Isn’t it remarkable how the events of a single day can change life so dramatically? We have just marked the significant celebration of Palm Sunday. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, the crowds were welcoming Him, shouting loud hosannas, waving palm branches, and bursting forth in praise! This was an occasion of great joy and enthusiasm. Jesus was being recognized as King and to be in that crowd of people was heart stirring. Yet, just a few short days later was a very different day, when this same Jesus, God’s Son was condemned to die and was nailed to a cruel Roman cross. Describing this scene, Scripture records, “Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” (John 19;19) Palm Sunday and Good Friday only have a few days between them. It reminds all of us that life can change so completely with the circumstances of a single day. We experience this in our lives. Sometimes we have had one of the best of days, followed closely by one of the worst of days. There is news that we receive of illness or death that shocks us and seems so hard to believe after we have just had a particularly enjoyable family occasion or gathering with friends. The painful reality of Good Friday (originally called God’s Friday) can appear overwhelming. How can we find words to pray when we are confronted with the desperate and seemingly hopeless times of our lives? A powerful realization comes as we consider that Jesus is King when He rides into Jerusalem. Jesus is King when He dies on the cross. Jesus is King when it is discovered on Easter Sunday morning that He has been raised from the dead, triumphant over the grave. When it comes to KNOWING GOD BY KNOWING JESUS (a theme we have been following in our Sunday messages), we can recognize that the best of times or the worst of times do not change Who is Jesus. Our Lord Jesus is King no matter what. When our lives appear to be falling apart, Jesus is still King. When our wider world appears to be falling apart, Jesus is still King. When we struggle to find hope, Jesus is still King. This confidence that Jesus is our eternal King is what we will claim when we share our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow April 13th at 1 pm.
Praying that we will be held in the assurance that Who Jesus is does not change no matter what is happening in our lives or in our world, Pastor Lola
We come into Your holy Presence our God wanting to acknowledge that You are aware of everything happening with us and in our world. We thank You that You do not ever forget or ignore us. You are close with us in times of happiness and celebration. You also linger near when we are heartbroken and overwhelmed. In this week approaching Easter, we recall Jesus that You personally experienced the elation of Palm Sunday as well as the horror of Good Friday. You know so well how the events of a single day can change our lives drastically. We want to center our faith today in the truth that You Jesus remain King no matter what is happening to us or around us. We need this assurance. We want You to reign in every area of our lives. When we try to place ourselves on the throne and to be in charge, we insult Your majesty. Please forgive us. Only as You Jesus take Your place as King is there hope for us and for our world. We do not pretend to understand Your timing our Lord. We do want to walk in step with You. Please create within our hearts a beautiful symphony of what it means to surrender to You and what it means to welcome You as our King. We know that an uplifting time of gratitude and praise can quickly turn to a time of despair in our lives. We claim the promise that You Jesus are with us through it all and are revealing the fullness of Who You are and why You have come into our world. Please give us eyes to see how others are affected by the despair that they are experiencing. We continue to pray for an end to war in the Ukraine. Remind us Lord that You are not shaken by the things that shake us. You God were able to see the coming of Easter Sunday beyond the events of Good Friday. We want to focus our attention on what is yet to come as You move by Your Spirit to enact Your will and to build Your kingdom. What might there be in us that prevents us from looking beyond the darkness of now to the early Sunday morning discovery of what You have planned all along? Our God, we want to dare to believe that You continue to be at work establishing a hope filled reign of peace and blessing. We do not know how this will all come about but we know that You must be the One to lead in all of this. Please use us then to assist in What You intend to be. With each new day that You provide, we will be one day closer to Jesus’ return as our glorious King. With Your grace, we pray to be empowered by the triumphant hope of Easter that dispels the gloom and reveals our risen and conquering King Jesus in Whose Name we offer our prayer, AMEN.