Given By Rev. Madison Shockley April 14, 2019
On this Palm Sunday, we take our inspiration from Psalm 118. The words bring us hope and power. It has shaped our culture and civilization. The early church had a problem. They needed to convince people who had never met Jesus to follow him. They needed to package the crucifixion so people would follow Jesus. They created Holy Week where good news bookends the bad. The church leaders took the Jewish tradition of Passover and used it to envelop the story of the crucifixion. It was a celebration of Jesus’s arrival and the possibility that he was the messiah, the deliverer of freedom. This prepared the members as they committed to Jesus to engage the struggle. Palm Sunday was the pre-celebratory act of the new christian. Our mission is to bring God’s love more fully into the world, free the captives, offer grace, redemption. and forgiveness to those who feel their lives are worthless, and create a place where those who have been denied their humanity can be validated. Every Sunday is Palm Sunday for when we leave here, we are ready to face those who oppress others. Let freedom ring!
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