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I know one of the concerns of the children's music ministry is that the children understand what they are singing and that they mean it. And I share that concern for our people. In a moment the choir will sing a song called, "Hosanna, Hosanna!" And after that we all will sing a song which begins: "Hosanna in the highest!" So I want to give a little lesson in Greek and Hebrew, to make sure we all know what the New Testament means when it says in three different places, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" (Matthew 21:9, 15); or, "Hosanna in the highest!" (Mark 11:9, 10); or simply, "Hosanna!" (John 12:13).

A Lesson in Greek and Hebrew

You all know that the New Testament was first written in Greek, and the Old Testament was first written in Hebrew. Wherever the word "hosanna" occurs in the New Testament, do you know what the Greek word is? Right! It's "hosanna." All the English translators did was use English letters (h-o-s-a-n-n-a) to make the sound of a Greek word.

But if you look in a Greek dictionary to find what it means, you know what you find? You find that it is really not originally a Greek word after all. The men who wrote the New Testament in Greek did the same thing to a Hebrew word that our English translators did to the Greek word: they just used Greek letters to make the sound of a Hebrew phrase. I know this sounds sort of complicated. But it's really not. Our English word "hosanna" comes from a Greek word "hosanna" which comes from a Hebrew phrase hoshiya na.

And that Hebrew phrase is found one solitary place in the whole Old Testament, Psalm 118:25, where it means, "Save, please!" It is a cry to God for help. Like when somebody pushes you off the diving board before you can swim and you come up hollering: "Help, save me . . . Hoshiya na!"

A Shift in Meaning

But something happened to that phrase, hoshiya na. The meaning changed over the years. In the psalm it was immediately followed by the exclamation: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" The cry for help, hoshiya na, was answered almost before it came out of the psalmist's mouth. And over the centuries the phrase hoshiya na stopped being a cry for help in the ordinary language of the Jews. Instead it became a shout of hope and exultation. It used to mean, "Save, please!" But gradually, it came to mean, "Salvation! Salvation! Salvation has come!" It used to be what you would say when you fell off the diving board. But it came to be what you would say when you see the lifeguard coming to save you! It is the bubbling over of a heart that sees hope and joy and salvation on the way and can't keep it in.

So "Hosanna!" means, "Hooray for salvation! It's coming! It's here! Salvation! Salvation!"

And "Hosanna to the Son of David!" means, "The Son of David is our salvation! Hooray for the king! Salvation belongs to the king!"

And "Hosanna in the highest!" means, "Let all the angels in heaven join the song of praise. Salvation! Salvation! Let the highest heaven sing the song!"

Two Kinds of Hosannas

Picture a Super Bowl game, and (believe it or not) the Vikings are three points ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers are on their own 35 and have no more time outs. There are two seconds remaining on the clock. The Vikings' fans are going wild. The Steelers line up, fake a pass to the receivers on the left sideline, and run a wide sweep around the right end, and the quarterback breaks into the open and heads down the right sideline—40 - 45 - 50 - 45. The only hope for the Vikings is Willie Teal, the safety, cutting a diagonal across the field. And out of the Vikings' grandstand come two kinds of hosannas, the old kind and the new kind. One part of the crowd is yelling: "Catch him! Catch him, Willie!" (That's the old hosanna.) The other part of the crowd is yelling, "You got him! You got him, Willie!" (That's the new hosanna.) The word moved from plea to praise; from cry to confidence.

So when we sing "Hosanna" now, let's make it very personal. Let's make it our praise and our confidence. The Son of David has come. He has saved us from guilt and fear and hopelessness. Salvation! Salvation belongs to our God and to the Son! Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!

DesiringGod. Hosanna. March 27, 1983. John Piper

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/hosanna

Chances are that if you have been a part of small group before, you have an opinion about their effectiveness in helping you live out the Christian life. Hopefully most of you have had a positive experience in the past. If you have never been involved in one, then what are you waiting for? It can be a challenge to overcome the perceived obstacles in your way.  Who will watch my kids?  Are my kids welcome? I’m single, who will welcome me? I’m too old. I’m too shy. I don’t have time. I don’t want to be judged. They are more spiritual than me. I’m way more spiritual than them. I will not be accepted, and so on. Will you allow me to at least cause you to pause to consider whether now is the time to join a small group, Bible study or community group?

I can certainly draw support from Scripture in encouraging you to become part of a small group. In Acts 2 we are told that the people who heard the gospel message from Peter and were then “cut to the heart” asked him what they should do. He responded to them by telling them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. Luke then describes how this group of three thousand new believers were led by the Holy Spirit to interact with one another, to fellowship with one another. It says of them, “they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.” (Acts 2:46b-47) Consider this, three thousand new believers were somehow organized by the Holy Spirit into small groups that were accommodated in each other’s homes. 

Community groups are really this simple, they are a gathering of some of you all, for the benefit of all you all, to the praise of the God who is sovereign over all. Community groups are a vibrant expression of the interconnectedness of God’s people. They provide an opportunity for us to create a bond of Christian brotherhood in the sharing of trials, sufferings, joys, laughs, celebrations and, oh yea- there’s food. And did I mention that all of this is done under the canopy of God’s Word? God’s Word is the sustaining and overarching foundation of why we gather.  In some ways, He reveals Himself to us more completely as we hear other’s accounts of how He is working in us and through us. And then there’s accountability- community groups can offer an opportunity to be corrected in our errant thinking by others who are observing how we apply God’s Word to our every day life. 

