donkey,
[31:05] Speaker 2: if you got enough faith to obey what he.
[31:08] Speaker 1: Show you, here's the word of the Lord.
[31:12] Speaker 2: God said, Obey it now and I'll explain it later.
[31:17] Speaker 2: Obey it now and I'll explain it later.
[31:22] Speaker 1: So I know this doesn't make sense.
[31:25] Speaker 2: I know it looks like a mess, but it's a
[31:28] Speaker 2: good kind of messy.
[31:30] Speaker 1: I know you don't understand why I would ride into
[31:32] Speaker 1: town on a donkey.
[31:34] Speaker 2: I imagine the disciples untieing the cult, and somebody says,
[31:38] Speaker 2: what are you doing untieing that cult? There's somebody in
[31:41] Speaker 2: a situation right now, and maybe even the voices in
[31:44] Speaker 2: your head are saying, what are you doing forgiving them?
[31:46] Speaker 2: What are you doing moving on for that? What are
[31:48] Speaker 2: you doing in church today? What are you doing trying
[31:50] Speaker 2: this again? What are you doing going back into recovery?
[31:52] Speaker 2: What are you doing studying the Bible? What are you
[31:54] Speaker 2: doing praying and worshiping God? What are you doing being
[31:57] Speaker 2: nice to them after they were nasty to you? What
[31:59] Speaker 2: are you doing get back up again after you fell
[32:01] Speaker 2: out seven times? What are you doing watching another business?
[32:03] Speaker 2: What are you doing taking another step? What are you
[32:05] Speaker 2: doing calling that family member and saying, let's try again?
[32:08] Speaker 2: What are you doing taking your next step? What are
[32:10] Speaker 2: you doing stumbling into tomorrow?
[32:12] Speaker 1: What are you doing? Still trusting God?
[32:14] Speaker 2: Hands lifted hard, praising him, not with hands to say
[32:17] Speaker 2: save now, but hands.
[32:19] Speaker 1: To say I trust in God? Enough to obey you
[32:22] Speaker 1: now and you can explain it later.
[32:29] Speaker 2: Oh, the Lord said to tell you the donkey was found, but.
[32:33] Speaker 1: It wasn't free yet, so.
[32:35] Speaker 2: Hot fought somebody in Say you're about to be set
[32:39] Speaker 2: free because that donkey.
[32:44] Speaker 1: Oh, I gotta preach about the donkey. I gotta preach
[32:48] Speaker 1: about the donkey to somebody.
[32:50] Speaker 2: Who feels useless, to somebody who feels common, to somebody
[32:55] Speaker 2: who feels.
[32:55] Speaker 1: Like your life is.
[32:56] Speaker 3: And mone.
[32:59] Speaker 2: Can we think about the fact that for five hundred
[33:05] Speaker 2: years it has been prophesied that Jesus would ride into
[33:09] Speaker 2: town on a donkey.
[33:12] Speaker 1: So that means for fifty.
[33:16] Speaker 2: Decades, five hundred years, God has been getting this donkey's
[33:22] Speaker 2: DNA ready for.
[33:23] Speaker 1: Jesus to sit on it. Because look what Jesus said.
[33:27] Speaker 2: I don't know if his verse three mark chapter eleven
[33:29] Speaker 2: or verse four, but we're gonna find it on the
[33:30] Speaker 2: screen today because I gotta show you this. I gotta
[33:34] Speaker 2: show you this. Tell somebody you got to see this.
[33:37] Speaker 2: It's actually verse two go to the village ahead of you.
[33:43] Speaker 2: Side note is not behind you. God is moving you
[33:46] Speaker 2: forward in this season. It's not behind you. It's not
[33:49] Speaker 2: behind you. It's not gonna be anybody who left you
[33:51] Speaker 2: that God uses to bless you.
[33:53] Speaker 1: It's ahead of you.
[33:54] Speaker 2: It's not gonna be anybody that walked away. See, because
[33:57] Speaker 2: there's somebody in there. I'm preaching to you, and somebody
[33:59] Speaker 2: just left your life recently, and you thought, God, what
[34:01] Speaker 2: are you doing removing them? And God said, I'm making.
