Matthew 21:1-11

John 12:18-19

How to not get lost in the sauce of whatever you want God to be that he's not being.

1 - What do you need saved from today? In this story they thought it was Rome, until Jesus made it about greed in the temple. They thought it was an oppressive government until Jesus made it about sacrilegious conduct. They thought he was the second coming of a king on a warhorse with a hammer and an army, until he showed up on a donkey with a bunch of teenage boys.. Your expectations will oftentimes be very different from God’s reality, and it is done to expose the depths of lordship and faith in areas God wants us to go past the surface in.

2 - If you want to celebrate him in the streets but not let him cleanse your spirit you will be in for a rude awakening. Jesus allowed the palm branches to be waved and then walked directly into the temple and cleansed it of anything but the worship it was intended for. External behaviours and performance will never exempt you from internal development of the surrendered and sanctified soul. Celebration is not the same as surrender, and waving a palm branch is not the same as carrying a cross. You can celebrate him publicly while still resisting him privately.

3 - The tipping point of it all… the secret of Palm Sunday that turns from celebration to the slaying of our Savior. A God who has no favorites anymore. Jesus finishes off his final week before crucifixion making space and a place for those who historically had no space, or place in the kingdom of God. We love a Savior who includes us—we struggle with a Savior who includes ‘them’. Jesus will offend your expectations, by including people you wouldn’t… because Jesus will cross lines that religion tries to draw.

Luke 7:18-28

Isaiah 35:3-6.

Revelation 6;7-8

Three Tips from a “Recovering” Cynic

1- Don’t Let What You See Define What You Believe.. If we allow the lens of how we see the world to become unhealthy, we start to point out the unhealthyness of everyone and everything. We often say “seeing is believing,” but the bible says we walk by faith, not by sight. Cynicism creeps in when what I see doesn’t match what I believe, or what I don’t see becomes me walking in unbelief. John saw heaven open, but prison closed his perspective. The question of it all… “will I let my circumstances rewrite my convictions?”

2- You Better Have Jesus’ Perspective Before You Build Yours.. John questions Jesus, but Jesus responds by affirming John—He speaks identity, not insecurity. Cynicism grows when God moves for others but not for me, and I’m left sitting in the tension of unmet expectations. At that moment, I have a choice: harden my heart or keep it tender. Cynicism isn’t just wrong thinking… it's a wounded perspective. If I let my flesh become my lens, don’t be surprised when my spirit starts dying.

3- Where Cynicism Lives, Resurrection Dies.. Cynicism doesn’t just make you negative—it makes you numb, draining the life out of everything. Promise turns into prison, hope into hopelessness, joy into heaviness. That’s why Revelation calls it ashen—grey, pale, stripped of color. Cynicism says nothing changes, no one’s real, and nothing new is coming. But the Gospel says dead things don’t stay dead, so I refuse to let my pain become my lens…I will not let a ‘prison’ season shape my sight.

John 14:6

Luke 24:13–35

1. ROAD – Even when we don’t recognize Him, Jesus is walking with us.
2. WORD – Before Jesus opens our eyes, He ignites our hearts.
3. TABLE – At the table the crucified Christ is revealed.
4. REVELATION – One moment with Jesus changes how we see everything.
5. MISSION – When Jesus becomes real our direction changes