Weeping Over a City
Luke 19:28-44
The Triumphal Entry
28 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem
41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Sermon Notes
There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is simply to try to get rid of the trial, and be thankful when it is over. The other is to recognize the trial as a challenge from God to claim a larger blessing than we have ever had, and to hail it with delight as an opportunity of obtaining a larger measure of divine grace.
-A.b. Simpson
- Why do you think that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt? How does this show Jesus’ humility?
- “What a singular conjunction of words is here, ‘the Lord’ and ‘hath need!’ Jesus, without laying aside his sovereignty, had taken a nature full of needs; yet, being in need, he was still the Lord and could command his subjects and requisition their property.” (Spurgeon) Contrast the idea of Jesus in need and the reality of His deity.
- The crowds are worshiping Jesus as He enters the city. The Pharisees are furious. Contrast the two responses.
Scriptures to Consider
- Zechariah 9:9
- Psalm 148:7-13
- John 12:17-18
This Week
Monday, April 6
8:.00 am Pastoral Devotions (online)
9:30 am Women’s Prayer time
9:30 am Men's Prayer
Tuesday, April 7
10:30 am am Daybreak Online Book Club
7:00 pm Youth Online Small Groups
Wednesday, April 8
8:.00 am Pastoral Devotions (online)
10:00 am Keenagers (55+) Bible Study
(on Pastor Art's personal Facebook Page....Will be posted to SGAC Keenagers Group by 1:00 pm)
2:30 & 3:00 pm AWANA Connect Online
7:00 pm Corporate Prayer Online
7:30 pm Young Adults online
Thursday, April 9
2:30 pm Sunday School Check-In Online
Friday, April 10 GOOD FRIDAY
Office Closed
8:.00 am Pastoral Devotions (online)
10:00 am Good Friday Service Online
7:00 pm The Jesus Film online
*No Youth Hangout tonight
Saturday, April 11
Sunday, April 12 EASTER SUNDAY
10:00 am Easter Service Online
JOURNEY UPDATES
PASTORAL DEVOTIONS TO THE CONGREGATION: Join us online Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings for a devotional message from one of our Pastors. We will air these messages on our YouTube Channel at 8:00 am. (Don’t worry, if you miss it, you can watch it later.)
CORPORATE PRAYER: Now taking place online Sunday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 pm. Click here for information on how to join.
WOMEN’S DAYBREAK - ONLINE BOOK CLUB – If you like reading books and discussing them with a group of other readers, join Pastor Karen for a special online book club session of Daybreak. They will be reading a topical book on marriage by Gary Thomas – Loving Him Well. The cost of the book is $20. Starts April 7 @ 10:30 am and runs for 6 weeks. Register online today!
JR AND SR. HIGH SMALL GROUPS ONLINE: We are still meeting on Tuesday nights at 7:00 pm from the comfort of your home. For more information and to join in visit our website.
KEENAGERS: We are now meeting online. Join us on Wednesdays at 10:00 am on Pastor Art's personal Facebook page or at 1:00 pm on our Keenagers Facebook Group as we stay connected through the Word of God.
AWANA CONNECT ONLINE: All AWANA Clubbers are invited to join us on Wednesdays until April 29 at 2:30 pm. Pastor Coreen will lead you in songs and an AWANA lesson. Cubbies are invited to join Miss. Debbie at 3:00 pm for the Cubbies lesson. You can find us at SGAC Awana Club on Facebook.
SUNDAY SCHOOL CHECK IN ONLINE: Join Pastor Coreen every Thursday at 2:30 pm for songs, a Bible Story and more. Sunday School Check In can be found on the Spruce Grove Alliance Church Children’s Ministry Facebook page.
GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE: Please join us online on Friday, April 10 as we commemorate the death of our Lord and Saviour.
THE JESUS FILM: April 10 at 7:00 pm join us online to watch the Jesus Film. For more information and to watch with us online click here.
EASTER SUNDAY SERVICE: Gather from the comfort of your own home and join us for our Easter Service. Let your family and friends know how they can join in too.
DEEPER LIFE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY: This month we are studying The Praying Church, April 16 to 18.
Join us as we study God’s purpose for corporate prayer from scripture, learn the principle of agreement. The instructor for this study is Dr. Sue Curran. Register by calling Pastor Coreen.
MONDAY NIGHT MEN ONLINE SPRING SESSION: Join Pastor Joel as he walks through Frances Chan’s study on the Book of James, starting April 13 @ 7:00 pm. If you haven’t already, please sign up for RightNow Media as that is where the study material can be found. There is no cost to attend, but pre-registration is encouraged. Register online today!
