Today. I, I, I struggled. Anyone in here struggle once in a while, nobody, just a couple. I just want to make sure I'm talking to some normal people in this place. I struggled today to come up with a sermon title, and so what I called it?

You'll love it. It feels like a CS Lewis book. I called it the disciples, the donkey and the deliverer: the disciples, the donkey and the deliverer. For me in life, one of my biggest struggles genuinely is making room for God. Like we got to Thursday and I actually texted Carz, who's our worship leader, and I said, hey, can y'all play this song?

So that was a song that I gave them Thursday. So kudos to you guys for making that adjustment so quickly. I appreciate you very much. I'm going to clap for you. No one else has to, but I'm going to do it.

Y'all are. Y'all are doing a great job. Thanks for the humility and willingness to be flexible in all of this. But I do. I struggle with making room, not just making room for God.

I struggle to make room in general. I don't know if you're like me, but I tend to busy myself. If I have free space in my schedule, I'm adding something into it. If I'm not doing it, my spouse is doing it. Amen, somebody like it happens, right I struggle to make room to clear wi space on my calendar.

I am so cramped in my life sometimes, like here's how cramped I am if anyone's on Tik Tok. I'm on Tik Tok and what I do sometimes is I scroll and the number one thing that pops into my scroll and stresses my wife out is these caving accidents and so what happens, is these, these? T? I've scroll on Tik Tok and there's like a story where someone's just telling me a story of someone who went into a cave they probably never should have gone into and then they get stuck in that cave and either someone dies, or it takes them 24 hours to get out of a cave, or they're hanging upside down, or they're stuck in like a 12 in wide space within the cave, right like that's what goes into my feed. I don't know if the Lord's telling me to make space in my life and stop being so claustrophobic, or if it's just something I'm super into.

That's why I feel F my entire life to where I have no space. Now on one side in the American culture is good to be productive, that's the word we use. Productive, I like being productive. One time- and I never did this again one time I asked someone how they were doing in church. I was just walking through like I would talk to you guys after service and I said, man, how you doing?

He said busy. I said, oh man, you know I feel pretty good this week. He said you're not busy and then he started: I felt like he was judging me. So I never feel good about telling anybody that I had kind of some space in my week. Here's the problem.

Productivity might be good, it might be helpful, I'm all about Effectiveness and efficiency, but if there's no room in my calendar, if there's no room in my heads space, if there's no room in my life, then it makes it very difficult for me not just to hear God but to actually start making adjustments for God. And when I read this story story-, I called it the, the disciples, the donkey and the deliverer, because there are three components to this story that have to do with how we relate to God in terms of making space or room for God, and so that's what I want to kind of communicate to you guys today. The truth is, we have to make space for God if we want him to impact us. Yeah, he'll break down our walls. Yeah, he's going to, like, help our situation shift in ways that we don't understand, or sometimes even ask, ask for right.

You know some people they lose the job and God was allowing that on purpose, so that they would come closer to him. Sometimes God makes it happen for you because he loves you that much, but sometimes God's like: hey, bro, sis, chill out a little bit. Make some space for me, because you're never going to hear me if you don't make room. And if you don't hear me, you're going to still be filled with anxiety. You're still going to be filled with things you shouldn't really be doing because they might make you busy but they aren't really making you productive spiritually.

We've got to make room, and so the first thing I want to talk about is the disciples. Look at your neighbor, say: we're disciples. We're disciples. Even if you don't really know Jesus right now, I'm believing that God's called you to be a disciple. A disciple is someone who follows Jesus now way back in the ancient world.

I don't know if it's that they had time on their hands or was just part of their culture. There would be a rabbi who comes into a village and asks people to follow him, and people, strangely enough, they would follow him. This is what Jesus did. He invited people. He said: come follow me.

And people actually followed him. It was really crazy to me when I invited people from Joplin, Missouri, to say, hey, you want to come follow me over to Buckeye, Arizona? I know you never been there, I know you don't know nothing about it. You want to come over here, see if we can start a church, see what happens. And they, they showed up.

That was weird to me, but back in the day it was kind of normal. So they had followed him. That's the disciple. You're a disciple. You showed up at church.

