“Holy Week: Don’t Lose Faith”
Palm Sunday
NewSong Church – 03/16/08
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**NOTE: THIS IS A CONCEPT OUTLINE FOR THIS MESSAGE. GRAPHICS AND MULTIMEDIA ARE AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT THIS SERIES.
Intro to Holy Week
Holy Week is...
• a time of deep reflection
• observation of & participation in the events of Jesus life in his last week
• a process of evaluation: who do we believe Jesus to be
• Do we know Him?
[slide – text in bold]
I Peter 1:6-9
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.
Peter knows about faith that withstands trial and hardship and adversity.
He knows that faith must be able to stand up to difficulty.
He knows what it means to have faith in hard times.
He knows that for faith to be strong in those times, it must be developed.
Genuine faith is developed through relationship
**Examples of faith in someone, or someone’s faith in you**
Palm Sunday
[slide – text in bold]
John 12:12-19, 37
The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!” Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said: “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.”
His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him. Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it. That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign.
Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after him!” But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in him.
Life is Good
The Coming King
• The Fans
• The Friends
• The Christ
Flash-Forward: 3 Upper-Room Conversations
“Know Who He Is”
[slide – text in bold, reference]
John 14:1-9
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7 If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”
9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am?
“Do Not Be Shaken”
[slide – text in bold, reference]
John 14:27, 29
27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. 29 I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe.
“Remain in Him”
[slide – text in bold, reference]
John 15:4, 8-14, 17
4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. 9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Present-Day: Conditional Faith
[slide – text in bold, reference]
John 16:1
“I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith.
many people wait until difficulty comes to turn to Christ –
but their lack of relationship leaves them lost, confused, and alone
Faith That is Genuine
• We are not supposed to trust blindly
• Belief must become knowing
• We cannot rely on who we think Jesus is, or hope he is
• We must know who he is if our faith is to be strong
Elements of Faith
[slide – text in sequence]
• Know
• Trust
• Remain
Think. Do. Be.
• Spend time each morning in prayer
• Spend time this week in God’s Word – devotional
• Spend time serving God and others
• Spend time in worship
Invitation to Participate in Holy Week
• Maundy Thursday – service/communion
• Good Friday – service/stations of the cross
• Holy Saturday – prayer & fasting/church open for prayer
• Resurrection Sunday – invite a friend to experience Jesus
Benediction
2 Timothy 2:11-13
This is a trustworthy saying:
If we die with him, we will also live with him. If we endure hardship, we will reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us. If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.
