The Gathering Surf City

Obviously, today's Palm Sunday.

And I know that a lot of folks grow up
with a tradition or kids and palm

branches and all that sort of thing.

They never gave me a palm branch when
I was a kid because I might hit

somebody with it.

But anyway,

today is Palm Sunday,

and I'll be talking about
that in a minute.

But next Sunday is Easter Sunday.

It's the day that we set aside to
celebrate the resurrection.

But indeed,

we as followers of Jesus
and believers,

we get to celebrate the resurrection
not just one Sunday a year,

but every day of our lives.

We celebrate the victory that God's given
us in the resurrected Christ.

Today we do celebrate
the Lord's supper,

and you see it set out before you.

And I remember as a kid,

it was always kind of a special
thing to me to see it set up.

We do.

Similarly, we celebrate the Lord's
supper every quarter.

People ask,

why don't we do it every Sunday?

And one of the things that I grew up
with was that the Lord's supper

really kind of became sort of less important
because it was just sort of

tagged on the end of a
message some Sundays,

and you just didn't know
that it was the focus.

And so this morning,

I really wanted to take our text,

which is Hebrews chapter five,

verses one to ten,

and point out why the Lord's supper
this morning is the focus and why

celebrating the death of Christ.

And I know that sounds weird to say
celebrating the death of Christ,

but without the death,

there is no remission of sins,

except that he shed
his blood for us.

So before I read the text,

I want us to pray.

All right?

So bow with me.

Father, this morning
we bow before you,

giving thanks.

I thank you for how you've led us in
worship through the songs this

morning that,

God, you have given us entrance by the
shed blood of your son Jesus into

your very presence.

So, God,

this morning indeed,

you've torn down strongholds and you've
broken chains and you've freed

us, and we have liberty,

and we have this incredible
opportunity to know you,

to walk with you,

to talk with you.

And, God,

it's just the added blessing that we
have to come together on Sunday

mornings to celebrate together,

to worship together,

to know God,

that this is not just
something we do.

This is an incredibly special relationship
that you have offered us,

God, that we can know
our heavenly daddy,

that we can walk with him.

So, God,

this morning,

as we look at the text of Hebrews
five and understand that God,

it was part of your purpose,

your plan,

your design for us to know that
a sacrifice has been made.

So we give you thanks.

We pray it in Jesus name.

Amen. Hebrews,

chapter five,

one to ten.

It says,

for every high priest taken from among
men is appointed in matters

pertaining to God for the people to offer
both gifts and sacrifices for

sins.

He is able to deal gently with those
who are ignorant and are going

astray, since he is also
clothed with weakness.

Because of this,

he must make an offering for his own
sins as well as for the people.

No one takes this honor on himself.

Instead, a person is called by God,

just as Aaron was.

In the same way,

Christ did not exalt himself
to become a high priest,

but God who said to him,

you are my son.

Today I've become your father,

also says,

in another place,

you are a priest forever.

According to the order
of Melchizedek,

during his earthly life,

he offered prayers and appeals with loud
cries and tears to the one who

was able to save him from death.

And he was heard because
of his reverence.

Although he was the son,

he learned obedience from what he
suffered after he was perfected.

He became the source of eternal
salvation for all who obey him.

And he was declared by God,

a high priest,

according to the order
of Melchizedek.

So how many of you grew
up in a congregation,

a body of Christ,

where there was a,

see, I've been told this,

so I'm going to ask,

I want to know by hands.

I'm actually asking you to raise
your hands in a moment.

Some of us don't do that quite
naturally sometimes.

But how many of us grew up in that kind
of tradition where the kids would

parade in with palm branches
waving on Sunday mornings?

See, not many of you.

So I'm not alone,

some of less than half of you all.

And so I never knew that.

And I know a couple years ago I
had someone come to me and say,

can't we do that?

And I was like,

no, I know me.

When I was a kid.

Yeah, I'd been.

But we know the story.

The day that Christ rode into Jerusalem
on the cult of a donkey,

and the people proclaimed him,

shouting, the hosannas of prophecy know
your king arrives on a donkey.

And so they threw the branches down
and they threw their cloaks down,

and they celebrated him as king.

They pronounced him as king.

And quite honestly,

one of the great themes of the book
of Hebrews is that Christ is king,

king of kings.

And so,

yeah, that goes right in line with
the idea that as we study our way

through Hebrews,

what we're seeing is that
Christ is indeed king.

God the son is king.

And there's a line in
here in verse seven,

says, during his earthly life.