To today, you might not have a personal relationship with Jesus, you might not have confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you might not even believe in your heart yet that God raised him from the dead. But the Bible doesn't say that you have to know him truly to be a disciple. In fact, in Matthew, the end of the, the book, it says this. It says: go, therefore, unto all nations, making disciples, then baptizing them in the name of the father, Son and the Holy Spirit. What that means is you're following Jesus, predicates your relationship with Jesus, and so I think you're all disciples.

So here's the verse that I want to read to you. I'm going to read it again, just in case we forgot it, because it's pretty crazy. No one was giggling when they were reading this, and I know you're trying to be respectful of God's word, but when you read this story you're like that's weird. It's weird. Listen.

Verse one. Toss it up on the screen again. As they approached Jerusalem and came to Beth and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples- now, we don't know which disciples. We don't know, like, if it's Peter or John. A lot of Scholars would say it's Peter, Peter and John, because those are always the popular ones people like to refer to.

We don't know which ones, but he, he sent two of his disciples- verse two- saying to them: now, now, listen to this instruction. Go to the Village ahead of you and just as you enter it, you will find a cult tied there which no one has ever ridden. Now, a cult is a three or four year-old donkey- okay, just giving you context here- which no one has ever written. Untie it and bring it here if anyone asks you, which would be reasonable. Right, it's not their donkey, it's not their cult, why are you doing this?

Say the Lord needs it and we'll send it back here shortly. They went and, just like Jesus said, and found a cult outside in the street tied at a doorway. And this is like. This is the discipleship moment for them. Jesus is telling them to go into town.

I know it's a smaller town, it's not like Phoenix proper, right? You're not just going to someone's condo and there's a cult or donkey tied outside it and you're looking around and make sure there's not cops around, like it's not, it's smaller, I get it. And there's a very small possibility that, like, Jesus had sent someone there before to tell the owner of the donkey to say, hey, I'm going to need this later. I'm going to send some disciples. They're not going to know that.

 You know I scheduled this ahead of time. I'm just going to tell them to go get this donkey. So be okay with it, right? I don't know what happened beforehand, but what I know. If I'm a disciple- and we're all disciples- this instruction is quite odd.

If I lived 2,000 years ago and I were following Jesus, even if I'd followed him for 2 and 1/2 years. If I go into Jerusalem, which is none of these guys Hometown, if I go into Jerusalem or Bethany or Beth Page and Jesus says, hey, there's going to be a donkey, it's never been ridden before, like nobody has sat on this thing, there's no saddle, it's simply tied up sitting there. You need to go into town and untie it and you need to bring it to me and if someone asks you like why you're stealing a donkey, right, like someone asks you, just tell them the Lord needs it. If, if I'm a disciple, if you're a disciple, and you hear that instruction, most of you are like me because I haven't made any space for the Lord in my life. Often, right, I'm a pastor, like I've donated my entire life to him, but in a lot of ways my heads space is still not there.

I'm trying, I'm following Jesus. I'm learning day by day what it looks like to have faith. Right, you might think, cuz I came out here and started the church, that I figured out how to live in faith. No, just took a step, thought it might be the Lord, could have been indigestion, could have been the wrong thing. I didn't know what it was going to be, but I took a step and every single day I'm like I think it's the right step.

I think it's the right step, I think I'm doing okay. The Lord said: go to Buckeye. I'm, I love Buckeye, I love this place. I'd never been to Buckeye like we. We bought our house before we had seen it right.

It's like I don't know. Lord, you sure you want to call us out here? We've never lived in the west. I'm a southerner. I grew up in arkans, Aransas, and I know what California people say to me.

Every single time I go to California, Arkansas, every single time. I'll never forget I was in seventh grade. I went to Starbucks in, it was right there off pch in Huntington Beach, and I walked in and I was in seventh grade, right. So I was that dude. I was back woods and I'm sitting here seventh grade and I walk in and the lady of Starbucks- and I was not used to Starbucks, right, because we have Starbucks in Arkansas until like the mid 2000s- you know what I'm saying.

And so I walk into this place- she, she says you have an accent where you from, and she didn't say it like that because she's California. She sounded like a californ. You have an accent where you from. It's kind of how it went. And I and I said I didn't know how to change my accent at the time.

