This small group deep study guide draws directly from Christian Fellowship Church🔹Pastor Scott Cheramie's sermon “Follow-Up Materials - Initial Analysis” so you can keep engaging with the message all week. Read, reflect, and share it with your small group or friends.
PALM SUNDAY: LOYAL PRAISE
A Comprehensive Small Group Deep Study Guide
From Hosanna to Crucify: The Anatomy of Lasting Worship
"Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise — the fruit of lips that openly profess his name." — Hebrews 13:15
HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE
This deep study guide is designed for small groups that want to move beyond surface-level discussion into serious engagement with Scripture, theology, and personal transformation. Each section builds on the previous one, so groups are encouraged to work through the material sequentially over one or more sessions.
Suggested Session Format:
- Opening prayer and centering (5 minutes)
- Background and context review (10 minutes)
- Scripture reading and exegesis (15 minutes)
- Discussion questions (30–40 minutes)
- Application and commitment (10 minutes)
- Closing prayer (5 minutes)
A Note on Depth: Some questions are marked with ⬛ to indicate they require additional research or extended reflection. Groups may wish to assign these as homework before the session.
PART ONE: SETTING THE STAGE
Sermon Overview and Central Theme
This Palm Sunday message centers on one of the most sobering contrasts in the entire Gospel narrative: the same crowd that shouted "Hosanna!" on Sunday was crying "Crucify him!" by Friday. The sermon challenges believers to examine whether their own praise is rooted in emotion and self-interest or in genuine, enduring loyalty to Christ — a loyalty that holds even when God does not act according to our expectations.
The central question the sermon poses is not "Can you praise God?" — because clearly, everyone can. The real question is: "Will your praise last?"
The Five Key Points from the Sermon
- The crowd knew how to praise but not how to follow
- Emotional praise without revelation will not last
- The same mouth that praised him can also reject him
- True praise is proven under pressure
- Jesus is looking for loyal praise
PART TWO: HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL BACKGROUND
The World of First-Century Jerusalem
Understanding the Palm Sunday narrative requires entering the world of first-century Jewish Palestine. Without this context, the crowd's behavior — praising Jesus one moment and demanding his crucifixion days later — can seem incomprehensible. With it, their response becomes entirely predictable.
The Roman Occupation
Since 63 BC, when the Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem, the Jewish people had lived under varying degrees of Roman domination. By the time of Jesus's ministry (approximately AD 27–30), Judea was a Roman province governed by a prefect (Pontius Pilate held this role from AD 26–36). The Romans:
- Collected heavy taxes through a system that bred corruption and resentment
- Maintained the right to crucify — the ultimate symbol of Roman power over life and death
- Stationed troops in the Antonia Fortress adjacent to the Temple Mount
- Had the authority to appoint and remove the Jewish High Priest, giving them enormous leverage over religious life
The Jewish people were not simply politically oppressed — they were theologically humiliated. The Temple, the center of Jewish worship and national identity, stood in the shadow of Roman military presence. For a people whose entire national story was one of God's sovereign deliverance (from Egypt, from Babylon), Roman occupation felt like divine abandonment.
Messianic Expectations
Into this context came centuries of prophetic literature that promised a coming deliverer — the Messiah (Hebrew: Mashiach; Greek: Christos), meaning "anointed one." By the first century, Jewish messianic expectation had largely coalesced around several key hopes:
- A Davidic king who would restore the monarchy and national sovereignty
- A military deliverer who would defeat Israel's enemies (Rome, in this era)
- A priestly figure who would purify Temple worship
- A prophet like Moses who would lead a new exodus
Significantly, the idea of a suffering Messiah — though present in texts like Isaiah 53 — was not the dominant expectation. Most Jews were looking for a conquering king, not a crucified savior. This is the critical interpretive key to Palm Sunday.
The Significance of Passover Week
Jesus entered Jerusalem during Passover, the most important festival in the Jewish calendar. Passover commemorated Israel's liberation from Egyptian slavery — a deeply political and religious event. Jerusalem's population swelled from perhaps 50,000 to an estimated 200,000–500,000 during Passover week. Pilgrims came from across the Jewish diaspora. The atmosphere was charged with religious fervor, nationalist sentiment, and messianic anticipation. The Romans were on high alert for uprisings.
It was into this charged atmosphere that Jesus chose to make his public, royal entry.
The Triumphal Entry: A Deliberate Prophetic Act
Jesus's entry into Jerusalem was not spontaneous — it was a carefully orchestrated fulfillment of prophecy. Matthew 21:4–5 explicitly connects the event to Zechariah 9:9:
"Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
By riding a donkey rather than a war horse, Jesus was making a nuanced but profound statement. In the ancient Near East, kings rode war horses when coming in conquest and donkeys when coming in peace. Jesus was presenting himself as a king — but not the kind of king the crowd was expecting. The crowd saw the kingship; they missed the peace. They heard the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9 but overlooked Zechariah 9:10, which speaks of a king who "will proclaim peace to the nations."