[34:05] Speaker 1: Room for me to move. So I had to get
[34:08] Speaker 1: that out of the way. Because what I'm gonna bless you,
[34:11] Speaker 1: Oh God, what I'm.
[34:12] Speaker 2: Gonna bless you with, is always ahead of you.
[34:14] Speaker 1: Go to the village ahead of you, and just as
[34:18] Speaker 1: you enter it, it's not gonna take long.
[34:21] Speaker 2: When you get to where I send you, you will
[34:23] Speaker 2: find a cult, a donkey, a baby donkey there which
[34:28] Speaker 2: no one has ever ridden.
[34:31] Speaker 1: Untie it, set it free and bring it here.
[34:34] Speaker 2: Now there's an important detail, no.
[34:36] Speaker 1: One has ever ridden it. So that means this.
[34:39] Speaker 2: Donkey, this cult, this baby donkey, this unclean animal, this
[34:45] Speaker 2: thing that the King wanted to ride in on and
[34:49] Speaker 2: reserved it. He made sure that no one ever sat
[34:53] Speaker 2: on this donkey, so that he could be the first
[34:55] Speaker 2: one to sit.
[34:57] Speaker 1: On this donkey.
[34:58] Speaker 2: God said, it wasn't rejection, it was preparation. It wasn't rejection,
[35:03] Speaker 2: it was reservation. God was saving you for this moment
[35:07] Speaker 2: because there's something he wants to do in your life.
[35:10] Speaker 2: And God said, I want a donkey that is inexperienced.
[35:13] Speaker 2: Isn't it crazy? If we would have been submitting our
[35:16] Speaker 2: resume to bring the King into Jerusalem, we would have
[35:18] Speaker 2: listed our experience, but our very experience that we would
[35:22] Speaker 2: have listed would have disqualified us for the job, because
[35:25] Speaker 2: God said, I want a donkey that stumbles into Jerusalem.
[35:29] Speaker 2: I want a donkey that's awkward to write on. I
[35:32] Speaker 2: want a donkey that no one.
[35:33] Speaker 1: Is set on because I'm doing a new thing.
[35:41] Speaker 2: Happy Palm Sunday, everybody. Because while the disciples are walking
[35:54] Speaker 2: and the crowds are waving, and the donkey is waiting. Oh,
[36:00] Speaker 2: I figured, if we can't be good disciples, at least
[36:04] Speaker 2: let us be good donkeys.
[36:07] Speaker 1: At least let us invite the presence of.
[36:09] Speaker 2: God into our situation. Even if we're awkward, at least
[36:13] Speaker 2: let us stumble forward. Because the disciples are walking, the
[36:18] Speaker 2: crowds are waving, and the donkey is waiting, and all
[36:23] Speaker 2: that time, the King, the King.
[36:29] Speaker 1: Is weaving. My life is but a weaving between my
[36:38] Speaker 1: God and me.
[36:40] Speaker 2: I can't talk to anybody else about this right now,
[36:42] Speaker 2: but it's between my God and me. Nobody else is
[36:46] Speaker 2: really seeing the mess on the underside of my family
[36:49] Speaker 2: right now. But it's a weaving between my God and me.
[36:55] Speaker 2: I cannot choose the colors. He weaveth steadily. Oft times
[36:59] Speaker 2: he weave it, and I and foolish pride forget.
[37:02] Speaker 1: He sees the upper and I.
[37:08] Speaker 2: The undersigh. The Lord told me to tell you keep walking.
[37:12] Speaker 2: He's weaving. Keep walking. He's weaving. He's weaving. See because
[37:21] Speaker 2: at some point, the Bible says that after Jesus was glorified,
[37:25] Speaker 2: this is his death, this is his burial, this is his.
[37:29] Speaker 1: Resurrection, this is his ascension.
[37:31] Speaker 2: The Bible says that the disciples did what Jesus told
[37:34] Speaker 2: them to do, even though they didn't understand it. Will you,
[37:40] Speaker 2: while you're asking God, what are you doing? Maybe he's
[37:43] Speaker 2: asking you the same, what are you doing? Because there
[37:47] Speaker 2: are some things in this season of your life where
[37:49] Speaker 2: he's called you to trust him, and he's called you
[37:52] Speaker 2: to have integrity, and he's called you to be kind,
[37:55] Speaker 2: and he's called you to be patient, and he's called
[37:57] Speaker 2: you to be giving and he's called you to be
[37:59] Speaker 2: a serve, and he's called you to prayer, and he's
[38:02] Speaker 2: called you to worship, and he's called you to pray.
