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From the Pastor

“Riding Into Our Lives”  
This Sunday, April 5, is Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week. Jerusalem was a holy, sanctified city where the leaders were again preparing for the Passover according to the ancient script handed down by their ancestors. Suddenly, they looked up and here came their worst nightmare, – a man who had shown himself capable of almost anything: raising dead people, befriending prostitutes, inflaming the passions of huge crowds. They looked at each other and said, “Uh oh, here comes trouble.” 
Jesus came parading into their city on the back of a donkey. The pent-up hopes of the people of Israel came uncorked. They gave Jesus the green carpet treatment. They cut off palms from trees and laid them in the road and even stripped off their clothing, and spread them on the ground as they cried out their hosannas. What a moment! If only things had stayed that way. But those very people who worshiped the ground he walked on five days later would be bellowing for his blood: “Crucify him!” Palm Sunday is the day when Jesus is at the pinnacle of his popularity, but it’s all downhill from there. And yet, as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, he continues to ride into our lives. Jesus is saying, “You may look as plain as an old pair of sneakers, but you are a person of destiny in my kingdom.” 
Friends, on Palm Sunday, I believe Jesus is saying, “I came for you who are under a stay at home order. I came for the clerk behind the cash register at Giant. I came for the truck driver bringing milk from the farms. I came for the Starbucks barista dealing with all those people in the drive-thru lane. I came for the receptionist doing double duty at the office. I came for the person who has an auto-immune condition. I came for the overworked health care worker. I came for the overtired first responder. I came into Jerusalem for each and every one of you!”  
Please join us for our Palm Sunday virtual worship service this Sunday at 10:00 am, via Zoom. Have your palm branches ready as we welcome Jesus Christ into our homes, our lives and our hearts. The link for worship this Sunday is:  
Meeting ID: 315 990 748
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+13126266799,,315990748# US (Chicago)
+16468769923,,315990748# US (New York)
If you cannot join us for live streaming the sermons are posted weekly to the https://www.chestnutlevel.org/sermons for paper please contact the church office at 717-548-2763, Option #1 or by email office@chestnutlevel.org.