Now I kind of try to correct it so that you guys don't judge me. And but back then I couldn't. And she looked at me. She said: Arkansas, is that even a state? I was so offended in seventh grade.

That's what she did to me and when God called me to come out here, I was like you, sure you want me to come out to the West? I know there's a lot of people moving from California and they're nice people, but they're going to hate my accent. Lord, are you sure you want to call me out to this space? I've never planted the church before. I'm not the best Communicator, I'm not the best leader, I'm not the best.

This I didn't fully understand it. I felt like the Lord was kind of telling me to go into a city that I'd never been before and untie a cult that has never been ridden before. And now we're on the other end a little bit, where the Lord is showing us what obedience can look like, but for you there going to be instructions that God gives you that don't make full sense, and I would encourage you, don't be like I've been so many times in my life where I'm like that doesn't make sense. Lord, I'm going to need you to prove it to me a little more. I'm going to need you to tell me that you have prepared for this cult to be taken, because I don't want to be arrested by the cult police.

You know I don't want to be. I don't want to be looked at awkwardly by the people in the village that maybe I know their cousin or they know my family and they're going to look at me like I'm crazy trying to steal this cult and then they're going to cut off my hand cuz that's what they used to do way back in the day for stealing Jesus. Are you sure about this? And God's going to call you to start making adjustments in your life that seem crazy to some people around you, like if I'm a disciple as hard. God's going to call you to make some adjustments in your marriage that are a little different.

You might be doing some things that are causing you problems, but they've been natural. They're your default positioning. It might be the, the places you go. It might be the things that you do, they're just natural. My family did it, my friends do it.

It's not helping me, but it's natural. And God's going to say: I'm not about natural, I'm about supernatural, so I need you to make an adjustment. And you're going to be like: but it's not normal for me, Lord, and the Lord's going to be like if they were to question the Lord he would just say: just trust me, trust me. And so what? What happened?

The disciples go in and I bet they had had their questions, but 2 and A2 years with Jesus makes you learn to be quiet and just trust for a second. And they walk in. And it says this in verse 10, or sorry, let me go back, sorry verse four. It says they went and they found a cult outside in the street. And my encouragement to you.

I don't know if the Lord's telling me to tell you this, but it makes sense with the text. They went and they found and I want to tell you if the Lord calls you to do something. I know it might be hard, you might be hesitant, but go and see and when you go you will find that what the Lord calls you to always has value, always has benefits. It might be difficult, there might be consequences. There might be people that aren't with you.

There might be people who ask you why you're doing what you're doing. But they went and found. I've gone and I've found so many times. Go and see man. Abram would have never seen the promised land if he hadn't gone and seen.

He says: go and I will go to a land that I will show you. Abram didn't know all the answers, but he went to the land of promise and God began revealing to him the answers. God Saidi, going to make you a nation, he's like, but I don't have any kids. Go and do what I've called you to do and you will see. Jeremiah 29 says: seek him where he may be found, and he will be found by you.

I'd encourage you: go, look in God's word and you will find. Go, spend time with God's people and you will see. Go and see and you will find that what the Lord calls you to, even if it doesn't make full sense, is beneficial for you. Go and see. Go and see.

They went and they found. I wrote this down here and I didn't want it to be a major point, but it was something that clicked to me, CU, often when God calls me to do something, I'm like what, what did you just say? Like, did you really just call me to do that? And the disciples probably were in that. What mode it's like?

You want us to go do what, Lord? And what I'll say is: you're going to learn to trust the, the Lord, over time. But right now, if you've never trusted in the Lord, if you've never taken steps toward God, or if you're still early in that process of taking steps toward God, you're going to receive something from God's word. He's going to say: offer your body as a Living Sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. Give everything to me.

Some of you, he's going to call- I think all of us- he's going to call to give of our tithes and our offerings to the local Storehouse. And you're like what? 10% of my income to a place? That's a lot of money. Like that was me when someone first told me about the top.

I was like: you want how much, Lord what? But then, as as I did it, as I went, I found that the that the Lord will bust open floodgates of blessing on my life, not necessarily Financial- that's happened too, but in terms of Revelation about who he is, just because I saw this weird task. It's not untying a donkey, it's taking a portion of my income and saying Lord here. But I don't want to just talk about giving it there. Stuff like serving.

You want to do what with? With Sunday mornings, Lord? You want me to show up consistently at church. You want me to decide to serve? Hold up what, Lord?

You want me to talk to my co-workers about the faith that I have inside. What they're going to think? I'm weird. This isn't going to be as fun as as you're acting like it's going to be. Pastor Matt, this is not going to be like.

It's going to be hard. You want me to go back to my family and tell them that I just made my p? Faith public through baptism. You, you want me to tell them the people who, like, have a different way of thinking than I do. You want me to do what, Lord?

There's so many circumstances in your life where God's going to call you to do something that is not natural. In fact, it's going to be something that could? Cause you to have to endure like struggle. But again, when you go and see, you will find that he's better. He is so much better.

And when he calls us to be disciples, this is what it looks like in Paul. You see, two times in the Book of Romans. He says he looks at like the manifold nature of who God is. He's like, he's loving, he's gracious, he's just, he's kind, he, he, he no longer condemns us when we put our faith and trust in Jesus. And he looks at all the amazing things that God does and he's like what?

What does that mean now? And so what I would say is, when you say what to the Lord, when it's a confusing task, choose. It's hard, choose to obey and you will see. That's the disciples. And they went and they found the donkey, I don't know when in the process, like for me, it takes a lot longer than it should, and for some of you're real quick at it, you're so good at it.

For others of you it takes. You're like me, you struggle with doubt. I- I like to call myself doubting Matt once in a while, not because I don't trust that God exists, but because sometimes, when he calls me to do, do something, it takes me a minute. I'm like what? Maybe I need to process a little bit more, prepare a little bit more.

Let's have, let's, let's have a conversation about this, Jesus, because this isn't something that I would like to do, even when it comes to prepping for a church. I had to choose to obey God this week and make space for him, because it is so natural for me to plan every single aspect of a worship service, every single aspect of my week, every single as aspect of what I'm communicating and the Lord's like: hey, let me use you differently this week and I'm like what? Sometimes I'm obedient, sometimes I struggle, but when God calls you to do something confusing, I would encourage you. Just trust him and Obey. At what point did the disciples figure it out?

And I wonder sometimes if it's when they, like, went into Beth vage and realized people were nice. Was it when Jesus said it the first time? Was it when they saw the donkey tied up? Was it when they untied the donkey and someone asked them what they were doing? Was it when they brought it back?

Was it when Jesus rode in on the donkey? Was it when later, after Jesus had died and resurrected, they realized that that was a fulfillment of Prophecy? Like, at what point did they realize that what Jesus was saying had value. I don't really know, but they were obedient and for many of you're not going to realize immediately what God is doing. But as long as you're obedient, God will reveal to you in due time what he is doing, and praise be to God when he reveals it quickly, but sometimes God has a reason for not revealing everything to you quickly, but be obedient nonetheless.

Second, I want to talk to you guys about the donkey. These are amazing points, right, the donkey. I love it. I wanted to confuse somebody today. The donkey.

I was thinking about the donkey and I realized that often I'm a donkey, I'm like a, so I'm not, I'm like a donkey. You know what I'm saying. I'm not going to do like that cool preacher and use the other word for donkey, but like I, I often feel like this donkey. Think about this donkey for a second. The disciples go in.

They're going to untie him. Think about the characteristics of the- I'm G to say- cult right now, because every time I say donkey, I think of a million different things: this cult. They untied him. He was probably 3 to four years old. He had never been ridden.

This is fairly common. Like there was a. There was a step-by-step process for a donkey, you know, to step into their calling as being a donkey. Donkeys are ridden. That's what they do.

You know. It's not like something crazy, but it's not like there's anything crazy happening in this scenario. But as I was thinking about the donkey, I thought about many of you don't be offended, but I did. I was thinking you've not gotten where you feel like you should be yet. You're not in this place where you think you're being utilized at a high capacity by the Lord or even by the people in your life.

You're, you're, you're kind of in this place where you're just stationary, hanging out. I don't know if the donkey was wondering this, but I often wonder: God, when are you going to do what you said you would do? God? When am I going to be in the place where I feel peace? When am I going to be in the place where I feel like I'm actually accomplishing my purpose?