[38:04] Speaker 2: So can you and will you do what he gave
[38:09] Speaker 2: you to do? As they are untying the donkey, the king,
[38:14] Speaker 2: Jesus is weaving. See he's weaving. They're walking, crowds are waving.
[38:21] Speaker 2: A donkey is waiting, and Jesus is weaving. He's reaching
[38:25] Speaker 2: back five hundred years, all the way to Zechariah's prophecy.
[38:30] Speaker 1: And he says, I can't have a pretty horse.
[38:32] Speaker 2: Zechariah didn't say a pretty horse, he said a donkey.
[38:35] Speaker 1: I gotta sit on a donkey.
[38:37] Speaker 2: Because the word said a donkey, and I got to
[38:39] Speaker 2: fulfill the word. God knows the word he spoke over
[38:42] Speaker 2: your life. God knows the word that was in your
[38:45] Speaker 2: spirit before your body came out of your mother's womb.
[38:48] Speaker 2: God knows what he has for you. God knows the
[38:51] Speaker 2: plans he has for you.
[38:53] Speaker 1: And he's weaving. He's weaving some things together. It was
[39:00] Speaker 1: only after he got up from.
[39:02] Speaker 2: The grave that they realized what he did on the cross.
[39:07] Speaker 1: They realized he was cross stitching.
[39:16] Speaker 2: I said, They realized that he was cross stitching.
[39:20] Speaker 1: They realized that every drop.
[39:24] Speaker 2: Of blood he said was on purpose. It was not spilled,
[39:29] Speaker 2: it was born out. And God says, nothing will be
[39:33] Speaker 2: wasted in the hands of the weaper, not once here,
[39:37] Speaker 2: not one broken heart, not one lonely night. Because while
[39:49] Speaker 2: the disciples were walking, and while the crowds were waving
[39:54] Speaker 2: and the donkey was waiting, there was a king who
[39:57] Speaker 2: was weaving. I know when they had their moment. But
[40:02] Speaker 2: at some point Peter looked at John and said, oh, oh,
[40:10] Speaker 2: the donkey.
[40:13] Speaker 1: The donkey. And John's like, what are you on about, Peter.
[40:17] Speaker 1: The donkey, Yeah, the.
[40:18] Speaker 2: Donkey, the one that Jesus didn't tell you to go
[40:21] Speaker 2: get because he knew you were too quiet to say
[40:23] Speaker 2: what he needed to say. And John's like, shut up, Peter,
[40:25] Speaker 2: Well what about the donkey? And Peter, I don't know
[40:28] Speaker 2: what he was thinking about that night, but he just
[40:30] Speaker 2: goes Zechariah, Zechariah Cecariah nine to nine Zechari. I mean
[40:34] Speaker 2: there were't actually technically chapters and verses in the Bible
[40:36] Speaker 2: at this point in time, but gold me, for the
[40:37] Speaker 2: sake of an illustration, he goes Zechariah nine nine.
[40:40] Speaker 1: It was an old Testament.
[40:41] Speaker 2: Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion, Shout, daughter Jerusalem, see your king
[40:45] Speaker 2: comes to you, righteous and victorious, lovely and riding on.
[40:49] Speaker 1: A donkey on a colt, the full of a donkey.
[40:51] Speaker 2: I thought it was crazy when he sent us to
[40:54] Speaker 2: get the donkey. I thought it was weird when he
[40:56] Speaker 2: sent us to get the donkey. I thought it was
[40:58] Speaker 2: crazy when he let me go through it and he
[41:00] Speaker 2: didn't stop it. I thought it was crazy. When the
[41:03] Speaker 2: doctor said you have this disease and you're gonna have
[41:05] Speaker 2: to go through treatment. I thought that it was crazy,
[41:08] Speaker 2: and I asked, God, what are you doing?
[41:10] Speaker 1: But now I realized that there.