There are many more benefits that come from being part of a community group, none are more obvious than being able to exercise the spiritual gifts of hospitality and teaching. And even just as important is the opportunity to pray for one another. My most recent personal experience attests to the great comfort and peace that God grants to us as His people are united in prayer on our behalf. 

As I recall the many ways in which I have recently seen God work through those of you involved in community groups, some stand out. I love the way you supported and gently comforted a dear mother who lost her son. It has been amazing to me to witness the move of the Holy Spirit in the life of a dear brother who trusted God to give him a heart of compassion for the homeless. Some of you have seen how this man’s, this couple’s persistent and patient obedience to our Lord have opened an opportunity for the gospel in the life of one of the least of these, one among the many homeless in our community.

And finally, community groups can provide the opportunity to become committed to the local body. William Boekstein makes the observation that “many churches have a number of guests or occasional visitors “orbiting” the church; they are considering landing but not sure if or how they can. Small groups can provide a way for those who are trying- or considering whether they would like to try- to break into the life of the church.” 

Whether you are “orbiting” or firmly planted, it is our hope that you connect with a group of like-minded individuals in our body that you can consistently live the Christian life with. Towards that end, we have a number of community groups and small group Bible studies that you can join.  Or maybe, you are at a point where you are sensing God’s direction to start a new small group.  If that is the case, we would love to help you get started. 

The early Christians "continuously devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship." (Acts 2:42) The word for "fellowship" is koinonia, which means "to have in common" or "to share." As those who are united with Christ, we are to share the life of Christ with one another in a way that results in individual and combined spiritual growth.

Why do women need to be engaged in community? Simple, because they need to be reminded that they are not alone. There is something so deeply nourishing to a woman's heart that comes from spending time with other women. Engaging in community takes a girl out of the lonely perspective of not measuring up and into the bountiful environment of encouragement, support, and accountability.

Why should women engage in worship? Quite frankly, we need to be reminded of whose we are and what better way to do that than to humbly bow ourselves before the King of Kings. When we worship the King of Kings, we realize that though we are nothing in and of ourselves, we are everything in the eyes of the King. Knowing every ugly detail about us, he still chose to go to pull us out of the pit and place a crown on our heads. Engaging in worship isn't a chore, it is a heart healing opportunity to reflect on the one who made us royalty and cast our crowns back at his feet in praise.

Jodi Hendricks explores these questions, and more. She is a wife, mother of four, native New Mexican, licensed Mental Health Counselor, Director of the Women’s Ministry at her church, and an avid motorcycle rider (amongst other things)!

Jodi will be joining us for Koinonia, a women’s retreat sponsored by Mountain Christian Church. We will worship with special guest Cassie Rogers of the Kipsies through song, take a look at Community through Jesus’ encounter with the Woman at the Well, and enjoy lunch together.

Make plans to join us Saturday, March 16, from 9 am-1 pm at Nature Pointe Events. Click here to RSVP. For more information contact Emily Gray (505-297-9178) or Lisa Lemelin (505-917-2999).

Continued from last week...

Side-by-Side Friendship

Couples who seek to behold and pursue something together cultivate side-by-side trust. This side-by-side posture is marriage as friendship.

Friendships form around a mutual beholding of a shared delight. When you discover another who shares your interest in something dear to you, you declare, “You too?! I thought I was the only one!” (C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves, 248). Your friendship may include many mutual pursuits or only just a few, but any side-by-side time fosters the kind of trust that comes from holding something in common beyond your relationship itself.

Many couples’ relationships initially form around something they pursued together. Perhaps you two met because of a love for music, or a shared academic interest, or a business venture. Often, however, the demands and trials of life act over time like a centrifugal force, pushing those once-shared pursuits to the periphery. I’m suggesting that, as much as you can, pursue interests held in common, whether old or new, in the regular rhythms of your life together.

Perhaps you host the annual fall festival in your backyard, or serve on the worship team together, or play Terraforming Mars with those other board-game fanatics. Whatever the common pursuit, invest in it together. And if you object that you do not share the same interests, then find one of your spouse’s interests that you can learn too. Sheldon loved literature; Davy excelled in music. Out of love for the other, they “became at home in both worlds” (A Severe Mercy, 38).

Finding Intimacy on the Way to God

Investing in side-by-side trust is essential because a “creeping separateness,” Sheldon and Davy rightly warn, is frequently a “killer of love” (37). And as they later discovered in their conversion, the greatest resistance to that centrifugal force is no mere common pursuit but the greatest pursuit: beholding God together. So even if shared hobbies and interests feel sparse, seek always to go in a Godward direction together. For Christian marriages are built not around mere eros or philia, but around a shared receiving and giving of agape love for God and one another. Therefore, together as a couple we must prize worshiping God at home and with God’s people.

The beautiful thing about these three postures for cultivating trust is their mutually reinforcing nature. You can’t grow in intimacy if you are not working to protect each other from temptation and sin, disappointment and burnout — or just simply protecting your own time together. The reverse is true as well. You can’t grow in your ability to help each other see your blind spots if you do not grow in face-to-face fellowship. And both face-to-face and back-to-back trust flourish in the consistency of a side-by-side friendship set on God.

DesiringGod. Marriage in Three Postures. January 31, 2023. Zach Howard

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/marriage-in-three-postures