When.

It says,

during his time of flesh.

Is the actual translation when
he was in the flesh,

when he took the human form,

that this is what was going
on in his life.

And so,

yes, he entered the city
as a king of kings.

And then five days later,

they crucified him.

See, the people who
declared him king,

people who acknowledged him king.

The people who announced him king were
the same ones in the courtyard of

the temple screaming,

crucify him.

Crucify him.

See? Why?

Because God was working out his plan.

God was this design for salvation.

And so I titled today's message
the priesthood of Jesus,

because it starts out,

for every high priest taken from among
men is appointed in matters

pertaining to God for the people to offer
both gifts and sacrifices for

sin. So what God had established for
the people was that there was a

person who represented
the people to God.

And so in the holy of holies,

in the construction of the temple,

there was that courtyard that all the
Gentiles and everybody could enter.

And then there was a more private courtyard
for just the people of God,

the jewish people,

the hebrew people.

And then there was the inner place
behind the veil that was.

No one went in there except
the high priest.

High priest,

once a year,

day of atonement,

Yom Kippur.

It falls way like October
or November this year,

but the whole day of atonement.

So this idea of the priesthood
of Christ,

the priesthood of Jesus,

they had for hundreds of years,

they had a high priest
who was appointed,

right, to serve on behalf
of the people,

to present the offerings.

And the text really gives us quite
an adequate picture of it.

He says he offered both gifts
and sacrifices for sins.

He is able to deal gently with those
who are ignorant and are going

astray, since he also is
clothed with weakness.

So this was a human high priest
who on the day of atoma,

he would have to first offer sacrifices
and sprinkle the blood for his

own sin,

right? Because if he entered the holy
of holies with his own sin,

then he'd get struck down and they'd
have to pull him out by a rope.

But so he would offer sacrifices for
his own sin before offering the

sacrifices for all the people.

So that was the role
of the high priest.

And what this text is telling us is
that he could be compassionate,

he could show God's mercy
and compassion,

because as high priest,

he knew the frailties
of his own flesh,

right? So that was the role
of the high priest.

Because of this,

he must make an offering for his own
sins as well as for the people.

No one takes this honor on himself.

It's not an election.

Nobody ran for high priest.

They were appointed
and served a time.

And it points out that Aaron was called
by God to be high priest.

In the same way,

Christ did not exalt himself
to become a high priest,

but God who said to him,

and we've already looked
at this text,

God had already said to him,

you're my son.

Today I've become your father,

also says,

in another place,

you are a priest forever,

according to the order
of Melchizedek.

And while in the flesh he offered prayers
and appeals with loud cries and

tears to the one who was able
to save him from death.

This is that picture of the garden of
Gethsemane prayer where he said,

father, if there is any other way,

remove this cup from me,

yet not my will,

but yours.

Right? And then it says,

he was heard because
of his reverence.

Why Jesus can approach
the throne of God.

He's sinless.

He is the only man ever who could approach
the throne of God without

angels or whatever.

I mean,

we see it all in Hebrews here.

See, Jesus is given entrance.

God hears God the father
hears God the son.

Because of his reverence,

although he was the son,

he learned obedience from
what he suffered.

Is that a reference to
Jesus's disobedience?

No. What obedience did he learn?

He learned what our obedience
needed to look like.

You see,

as a human being in taking flesh,

he learned what it meant to
obey even when tempted.

And like Nick shared last week,

by the way,

I want to thank Nick for taking a twelve
hour call of notice because,

yeah, I got better by Wednesday.

I was feeling much better and Nick had
covered all the morning and I was

grateful. I was home watching
you all on YouTube.

And those of you who sit down front,

yes, we can see you.

Just so you know,

that's why I don't sit over here because
I got this vacant spot right

here.

But you see,

the picture that we have here is that
Jesus took the form of man so that

he could be that compassionate,

that grace offering high priest for
us because he knows our frailties,

our weaknesses.

See, then it says,

after he was perfected,

it wasn't that he was imperfect.

It was after he completed the work that
God had established for him to

do. He became the source of eternal
salvation for all who obey him.

And he was declared by God,

a high priest according to
the order of Melchizedek.

And we'll get into that a couple of,

few chapters from now.

But it's in chapter four that I mentioned
a couple of weeks ago where

Jesus passed through the heavens,

or better translated,

passed through the veil into
the eternal holy of holies,

which is the presence of God.

See? So once he was crucified,

right, and after his ascension,

he passes into the very presence of his
father and sits down at the right

hand of the glory most high.