[41:12] Speaker 2: Was a purpose that he was fulfilling that I.
[41:15] Speaker 1: Could not see at the time. And I'm telling you
[41:18] Speaker 1: to trust.
[41:19] Speaker 2: Him in the lows so you can get to the oh.
[41:30] Speaker 2: And I came to encourage somebody keep walking. Tell your
[41:34] Speaker 2: neighbor keep walking. He's weaving. He's weaving. That's what you
[41:39] Speaker 2: gotta believe in every season of your life.
[41:41] Speaker 1: He's weaving. He's weaving.
[41:43] Speaker 2: And as you're going through things that you don't understand,
[41:46] Speaker 2: give me John Chapter twelve, verse sixteen, and I'll close
[41:48] Speaker 2: with this. The Bible says At first they did not understand.
[41:54] Speaker 2: Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize these things
[42:01] Speaker 2: had been written about him, and these things.
[42:04] Speaker 1: Had been done to him.
[42:06] Speaker 2: And only did they see after he was glorified, that
[42:10] Speaker 2: while they were walking, he was weaving. I want you
[42:15] Speaker 2: to know he's weaving the good things and the bad things.
[42:19] Speaker 2: All things work together for the good of those who
[42:22] Speaker 2: love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.
[42:24] Speaker 1: The King is weaving.
[42:28] Speaker 2: The disciples are walking, the crowds are waving, the donkey
[42:31] Speaker 2: is waiting.
[42:31] Speaker 1: But Jesus King, Jesus is weaving.
[42:36] Speaker 2: And you got to believe that in seasons of your
[42:38] Speaker 2: life when people leave you, and you got to believe
[42:40] Speaker 2: in seasons of your life when people come.
[42:42] Speaker 1: He's weaving. They all left Jesus at the cross. He
[42:45] Speaker 1: never stopped weaving.
[42:47] Speaker 2: Don't let who leaves you stop you from believing in
[42:49] Speaker 2: the one who.
[42:50] Speaker 1: Is weaving and knitting.
[42:52] Speaker 2: He's a cross stitcher, And with every step of faith
[42:56] Speaker 2: you take, that's another stitch he's weaving. He's weaving some things,
[43:02] Speaker 2: your gifts and your weaknesses.
[43:04] Speaker 1: He's weaving.
[43:05] Speaker 2: You're past and you're present.
[43:08] Speaker 1: He's weaving the good days and the bad days. He's weaving.
[43:14] Speaker 1: The places are strong and the places you're not. He's weaving.
[43:18] Speaker 1: The King is weaving.
[43:21] Speaker 2: And so when you see your king coming on a colt,
[43:25] Speaker 2: don't be surprised. He likes to show up in situations
[43:30] Speaker 2: that look small. He likes to show up in vehicles
[43:34] Speaker 2: that seem weak.
[43:36] Speaker 1: And when he weaves his strength with your.
[43:39] Speaker 2: Weakness, somebody shout, the King is coming.
[43:43] Speaker 1: Come on, touch seven people tell him the King is coming.
[43:47] Speaker 2: Everybody get up on your feet and shout, say the
[43:50] Speaker 2: King is coming.
[43:52] Speaker 1: The King is coming. I'll have to be afraid. I'll
[43:57] Speaker 1: have to turn around. I'll have i give up. I'll
[44:01] Speaker 1: have to give that. The King is coming. Turn my
[44:05] Speaker 1: mind up. The King is coming.
[44:08] Speaker 2: The King is coming, Sunday's coming, Glory is coming.
[44:13] Speaker 1: That three is coming, right through is coming. Feeling is coming.
[44:21] Speaker 1: He's weaving, he's weaving. Keep walking, he's weaving. Keep praying.
[44:27] Speaker 1: He's weaving. He knows what he's doing. God is a
[44:30] Speaker 1: cross stitcher.
[44:33] Speaker 2: You may not understand it right now, but after Jesus
[44:37] Speaker 2: is glorified, you will understand. Oh he took me through
[44:42] Speaker 2: that to show me who he was.
[44:44] Speaker 1: Oh, he took me through that. So that he could
[44:47] Speaker 1: be for me what I could not be for myself.
