I Am Not Religious : The Difference Is Jesus : Christianity vs. Judaism  - (Full Experience)

Would you stand as we worship this morning? Happy Palm Sunday. Thank you for being in church today. Would you put your hands together? We're gonna sing, we're gonna praise you. We sing. ♪ I was buried beneath my shame ♪ ♪ And who could carry that kind of weight ♪ There's only one. ♪ It was my tomb ♪ ♪ Till I met you ♪ Hands together. ♪ I was breathing but not alive ♪ All my fears. ♪ And all my fears I tried to hide ♪ ♪ It was my tomb till I met you ♪ Come on, this is good news. We say. ♪ You called my name and I ran out of that grave ♪ You've got freedom today. We say. ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ ♪ You called my name and I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ Put your hands together. You got freedom today because you waited. So we say. ♪ You saved my soul ♪ Are you grateful for that today?

♪ Now your freedom is all that I know ♪ Thank you, Lord. ♪ The old made new, oh Jesus when I met you ♪ You got freedom today. ♪ You called my name and I ran out of that grave ♪ Hey. ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ ♪ You called my name and I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your glorious day ♪ ♪ Your glorious day ♪ Put your hands together like this. Hey. It's the beautiful thing about the story of Easter. That we needed rescue, our sin was heavy. This is what he did for us. ♪ I needed a rescue, my sin was heavy ♪ ♪ But chains break at the weight of your glory ♪ ♪ I needed shelter, I was an orphan ♪ ♪ Now you call me a citizen of heaven ♪ ♪ When I was broken, you were my healing ♪ ♪ And your love is the air that I'm breathing ♪ ♪ I have a future, my eyes are open ♪ ♪ Cause when you called my name, oh I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ I ran out of that grave, thank you Lord ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness, into your glorious day ♪ ♪ He called your name, you called my name ♪ ♪ And I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness, into your glorious day ♪ ♪ Your glorious day ♪ Give him praise today, he's worthy, he's worthy.

Happy Palm Sunday Fellowship Church, how's everybody doing this morning? Today we remember a king, one that nobody expected. King of heaven stepped down from heaven to earth. And on Palm Sunday, he didn't come in riding in on a war horse. He came in riding on a lowly donkey. He was unexpected, he was humble, he was here to serve the least of these. And everyone was saying that he came for a throne, but he actually came to lay his life down. Before he wore a crown of glory, he wore a crown of thorns. But what looked like defeat was actually victory because he rose, he reigns, and he is seated in glory. So we're here to worship our high king of heaven today. I invite you to sing this with us. ♪ King above all kings ♪ Lord above all others, crown of creation, bow before your throne. The beginning and the end. Who was and is to come. All power and all praise is yours and yours alone. The King of heaven, the Lamb that was slain. You rose like a lion and conquered the grave. You're seated in glory, your power displayed. Oh, high King of heaven, Lord Jesus, you reign. Clothed in majesty, clothed in majesty. Robed in righteousness, crowned with many crowns. Be lifted up, be lifted up. This is what the Bible says. That every knee will bow and every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord. Oh, that Jesus Christ is Lord. Oh, high King of heaven, the Lamb that was slain. You rose like a lion and conquered the grave. You're seated in glory, your power displayed. Oh, high King of heaven, Lord Jesus, you reign. When the trumpets sound, you'll be riding on the clouds. And every eye will see your return. You'll be coming for your bride. Yes. And you'll raise the dead to life. Come on. Your will on earth be done. Oh, sing it out. So come, Lord Jesus, come. Oh, high King of heaven, the Lamb that was slain. He rose. You rose like a lion and conquered the grave. Now seated in glory, your power displayed. Oh, high King of heaven, Lord Jesus, you reign. Sing high King of heaven. Oh, high King of heaven, Lord Jesus, you reign. Yes, you do. Oh, high King of heaven, Lord Jesus, you reign. ♪ He's the name above all names ♪ ♪ Worthy of all praise ♪ ♪ In my heart I sing how great is our God ♪ Come on, lift that up. ♪ He's the name above all names ♪ ♪ Worthy of all praise ♪

