THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY - MARK 11:1-11

On this Palm Sunday, Pastor Erik Rangel from our sister church in Yuma took us back to the first Palm Sunday. That moment when Jesus entered Jerusalem to shouts of praise. The people had been waiting for the coming of the king. And they were right to celebrate his arrival. Yet, he was not coming to Jerusalem to take a victory lap and sit on a throne. His real work had just begun. He didn’t allow himself to get caught up in the celebration, but kept his eyes focused upon the cross. He didn’t come to be the king the crowds wanted, but the king we most deeply needed.

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EXODUS 18:1-27

God’s done the work of making us a people. Now, we’ve got to do the work of being that people. Just like Moses couldn’t do it on his own, none of us can live the Christian life alone. It’s going to take all of us to be who God wants us to be. Because the redeemed life is a community project.

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EXODUS 17:8-16

Is it ever okay for us to hold a grudge? What about God? Because in Ex 17:8-16, he declares an unrelenting, unending, no-terms-of-peace-to-be-offered war with a people called the Amalekites. What’s going on here? What are we to make of God's promise to resist them forever? How does this story shape our stories in any way? It means that while God has made peace with us, there are some things we just can't make peace with. Because the beating heart of this battle back then has everything to do with the spiritual struggle and fight against our sin we’re caught up in today.

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LUKE 24:13-35

This Sunday we had the joy of hearing our Pastoral Intern, Robert Lopez, preach to us for the very first time! He told us about 2 disciples on that very first Easter Sunday who couldn’t see Jesus. They were lost, confused, and blinded by sadness. But Christ came and found them on the road to Emmaus. On the way, the men tell him that some of their friends reported the tomb was empty and Jesus was alive, "but him they did not see." The Risen Lord responds by showing himself first through the Bible (Luke 24:27) and then through the broken bread (24:30-31). He reveals himself through the Scriptures and the sacrament and their eyes are opened to see him. And once they see him, they can't keep it to themselves. Because this experience of seeing Jesus leads directly to them sharing Jesus with the others. This sight of his glory moved them to get back on the road, race down to Jerusalem, and proclaim to the others that "The Lord has risen indeed!" (24:34). This sort of sight should do the very same thing for us. 

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WHO GAVE HIMSELF FOR YOU

Jesus established the Lord’s Supper while eating the Passover meal. On the night before his death, he and his friends gathered around a table with a whole roasted lamb lying right in the center. In this moment he revealed that the true meaning of the celebration wasn’t the lamb upon the table, but the Lamb presiding over the table! That he was what it was really all about. The one true Lamb of God that would be offered to redeem his people forevermore. Fast forward to 2026. We’re on the other side of the cross. We know that "Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed for us" (1 Cor 5:7). But we're separated from the urgency, the embodied reality, and the historical happening of that moment. We struggle to believe because we cannot see. So God gives us communion: a special means of beholding the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world through the broken bread and poured out cup.

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EXODUS 15:22-17:7

This past Sunday, we read through 3 different scenes, 3 different stories about food and water. All filled with the same pattern of hungering or thirsting which gives way to grumbling and complaining. All really asking one and the same question: “Will God give us what we need to stay alive?” Yet, beyond this immediate need, there’s a deeper question still: "Will God really satisfy?" At this point in the journey, Israel has been freed from slavery in Egypt, but they're wondering if life is actually better with God. Ex 15:22-17:7 shows us that nothing satisfies like life with the Savior.

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EXODUS 15:1-21

When the people of Israel came upon the Red Sea shore, they must have been like astronauts returning to earth. The ordeal they suffered in Egypt is finally behind them. Life in the Promised Land is before them. They fall down to their knees and kiss the ground under their feet. But then, they look up and direct their gaze beyond where astronauts have ever gone. They turn their eyes to heaven and they raise a song to God. This moment in the story teaches us that we should sing too. Not that this text is really about singing. This text is about God. But what this text tells us is that when you see God for who he really is, you can’t help but sing.

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STAND BACK, KEEP SILENT, AND SEE GOD’S SALVATION

Just when Israel thought they were done with Egypt, they realize that Egypt is not done with them. In Ex 13:17-14:31, Pharaoh makes one last stand. Pursuing the people to the edge of the Red Sea. Leaving them with their backs against the wall. Stuck between a hostile army and the deep blue sea. Death is before them. Death is behind them. And the people have no idea what to do. What should we do when we’re struck with fear like this? When life seems beyond us? When we realize we’re in a fight we just can’t win? Moses tells us the only thing we can do: stand back, keep silent, and see God at work. Because salvation is the Lord’s. Our help comes from the Lord. Our every battle belongs to the Lord.

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BY RETELLING AND CELEBRATING

Immediately after getting out of Egypt (11:1-12:42), the Book of Exodus provides instructions for how to celebrate the story of getting out of Egypt (12:43-13:16). Every year the people of Israel were commanded to keep the Passover and Feast of the Unleavened Bread. Telling and re-telling the story of their rescue. This reveals just how prone to forget we are, even when it comes to the most important things. Even more, it reveals the goodness of our God. Because he not only redeems us, but helps us to remember it. He does so by giving us a story that comes with sacraments. Visible, tangible, experiential means to immerse ourselves in all he’s done for us. He commands his people to partake of them together and pass the story on from generation to generation.

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ISAIAH 55

We're all spending our lives on something. But on Sunday we learned from Sal Valenzuela, church plant resident at Cross of Grace El Paso, that the best things are offered without money and without price. In Is 55 God throws a party. He invites those who are wasting their lives on what will never bring them life. He welcomes the poor who have nothing to contribute to the meal. He opens wide his doors to those who could never earn or afford the blessings he provides. But this seems too good to be true! How could he give all this to people like us? Because another has already paid the price. Jesus Christ has shed his precious blood to secure our seats at this table. Today, he's risen, reigning, and inviting us to come and eat the very bread of life and have our thirst quenched by living water that will truly satisfy. 

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE