Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
Everybody, good to see you guys. I know it's a little bit of a rainy evening, but it's nice to get that humidity out of the, out of the air. But it you know, we, we had a chance today to partner, with Ho'okele Elementary. They had their first ever they've they've been in school for ten years. They celebrated. But it's the first time they've ever done any kind of a celebration, and and we're so glad that they invited us to be a part of it. So many of you guys were there, and some of you brought people from different places to come help volunteer. And you know, I got to meet so many people and, some of those like our neighbors and some of them are people that I hadn't actually seen in a while.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:40]:
And and some of them are go, wow, you still have elementary school kids? No, but, you know, that kind of a thing, but, it was great. And to be honest, we got to invite a lot of them to Easter, and so, really not too late to invite somebody to Easter. Now is the time to do that, but you know the difference between us being at O'Kelley and, being a partner versus a renter. You know the difference? You know when, if you rent someplace, something breaks, what do you do? Call them and you complain. Hey, girl, you gotta come fix the toilet over here. Right? Or, you know, that's a that's a renter's mindset. You know what a partner is? A partner is somebody that says, hey, you know when there's a need, there's something that let's let's work together. What can we do together? Because I think all of us know that we're better together.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:21]:
Right? Rather than alone, and that's the whole concept grief share. You know, sometimes you get stuck because you you just get isolated, and we get stuck in our grief, and you can't move forward, but you know, we're better together. And so there's a number of things like that, and, I do want to just say one thing about you know a Good Friday that's coming up for some of us, maybe you've never been to a Good Friday service that we're the kind that we're doing, at Ho'okela Elementary. It's really gonna be an immersive service. It's a service where you're gonna see, touch, feel, smell, and, and what it was like that Jesus went through. And if you've never been to one of these, and we've done it a couple times in the past over the years, but being at O'Kelly allows us to do these kinds of things, where it's it's you're not going to just sit in a service and listen. That's this is not that kind of a service. So, we really encourage you guys, and if you want, bring somebody with you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:17]:
But, this evening, you know, I'm talking about something I don't think I've talked about very often, and, you know, each of us knows that there's probably there's four gospels, in the scriptures, and they each talk about the life and ministry of Jesus, but it's interesting to note that all four of the gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, saved 35% of their book to deal with the last week of Jesus' life. And so, if you're to be able to make any kind of, you know, educated guess what that might be is I think they're saying, you know, the last week of Jesus' life is so important to understanding who he is, why he came, what was his mission. And so, and that last week begins with where we are today. It's Palm Sunday weekend. And so this evening, we're what we want to talk about, something again, I don't I probably talked about it maybe once or twice, I think, over the years. But, as this Palm Sunday weekend is here, sometimes it's referred to as the triumphal entry, but what we want to see is not only how Jesus entered the city, but what was God trying to do through this entrance. And I believe that what God was doing was preparing for what was to come, and for us, He's calling us to prepare our hearts for what is to come. Jesus entering into Jerusalem, you know, that day was a day of excitement.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:50]:
You know, sometimes there's just certain days just exciting. If you guys have kids, you know what's one of the most exciting things that can happen? What day that is? Last day of school. You guys remember last day of school? Like, you hated to go to school maybe for some of us, but you know the thing is last day of school was fun because you know, you might not know everything that's gonna happen. You might not know what's gonna happen. Some of you guys had parties or whatever in the class, you know, like, but the thing is that you knew it was gonna be good. Right? And when it came to the last week of Jesus' life, there was a sense of expectation. One was because the Passover was gonna happen in a week. It was Passover week.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:28]:
But the other part of it it was that Jesus had been building in His ministry. He had just raised Lazarus from the dead. There was a buzz that was happening. People, this man raises the dead, and some of us do the exact opposite. I can preach so long. Sometimes people act like they did. No, but, you know, but Jesus was, it was an exciting time. And so this is what the prophet Zechariah wrote over 510 before Jesus's entry.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:01]:
This is what he said. We're gonna read it together. Would you be kind enough to stand with me? Let's stand in reverence for God, reverence for His word. Ready? Let's read. Rejoice, O people of Zion shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming to you, and He is righteous and victorious, yet He is humble, riding on a donkey, riding on a donkey's colt. And you know this aspect of rejoicing and you know, saying that the king is coming, and he's victorious, and he's righteous, and yet humble, that it was a time of celebration, celebration, and this hadn't happened yet, right, but He gave a prophetic word that there will come a time that your king will enter the city, and it will be a magnificent time, and people will rejoice. And this weekend, we ought to rejoice as well.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:55]:
We ought to rejoice that He's still with us. We ought to rejoice that he's still victorious. So before you're seated, just give somebody a high five, give them a hug, give them a uh-uh a fist bump. Just tell them, hey, I'm so glad you're here, and Jesus is here. Right? Because Palm Sunday, this weekend, reminds us that Jesus was triumphant then, and He's triumphant now. You know, it happened as Jesus was making His way down from Galilee all the way down to Jerusalem, and it's a several days journey. But, Jesus came from a town called Bethany, about two miles outside of Jerusalem. And, it's a little bit of a ride uphill still.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:40]:
You're still going up the hill because so often you hear in the scriptures, let us go up to Jerusalem. And the reason why they say it is because Jerusalem is in in the mountains, and so you literally go from the floor of the the the the valley all the way up, and you start going up this hill. And so they would go up to Jerusalem, and Bethany is part on that way, but you still had to go up. And there he went to the Olives. And from the Mount Of Olives, he dispatched two of his disciples to retrieve a a donkey who had not been ridden. And, you know, the disciples didn't know who they were asking the donkey for. And he says, if anybody asks you, what are you doing with the brother? Is that your donkey? He's like, what are you doing? That's not I don't think they should and he said, the master has need. That's all you have to say.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:26]:
The master has need. You know, sometimes we we get called to do something, God calls us to do something. You ever been called to do something, and to be honest, you didn't really know how you're gonna do it. You really didn't know exactly even, you know, like I know you said to do this, but I don't even know what that means. I don't know how to do it. You know, sometimes we're not the first ones. The disciples were like that. It's like, wait, I supposed to just take this guy's donkey? Like, and what if they said, like, what are you doing? Like, brother, I know that's not your donkeys.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:00]:
And he said, oh, all you gotta say is this. Right? And sometimes Jesus gives you just enough information that it still takes faith. That it still takes faith. And so, they get the donkeys, they go and they obey the Lord, and then it says this, that when they brought the colt to Jesus in Mark, 11, it says, when they brought the colt to to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, He sat on it, and many people spread their cloaks on the road, and while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. And those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, Hosanna. Let's say Hosanna. Hosanna. You know what Hosanna means? Me either.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:41]:
I don't know. No, I'm just kidding. No, Hosanna means, God saves, actually. But it began to be also used not only just to say God saves, but it's sort of like, this aspect of saying, you know, welcome. It's a welcome as a praise to God. Right? And so they're saying, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Sound familiar? Blessed is the coming of the kingdom of our father David, Hosanna in the highest. And you know, Palm Sunday reminds us of three things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:17]:
It reminds us, to be honest, more. There's way more stuff in here, but we can get done in a weekend maybe, and we can get done in a message, three things. And we're going to talk about three things this evening. But the first thing is this, that Palm Sunday reminds us to honor the king who came for you. To honor the king who came for you. And, you know, he says as he's coming down, you know, he's in he's on the Mount Of Olives, and and if you've, you know, if you had the privilege to be there, you would know that it's really just right outside the city. And Jesus had walked up, but he is riding down. And as he is riding down, I can imagine him kind of rocking back and forth.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:58]:
I don't know if you've ever rode on a horse or something going downhill. It's like you kind of have to lean back so you don't fall down, so that the horse doesn't fall down or the donkey doesn't fall down, and you kinda got you're rocking back and forth, you know, as you come down. And I can imagine Jesus doing that as He's crossing the Kidron Valley and entering Jerusalem. And the villagers from the previous village in Bethany and Bethphage, they're they're coming with Him. And as they're doing, it's like the procession is just getting bigger and bigger and bigger as they're at the edge of Jerusalem, and the celebration, the sense of, of of joy is getting more and more. Jesus, the prophet, the the healer, the teacher, the the son of David, that he's coming in the town. And so what does it say that there's some of them, they're tearing the branches off of pumps and they're they're laying on the ground. Some of them are waving it in the sky.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:52]:
They're just kinda like like a banner, right? And some of them are taking off their clothes, or taking off not taking off their clothes, sorry taking off their coats and putting it on the ground. So it's like the ground even is not good enough for you to walk on. And so they would lay down their coats, You know, every once in a while, I've watched some YouTube videos, you never get caught watching YouTube videos. There's this one guy that he's out there, he would roll out a red carpet. He'd go into like one of the busiest sections in LA or in Vegas or whatever, and there's a lot people walking down the sidewalk, and you know, like he would just roll out the red carpet to see what people will do. And what he's trying to do is to get people to be bold and walk down the carpet, right? But you know what most people end up doing? They look at the carpet and they do what? Where they just walk around. It's like, I don't know brother, I don't know what you're doing, but like that's kind of weird, right? But every once in a while there'll be somebody when they see the carpet, they see the carpet, they know it's a great honor, but they take the strut, right? They take the strut all the way down. And then he'll rank them and say, eight, ten, or whatever, that kind of a thing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:58]:
But you know, when they rolled out the carpet was with their coats. When they rolled out the carpets was with the branches. And they knew, and Jesus knew. This was a great honor. And so why would they do that? Why would they do that? He's a teacher. He's the prophet. They they've their lives have been touched. They've they've heard his words and his words were alive.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:25]:
And he doesn't come like the conquering generals riding a giant stallion. He's not coming for war, but he comes in peace and humility. And the people were moved. The people were committed. He's not rolling up in the black Escalade with the tinted windows and the spinning, really the spinning rims. It's like he got in a Toyota Corolla. Right? He got in the Toyota Corolla and drove in the town. And and we see this messiah as not one commanding the worship, but receives the heartfelt worship.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:09]:
Overwhelmed with joy, the people cry out. Right? Jesus, hosanna, the son of God. Right? The the son of David. He's the new king of Israel, and everybody's excited to come and do these things, but not everybody, right? Not everybody. Not everybody excited. You guys ever get promoted? You ever get something good happen to you and then your friends are like, whoo, high five? But you ever been in an office where not everybody excited? Right? A little bit of what do you call that? Jealousy, right? Really? Rather when people cannot celebrate when good things happen, cannot celebrate when there's a win, cannot celebrate when you're praised. It's usually jealousy. And Jesus was no different.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:57]:
The Pharisees were jealous. The more that the people shouted and praised, the more they resented it. Why? I think because they weren't being honored. I think because they weren't having their names called out. Jesus didn't ask them to do that, that's just what people did. They're just responding to who Jesus was. And so it says some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, 'Teacher, rebuke your disciples.' Jesus, tell your disciples, shut up. Right? Tell them, tell you, hey, put them in their place.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:27]:
He says And what was Jesus' response? Let's read that together. Ready? Begin. I tell you, he replied, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out. The reason why the people cried out because they'd had evil spirits dominate their life, and they've been set free. They'd seen someone raised from the dead. They heard Jesus' word of life. They've heard heard how they can know the Father. They've heard and seen the power of God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:05]:
They've heard and seen Jesus the way He acted. He wasn't there to be honored and worshiped. He was there to reach the people. And in the midst of this, they believed Him to be the coming King, the Messiah, the Promised One. And the rabbis had professed that this would come at the season in Passover. It would happen in one of those times, and that He would deliver them from their oppressors. So they welcomed Jesus as the promised one the scriptures had talked about, the son of David. Now I don't know if you've ever been in a worship time where, you felt like I wanna worship more.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:54]:
I wanna be close to God. I wanna give God the do the glory that's due his name. I wanna do that, but there's a a little bit of reticence in you. There's a little bit of like, oh, I don't I don't like go too much because I don't want people to think I'm a Jesus freak. I I don't know. It's like I see people raise their hand, but, I I don't wanna look uncool. I don't know if you've ever been in that place. I know what that's like because we you don't wanna look dumb.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:22]:
You don't wanna look like too much. I don't wanna wanna look like I'm, you know, overboard. You know, when I first started going to church, I didn't I'd never been to church. I'd never sang. We never did these things. But I remember going as a young believer. I remember going as a new Christian and sensing the Spirit of God and being moved to tears and not sad but just the presence of God, right? And how it touched me. It changed me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:52]:
I would encounter Jesus in those moments but but I never you know, I'd seen people raising their hands next to me but that looked like that was for like other people to do, right? I would never have done that. I felt embarrassed to do that. And I remember, once being in a service and my girlfriend at the time, I I just I saw the people who were raising their hands. So often, they seem to be connecting with Jesus on a different level. You know what I mean? They they seem to be worshiping on a different plane than than sometimes how I was. Because I might get distracted. Sometimes you're singing and you're looking around at other people. You guys ever look at other people when you're worshiping? It's like, oh, like, hey, who's over here? Sometimes I would see that and that kind of a thing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:43]:
And then so, you know, I told my girlfriend, it's like, yeah, I go and I go and raise my hands. She goes like, what? I raise my hands when we worship. And she said, no. Why are you gonna do that? I don't know. Like, I just see the people when they worship that they they seem more connected. And so she says, you don't even know what you're doing. And then so I said, I'm not going to listen to you. Anyway, but I just so I started to raise my hands.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:13]:
And and literally like I'm trying to focus on Jesus, right? But you know as I'm raising my hands, you know what I feel like? I feel like everybody in the congregation is staring at me. Like everybody is staring at me. That's how I felt, right? And I felt like self conscious and all that. And you know what didn't help was when I took a little peek at my girlfriend and she's going like Kind of like and the thing is that but I turned around and you know what I noticed that was it was part in the worship. It's like nobody was looking at me. Everybody else trying to look at Jesus and welcome and honor him. But, you know, the thing is that what I should have been thinking about is not what people might think, but what would Jesus think when I raise my hand. Well, not what people would say, but what Jesus would say.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:08]:
You know the Pharisees wanted to look respectable. They didn't want to have like an overly emotional people cheering Jesus. So what did they say? Hey, cut it out. Don't go overboard. Don't be one Jesus freak. But you know today, you probably hear a voice once in a while to restrain your worship. You know, be respectable, right? Like but I wonder if Paul, what he felt is really what Jesus felt. Because there's always going to be voices.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:40]:
And to be honest, their voice, the Pharisees' voice that said that, it wasn't just jealousy. It was demonic. Because the the enemy is jealous of the worship that Jesus enjoys, that he deserves, because that's what they want. They want it for themselves. They want it for themselves. But this is what Paul said. There's no lack of love on our part, but you have withheld your love from us. I'm asking you to respond as if you were my own children.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:14]:
Open your hearts to us. I wonder if that's the very words that God would like to say that when we put our hands in our pocket, not that it's it's not evil to put your hand in your pocket. I understand that you know you can worship like this and you can worship like this. You can worship anyway. But the thing is that did you know that God wants to be worshipped in a way that's exuberant at times? In a way that it's an outward expression with a spirit of freedom? Right? That there's tons of scriptures that talk about this. And Psalm 100 that oh, no, no. Jason said did he say 100 or 150 today? But he said, Shout for joy to the Lord all the years. Worship the Lord with gladness.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:03]:
Let's say gladness, right? Sometimes you can worship the Lord with sadness. I understand. We have hard days. We have hard seasons. Sometimes we go through loss. And you I've worshiped the Lord through tears. A to God. But he says this, Worship the Lord with gladness.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:31]:
Come before him with joyful songs. Right? And so, in Psalm 40 seven:one he he says this, Clap your hands, all peoples. Right? Clap your hands. Shout to God with the loud sounds of joy. Now, some of us, maybe like me, it's like the reason why you don't clap your hands is because you get a hard time finding a beat sometimes. I've had people kinda look at me like, Pastor Glenn, please don't clap so loud, but, because you're cheering us off. But, but you know the thing, I'm making a joyful noise to the Lord. But the thing is that I I think that when you look at how God says that he likes to be worshiped, is it why does he say that? I think it's just because he likes it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:18]:
Right? I think he just likes it. And this is what sometimes we have to understand. The spirit of God isn't saying to us be restrained. That's not from the spirit of God. Sometimes that's our insecurity. Sometimes that's my background. Sometimes that's all that stuff. But God wants you to do that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:34]:
Why? Because to be honest, at the end, you find freedom. Because at the end, you get connected. Because in the end, you sense his presence. Because in the end, to be honest, I have been literally physically healed in those moments when I have been surrendered, seeking, and I'm not thinking about anybody but Jesus. And if you've ever been like prayed for healing and you haven't received the healing, this is not to say it's like, you know, like you gotta earn your healing or whatever. That's not what I'm trying to say by praise. I'm not saying that. But it's it's sort of like this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:17]:
I remember being in an office setting and and seeing some people getting opportunities and and, kind of leadership opportunities. You know why? Was it because they were better than everybody else? No. You know why? They just happened to be in the space where the leader was. And it says, like, so is it so easy for them to say, hey, by the way, right, let me just give this to you. I wonder I wonder if sometimes you know what, why that happens? Because when you get so close to God and you turn your hearts toward him, it's so easy for God to say, oh, by the way, let me just touch that part. Right? Because you're already close. Because you're already close. You know, this aspect of jealousy is not the first time you you ever see this in the Bible when somebody's worshiping.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:15]:
And, you see it with David, king David, when they were bringing in the, the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem. And it says as the, as the, Levites carried the ark on the poles and they brought it into the city, it says in in second Samuel six fourteen, that David danced before the Lord with all his might. Let's say all his might. All his might. Right? So so David is dancing. Right? He's he's dancing with all his might into the city and before the ark of the Lord. Why? Because he's rejoicing. Because he's so happy.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:55]:
He's that God is close to me. So David and all the house of Israel brought the ark of the Lord with shouting and with sound of horns. But when he went home, his wife said to him, oh, David, you look so dignified today as you were dancing. And it says like half naked before because he he I guess, you know, when he was dancing, his shirt was coming off. Right? Not his pants, but his shirt was coming off. And and so he she says this, like, in a very derisive way. And you know that it doesn't say that God was was angry or anything, but there's a short verse that comes after that that said that and that David's wife, that wife never never bore children in the future. And you know, the the implication of that in narrative, sometimes it doesn't tell you this person is bad, this person is good.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:51]:
Sometimes it tells you this happened and then this thing happens. That's the point of narratives, right? It's like the guy went up, he mouthed off to the big bully and he got punched in the face. You know what I mean? Like that's the whole point. They're just trying to tell you in story form. And so what is it saying? It says God loves worship. God loves worship. It brings Him joy. So I want to ask you, you know, that the scripture says this, he who is forgiven much gives much.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:29]:
He who is forgiven much loves much. Right? He who is forgiven little loves little. Have you been forgiven much? Amen. Yes. You know, then this is what he says. Just love much, right? That when it's time to worship, worship with abandon. You know, because worship isn't for me. Worship is for God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:53]:
But here's the thing. I noticed that when I give God the worship that He deserves, I'm changed. I'm different. I don't walk out the same way. And so sometimes maybe if you find yourself restrained, just remember what God done for you. Remember how he saved you. Remember how he's called you. Remember how he delivered you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:20]:
Remember how he's led you. Remember how he's provided for you. Remember how he's been kind to you. Yes. And you know what? You don't have to manufacture it. It'll just come out naturally. All you gotta do is don't suppress it. Do me a favor and just turn to your neighbor and say, don't suppress your love for God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:38]:
Don't suppress your love for God. Because that's what the Pharisees were asking Jesus to tell his people. Tell your people to suppress your love, their love for you. But, you know, the thing is, I think Palm Sunday also reminds us that you understand that Jesus is committed to the father and to the mission. Because, you know, previous to this previous to this that there were there was an universal agreement with Jesus to go to Jerusalem. We find earlier in the gospel of Matthew that when Jesus asks the disciples, who do people say that I am? And and people were saying all the different things, Elijah or whoever, you know, that you're the prophet. And and then Peter says, but you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus says, blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, because this hasn't been something you discovered yourself, but it's been a revelation from my father in heaven.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:47]:
And, you know, I think Peter, when he when Jesus said that, was like, oh, yeah. Hey, guys. You heard what he said about me. I think there is a little bit of that. Right? Like, yeah, I think so, Lord. Yeah, I hope I hope everybody saw, right? But then the next thing Jesus says is, and I must go to Jerusalem where I will be arrested and tortured and give my life. And the next verse that it says that Peter says is this, Lord, may that never be, God. That's that's the wrong that's the wrong road, Lord.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:23]:
Don't do that. And what is Jesus' response? Get behind me, Satan. And that he went from speaking the words of God to speaking the words of the enemy in this quick. But you know what? Why is that? It's because it wasn't that Peter just didn't want Jesus to not go to the cross. The enemy didn't want him to go to the cross. Right? And so he's trying to get him to be steered away from the mission, but Jesus would not. The prophet Isaiah speaks about it, like, when the Messiah will come, he says, because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:13]:
What is it saying? It's like, Jesus hardened his face to face the opposition. So understand, Jesus is committed to the father and to the mission because in the same way, you and I at times, sometimes we gotta harden our face to the opposition. And sometimes you gotta know what God's mission is for you. You gotta know what God's called you to do. Jesus was able to endure opposition because he knew who he was. Because he knew who he was. He knew where he came from. He knew that what he had before coming to earth.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:50]:
He knew the glory that he had with the father. The question becomes, do we know who we are? Do we know who we are? Right? Sometimes you say I'm just or whatever. You can fill in the blank. Once you say I'm just, you already probably don't see yourself clearly. You ever say that to somebody? I'm just I'm just an attender. I'm just a worker. I'm just an employee. I'm just You don't really see yourself.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:18]:
Once you start saying just Because God says, If you know Jesus, you're a son of the Most High God. You're a daughter of the King. That's who you are, that you have been bought with a price. You have been redeemed. You have been chosen. Do you know who you are? Jesus knew who he was. That's how he was able to to stand against the opposition. He knew his calling.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:47]:
John thirteen:one says, It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the father. He knew he was called. Do you know that you're called? Do you know that you're called? Who you're called to? You know, the first calling of any believer is the calling to Jesus. Jesus always calls you to himself first. He's not calling you to do something amazing. He's not calling you to do something great. He's calling you to himself first.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:21]:
Why is that? Because when you're close, it's just easy for him to give you something else. And by the way, go talk to that guy. Right? And by the way, it's like you called him to yourself, he says, Let me bless you. And by the way, go pass that blessing to the next person. This is that's the easy part when you close. That's why Jesus always calls you to himself first. He knew his mission. He says, I brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:55]:
Do you know your mission? You're called to represent him in a dark and broken world. You're called to be a representative. You're called to be light of the world, salt of the earth, a preserving agent, a seasoning agent, someone who brings hope, someone who brings encouragement. But what does the devil try to tell you? You should keep it to yourself. You should not bring religion into the workplace. You know, two things that you should never discuss at the family party, politics and religion. To me, that's the most interesting things to talk about at any at any dinner. But I think what is it? It's because this is what it says about us, for we are God's handiwork.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:51]:
Do we have to turn to your neighbor and say you're God's handiwork? You are the result of what Jesus has crafted. You are being shaped and formed by God. You're not just a bunch of cells. You're not just a random selection. You're chosen and you're the handiwork of God, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. There's things in this life that God has called us to do. And you know what? No one else can do it but you. I don't know exactly what that is for each and every one of us, but there's there's moments you go like, I know I was made for this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:43]:
I know I am supposed to step into this moment. You'll be have those times. You have those times at work. You'll have those times with your friends. You have those times with your family. You you could be at the at the park and see this little child. I don't know if you've ever been at a place like the first I've been at the the first person at an accident when people have died. Like, there's nobody there.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:11]:
And the first thing you do is, I just knew that this was not an accident, that I was here at this time at this place. I did not have life saving skills. I had a blanket. I had different things. I comforted people. Right? We got our hands dirty. Why? Because I knew this wasn't an accident. God wanted me here at this moment to pray, to to ask for God's covering over what a horrible situation.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:50]:
It's not something I chose. It's something God chose, but I couldn't ignore it. And sometimes you're gonna just be in that kind of a place. But we understand that Jesus knew his his commitment to the Father and the mission because I need to be committed to the Father in my mission. Because Jesus never calls us to do anything that already done Himself. He's the model to show us. I said the rabbis knew it was going to happen on the Passover, that the Messiah would come and judge the ungodly and this Passover week. And so there's hundreds of people that are going to be in the streets and growing this procession as it's making its way, saying, hey, Jesus of Nazareth, he's the one.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:50]:
He's the promised one. He's the king. The king is here, and Jesus must be here to rescue us from our oppressors, from the evildoers. And I think everybody knew that I don't know sure if you're familiar, but, I was gonna put a drawing of it up, and, I just I didn't have time today. And, it might show up tomorrow, but, anyway, the, right outside, on the corner of the city walls of Jerusalem is the Temple Mount. And right to the north of the Temple Mount was this dominating space called the Antonia, which was the Fortress Antonia, named after Mark Anthony that was big enough to house a Roman legion. A Roman legion is 4,600 to 6,000 people on average. Or 4,200 to 6,000 people.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:49]:
And it was built there before Jesus was born. It was built there a hundred years prior, and when King Herod came on the scene, he renovated it, and it was towers that four towers that looked over the temple. It was higher than the temple. It was in that place that the Romans tried to control the Jews and their religious, spiritual kind of life. And so the high priest, you know, that he would have special garments, right, that he would wear when he would go into the temple. And what the Romans did was the Romans took those garments and stored it in the Fortress Antonia and only allowed it to come out at the time when they would go and do the Day of Atonement, right? And they did that to control the life of the people so that they wouldn't get too religiously kind of overboard, right? So they did this thing. And I think everybody was thinking, today, those who have tried to control our faith, have tried to control our lives, have tried to control our nation, has taken our nation, and just made us a slave state, Jesus is gonna march in to the Fortress Antonia and declare his kingship. But somehow, Jesus takes a turn before that and goes into the temple.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:23]:
And when he's there, he sees people there with selling animals for sacrifice, changing money. It's busy. It's noisy. It's dirty. But what is Jesus doing in the temple? And then it says in Matthew 21 verses 12 to 13, that Jesus entered the table and began to drive out all the people, buying temple will be called a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of thieves. We know that they're supposed to offer sacrifices according to the Old Testament. Every person, every male who was born had to give a fee to to be redeemed the soul. We know that that the reason why they had money changers was because they they would have Greek coins and Roman coins and embedded with with the idols and pagan gods of their cultures.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:42]:
And so they thought it's not suitable to bring idolatrous pagan items into the temple so they would change money on the outside. So, you know, this thing about selling animals and why would they sell the animals? Because if you came from far away and you were trying to bring your animal to sacrifice, your animal would get beat up along the way, making them unfit for sacrifice. So it's just way easier to sell the animal, take the money, and then when you come to the city, just buy the fresh animal that would be acceptable for sacrifice. So it made sense for them to have money changers. It made sense for them to buy and sell animals. But you know what had happened is when Caiaphas, the high priest, and you might remember him later that in the trial of Jesus, when he became the high priest, he took that whole business, money changers, selling animals that used to be into the temple. Instead, they put it in the temple. And so Instead, they put it in the temple.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:10]:
And so what is what is Jesus saying when he's overturning the tables? It's bad enough that you make money off of people because they did it for a profit, right, not just out of the goodness of their heart. But you leave no space for other people to come and pray. You take a space that's supposed to be holy and you make it commercial. You utter the very reason the temple exists so that all peoples from all nations can come and worship. It wasn't just for the Jews. There was a courtyard for non Jewish people to worship. It was called the Court Of The Gentiles. That's where they they had the money changers and the animals.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:01]:
And like the prophet Amos said, why do you people long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light. I despise your religious feasts. I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Them, but let justice roll on like a river. Righteousness like a never failing stream. You're interested, he's saying to them, in religion and you're interested in prophet and I'm interested in my people. And, you know, so he's saying before we get rid of your oppressors, we got to get rid of something in you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:46]:
And you know God's still in the business of cleansing temples because the reality is he's not against those people. You guys ever know, you guys ever kind of think like it's those people. They're the problem people. I think everybody has that, right? And what I notice is my sin looks way worse on someone else, right? Because when I see someone else do something that sometimes maybe I struggle with, you know, I knew I did it with a good heart, but those guys suck. No, you know what I mean? Like, sometimes we do that. But I think when the Messiah came into town, when He finds sin in the heart of the people, He finds it in the things that just have become normal, the things we don't even see anymore. Yeah. Certain people cannot make it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:40]:
Certain people cannot come in now because we we created a marketplace and it's convenient, but it could have just easily have been done right outside the city and no harm, no fall. And probably Caiaphas pocketed money as a result. But that God, what He wants isn't a sacrifice. He said, I do not desire sacrifice but obedience, right? Your faith, a daily worship, a life that is in the process of being submitted to God, a life that is being willing to be shaped and formed and used for his glory. He wanted a heart that was seeking after God, not seeking to be religious. And when Jesus returns in triumph to judge the ungodly, he doesn't start with the outside. He starts with the inside. This is what it says in the book of Hebrews, I mean, first Peter.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:51]:
First Peter says this, for the time has come for judgment and it must begin with God's household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God's good news. And so, you know, when we come to Palm Sunday and this last week, it's a time before we come to Easter to just say, God, would you search my heart? God, would you help me to surrender these things to you? That would you I I want to be shaped by you. I want to be closer to you. I want to be more like you. Because the temple that he's really cleansing is you and me. Cleansing is you and me. Paul said it like this, don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? The temple He cleanses, the church that He cleanses is not the building.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:59]:
It's the hearts of His people. Why is that? Because the world is sick and filled with darkness. And it needs to be able to see some light, some hope, some sense of holiness. And it's easy for me to say, I'm not perfect. I'm just forgiven. And that's true. I'm not perfect and I'm sure you're not perfect. But you know what it's saying? It's saying, but are we letting Him change us? Because my identity is not my sin.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:47]:
I do sin, but that's not my identity. So I need to be willing to release it. When God puts His finger on it, an attitude, you know, sometimes it's a habit. Sometimes it's a place of kind of rebellion where I say, you know, Lord, I this is how I decompress. Just just leave me alone for the I'll I'll come and seek you later. And he's saying this. I just need my people to be close. That's all he wants.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:27]:
