SPEAKER_00: We've been in a series.
SPEAKER_00: We've been in a series talking about our responsibility as the Church of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Being that we are the church, we are members of one body.
SPEAKER_00: Can you say one body?
SPEAKER_00: Members of one body with Christ as the head.
SPEAKER_00: We understand that we need to receive our signals from the head, which is Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ is the head of the church.
SPEAKER_00: Do you believe that this morning?
SPEAKER_00: No longer are we receiving signals from the world.
SPEAKER_00: No longer are we receiving signals from somebody else, but we look to Jesus Christ as we continue out our assignment here on earth.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we might be part of a church.
SPEAKER_00: We might be part of a church, but we are not church-minded.
SPEAKER_00: We are not simply church-minded thinking about our own spiritual appetite.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes church-minded people might do that.
SPEAKER_00: We think about our own spiritual appetite.
SPEAKER_00: We think about our feelings, where we fit in in all of this, how our needs can be met.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: Paul tells us that we are to have the mind of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And we know that the mind of Christ is all about what?
SPEAKER_00: Being kingdom-minded.
SPEAKER_00: The mind of Christ is all about the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Where it's not about you, it's all about the kingdom and what you can do for the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: When Christ came on the scene, he began preaching the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Christ's ministry on earth, his death, his resurrection were all about ushering in this kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: See, Christ was kingdom-minded.
SPEAKER_00: Christ was kingdom-minded, so we are kingdom-minded.
SPEAKER_00: Can I get an amen this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Do I have any kingdom-minded people here in the house?
SPEAKER_00: What does this mean?
SPEAKER_00: This means that just like Christ is going about drawing people, watch, drawing people from all backgrounds, drawing people from all pasts, from all different types of lifestyles, and pointing them to life more abundantly.
SPEAKER_00: That's our job, men and women of God.
SPEAKER_00: We have a responsibility as the church to also be kingdom-minded, drawing people from all backgrounds, all pasts, all lifestyles, and pointing them to life more abundantly, which is Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Do we do this by worrying about ourselves all the time?
SPEAKER_00: Can we accomplish this by doing it and thinking about ourselves all the time?
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely not, because in Matthew 20 we see Jesus, verse 28, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, right?
SPEAKER_00: But to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
SPEAKER_00: We're not sitting in the restaurant waiting for the waiter or the waitress to come on over and take our order.
SPEAKER_00: It's time to get up and get to work and start to serve in the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Just as Christ set the example for each and every one of us.
SPEAKER_00: Being kingdom-minded is realizing, hey, the world is lost, and the world needs you and I to what?
SPEAKER_00: Reflect his love.
SPEAKER_00: We need to reflect his selflessness.
SPEAKER_00: We need to reflect his goodness.
SPEAKER_00: And not only does being kingdom-minded require us to have the mind of Christ, but we said this last week.
SPEAKER_00: Being kingdom-minded requires us to be out of the ordinary.
SPEAKER_00: To be out of the ordinary.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you smile when I say that because you're naturally out of the ordinary, and I get it.
SPEAKER_00: But being kingdom-minded requires us to be out of the ordinary.
SPEAKER_00: Why do I say this?
SPEAKER_00: Last week we looked at two narratives, two narratives that just so happened towards the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And in the two stories that we recounted, Jesus points out the difference between those who are kingdom-minded and those who are not.
SPEAKER_00: And you'll notice, and in pointing out these differences, we see that the acts that take place were out of the ordinary.
SPEAKER_00: Those that were being kingdom-minded were doing things out of the ordinary.
SPEAKER_00: Mary, who we talked about, she takes that expensive perfume.
SPEAKER_00: What would have been worth a year's wages?
SPEAKER_00: Could you imagine?
SPEAKER_00: Taking a year's worth of your wages and pouring it at the feet of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Could you imagine?
SPEAKER_00: So out of the ordinary, the natural mind would say, Why was this waste made?
SPEAKER_00: Why would you waste such expense on Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Yet she gave her very, very best, not even realizing that it would represent the anointing of his body for what was to come on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Last week we said Jesus kneeling at the feet of his disciples, remember at the Last Supper?
SPEAKER_00: Kneeling to wash the disciples' feet, the natural mind would say, Lord, thou shalt never wash my feet.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not touching those disgusting things.
SPEAKER_00: You've said it.