God, when's my marriage going to be back to where it should be? Or when's it going to be for the first time in a place that I like it's beneficial for me? When, Lord, when am I going to get there? And if I'm this donkey. I'm seeing all these other donkeys roam around.

They're like they're, they're ubering through Jerusalem and Bethpage and Bethany and they're doing all these things, but this dude's just tied up unridden, waiting for the time that he gets called up. And many of us were in this place. I feel like the Lord wanted me to tell you, because what did Jesus tell the disciples? When someone asks you what you're doing with this donkey, say this: he says the Lord needs it. The Lord needs it.

And I wanted to tell some people in here who feel like you're underutilizing what God's given you, people in here who are not where they want to be. I want you to know this. You might have screwed up, but it's not too late. You might be in the place where you're underutilized, but it's not too late. You might feel like you're limited in capacity, but God can do abundantly more than you can ask, think or imagine.

There are so many things that God wants to use you for and you're not a donkey. You're going to be used at so much, much more of a high level than any donkey ever would, but it similarly, God has need of you, and this might be weird for some people who are like I'm just going to show up. This might be weird for those of you who have decided that you have no purpose in this life and so you're just going to SCA scath through it. But God has a purpose for you. That is actually quite important and for this donkey, for this Colt.

He was sitting there untied, but there was a reason that he hadn't been utilized at the capacity he probably wanted to at that point. It was because the Lord needed him for a specific purpose, and so this is something that I would encourage those- some of you- with. When someone else outside looks at you and they say: hey, why are you going to church? Hey, why do you read your Bible during your break? Why do you listen to this podcast during your commute?

 Why do you guys not hang out with us in this specific activity anymore? Why, why, why, why, why. When anyone asks you what's going on, have a recognition within yourself that God has given you a purpose and a reason to make space for him in your life and you can even look at them. You don't have to say this. It could be perceived as rude, but some of you might need to say this to some people.

The Lord needs what I'm doing, that's not cocky. This is what the Scriptures say. The Lord needed that donkey. The Lord utilized his disciples and the Lord has a plan for each of you. And when the enemy, Satan, the devil, when he attacks your thought processes and says you're not worth anything or because I screwed up in this way, I can never amount to anything, or when the enemy comes to you and says that it was your fault that something happened to you that never should have happened to you and you feel guilt and shame about all of these things, you can look him in the face.

You might not see him, but you feel his negative, frustrating presence in your life. You can look at him and say, nah, the Lord needs me, the Lord has a plan for me, the Lord wants to utilize me for his purposes and, just like the donkey, is about to stroll into Jerusalem. I don't know how the donkey felt. I don't know if donkeys have like Pride or if they're pompus in any way, but if there's any donkey in the history of humanity who had reason to be prideful, is this donkey. He was unridden Prior, but when he stepped in, the Lord sitting on them and for you, God says that it says: blessed or happy are the feet of those who bring the good news.

And God has given each one of us a calling to take his word. Put it into our world and we can walk around confidently, like like. The Lord needs me to step into this world to do something. And I want to be clear: the Lord didn't have to use that donkey. The Lord could have done whatever he could.

He could have floated in dude, walked on water. That dude could create little ice blocks and then float in the sky, and he could. He could have literally done anything. Use your imagination. But he decided to utilize this donkey.

The donkey had been unridden. The disciples were willing and flexible enough to go grab this donkey, and so he utilizes this donkey to come in. And the thing I think that's relevant to you guys is it says the Lord needs this donkey. But what we all know is he could have done anything. And I want to tell you, the Lord needs you.

He can use anybody, but he wants to use you and if you're willing, if you're flexible, if you can make room for him in your life, he can use you to do things you would have never thought. God has a- and I'm not just talking about doing things like this, standing up in front of people and preaching or giving your testimony. Those things are important and for those who feel led, you should do that. But I'm talking about like base level stuff, like loving your spouse correctly, as God would call you to, so that when people look at you they're like I mean, they're not perfect, but their marriage is taking a step forward. I, I struggle with this all the time.