♪ In my heart I sing how great is our God ♪ Our King of heaven, He's the name. ♪ He's the name above all names ♪ ♪ You are worthy of all praise ♪ Oh yes, you are, Jesus. ♪ In my heart I sing how great is our God ♪ Come on, lift your voice and sing how great. How great. ♪ How great is our God, sing with me ♪ ♪ How great is our God, let all to see how great, how great ♪ ♪ How great is our God ♪ Come on, church, lift your voice and sing how great. ♪ How great is our God, sing with me ♪ ♪ How great is our God, let all to see how great, how great ♪ ♪ How great is our God, let all to see how great, how great ♪ Come on, sing our King of heaven. ♪ Oh our King of heaven, the Lamb that was slain ♪ ♪ You rose like a lion and conquered the grave ♪ ♪ You rose like a lion and conquered the grave ♪ ♪ Now sing in glory, your power displayed, oh yes, yes ♪ ♪ Oh our King of heaven, Lord Jesus you reign ♪ One more time, our King. ♪ Oh our King of heaven, Lord Jesus you reign ♪ You know, the Bible teaches us that all creation worships 24 seven, that all of heaven worships 24 seven. And yet our God desires to still hear our voices because He values it, because He desires it, but more importantly, because He is worthy of it. Church, can we take a moment to show how worthy He is,

how great our God is this morning. I know we can do better than that. It's Palm Sunday, let me hear you. Go ahead, take a moment right now, turn to your neighbor, say happy Palm Sunday, and you can go ahead and find your seats. I wanna say good morning to every single one of you. Welcome to this beautiful Palm Sunday at Fellowship Church. I'm praying that the weather continues to stay like this for the next three weeks, but we know that in Texas, that is not likely gonna happen, but you know what? So thankful that every single one of you, you are here with us today. My name is JC, I'm one of our pastors on staff, and on behalf of our pastors, Ed and Lisa Young, thank you for being here today. We're thrilled that you're here, especially if you're here for the very first time, can we show our appreciation to all of our first time guests? And listen, I'm gonna be very honest with you, Fellowship Church is more than a building, it's more than the seats that you sit in, it is a family, and we wanna help you find your community, and a great way to do that is by grabbing the Connect Card in the seat back in front of you, and we're gonna help you find your community. So grab that Connect Card in the seat back in front of you, it's this blue card right here, grab it, fill out some basic information, and then when the offering passes,

you can drop it in that offering, and then our team, later this week, is gonna be in contact with you, we wanna get to know you a little bit better, but also help you to find that community that so many are longing for. What I love about Fellowship Church is we've got so many Bible study classes for single adults, for young married couples. older marrieds, we've got connect groups for every stage of life for men and women and I want you to know that this is a place for you and yesterday was a testament to that because we got to see all of our men and all of our different campuses come together for our men's monster truck rally and what I love is seeing men grow stronger together in Christ there's so there's so much power in that but what I love is that in a few weeks for all the ladies we have got our sisterhood conference taking place hosted by Miss Lisa and we've got a special guest Sadie Robertson Huff so for the fellas that were at the men's rally you are now required to register your wife as a gift so make sure that you do that it's happening April 18th and then maybe you're new to all this you're trying to figure out what's my next step maybe you're wanting to get more involved newcomers is taking place right after this experience in our source cafe stop on by we have a free meal provided for you child care is taken care of so stop by meet some of our amazing team and get to know the heartbeat of Fellowship Church and right now we're going to step into a time of generosity and generosity here at Fellowship Church it is a privilege now I want to be very clear if you are a guest here today feel no pressure to participate but what I love is that our generosity is impacting so many lives and I simply want to say thank you church for how much you are giving and even for those of you who are going above and beyond your regular tides investing into this beacon of hope called the anchor center that we are breaking ground this summer on and we are thrilled for what God is going to do but we want to take a moment to kind of just remember why we're here we're here because we're here to worship Jesus to remember that we need Him every breath we take every step we take so will you join me as we take a moment to pray over this morning

Lord Jesus we thank you that we can come together as your church we pray and declare and believe that you are with us right here and right now Lord we thank you that you are mighty to save that you're worthy of all praise and we pray God that you meet us in this time and show us and show us who you are we love you we praise you it's in Jesus name amen you please remain seated as the offering passes creating one God Almighty and through your Holy Spirit conceiving Christ the Son Jesus our Savior Lord I believe in God our Father I believe in Christ the Son I believe in the Holy Spirit our God is three in one I believe in the resurrection that we will rise again for I believe in the name of Jesus yes me me crucified descended into darkness i believe in god our father i believe in christ the son i believe in the holy spirit our god is three in one i believe in the resurrection that we will rise again for i believe in the name of jesus come on will you stand and sing i believe it's a clear day i believe you rose again i believe that jesus christ ♪ I believe, oh I believe in you ♪ ♪ I believe you rose again ♪ ♪ I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord ♪ ♪ I believe in life eternal ♪ ♪ I believe in the virgin birth ♪ ♪ I believe in the saints communion ♪ ♪ And in your holy church ♪ ♪ I believe in the resurrection when Jesus comes again ♪ ♪ For I believe in the name of Jesus ♪

