A Table In The Wilderness - Week 5 | Palm Sunday 2026

Palm Sunday begins with cheers and ends five days later with cries for crucifixion — a sharp tension between the crowd’s hopeful politics and the painful purpose of Jesus. This message names that flip: people waving palms expecting a military liberator, friends and followers nursing their own plans, and a Messiah who refuses to be anyone’s ticket to power. It points to the distance between what we want and what God intends. Tracing the road from Bethany through the Mount of Olives and back up to Jerusalem, the sermon looks at Lazarus’ resurrection, the crowd’s expectations, Peter’s comfort-driven loyalty, and Judas’ ambition. Rather than pointing fingers, it invites listeners to notice their own agendas and consider laying them down so God’s work—not ours—takes the throne. The result is both a gentle comfort and a challenging call to surrender, with a picture of Palm Sunday that might change how you approach faith.