FRIDAY NIGHT YOUTH HANGOUT: Grades 7-12 students are invited to meet online to Build Community and hang out on April 17 at 7:30 pm. You can find the link to join in on our website.
The CHURCH OFFICE will be open by appointment only. Please stay home and safe. Email us to set up an appointment or call us at 780-962-4700 to leave a message or speak to someone. We will be getting back to everyone as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience with us.
Giving Update
COVID-19 Impact on Giving
Churches rely on the generosity of their people to maintain their operations day-to-day. With the widespread closure of churches in almost every city in Canada, people aren't in their places of worship to put money in the collection plate and, as the economy contracts, people will likely have less money to give through other means too. This obviously poses a challenge for churches to maintain their operations.
Some organizations have rainy day funds that may be used to help navigate through times like these however churches normally do not have this luxury. Churches rely on the generosity of their congregation's tithes and offerings to keep the lights on, and to support ministry programming. For SGAC our rainy day fund balance is our accumulated surplus of $69,000. With normal budgetary spending this will last approximately 2 weeks.
Since the start of our "Live Stream" services giving over the past three weeks has decreased approximately 50%. The good news is each week more people are moving to on-line and other forms of giving and so the trend has been positive. Given the current reality the Board has reduced the General Fund budget by 28%. This takes effect immediately. This includes the suspension of the monthly $12,000 transfers to the Future Development Fund and spending limited to fixed costs such as utilities, insurance, staffing and other commitments required to maintain basic ministry operations. This change has reduced our weekly requirement from $25,000 to $18,000. But given this environment, this is not enough.
While the Board is committed, for as long as possible to pay staff, our current projections based on giving during this past week indicate that unless we are able to access government financial aid or giving increases we will need to make significant adjustments in the area of staffing within the month of April.
We would encourage you to maintain your giving to SGAC as you are able. We understand that some of you may have lost your employment and or are experiencing reduced pay but as God enables, we would encourage you to continue to give to SGAC to enable us to continue to reach our community for Jesus.
As the Board and Finance Team continue to monitor the current environment we would ask for your prayers and wisdom as we navigate through this season. 2 Chronicles 20:12 We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” Would you also pray that the Government Aide will be approved and forwarded in a timely fashion so that we can continue to move forward with our ministry programs. Thank you for your faithfulness.
Del Dyck
Board Treasurer
Please note the Following Options for Giving
ONLINE GIVING
Whether it is a one-time gift or you would like to schedule a recurring donation, you can give online to Spruce Grove Alliance Church. This option allows you to give using a Visa debit card or the traditional Visa or MasterCard credit cards.
PRE-AUTHORIZED GIVING
Pick up a pre-authorized debit agreement form from our church office or download one here. You can fill it out and then with a voided cheque - you can either scan it and email it to the office, or drop it off during regular office hours.
INTERAC/DEBIT
During office hours, you can drop by and use the INTERAC/DEBIT machine at the Welcome Centre, then fill out your donation envelope as normal including your name, address, giving number and insert your debit receipt so we can disburse funds as directed in the Box on the counter.
E-TRANSFER
Use E-Transfer to give at SGAC, using giving@sgac.net Please include your offering envelope number and contact information. The money is deposited directly into the church account and does not require a security question. Please also include your envelope # if you have one and your phone number in the note section.
IN PERSON
You can stop by the church office and drop off your donation in a sealed envelope. Mark it Finance / Confidential. Please call ahead as Office Hours are by appointment only.
By MAIL / CHEQUE
Mail your donation to:
Spruce Grove Alliance Church
Attn: Finance
250 Century Road
Spruce Grove, AB T7X 1W6
Thank you for your generosity in giving to SGAC.
Questions: Please contact the church office at 780 962 4700 or by email . You may also visit our website at www.sgac/Give
PRAYER
Please pray for:
- Our International Workers: A&J, Tim & Brenda Tjosvold, Jon & Angie Coutts.
- Our Pastoral Team Staff Member: Pastor Scott Buck - Lead Pastor. Scott is married to Lyn and they have seven children.
- Our Support Staff Team Member: Kim Friesen. Kim is married to Paul and they have 3 children.
Family Matters
- Office Hours: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Church Office is open by appointment only until further notice.
- We want to pray for you. Please send your requests to prayer@sgac.net