[44:50] Speaker 6: Oh it was good for me that I was afflicted,
[44:56] Speaker 6: because the times for me that were the most confusing,
[45:00] Speaker 6: the times he used the most What are you doing, God?
[45:03] Speaker 1: What are you doing? I'll tell you what I'm doing.
[45:05] Speaker 1: I'm weaving. I'm weaving. I'm weaving. I'm weaving. I got
[45:09] Speaker 1: good hands. Bring me my blanket. I close with this.
[45:15] Speaker 2: I was walking out to preach to you, and I
[45:17] Speaker 2: saw this on my couch, and I thought maybe this
[45:20] Speaker 2: could help me get my point across.
[45:25] Speaker 1: Because when I say he's weaving.
[45:28] Speaker 2: And when I say that you have to trust him
[45:31] Speaker 2: with the underside, you could look at this and faintly
[45:37] Speaker 2: make an outline of what it was. John Chapter twelve,
[45:41] Speaker 2: verse sixteen. They did not understand all of this at first.
[45:47] Speaker 2: They did not understand.
[45:49] Speaker 1: All of this at first.
[45:51] Speaker 2: My life is but a weaving between my God and me.
[45:56] Speaker 2: They did not understand. While they were walking. They did
[45:59] Speaker 2: not understand the crowds were waving. They did not even
[46:01] Speaker 2: understand while the.
[46:02] Speaker 8: Donkey was waiting. But on the other side, I saw
[46:11] Speaker 8: it was his hands. It was his hands. It was
[46:18] Speaker 8: his hands.
[46:20] Speaker 1: You see.
[46:25] Speaker 2: How when you're on the under side. It's kind of ugly.
[46:29] Speaker 2: You're like, I think this is God, but I'm not sure.
[46:31] Speaker 2: I don't know if this is God. And I'm just
[46:33] Speaker 2: been feeling.
[46:33] Speaker 1: Unfair right now. But when it's sorry, I'll practice my
[46:42] Speaker 1: illustration for next week.
[46:43] Speaker 2: For Easter, when the guests come, when it's his hands.
[46:49] Speaker 2: And then, and then I wanted to tell you.
[46:52] Speaker 1: To trust on this side what you can only trace.
[46:58] Speaker 1: On this side. He's weaving.
[47:10] Speaker 2: Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize these things
[47:15] Speaker 2: had been written about him, and that these things had
[47:17] Speaker 2: been done to him, and that these things God used,
[47:20] Speaker 2: and these things and these things and good things and
[47:24] Speaker 2: bad things, and high things and low things and pretty
[47:27] Speaker 2: things and painful things.
[47:29] Speaker 1: He's weaving. He's weaving. Father.
[47:33] Speaker 2: I bless you for your word today spoke to me
[47:36] Speaker 2: so much as I remember the times in my life
[47:39] Speaker 2: that I've looked back and seen that you were weaving
[47:41] Speaker 2: while I was walking, that you were weaving while I
[47:44] Speaker 2: was waiting. I praise you today, Lord, because you brought
[47:47] Speaker 2: somebody here to be reminded of the skillful touch of
[47:51] Speaker 2: your hand, the weaver's hand. I thank you that today, Lord,
[47:56] Speaker 2: as we stare into Easter Sunday and anticipate your resurrection.
[48:01] Speaker 2: That you have given us the faith to face Friday
[48:06] Speaker 2: knowing that the weaver will.
[48:08] Speaker 1: Never leave our side. Father, you know who you're speaking
[48:11] Speaker 1: to today. You know their name, you know their need,
[48:16] Speaker 1: You know the.
[48:16] Speaker 2: Need beneath the need, beneath the need that presents itself
[48:19] Speaker 2: as the problem.
[48:19] Speaker 1: And you are the weaver. God.
[48:22] Speaker 2: I thank you that all things do work together for
[48:24] Speaker 2: good for those who you love and are called according
[48:26] Speaker 2: to your purpose. And may we be better than the
[48:30] Speaker 2: disciples were because we know what the disciples did it.
[48:34] Speaker 2: May we walk in the light of our resurrected Savior.
[48:39] Speaker 2: May we worship our weaver who works all things together
[48:45] Speaker 2: for good.

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