♪ I believe in the name of Jesus ♪ Come on, will you declare that today, we believe. ♪ I believe in God our Father ♪ ♪ I believe in Christ the Son ♪ ♪ I believe in the Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Our God is three in one ♪ ♪ I believe in the resurrection that we will rise again ♪ ♪ For I believe in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ I believe in God our Father ♪ ♪ I believe in Christ the Son ♪ ♪ I believe in the Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Our God is three in one ♪ ♪ I believe in the resurrection that we will rise again ♪ ♪ We will rise again for I believe in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ For I believe in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ For I believe in the name of Jesus ♪ Yes, we do, we believe. Come on, do you believe that today? Let's declare it, let's lift up his name and let's get ready for what God's gonna do today. You may be seated. I believe in the name of Jesus. You may be seated. I believe in the name of Jesus. I'll never forget what happened years ago. I was a young guy in my early 20s and I found myself walking through the lobby of a massive Southern Baptist church in another city. I'm just walking along and looking at all the people exiting and entering this massive facility.

I see this lady out of my peripheral vision emerge from the ladies' room. She's in her mid 50s, dressed to the nines and she's walking and to my shock and horror, her dress was tucked into her, well, unmentionable. And I watched her just parading through the lobby. I had two options. The first was just to laugh and to roll my eyes, which I'm in church, I did, I did. But the second option was the best option. I should have tracked down another woman because it would have been inappropriate for me to do so, but I should have tracked down another woman and just said to her, hey, would you mind walking up to that lady and telling her she has a major wardrobe malfunction going on? I should have done that. But I didn't. I watched the woman walk into this massive worship center and who knows what happened? Why don't I tell you that story? I tell you that story because I'm afraid many, many, many are parading through the lobby of life. when it comes to world religions with a wardrobe malfunction. I'm afraid, as I think about Judaism and Islam and Buddhism and Hinduism and Mormonism, I'm afraid a lot of those adherents are standing in the lobbies of life with their clothes tucked into their unmentionables.

So, when I thought about that situation, I mean, I said to myself, somebody has gotta say something, you know? I mean, someone should have said something to this lady and somebody, when it comes to the world religions, somebody has to say something. It's interesting to me, it's shocking that people don't talk about the world religions a lot. I think it's great to talk about them. I welcome it, I love doing it, because Christianity stands up to any scrutiny, anything you can throw at it, it does. And when I talk over the next several weeks about these world religions, please, please, please, don't get chippy. Sometimes, you know, Tom Brady uses that phrase all the time, they're getting chippy out there. Anyway, that means like, you know, ah, what do you mean by that? What do you mean by that? You know? I'm not jamming Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, or Mormons, I'm not. Those people matter to God, they should matter to us. What I am doing is, I am dissecting, from an objective standpoint, the religions compared to Christianity. So I decided to call this series, I'm Not Religious. Now, that sounds even sacrilegious to say that, doesn't it? But I'm not religious, and as a Christ follower,

you can own this phrase, you're not religious either. Jesus had one thing to say about religion, he was against it. What is religion? Religion is a man-made system of do's and don'ts in order to appease a holy God. Yet the issue is, we never really jump through enough hoops to appease God, and at the end of the hunt, when our ticket is punched, we kinda cross our fingers and go, well, hopefully I'll get to the other side, you know, I'll be detached, or maybe I'll enter nirvana, and I'm not talking about the band. Christianity, though, is different. Christianity is not works-based, it's not. It's grace-based. That's why, well, I'll tell you what happened, I was flying back, Lisa and I were flying back, it was Friday, and it just, you know, I enjoy talking, and sometimes I feel like I'm a conversation's best friend. So I'm just sitting there, and I was studying for this series, and I saw this guy, and he had this book, and I thought the book was like a Jewish book, so I'm thinking, oh, this is awesome, this guy is studying Judaism, and then we can have this really good conversation, because that's what I'm talking about today, Christianity versus Judaism, that'll be interesting. So I say, excuse me, is this like a Jewish book? He goes, no, I, oh, well. He goes, why do you ask?

