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I still remember the first time dressing up my daughter in her Easter Sunday dress and the pride I felt as I watched her wave her palm branch as she strolled through the church aisles. The tradition of reenacting the celebration is handed down to my daughter, helping her understand and know her king is on His throne. We have a king and today we celebrate His triumphant entry to Jerusalem, just as Israel did so long ago.

“…without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). The faith in the person and work of God by Abraham, is the same faith in Christ, his death and resurrection, that saves us today!

“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:14-15). The path of temptation is well-trodden. The wake of death sin leaves behind is full of personal devastation and relational trauma. No matter the sin, the process and resulting death remain constant. James is clear the source of temptation lies within the desire of the heart.

Jesus provided the church a pathway of worship together through the observance of the Lord’s Supper. Through this experience, the Lord meets with his people and strengthens their faith as they remember his gospel, hold fast the unity of the Spirit, and anticipate his return.

Fellow believers, does our congregational worship reflect a people who have seen the King of Glory? Who is the King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle!… The LORD of Hosts, he is the King of Glory!” (Psalm 24) At Northwest we value worship. The ultimate act of worship is to love the Lord Jesus with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). Paul refers to this as presenting ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable- this is our spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1-2)!

In the Law of Moses, Israel was instructed, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart…” (Deuteronomy 6:5). Unfortunately, this proved to be an impossible task for Israel and for us. Jeremiah described the dilemma, “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick…” (Jeremiah 17:9). The idea conveyed by the prophet is deliberate duplicity. This is bad news. Not only are we born diseased, but our natural inclination is to choose to be deceitful. With these things in mind, how is it possible to have a pure heart in worship of the Lord?

The Jewish leaders insisted that Pilate secure the tomb with soldiers stating that Jesus' disciples might steal his body away and claim that He'd been resurrected. They asserted that this second "deception"-resurrection- would be worse than the first- believing Jesus to be the Messiah. Pilate, perhaps with a hint of sarcasm, deflected the request back at them saying "you have your own soldiers, go and make it a secure as you can", likely referring to the detachment of Roman guards in the Fortress Antonia adjacent to the Jewish temple who were assigned to guard it.

Behind the covering of the blood-soaked purple cloak and the excruciating punctures of the thorns that adorned his head, was the embodiment of Almighty God - the Creator of all things. At a moment’s notice, a single word from the Most High would have removed Him from this heinous act and return Him to his rightful position in the presence of the Father. Yet, He remained silent as it had been foretold 700 years prior...

In the garden of Gethsemane, we find Jesus with a heavy heart, “greatly distressed and troubled.” Going to pray, Jesus confided in His disciples that His soul was “very sorrowful, even to death.” (Mark 14:33-34) Luke tells us our Lord was in such anguish that while praying in the garden He began to sweat blood. (Luke 22:44)

Have you ever said or done something that was driven by ulterior motives or ignorance? Jesus surrounded himself with people who made these choices, imperfect like us. He patiently endures and expects our shortcomings. And like a shepherd, He gently corrects in a way that directs the focus of the problem from the behavior to the heart.