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Palm Sunday & Lamb Selection Day

October 15, 2019 by Dan Sullivan

This was originally published March 29, 2015, but has been updated with the sermon after the initial event.

Yesterday my wife and I were talking about Holy Week, Passover, and sheep. Part of the whole point of God having the Jewish people keep a lamb for a week was so that they would be close to it and attached to it before they ate it. It wasn’t just going to be food, it was going to be a sacrifice. It was a memorial of the Passover.

The Passover was the greatest event in Jewish history. They were delivered from slavery and became a new nation. Part of that deliverance involved killing a lamb, putting it’s blood above the doorway to your house, and waiting.

There is a lot more in here that I’m not going to cover, but it involves the Egyptian sheep god, the fact that Egyptians thought shepherds were unclean, the other 9 plagues that came before that, etc.

But this post isn’t about Passover, really, it’s more about getting a lamb, keeping it for a week, and then killing it. It’s one thing to read about it, and to read about how living with a lamb for a week makes you attached to it, and you love it. By the end of the week, you saw something dearly loved give up it’s life for you. Throughout the week you had the constant reminder “This lamb came into my house for one purpose: to die for me.”

The lamb was supposed to be without blemish. That means that people couldn’t save the deformed, diseased, injured lambs and ‘waste’ them on the sacrifice. They had to bring their best, cared for and curated lamb. It has an effect of fasting, really. You are constantly thinking about that critter, not wanting it to get hurt, preventing injury because of the Lord. You’re not just caring for the sheep, but in your care for the sheep, you are caring for a guideline set by the Lord.

It hasn’t been 24 hours yet, and we’ve already seen some great things. As I carried that 100 lb furball over to the park to graze on some grass, my affections grew. All of my kids ‘BAAAAAH’ out the windows throughout the day and they are all jumping around chasing Sheepie(as they call her).

My wife is attached too, calling her Miss Agnes in a funny baby voice. We are all becoming attached to this lamb, just like we are supposed to.

Here is the sermon I preached after it was all over. It was the best Easter ever.

Sam Adeyemi – WCAGLS – 2015

August 28, 2015 by Dan Sullivan

This was a really good talk. A lot of what he talked about applies in my neighborhood in Evansville too.

Brian Houston – WCAGLS 2015

August 27, 2015 by Dan Sullivan

There was so much good in this talk. You can see some of it in my notes.

This business of picking an anthem for conflicts is so true. I’ll never forget singing “Some Nights” by .Fun on my way home from listening to a preacher every night at an event that was so wrong. Or “I have always loved you” by Third Day the summer I was discerning and preparing to propose to my wife. I should also mention “It’s On” by Superchic[k] the year I was a freelancer. So many anthems. This stuff about songs and relationships is absolutely true when it comes to our relationship with God too.

I found my private space at the end of Franklin Street at the pizza king. It wasn’t the same as a stained glass church, but it was a semi-private spot to get these thoughts together.

Sheila Heen – WCAGLS 2015

August 25, 2015 by Dan Sullivan

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Here are my notes from Sheila Heen’s talk at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit. She was really good. The even better part of this whole talk was that I was getting my semi-annual review at work right as I was putting the notes together! At the end she said some things about how we really see ourselves in the feedback from others, and that as a community of people we need that. Her book is here and after you read my notes you should go check it out.

OneLife West Sermon on Ephesians 6 and Parenting

August 19, 2015 by Dan Sullivan

Bret Nicholson preached today on Ephesians 6 and parenting. It was a good day to do it, because it was also the first day that 6th graders are now in the main service with us. We have done the family pew thing for a long time, taking all of our kids in with us, but recently we realized our kids will get more out of their own classes and they go and enjoy them.

One thing not in these notes is where they described the Orange philosophy. My teens heard that and later in the day said it was cool how they do that. The red represents your home – where you live your life, and the yellow represents the church – the light of the world, and when they work together you get orange.