Our name | Mission | Vision | Leaders Ministries | Schedule | Directions | Contact Home   Gateway Church gathers for worship Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Location: 6425 Jefferson Rd. (Hwy. 129) in Athens, Georgia. For directions, click here. Ministry of the Word: Recent sermons Our quarterly e-magazine Gateway Today For the Gateway family Pastor Jerry's Weekly E-Mail A GATEWAY SERMON SUMMARY AUDIO A paradigm of praise Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA April 13, 2003 Main Scripture text: Mark 11:1-19. Palm Sunday is a major focal point in all four gospels. (By comparison the Christmas story appears only in Matthew and Luke.) Palm Sunday is like a great crescendo in the story of Jesus of Nazareth. Even though Jesus entered Jerusalem to a spontaneous eruption of praise and jubilation, it is clear that He set up the conditions that facilitated it. In a sense, Palm Sunday was a planned event, a prophetic act. Earlier in his ministry, Jesus tried to operate "under the radar," keeping His ministry as quiet as possible. Now, on Palm Sunday, he comes into Jerusalem to boisterous praise, and He accepts the accolades of the people. It is like the coronation of a king. As for the crowd, the attitudes of their of hearts and minds created an environment conducive to the coming of Jesus. First: exuberant praise. Luke 19:37 says it was "joyful" and "loud!" Also, note that the people praised God "for all the miracles they had seen" -- not just the ones from which they had personally benefited. Second: a passionate welcome. They welcomed Jesus with such extravagant passion that they even laid their own clothes on the ground for his donkey to walk on. The Father had given them enough light to see that Jesus was the promised One, the Anointed One, sent from God. Third: a hunger for God's Word (see Luke 19:47-48). These people believed Jesus was from God and they wanted to know what God had to say to them. Gateway Church desires to see God come to this community in transforming power. To that end, we need be involved in helping to establish an atmosphere in this community that is conducive to His coming -- an atmosphere of exuberant praise that moves people to passionately welcome Jesus and to long to hear from God. Note two things that resulted from His coming, things we would do well to take to heart: First, the cleansing of the temple. Jesus was angry not only because people were being cheated, but also because the religious structures actually hindered worship! We need to constantly reexamine our own structures and practices to be certain they be don't make it difficult for people to come to God. The second thing to notice is the plot to kill Jesus. Lesson: The powers of hell will do their worst when Christ's manifest presence unites people in transforming, healing power. The coming of Jesus is the best thing that can happen to any community, but let's not be naïve and think there won't opposition to His coming. It is good to commemorate Palm Sunday, but my intention today is to stir and encourage us to maintain the attitude of heart and mind that will encourage the coming of the Lord: an attitude of exuberant praise, passionate welcome, and hunger for God's Word! Supporting texts: Luke 19:39-40 | Luke 19:37 | Luke 19:47-48 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here. (Download to a PC by right clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As." Mac users: click, hold, and choose "Download Link to Disk." Depending on your connection speed, the file may take several minutes to download.) An audio tape of this sermon is available free of charge (U.S. requests only). Request a tape by calling or writing the Gateway Church office. Please specify tape number 030413a: A Paradigm of Praise. © 2003 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us