SPEAKER_00: But Christ humbling himself, setting an example of how the disciples, but not only the disciples, how the church, even today, how we should be treating each other.
SPEAKER_00: How we should treat each other after he ascended into the heavens and not too long after, they would put this act into work where they were they would begin serving one another and begin the church of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: See, both acts are so out of the ordinary, yet both acts point to the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: See, when you live out God's word, when you open up God's word, and when you put it into practice, it might not be the popular thing to do.
SPEAKER_00: People might say, Why do you give the way that you do?
SPEAKER_00: Why do you spend so much time at church?
SPEAKER_00: Why do you love the way that you do?
SPEAKER_00: Why do you keep on forgiving the way that you do when people have wronged you?
SPEAKER_00: When they've been so hurtful.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, why do you serve the way that you do?
SPEAKER_00: Why do you go to church faithfully?
SPEAKER_00: Why do you give selflessly?
SPEAKER_00: Because I choose to be kingdom-minded.
SPEAKER_00: I choose to be kingdom-minded, and in doing so, it causes me to do things out of the ordinary.
SPEAKER_00: In 1 Peter, we read in chapter 2, verse 9.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to read this passage with me.
SPEAKER_00: Let's look up to the screens.
SPEAKER_00: But ye are a what?
SPEAKER_00: Keep reading, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people.
SPEAKER_00: That ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light.
SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You're different.
SPEAKER_00: Today is Palm Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: Today's Palm Sunday, and we celebrate Jesus' triumph and entry into Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: And if we look at this account, it's special because it's found in all four Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
SPEAKER_00: But this morning I want to read from the book of Matthew.
SPEAKER_00: And Sarah had recounted a portion of it during worship this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Beautiful worship time this morning, praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And in Matthew chapter 21, if you want to open up your Bibles or you can follow on the screen, starting in verse 1, when they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus had sent two disciples, saying to them, Go into the village opposite of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with it.
SPEAKER_00: Untie them and bring them to me.
SPEAKER_00: And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, The Lord needs them, and he will send them on immediately.
SPEAKER_00: I love that passage.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord has need of them.
SPEAKER_00: I preached a sermon, I think it was last year, Palm Sunday or the prior year, you can look it up.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is in need of you.
SPEAKER_00: And when the Lord needs you, you just go.
SPEAKER_00: Now the crowds going ahead of him, and those who followed were shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: If you read this account, there is quite a spectacular that is going on that is taking place.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus receiving a welcome into Jerusalem like none other.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus receiving a welcome into Jerusalem like that of a king.
SPEAKER_00: Like that of a king, yet instead of riding on a normal uh on a noble steed, like we would imagine a king would do, what does Jesus come in on?
SPEAKER_00: A donkey.
SPEAKER_00: Instead of a parade of soldiers, Jesus comes with his group of misfits, or as Sammy would put it, his broken toys.
SPEAKER_00: Being kingdom-minded, we see again Jesus is doing something out of the ordinary.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, we said that kingdom-minded, it's out of the ordinary.
SPEAKER_00: The crowds are spreading their cloaks on the road while others are cutting palm branches down from the trees, spreading them out on the road as Jesus approached Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: People shouting, Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: These people were excited.
SPEAKER_00: Why were they so excited?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, it didn't even fully show his power yet.
SPEAKER_00: But they had heard about Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: They heard about Jesus, they heard about the miracles that he had performed.
SPEAKER_00: Some of them have had heard or even seen Lazarus walk out of the grave.
SPEAKER_00: This was a big spectacle, a big scene.
SPEAKER_00: It continues in verse 10 of the same chapter in Matthew 21.
SPEAKER_00: When he had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, Who is this?
SPEAKER_00: Who is this?
SPEAKER_00: And the crowds were saying, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.
SPEAKER_00: See, Jesus had not yet walked to the cross.
SPEAKER_00: I love having these symbols here so I can paint the story.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus had not yet walked to the cross yet.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus had not yet been raised out of the grave from the dead on the third day.
SPEAKER_00: That's over here.
SPEAKER_00: People thought he's just a prophet.
SPEAKER_00: Yet Jesus still was able to draw a crowd and cause a spectacle.
SPEAKER_00: It reminds me of one of those moments, and I don't know if this has ever happened to you, where you're sitting in a restaurant or you're sitting at the airport.
SPEAKER_00: This happened to me while I was walking down the street, especially in New York City or Los Angeles, and you start to hear commotion going on.