And there he advocates on our behalf.

So as we gather this morning,

here's what I want you to understand.

Jesus did this for us.

Jesus died in our place.

Wednesday night,

we were around the tables together,

and it was the saying of
Christ where he says,

Father, Father,

my God,

my God,

why have you forsaken
or abandoned me?

And truthfully,

it wasn't a question,

though it comes from Psalm 22.

It sounds like a question.

But Jesus knew.

Jesus knew that he bore the sin of
all the world and that God in his

righteousness and holiness could
not look on that sin.

So I love the story of the
Lord's supper when Jesus,

and I like it.

From Luke,

chapter 22,

where it says that Jesus,

gathering for Passover before
the crucifixion,

says, I have earnestly desired
to eat this meal with you.

Yes, it was a desire to celebrate
Passover together,

but this was his family.

These were the guys that he
had been hanging out with,

that they had shared with,

that he was close to.

And he said,

I have earnestly longed for,

looked forward to,

desired this meal with you.

And I looked at a couple of pictures this
week of people trying to depict

it more normally than Leonardo because
they were not sitting in chairs,

they were leaning and lounging
on pillows around a table.

And it looked very relaxed
and it looked very calm.

And they were there to celebrate
something important.

And then Jesus established a new practice
when he broke the bread.

And he said,

here, take this,

and this is my body,

which is broken for you,

which is given for you.

Every time you do this,

remember me.

And here's the cup of the new
covenant in my blood,

which is shed for you.

And every time you do this,

remember me.

And I see that meal,

and in my mind,

I want to go there.

I want to be there.

I'm going to invite the men forward
at this time while I explain our

Lord's supper.

There's some guys that are going to distribute
the Lord's supper elements

to you.

And so as they come forward,

I want to share with you that
in one Corinthians eleven,

Paul says,

every time you come to this table.

Make sure you come to this
table in a worthy manner.

Because in the New Testament,

we know that they'd begun to make a
mockery of many of the elements of

worship.

It's why I like to make it
a part of the message.

It's why I like to make it a focal point
of what we're doing this morning

on Palm Sunday.

Because like I said,

right after pronouncing him king,

they shouted,

crucify him.

We gather this morning not to shout,

crucify him,

but to say thank you and to remember
that he died for us.

So I'm going to give you a moment
just to bow your heads,

ask God to reveal any sin,

anything that would stand
between you and him.

Father, you know us better
than we know ourselves.

So this morning,

as we gather,

God, we.

I personally,

God, I just confess my sin.

I confess,

as we sang about this morning,

my fears,

my anxieties,

my pride,

my anger,

those things,

God, that rise up in me,

that do not bring you glory.

They're not a part of God who
you've called me to be.

And so,

God, I just confess it before you
and ask your forgiveness.

Thank you.

That Jesus took our sin became
our sin on the cross.

Thank you for forgiveness.

We pray it in Jesus name.

Amen. Let the men take the bread,

and they're going to pass through,

and they'll be passing the plates.

And if you'll just take a piece of
bread and pass it among you.

I know that the gathering is made up
of a lot of different backgrounds

and traditions.

Some people come from very,

shall we say,

protestant backgrounds,

some people come from catholic
backgrounds,

some people come from
nothing backgrounds,

I don't know.

But the bread actually represents
the body of Christ.

It represents that element.

And many like to do messages and things
about the bread of life and how

Jesus said that he is
the bread of life.

As we take the bread this morning,

here's what I want to
encourage you to do.

Maybe you come from a tradition that
is not as maybe casual or whatever

about it,

as sometimes we are.

But what I want you to know
is that when Jesus said,

every time you do this,

he said to remember him.

So what I encourage you to do this morning
is to take a moment before we

receive the bread together.

What I want to encourage you to do is
to go back to the day that you got

saved, the day that you confessed your
sin and asked Jesus to save you

and to live in you.

The day that you know that God wrote
your name down in the book of life.

And remember that it would not have been
possible had it not been for the

cross, had it not been for
the death of our savior.

See, that's what Jesus meant about.

Remember, every time
that you do this,

remember me.

I know there may be some
at home that say,

well, we can't be there
to participate.

And I know a couple of years ago,

when there were only a
handful of us here,

I would tell people at home,

grab some bread and some juice,

celebrate around your
own kitchen table.

Celebrate around your kitchen table.

I know we have one couple
in the congregation.

They do the Lord's supper around their
kitchen table every morning.

They just stop and remember that
Jesus died on our behalf.

You see,

that's a big deal to remember
that every day,

all day long.

Okay.

All right.

Someone think they've made it
through the whole room now.

So, again,

I want to take you back to Luke 22.

And thank you.

I think about what it looked
like around that table.

You want to serve one of you all?

Grab it and serve each other.

There you go.

See, we don't have a protocol
for these things,

but I think about the Lord's supper,

and I think about the Passover meal
as they gathered around that table

and all the elements being
laid out there,

because Jesus had told his disciples
to go and prepare,

and so they did.

And so they had the bitter herbs,

and they had the roasted lamb,

and they had the bread and the wine,

and they had all those parts to it,

but they sat down as family.

I mean,

the Passover was a family
celebration,

and so this was jesus'family.

Guess what we are today.

We're Jesus's family.

So I'm glad that you're here.

And maybe you don't know the people
sitting around you or the people

sitting across the room,

but in Christ,

we are family.

Okay? So as Jesus was having this passover
meal with his disciples,

he broke the bread and he passed it.

And different traditions
say different things,

but Jesus certainly said,

this is my body,

which is given for you.

Every time that you do this.

Remember me.

Oop, that's loud.

All right,

go ahead.

We'll let the men come and bring the
cups of juice around fruit of the

vine, as some would like to say,

and recognize that it represents
the blood of our savior.

I listened to a lot of things this
week that addressed crucifixion,

that addressed the shed
blood of Christ,

some songs that I listened to,

and the lyrics of those songs and a couple
of messages that I listened to

about the crucifixion and what it
meant for the jewish people,

the hebrew people,

the nation of Israel,

to take the blood of a sacrificial
lamb and to spread it across the

doorway so that the angel of death in
Egypt would skip over their house.

That this angel of death,

it was coming to take the lives of
every firstborn in the nation of

Israel. That what it took was that they
would take this unblemished lamb

for a family.

And if your family wasn't
big enough,

you'd get more than one
family together.

And you'd sacrifice the lamb and you'd
take the blood and you'd put it

over the doorway.

And then in the morning,

the death angel that had passed through
the land had skipped over your

house.

Attended a funeral yesterday.

And I can't tell you how many times I
heard the pastors that preach that

funeral say the statistics on
death are one out of one.

Nobody gets out of this life alive.

And yet God has given us
hope for eternal life,

spiritual, everlasting life.

And the blood that is painted over
the doorway is the blood of our

savior. This cup represents
something,

because I said it when we made our way
through Hebrews back at the end of

last year,

the priest,

the high priest of Israel,

would take the blood of a bull to sprinkle
for the forgiveness of his own

sin before he could represent
the sin of the people,

before the throne of God.

Right?

Jesus, the high priest,

our high priest,

the once and forever after
the order of Melchizedek,

high priest,

didn't bring animal blood,

didn't bring a bull's blood
or a lamb's blood.

Jesus brought his own blood
for our forgiveness.

So when he passed the cup and there was
a Passover tradition that as they

passed the cup and they
each took a drink,

he said,

this is the cup of the new
covenant in my blood,

which is shed for you.

And we know throughout,

from the establishment of
the sacrificial system,

without the shedding of blood,

there is no remission or
forgiveness of sin.

Jesus shed his blood for us.

And he said,

every time you do this,

remember me.

Thank you,

gentlemen. Maybe this morning
you don't know Jesus.

Maybe you're here because a
friend invited you to be.

Maybe. And I know we've had folks come
in for the Lord's supper time and

they see it and they understand because
they've heard something about it.

But I had one guy tell me one time,

he said,

well, that was weird,

because the truth is that people that
don't know Jesus don't understand

what we celebrate.

People who don't know Jesus don't
understand the substitutionary

atonement that Christ provided,

that Christ died in our place.

Maybe this morning.

You don't understand.

Well, you can.

We'd love to introduce you
to Jesus this morning.

So we're going to sing
one more song,

give you the opportunity to
respond to the gospel,

the good news that Jesus
died for you.

Pray with me.

Father, thank you for today.

Thank you for all that you're going
to do in our midst this morning.

All that you are already
doing in our midst.

The things that you've done.

God, the words that you speak.

God, I just pray this morning that if
there's even one person here today

that doesn't know you,

that they would bow,

they'd surrender,

they'd receive the salvation that is
only available through the shed

blood of our king,

high priest,

our savior,

Jesus, the Christ,

the son of the living God.

And we praise you that we can
gather and celebrate life.

We pray it in Jesus name.

Amen.