I said, well, I ask because I'm talking about world religions. He goes, really? So we started talking about it, and his friend kind of chimes in, and I have a really loud voice, and I sometimes wonder when I'm talking on airplanes, people are going, who in the world is this crazy guy, you know, and I'm talking about, you know, we're talking about religion, this and that, so this one guy goes, yeah, you know, I put it in the chat, GPT, what is the right and the correct world religion, and he's talking about this, and the other guy goes, well, you know, I am a Christian now, and he said, Christianity is a gift. I said, you're exactly right. This is while we're at, you know, whatever, 38,000 feet. And his friend goes, well. And I said, hey, you know, he asked me about Islam, and I said, you know, I interviewed somebody on my podcast, David Nasser, he goes, you have a podcast? I go, well, yeah, I do. and I told them how to check the podcast out. So basically, I just said this, I go, guys, here's what I would tell you, here's the net effect of everything we're talking about. Religion is spelled D-O, Christianity is spelled D-O-N-E, the work has been done. I said basically, religion is this building project

where man tries to build a bridge to God, but the bridge never gets to God. Christianity, on the other hand, is God building a bridge from his side, from the divine side, to mankind. It's critical, though, friends, that we understand world religions and understand, I don't mean the subtle nuances and everything, but it's critical that we understand just the basic differences between Christianity and the world religions. People tell me all the time, and in fact, one of my friends on the plane even said this, he goes, you know what, I really kind of feel like all religions are the same. And I said, you know, I understand where you're coming from, I do, but I said that's not really accurate because when you study the world religions, you're gonna see they are distinctive, they're different, and especially Christianity, especially Christianity, it's the only grace-based faith system out there, and it stands on history, and it stands on reliability, so again, you can throw anything and everything you wanna throw at it, it will stand, and it has stood and will stand forever and ever. So, when you talk about all of the world religions, there's no doubt about it, Christianity and Judaism are the most alike, and I'm sure you're like, oh yeah, okay, if you think about just some

of our similarities, for example, think about the Old Testament, we both believe in the Old Testament, think about the transcendence and holiness of God, we would, okay, yeah, yeah. Our moral code, okay, yeah. Eternity, afterlife, heaven and hell, Jews and Christians would, yeah, we would nod in agreement with that. Our roots are Jewish, we have a Jewish savior, the disciples were Jewish, this book was written by Jews most, and so we have this, this whole Jewish thing going on, so that's one of the many reasons why we should love Jewish people, which we do, and honor and support the nation of Israel. They're God's chosen people, and out of that, out of the Jews, we see, of course, our savior, Jesus Christ. Romans 1, verse 16, you'll see it there, it says, for I am, Paul's talking about this, not ashamed of the gospel, what's the gospel? The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, because it's the power of God that brings salvation to, say it with me, everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. So, people are saved because of the new covenant, people are saved, Jews and Gentile alike, by grace through faith. We're saved because of what Jesus did for us.

In John, chapter four, verse 22, salvation, the Bible says, is from the Jews. So, you can see this Jewish thing we have going on, but we part ways with Judaism when it comes to the person of Jesus Christ. That's the defining line in the sand. We believe that Jesus was and is the Messiah. The Jews don't believe that. What I would challenge you to do is to engage in conversation with Jewish people, pray for them, resource them strategically. Well, what do you mean by resourcing them, Ed? Well, I'm talking about, I don't know, you don't know every single answer that someone might have. Give them a book. If they're a sincere seeker, give them, I'll tell you the great book that's been written recently, by Lee Strobel, called The Case for Christ. Give them that, and it will literally rock their world. So, we can't separate ourselves from the Jews. We're Judeo-Christians. In fact, if you wanna get historical for a second, not hysterical, in the first century there was an argument whether you could be a Christian and not even be a Jew. I mean, that was like, you have to be, right? You have to be a Jew to be a Christian. That was like a big debate back in the first century. So, that just shows you our Jewish roots, but sadly, the Jews have missed the rose of Sharon, which grows from the root to the branch,

which the rose of Sharon being Jesus. So, I would just define Judaism basically as being incomplete. Like this outfit I have on. How do you like these pants? You like those? They're okay. And I have this shirt on, but this is part of a suit. It's part of a suit. Here's the rest of the suit, right here. It's coming together now, isn't it? Okay. Now this tie. Got it tied under pressure. I got a great story. I've got stories about, you know, I love fashion. I've got great stories about all my clothes. This tie right here, a friend of mine bought that for me and I wore it the first day we opened this building in 1998. Yeah, a little bit of trivia. Can he tie the knot under pressure? Yeah. You gotta put a dimple in it. Now, it's more difficult to button this now as I've gotten older, I have a little bit of that. So, if we have a cosmetic surgeon here, I'm gonna get that taken care of. So, if you come see me after the service, I'd appreciate it. People sometimes ask me, hey, is it biblical

to have cosmetic surgery? Does your wife wear makeup? Do you brush your teeth? Did you wear braces? I mean, come on, where are we gonna? You won't believe some of the questions I've gotten. I got that question, though, when I was first a pastor. Seriously, it's crazy, crazy, crazy. Now, this outfit is complete. Hopefully, it looks okay. I can't see myself. I just described to you the difference. I just showed you the difference between Judaism and Christianity. Judaism is part of the suit. Christianity is the coat, and Jesus ties every single thing together. That's the difference. That's the difference. So, we come to Palm Sunday. Today is Palm Sunday, did you know that? And Palm Sunday is the day when you have this contrast between Christianity and Judaism. When you look at the text, it doesn't seem obvious, but it's subtle, and the more you study it, you're like, oh, maybe it is obvious. On Palm Sunday, Jesus is making his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. 2.5 million people were there. It was during Passover.

It was on Nisan 10, the Hebrew calendar, and if you go back 1,500 years from this instance, that is when God's people picked the unblemished lamb for sacrifice. So, all of these things were happening. Jesus fulfilled over 350. Prophecies, yeah, the Jewish people missed it. They missed it. It's interesting, when you talk to Jews, and I have a lot of Jewish friends. In fact, some of the best Christians I know are Jews who've given their life to Christ. They're completed Jews. But it's interesting, of all the different world religions and things, my Jewish friends, if you just meet someone Jewish, they'll go, I'm Jewish. And? Most Jews don't even know what it means to be a Jew. Clueless. Oh yeah, my mother and father are Jewish, and they know just enough to be dangerous, just enough to tip their hat at the high and holy days, and that's it. But once you get them to think objectively and engage, once you throw down a book like The Case for Christ, and as they see the difference that Jesus makes in your life and mine, I'm telling you, amazing things will take place. So, in this text, Luke chapter 19, Jesus is playing chess, and everybody else is playing,

well, not checkers, they're playing Candy Land. Here's some of the contrasts between Christianity and Judaism from this Palm Sunday account. Remember, Jesus is on the back of a colt, on the back of a donkey, which is a paradox. The king of kings and lord of lords, the righteous one, the holy one, the clean one, on the back of a dirty, unclean animal? I mean, conquerors would roll into J-town on the back of war horses and chariots, not a donkey, yet he's riding a donkey, and the disciples are throwing coats on the back of the donkey and in front of him, and they're waving the palm branches, Palm Sunday, and here's the first difference we see between Christianity and Judaism. Are you ready for it? Judaism is waiting on the Messiah. Christianity announces the Messiah. I've flown a lot through Atlanta Airport. Back when I lived in the South, the joke used to be you can't get to heaven until you first of all go through Atlanta Airport. I was on one of the trams back in the day, and it was one of the first trams I remember, taking you from terminal to terminal, and I used to love what the announcer would say on the tram. This train is now leaving the station. Please hold on. You'd watch people kind of roll up.

You could tell they missed the train. How would I describe Judaism? The train has left the station. How do I describe Christianity? We've boarded the train, but we're not holding on. Jesus is holding on to us, but here's the good news. The tram is still running. The Jews still have time to come to Christ. Most Jews, though, are secular at best. They are not religious. They're not. Some are, but some aren't, and when you began to ask them about Jesus, all they'll do is parrot a couple of things they've heard maybe a random rabbi say, and that's pretty much it. They've never really done the work. They've never taken the deep dive, so I wanna challenge you to be that conduit, or maybe you're a Jew, and you're here. I'm telling you, you have such a great capacity for God. Give your life to Christ. It's gonna be a completion. It'll be a fulfillment. He'll tie everything together, but here's what else about this text that I found interesting, paradoxical. Again, Palm Sunday. It was a parade on one hand, but a funeral procession on the other,

so it was a parade on one hand, a funeral procession on the other, because Jesus knew what was before him. He was going into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. People were celebrating him at this moment. He knew, though, he was going to the cross. Powerful stuff, and that brings us to the second contrast. perhaps between Judaism and Christianity. Judaism focuses on the law, Christianity focuses on the one who fulfilled the law. The Pharisees, we're gonna hear about them in a second, they had like 618 laws that they enforced. I mean, these guys were tough. They were the religious intelligentsia. They were kind of like religious lawyers. They were like lawyers on peptides, you know? They were tough, you didn't wanna mess with the Pharisees. And the Pharisees were always after Jesus, always, always, always, always. They didn't get it. They saw rules, they saw regulations, they saw do this and you can't do that. They didn't get the fact of grace and mercy. So Jesus did, ladies and gentlemen, fulfill the law perfectly. We just came off of a series, the 10 Commandments. Well, Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly. You'll hear me say all the time. Jesus lived righteously as part of the gospel perfectly. He batted 1,000 at the moral plate.

He died sacrificially for the sins of the world, but it doesn't stop there. He rose, number three, bodily. I say that because it's theology and it's Bible and it's very important for us to understand that. So you have the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. I'm talking about Jesus. So every page of the Bible, you find Jesus. Ladies, just picture yourself for a second as a single woman, can you do that? Picture this guy you're dating, handsome debonair, very successful. Picture yourself at a romantic restaurant and now picture him taking out a ring box from Tiffany's and placing it on the table. He's gone out and bought you a 10-carat diamond. 10-carat diamond ring. I Googled it and I think it's like between 500,000 at least and a million dollars. So he slides that box across the table to you. Oh my God. You know, you're a mess, but something strange happens. You don't open the box. You take the box, put it in your purse, you go home and just place it there on your vanity. Oh, you make sure the box is clean and shiny and it looks great, but you never open it. You never wear the 10-carat diamond ring. The Old Testament is the box.

Judaism is the box. Jesus is the 10-carat diamond ring. Open the box and put the ring on. Put the ring on. Judaism and Christianity. Yeah, we have some similarities, but you see already some of the differences. Judaism is waiting on the Messiah. Christianity announces the Messiah. Judaism focuses on the law. Christianity focuses on the one who fulfilled the law. Judaism sees, this is the third one I want you to notice. Very quickly, the city geographically, Christianity sees the heart compassionately. Again, as I'm flying over this text, you have Jesus coming into town on the back of a donkey. You have his disciples cheering for him, celebrating him. Then you have some of the people, the Pharisees, as I talked about, they tried to tamp, they tried to mitigate, they tried to silence the worship of God's people. The spirit of the Pharisees will always try to squelch worship and the celebration of the things of God. Yesterday, we had a men's gathering here and one of our pastors, Brad Hughes, did a wonderful job. of talking about worship and how we're made for worship and how men can lead out in worship. And it's so interesting, the juxtaposition between you've got celebration and you've got worship

from the followers at the same time, you've got these Pharisees totally throwing shade and hate on what God was doing. And sadly, a lot of that is going on today in our culture isn't it, that the spirit of the Pharisees trying to squelch the thing of God. Here's another one, number four, Judaism waited for peace, Christianity receives peace in the person of Jesus Christ. Isn't that interesting? Because if you think back to this mentality, they were thinking, okay, the Messiah, I mean, the Jews were saying this, the Messiah is gonna be a conqueror. He's gonna be like a militaristic leader and all of that in a bag of chips, you know, as we say. Yeah, that's what he's gonna be. Yet they missed the fact that the peace was not peace with Rome, it was peace internally, peace within our hearts. And there's no way we're gonna experience peace with God until we have the peace of God. And that again, is what Jesus was driving at. He's playing chess, they're playing Candyland. Peace is reconciliation with God and that is what Jesus did on the cross. So see, yeah, so see. On one hand, this was a coronation, but watch this. But in reality, it was a confrontation. Jesus knew what was in play and the others didn't know it.

In Luke chapter 19, 42, if you'd known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace, but now they've been hidden from your eyes. Jesus was saying, you just don't, you don't understand. And that brings us to the fifth contrast between Christianity and Judaism. Judaism missed the visitation, Christianity lives by recognition. And you'll see here in the last verse, verse 44, Jesus talks about his visitation. It's like, I'm here, you know, and you didn't even recognize me. Luke 19, 44, you did not recognize the time of your visitation. So what we can do is we can be close to Jesus in proximity, yet miss him. And we don't want to miss the Lord Jesus, do we? Years ago, Lisa and I were speaking out on the West Coast and we were staying at this really nice hotel and the people had put us up there and we were going to meet some of the leaders for a dinner. So I got ready faster than Lisa. And so I said, I'm gonna go down to the lobby. And she goes, okay, I'll be just right behind you. So I walk into the lobby of this hotel, kind of looking around, see a group of bros. They're standing there. And I gave them the bro nod. They're like, smile, nice. It's just bros, straight up bros.

Most of them on TRT, you can tell, you know. It was natural, man. Okay. Lisa walks in the lobby. About two minutes later, she walks up to me. She goes, honey, do you know who you're standing with? No, just a bunch of bros. That's Prince William. Oh my gosh. Because he walked out with his bros, his bodyguards. It was Prince William. I didn't recognize him. I'm an idiot. That was kind of what was going on there. I mean, here you have Jesus coming to town, people praising him, the Pharisees trying to squelch him, then Jesus says, you know, if you squelch my boys, the rocks will cry out, the creation will cry out. And you're giving me this, so Jesus is here. Is here. Every time the gospel is preached, there is a visitation. Every time the Holy Spirit convicts and moves, there is a visitation. Every time we're worshiping, there is a visitation, visitation, visitation. So Judaism missed a visitation, Christianity lives by recognition. The last one, you thought I'd never get there, but here I am. Judaism is centered on what men must do

and Christianity on what has been done. Judaism is centered about what men must do, Christianity is centered on what Christ has done. So it's the do and the done situation. And you'll see us coming back to that time and time and time again when we talk about the world religions. Do, done, do, done, do, done. But you're gonna see the complexities of the dos of these world religions compared to the just simple and significant and deep, boom, done in Jesus Christ our Lord. I was sitting in a box at the Rangers game and some people from the church invited Lisa and I to attend and I knew some of the people there, but some of the people I didn't know. And I like baseball, okay, I admire it. It's one of the most difficult things to do to hit a baseball and I was even, this is kind of funny, the chaplain of the Houston Astros for years and didn't even go to the games, but I would go to the clubhouse and preach to them. And the team they were playing against. But that's another story. And I'm in this box, in this suite, and I love bratwurst hot dogs. I mean, I love those things. I eat healthy, but man, you throw a bratwurst my way, nom, nom, nom, nom, nom, nom, nom.

Like a great white shark, eyes roll back in my head, nom, nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. So all these people were talking here and there, I'm just like, just slamming those bratwursts. I love those things with mustard, sauerkraut. This lady approaches me and she goes, Ed, my husband and I go to Fellowship Church and we really enjoy it. I said, I appreciate that. She said, my husband's Jewish. And I think he's on the verge of becoming a Christian. I put my bratwurst down and I was like, you're kidding me. She goes, yes, and he's here. But he's afraid if he becomes a Christian he'll have to renounce his Judaism. I said, no, no, no, no, no, you won't. She goes, why don't you walk up and talk, just talk to him. I said, no, I'm not gonna do that. I mean, when people tell me you need to talk to him or talk to her, what, I'm not gonna do that. Hey, call him, I'm not gonna do that. If the Holy Spirit arranges it to where they come to me or they come to you, great, but just to walk up to someone and say, hey, here, you're a Jew. And you like bratwurst too, I mean, what, what, what? I bet you can't eat those, can you? I bet you can't eat those, can you? Ha, ha, ha, you know. No, but in the sovereignty of God, the Holy Spirit arranges for this guy

to walk up to me and we get into this conversation. He just like is sharing about his life and he talked about the whole Judaism thing. And I began to just share the gospel, do, done, and what Jesus accomplished on the cross and his death, burial, and resurrection. And right after I finished saying death, burial, and resurrection, they had all these monitors in the box. The announcer said this, bottom of the ninth, two outs. I looked at them and I said. but that's what God is saying to you right now. It's the bottom of the ninth, two outs. What are you gonna do? He goes, I want to make this decision to ask Jesus Christ to come into my life. I said, you know what? We can do it right here. He goes, right here? I go, yeah. We walked over to the back area and we knelt down and I had the opportunity to lead him, this Jewish guy, into a personal relationship, a personal connection with Jesus Christ. And during the prayer, right after he prayed those words, the crowd erupted because the Rangers won. And I said, Bruce, that's his name. I said, oh, there's a much bigger ovation going on now in heaven because you have your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