How do I parent like every week- and this is not a special thing because my kid's got- he's not in here, is he, Hannah? No, okay, my, my kids got like ADHD, like I did growing up, my son does, and my daughter's going through this little like terrible force- not two terrible Force- where she's like crying and frustrated about things and publicly it's embarrassing. I'm not saying that I'm perfect, but there's something I'm thinking about because Jesus is at the center of my life. I'm looking and I'm like, hey, thank you for showing up at church with us every single week. You're a part of this process to you're helping us launch this church.

I'm trying to be a parent in a way that glorifies God and honors what God has given me to Steward like, that's the base level stuff. It's not this, this big ambitious craziness, it's simple things that God has called each one of us to. But we look at God and we're like what I shouldn't watch this right now, cuz my kids sitting here next to me and it would not just cause them nightmares but maybe create a complex. What I should maybe have this conversation like- not around these kids right now. What I should speak positive things into my wife more than I speak criticism and frustration into my spouse.

 Simply because you're calling me to speak life into people, you're calling me to be edifying and helpful, not tearing down or destructive. Oh, oh, what, Lord, that's different than I'm used to. And whether it's other people or the enemy, if you can recognize that the Lord has need of you, then it'll shift every aspect of you. And the third thing I want to talk to you about is the deliverer. The deliverer- if it says this in verse 7- when they brought the cult to Jesus and threw their cloaks over he it, he sat on it.

Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted: Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming Kingdom of Our Father, David, hosana, in the highest heaven. And many times we talk about this passage and we get all pumped about it because we call it what we call Palm Sunday. If you're familiar, this is the Palm Sunday passage.

We got a different passage when Palm Sunday comes, we call it the Palm Sunday passage because Jesus strolls into Jerusalem and people are literally laying their clothes and branches down the Palms right and they're worshiping him. Hosana, glory to God, Messiah is what they're saying to him. But then, only a week later, he's crucified and some of the same people throwing stuff and shouting jeers at Jesus. They're the very ones who were laying down their cloaks in worship of Jesus. And here's why: because many of them had not made space for a new understanding of what their deliverer would look like.

Many people in that day and age thought that the Messiah would be a political Messiah, one who would redeem them from the destructive power of Rome in Judea. They thought he would be someone who brought in, like the military powers, and just completely overthrew the Roman Empire. They were looking for that type of Messiah, and so when Jesus came in, he had been healing people, he'd been preaching really nicely. He's hitting a. He's ticking a lot of boxes from the Old Testament prophecies.

He's doing a lot of cool stuff, and so they're excited when he comes in because they think he is one way and he's going to deliver them in a different way. And so they're praising him, and many of us Praise Jesus because we have expectations of what he's going to provide. But then he hits you with the information you got to take up a cross and follow him. He hits you with the information that you got to offer your body as a Living Sacrifice. He hits you with the information that it takes consistency in order to understand the full like to be inundated and, filled with a full understanding of his power and his love.

He's a different deliverer than many people see him as, and it takes your entire life life. That's why we say you've got to revolve everything around Jesus to get true understanding of who your creator is, both his love and his power and authority in this world. And so when these people were praising him, they were praising him because they thought he was different than he was. And so the reason I called this point the deliverer is because I want everyone in here to understand that you might come from a background where you had to do something in order to be delivered. You might come from a background where you, living a good life, was enough to be delivered.

Whatever background you might come from, whether you're doing a bunch of stuff or, whether you think you're living a good life, that Scripture tells you no one is good. Whatever thought process you have about your Messiah, I want to do what I can to make an adjustment to it to help you understand this that if you are in Christ Jesus, that is the only way to get into an eternal relationship with God. The Bible says he's the way, the truth and the life. No one- not a single part it does- say good or bad- says no one comes to the father except through him, and the one thing it takes to come into a relationship and be delivered from your sin for God's purpose in your life is to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. That's the deliverer that we preach, and so if anyone in here has never confessed with your their mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in their heart that God raised from the dead.

It says, you will be saved. If you do that, then I want to give you an opportunity right now. So if everybody would bow their heads and close their eyes, you might pray this prayer, God, I believe that Jesus is the son of God. I believe he died on the cross and Rose from the grave. Forgive me of my sin, deliver me from it and help me follow you for the rest of my life.

Today is the day where I put you at the center.