SPEAKER_00: You look down and there's a little stir in commotion.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone starts to move closer and closer and closer to see what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: You've done it too.
SPEAKER_00: You see the commotion, so you start to lean over, then you scoot your chair over a little bit more.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need to walk that way, but you pretend you have to go to the bathroom and you're lost.
SPEAKER_00: You've done it.
SPEAKER_00: People start taking out their phones.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone's asking, who is it?
SPEAKER_00: Who is it?
SPEAKER_00: Who are they taking pictures of?
SPEAKER_00: Who is everyone trying to get a glimpse of?
SPEAKER_00: Come to find out, it's just a YouTuber or somebody on a show that you don't watch or care about.
SPEAKER_00: That's typically who it is.
SPEAKER_00: If you think if the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem happened today, I think you would see people waving their cell phones instead of palm branches, trying to get a glimpse of what was going on.
SPEAKER_00: Who is this Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Who is this person?
SPEAKER_00: Who is this person causing such a spectacle?
SPEAKER_00: Scripture says the city was stirred, saying, Who is this?
SPEAKER_00: Why all the commotion?
SPEAKER_00: Why does everyone have their palm branches out?
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus had come.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus had come.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, at this point in this story leading up to Resurrection Sunday, Jesus becomes the it person.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus becomes the it person.
SPEAKER_00: Not because he is on the Forbes 100 magazine.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus becomes the it person not because he is the most handsome man alive.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus becomes this it person not because he's a famous actor.
SPEAKER_00: He did not win the Super Bowl.
SPEAKER_00: He did not win a Nobel Prize.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus becomes the it person because he is reflecting the supernatural power of God.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus becomes the it person because he is reflecting the supernatural power of the Almighty God.
SPEAKER_00: See, in John's account, we see people coming to see this miracle worker, as I said before, but if we look at John 12, verse 17, it says, So the people who were with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify about him.
SPEAKER_00: For this reason, all the people went to meet him because they had heard that he had performed the sign.
SPEAKER_00: Whether it was the things that Jesus said, whether it was the things that Jesus did, these people knew that Jesus was somebody special.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because he was a reflection of God, he reflected God.
SPEAKER_00: So what did they do?
SPEAKER_00: They ran out to meet him, they celebrated his arrival, they chased after him.
SPEAKER_00: If you read on in the book of John, one verse later, after what I just read, watch the Pharisees' reaction to all of this commotion.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 19, it says, So the Pharisees said to one another, You see that you are not accomplishing anything.
SPEAKER_00: They're talking amongst themselves.
SPEAKER_00: Look, the world has gone after him.
SPEAKER_00: See, being kingdom-minded, Jesus reflected the power of the Almighty God.
SPEAKER_00: And so the world had gone after him.
SPEAKER_00: This morning, men and women of God, being kingdom-minded, yes, it's having the mind of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Being kingdom-minded, it's definitely thinking out of the ordinary.
SPEAKER_00: But I want to tell you this morning that being kingdom-minded is reflecting the supernatural power of God.
SPEAKER_00: If you are kingdom-minded, you should be reflecting the supernatural.
SPEAKER_00: Reflecting the supernatural.
SPEAKER_00: Typically, when we hear of being kingdom-minded, we tend to limit it just the way that we think.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm being kingdom-minded.
SPEAKER_00: If we have the kingdom on our minds, we are being kingdom-minded.
SPEAKER_00: If we have the mind of Christ, we are being kingdom-minded.
SPEAKER_00: If we do what the word of God tells us, we are kingdom-minded.
SPEAKER_00: But in this narrative that we just read this morning, Christ shows us that being kingdom-minded is more than just thoughts.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to go even further.
SPEAKER_00: Being kingdom-minded is more than just action.
SPEAKER_00: You can do all of you, you can do all you want, but if you're not reflecting who God is, if you're not reflecting the supernatural, then something is missing.
SPEAKER_00: Kingdom-minded is reflecting the supernatural power of God so that others will be drawn to who God is.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus makes reference to this internal experience of the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Watch what he says in Luke chapter 17.
SPEAKER_00: This is going back.
SPEAKER_00: Neither shall they say, Lo here or lo there, for they were waiting for a certain thing.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, the kingdom of God is what?
SPEAKER_00: The kingdom of God is what?
SPEAKER_00: Just making sure.