Do, done, it's the bottom of the ninth, two outs in many lives here. Isn't it time that you hit your knees and said, God, have your way in my life? Would you pray? Father, thank you for this message. And I wanna pray a prayer, and this is kind of the prayer I prayed with my friend Bruce in that box as I led him to Jesus. And if you just say these words with me, only as God leads, just say, God, I admit to you that I'm a sinner, that I've fallen short. I admit to you that I've committed all these moral turnovers and I turn from that, which is repentance, and I turn to you. I believe, God, you sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my sins to rise again. And right now, I know it's the bottom of the ninth and two outs. Right now, I ask you to come into my life. Just say, Jesus, come into my life. Jesus, forgive me. Jesus, cleanse me. And the moment you said that, there is a standing ovation in heaven that will never sit down. Others here, during this time of prayer, your believers and God has placed someone on your heart and mind who does not know the Lord. And specifically, I wanna pray for those of us

who know so many in the Jewish faith system. I pray that you would give us grace and love. I pray that you would give us the opportunity to resource them, to engage, to get into dialogue, and just to see what the Holy Spirit of God will do as they bow their knee and become Christ's followers. We give this time to you, and we ask all these things. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. What a powerful message in such a timely series, especially in our world. But the reality is that there are many people in this room who maybe for a long time have been seeking religion, but today they're stepping into that relationship. And so we're gonna take a moment to celebrate every single one of you who made that decision today to put your faith in Jesus Christ. And the journey begins here. We want you to know that Christianity is not a solo sport. We wanna come alongside you. To my right and to my left, we have some amazing volunteers that would love to place a Bible in your hand. They would love to pray with you. They'd love to hear your story,

and they would love to help you find your community and to take that next step. And for many of you, that next step is going public with your faith through baptism. See, what we see all throughout Scripture in the New Testament is they believed that they were baptized. Baptism is a public declaration of an inward decision, and many of you, you need to take that next step. And if you're looking to know more about Fellowship Church, again, we've got our newcomers class happening right after this experience. Free meal. We'll take care of your kids. Take advantage and get involved. Now again, in just a few short days, we've got the Super Bowl of all Super Bowls when it comes to the church. I'm talking about Easter Sunday, and I know a lot of us are excited, but I love what Pastor Ed just took a moment to help us understand that there are people who are seeking a religion or maybe don't even know it. know what to believe, but they're more receptive to an invitation this Sunday. And the cool part is that Pastor Ed's continuing this series, I'm Not Religious. So imagine you're at a restaurant and you're on date night and then you're talking to your server and you're like, hey, do you wanna come with me to an Easter service?

My pastor's in a series called I'm Not Religious. That's an invite. There's gonna be invites for you on exit. We're gonna have yard signs for you. And something cool that we're doing is we want you to be able to be a walking billboard driving throughout DFW. We have an amazing team of volunteers right now who are outside in that parking lot, who if you want an Easter stencil on your car, you're going to be able to get it. And the cool part is this, no, it is not permanent, but the cool thing is that you can take the entirety of this week to drive around and hopefully there's that one person who looks up what God is going to do. And maybe you're like, well, JC, I have a really nice car and I don't wanna. Listen to me. We have a team of people the very next Sunday during our Easter services. We're gonna make sure to clean it off for you. Now, I'm being very clear. It is not a car wash. We are cleaning the stencil for you. So take advantage. Why not? So one thing we wanna do is we are a church that believes in God's promises and we wanna cling onto that this week.

And so here's what I'm gonna ask everyone to do. Will you please just stand to your feet as we all just come together right now? And here's what I want every single one of us to do. As we step into this week, I want us to begin to think about who are those people in our lives that we need to reach, that we need to declare God's promises over their lives. And so what we're gonna do is there's gonna be some words up on the screen. And these words are not just meant to stay on the screen. They're meant to come out of our mouths because we are a church that believes in declaration. And so we're gonna do it all together, okay? You need to warm up your vocal cords. We need to say it like we mean it as we step into this week. Here we go. We're gonna do it in three, two, one. Jesus, thank you that in you I am loved, forgiven, and blessed. For you, I will reach up, reach out, and reach in. And because of you, the best is yet to come. Come on, church. Who's ready for Easter and what God's gonna do at Fellowship Church? We'll see you next Sunday. ♪ You call my name in our ears ♪ ♪ I will not quit ♪