We Are In Jerusalem!

Today is Palm Sunday. We began the day looking over the city of Jerusalem from the Mt. of Olives. It was incredible. The area was crowded because of the special importance of the day. As we looked out towards Jerusalem you could not help but think about what will happen on this mountain when Jesus returns. Zachariah 14:4 says that when Jesus returns, “On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley, so that half the mountain will move to the north and half to the south.”

It was a beautiful Palm Sunday here in the Holy Land. We walked the Palm Sunday path after visiting the Mount of Olives.

As we proceeded on the path, we came to the Garden of Gethsemane. This was where Jesus often came to pray. This was also the place Jesus spent his last night on earth before he was crucified.

We had a chance to pray and to meditate for an extended period of time in a private place within the Garden. Here, I challenged our people with two words, burden and intercession.

I encouraged them to lift any burdens to God for something specific that was on their hearts. Just as Jesus lifted his burdens to the Father in this place, we also lifted our burdens to the Father.

I also encouraged them to intercede for their spouses, families, friends, and those that are in need of salvation. Just as Jesus interceded for us, we should intercede for others in our lives.

Jeana and I prayed for more than 600 prayer requests from members of our church. We lifted each and every request to God from this very special place. Church members, know that we do love you and that you are cared for, both by us and by our great God.

We entered the Old City of Jerusalem through the Lion’s Gate on the east side of the city wall. The Old City is incredible! Today we truly walked where Jesus walked.

We concluded the day at the Wailing Wall. This is the holiest shrine for the Jews, because this location was the closest a person could get to the Holy of Holies in the Temple.

Tomorrow we will visit Masada, Ein Bokek, En-Gedi and the Dead Sea.