SPEAKER_00: In another translation, it says, the kingdom of God is in your midst.
SPEAKER_00: The kingdom of God is among you.
SPEAKER_00: When you have the mind of Christ, when you are willing to think out of the ordinary, when you begin to allow the words of Christ to transform your life, you should see a reflection of Christ within you.
SPEAKER_00: You should see a reflection of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Watch, others should see a reflection of Christ within you.
SPEAKER_00: You should be able to see a reflection of the kingdom of God within you.
SPEAKER_00: I ask you this morning, what are you a reflection of?
SPEAKER_00: What are you a reflection of?
SPEAKER_00: What do you reflect?
SPEAKER_00: Are you a reflection?
SPEAKER_00: Are you looking at the monkey picture?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: What are you a reflection of?
SPEAKER_00: Are you a reflection of your parents?
SPEAKER_00: Are you a reflection of your mom or your dad?
SPEAKER_00: Think about it.
SPEAKER_00: Watch this.
SPEAKER_00: Are you a reflection of something that you saw on television or in a movie?
SPEAKER_00: Are you a reflection of your friends and the people that you associate with?
SPEAKER_00: Your coworkers, are you a reflection of them?
SPEAKER_00: Are you a reflection of your company that you work for?
SPEAKER_00: If I look at Emara, our baby girl, I see a reflection of mom sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I see a reflection of dad.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I see a reflection of coconut.
SPEAKER_00: And if you don't know what cocoa melon is, it's what all the babies are watching on Netflix.
SPEAKER_00: And they might not watch coconut, it could be blippy, it could be all the other ones, and you start to see a reflection in your child of the things that they're watching on TV.
SPEAKER_00: Where did she learn that?
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, cocoa melon.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if this has ever happened to you.
SPEAKER_00: But once in a while I'll come across an old favorite movie.
SPEAKER_00: Movies that we used to watch as kids when we were younger.
SPEAKER_00: And we had the VHS.
SPEAKER_00: This is before you could stream whatever you want.
SPEAKER_00: Especially if you would rent a movie and you only had like three days, you would watch it as many times as you could as a kid.
SPEAKER_00: Because you knew it had to go back.
SPEAKER_00: And mom and dad weren't paying the$20 to keep it.
SPEAKER_00: But I remember I watch, sometimes I'll sit down and I'll watch some old movies that we watched growing up, or a favorite TV show that we used to watch.
SPEAKER_00: And while I'm watching these movies, all of a sudden I'll start to see characteristics of myself in these characters.
SPEAKER_00: Lines that I've memorized, lines that I use today.
SPEAKER_00: I'll watch some movies and TV shows, and I'll be like, that's me, that's Sarah, that's Timmy, my brothers and sisters.
SPEAKER_00: We didn't even realize, but we were becoming these characters, a reflection of these characters.
SPEAKER_00: I'll find a phrase that I said that I might still use, a reaction that I make, a way of doing things.
SPEAKER_00: As we allow these things into our minds, we eventually become a reflection of them.
SPEAKER_00: And unfortunately, you can't even help it.
SPEAKER_00: But I ask you again, what are you a reflection of?
SPEAKER_00: Christ reflected the supernatural power of God.
SPEAKER_00: That's why people were running, that's why they were waving.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't even know that he was the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't know that he was part of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: They just thought he was a prophet, but yet he was reflecting the supernatural.
SPEAKER_00: He was reflecting the supernatural with the words that he spoke.
SPEAKER_00: He was reflecting the supernatural with the miracles that were unfolding around him when he would walk into the room.
SPEAKER_00: The peace that would ensue.
SPEAKER_00: As he rides into Jerusalem, this spectacle occurring, people are saying, Who is this Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Who is this Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: At the time, they only thought he was a prophet, a prophet of Galilee.
SPEAKER_00: But we know Peter says, we read that last week, you are the Son of the living God.
SPEAKER_00: Peter knew.
SPEAKER_00: After Jesus is arrested in the garden, that happens over here, beaten and forced to breathe his last breaths on a cross.
SPEAKER_00: If you look at Matthew 27, and this is a powerful moment, it says in verse 54, now when the centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus saw the earthquake and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, What?
SPEAKER_00: Truly this was the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: They saw such power, they saw such miraculous unfold.
SPEAKER_00: They had to acknowledge, hey, truly this is the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't even see him walk out of the grave yet.