He just he wants you to be close because when you're close, it's something changes in you. Even Moses, it says, when he dwelt in the presence of God, that he would come out and his face would shine. Shine. People are the same way. You're the same way. I've seen you. When you're in the presence of God, your face shines. And it's not because of the humidity.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:54]:
No, but there's something different in you. And so, you know what the enemy tries to do? You see it today. You see it today. There there's nations that in our that we're in competition with, and they've embedded software into our public utilities. That's like the it's not old. It's brand brand new news. I don't know if you've probably heard that. But they've they've sent programs and kinda embedded into, like, you know, electric companies, water companies, so that if there ever is a conflict between our countries, that they'll shut off the water.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:45]:
They'll shut off the power. Right? It's an embed. You know, the enemy still does that today into the lives of his people, God's people. Right? He just wants to embed. He wants to embed the way we think about a subject, the way that we present. It's like and we don't realize it. It's just kind of sitting there. But sometimes when God reveals that to us, what he's saying is, would you just let him heal you? Let him change the way you think.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:19]:
Let him strengthen you to cleanse us, to renew us. Yes. Yes. And we see this week that Jesus comes in to the city and he's gonna he's gonna look for fruit among activity. He's gonna he's gonna heal people still on the inside. He's he's gonna be so concerned about setting things right. He's closing so concerned about setting things right. He's closing he's closing this chapter of his life and investing in his disciples because the greatest thing that Jesus leaves behind on earth is the people of God to continue the mission, to be blessed that they might be a blessing, to be empowered by his Spirit.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:17]:
And so he's preparing. So this week, as we're preparing for Good Friday, for the resurrection, for Easter Sunday, Sometimes, you know what I've noticed? When I see how much I've been forgiven, it draws me closer. Amen. When I see how faithful he's been Amen. Yes. It increases my devotion. Yes. When I see that though I was blinded and I never even knew I was struggling with these things and then God reveals it to me and he says, you know, you know, I've I don't show this to you so that you can be loved.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:00]:
It's because I love you. I just loved you always. It's just time to let it go. Right? It's time. And so this is, I think, what God is saying. This week, that's what we do. We prepare, prepare our hearts, be reminded of the mission that he has for us, give honor to our king, and let him cleanse the temple. And we're gonna celebrate what really cleanses us on Good Friday.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:39]:
You know, when it comes to the celebration that's coming up, I I think the most meaningful part that Sunday celebration is like the church ought to celebrate the resurrection. But you never get a resurrection. You never get a resurrection till you have a Good Friday. And it's impossible to understand the celebration of Easter if we don't understand the road He walked to win his people. And so that's why we're gonna prepare. We're gonna celebrate. We're gonna we're gonna invite people. We're gonna have a great weekend next week, but you gotta know first.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:27]:
That's really where I think that's for the believer. That's for the believer. Anybody can come into the celebration, the saved and the unsaved. But those who come to worship and honor the King and his sacrifice, that's the family. Amen? Hey, let's bow our heads real close in a word of prayer. Father, I know that the Palm Sunday is a it's an invitation to honor You. It's an invitation to prepare our hearts for you. Lord, it's an invitation to be reminded that we're still called and we're still on mission and that, Lord, you still have more in store for us than we can ask or think.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:21]:
And so, Father, just just today, just as we as we're rounding the corner into Good Friday and we're rounding that corner into the Easter weekend, Lord, we want to honor you this year. We want to honor you in this season. Father, we want you to be glorified. But Lord, thank you that glorifying and honoring you is also tied to us inviting and reaching people that you came to be the sacrifice for, just like you were for us. And, Lord, just how you changed our lives. Thank you that you're not just about changing the lives of those who already know you. But there is a whole generation, lord, of those who you've come yet to come to know you. Yes.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:17]:
Father, we we offer our efforts like the two loaves the five loaves and the two fish, that, Lord, would you use what we have, who we are? Yes. Father, would you use it because you can multiply it and be a blessing, Lord, to those outside of the family as well as those inside the family. And so, Father, thank you. Thank you for coming. Thank you for being committed. Thank you for not just taking the easy road. Father, all of these are instructions that we need. Father, we know that we love the inspiration of the mountain top, but we understand the character and the sense of strength and the sense of of really weightiness as a person is really often decided and developed in those places of cleansing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:25]:
It's formed in those places of valleys, Lord, just formed in those places where of reflection before you. And so, Father, that this week, we just give it to you all, Lord, for your honor, for your glory. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks, guys.