SPEAKER_00: If the Pharisees were concerned about the world going after Jesus before he died on the cross, imagine the excitement when Jesus is resurrected from the grave in three days.
SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: The power of the Almighty God is reflected through every aspect of Jesus Christ, showing that there is a living God who desires to do the supernatural in the world today.
SPEAKER_00: If we read the Lord's Prayer, it says, What?
SPEAKER_00: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Thy kingdom come, the kingdom within you, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Being a reflection of the kingdom of God as we go about our assignment here on earth.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because people need to know that there is a living God out there.
SPEAKER_00: People need to know that there's somebody who loves them.
SPEAKER_00: People need to know as they're having thoughts about taking their lives.
SPEAKER_00: They need to know that somebody has a plan and a purpose and a future for them.
SPEAKER_00: Why do you need to reflect the kingdom?
SPEAKER_00: You can go about reflecting anything you want, but why do you have to reflect the kingdom?
SPEAKER_00: Because people need it.
SPEAKER_00: If you and I could allow just a piece, just a portion of the supernatural to shine through us, we would allow others to see that there is a living God, praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Not one in the grave, not one that's carved.
SPEAKER_00: There's a living God who is still doing supernatural things today.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, there's a God who loves you, there's a God who cares about you.
SPEAKER_00: Could you imagine that?
SPEAKER_00: He cares about all the nonsense that you face every day.
SPEAKER_00: There's a God who is able to do immeasurably more than you could ever think or ask.
SPEAKER_00: See, being kingdom-minded is reflecting the supernatural power of the Almighty God, so that others would run.
SPEAKER_00: They might not have palm branches in their hands.
SPEAKER_00: But being kingdom-minded is reflecting the supernatural power of God so that all of humanity will run to take part in the kingdom of God as well.
SPEAKER_00: What is the supernatural power?
SPEAKER_00: You might ask this.
SPEAKER_00: What is the supernatural?
SPEAKER_00: Pastor Stephen, I don't know if I'm so bold to go pray for the sick and have the faith to watch healing.
SPEAKER_00: You work on it.
SPEAKER_00: You continue to ask for that gift and allow God to do the supernatural, but guess what?
SPEAKER_00: You can start with the small supernaturals that you don't even realize.
SPEAKER_00: What is this supernatural that you can reflect?
SPEAKER_00: What is this supernatural that you can reflect as you go as you go about being kingdom-minded?
SPEAKER_00: Guess what?
SPEAKER_00: Christ, he started by just reflecting love.
SPEAKER_00: Could you do the same?
SPEAKER_00: Could you reflect supernatural love?
SPEAKER_00: Not the way the world gives it, but something supernatural.
SPEAKER_00: Something so out of the ordinary.
SPEAKER_00: Something that nobody else would even do, but you choose to love like Christ supernaturally.
SPEAKER_00: How about this?
SPEAKER_00: Christ reflected forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: Could you reflect supernatural forgiveness?
SPEAKER_00: A forgiveness so out of the ordinary, it's supernatural.
SPEAKER_00: Supernatural?
SPEAKER_00: Could you reflect sacrifice?
SPEAKER_00: Could you reflect healing?
SPEAKER_00: Christ did.
SPEAKER_00: Could you reflect the supernatural this morning?
SPEAKER_00: On his ride into Jerusalem, Jesus Christ, he reflected supernatural humility.
SPEAKER_00: Could you reflect that this morning?
SPEAKER_00: A humility so out of the ordinary.
SPEAKER_00: Could you reflect the same?
SPEAKER_00: Imagine, imagine if you reflected the power of God.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine sitting in a restaurant and you're just a reflection of the supernatural.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine walking into work and you're just reflecting the supernatural power of God.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine you're just walking into providence, not riding anything spectacular.
SPEAKER_00: You're just driving an old beat-up car.
SPEAKER_00: Yet you're reflecting the supernatural, the supernatural power of God.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine if you reflected love, imagine if you reflected forgiveness and healing and humility, imagine if you reflected that there is a living God who desires to give life abundantly to all who are in desperate need of a living God who operates in the supernatural.
SPEAKER_00: If you were just like Paul, if you were to allow people to follow you as you follow Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's daring.
SPEAKER_00: That takes confidence that only the Holy Spirit can give.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine if you were kingdom minded, imagine if you reflected the supernatural power of God.