Hosanna: The Word They Shouted
The word Hosanna comes from the Hebrew hoshia na, meaning literally "Save, please!" or "Save now!" It appears in Psalm 118:25, a Hallel psalm sung during Passover. By the first century, it had taken on a dual function — both a cry for salvation and an acclamation of praise. The crowd was simultaneously pleading for rescue and celebrating the one they believed would provide it.
The phrase "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" (Psalm 118:26) was a standard greeting for pilgrims arriving at the Temple. The crowd was applying it to Jesus with messianic intent.
The Palm Branches
The waving of palm branches carried specific political and religious symbolism. In 164 BC, when the Maccabees recaptured and rededicated the Temple from the Seleucid Greeks (an event still celebrated as Hanukkah), the people celebrated with palm branches (2 Maccabees 10:7). Palm branches had become a symbol of Jewish national liberation. When the crowd waved palms, they were not merely celebrating — they were making a political statement about what they expected Jesus to do.
PART THREE: SCRIPTURE ANALYSIS AND EXEGESIS
Primary Text: Matthew 21:1–11
Read the full passage aloud before beginning the analysis.
"As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, 'Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.' This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 'Say to Daughter Zion, See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, 'Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!' When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, 'Who is this?' The crowds answered, 'This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.'"
Verse-by-Verse Observations:
v. 1–3: Jesus's foreknowledge of the donkey demonstrates his divine omniscience and also reveals that the entry was planned, not spontaneous. The phrase "the Lord needs them" is the only recorded instance of Jesus using the title Kyrios (Lord) to refer to himself in the Synoptic Gospels.
v. 4–5: Matthew, writing primarily for a Jewish audience, is careful to anchor the event in prophecy. He is drawing from both Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9, weaving together two prophetic streams.
v. 8: The spreading of cloaks recalls the coronation of Jehu in 2 Kings 9:13, where the people spread their cloaks under the newly anointed king. The crowd was, consciously or not, enacting a coronation ceremony.
v. 9: The title "Son of David" is explicitly messianic. It appears 10 times in Matthew's Gospel, more than any other Gospel, reflecting Matthew's consistent emphasis on Jesus as the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant.
v. 10–11: The city is "stirred" — the Greek word eseisthē (ἐσείσθη) literally means "shaken" or "quaked," the same root used for earthquake. Jerusalem is shaken by Jesus's arrival. Yet the crowd's answer is revealing: they call him "the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee" — a significant step down from "Son of David." Even within the Palm Sunday crowd, there was theological confusion about who Jesus was.
Secondary Text: John 6:1–15, 60–71
This passage from John's Gospel provides a crucial parallel to the Palm Sunday dynamic — a large crowd following Jesus for what he could do for them, then abandoning him when he revealed the true cost of discipleship.
The Feeding of the Five Thousand (John 6:1–15)
John notes in verse 2 that the crowd followed Jesus "because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick." Their following was transactional — based on what Jesus was providing. After the feeding miracle, verse 15 reveals: "Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself."
This is stunning. The crowd's response to the miracle was to attempt a political coup — to forcibly install Jesus as king. This is exactly the kind of kingship they were hoping for on Palm Sunday. And this is precisely what Jesus refused.
The Bread of Life Discourse and Mass Departure (John 6:25–71)
When Jesus shifts from providing physical bread to teaching about himself as the Bread of Life — requiring spiritual eating and drinking (v. 53–58), language that pointed toward the cross and the Eucharist — the crowd's response is instructive:
- v. 60: "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
- v. 66: "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him."
The Greek word translated "turned back" is apēlthon eis ta opisō — literally "went away to the things behind." They returned to their former way of life. The word for "no longer followed" (ouketi met' autou periepaton — "no longer walked with him") uses the language of discipleship (peripateo — to walk, to conduct one's life).
Peter's Confession in Context (John 6:67–69)
Immediately following the mass departure, Jesus turns to the Twelve and asks, "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Peter's response — "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" — stands in sharp contrast to the departing crowd. Peter's loyalty, while imperfect (as the sermon notes), was not based on what Jesus was providing but on who Jesus was.
Supporting Text: Acts 16:16–34 — Paul and Silas in Prison
This passage illustrates the sermon's fourth point: true praise is proven under pressure.
The Context:
Paul and Silas were imprisoned in Philippi not despite their obedience to God but because of it. They had cast a spirit of divination out of a slave girl, which cost her owners their income — and cost Paul and Silas their freedom. They were stripped, beaten with rods, and thrown into the inner prison with their feet fastened in stocks (v. 23–24).
The Midnight Praise (v. 25):
The Greek text says they were praying and singing hymns to God (proseuchomenoi hymnoun ton theon). The word hymnoun (ὕμνουν) is an imperfect active indicative, suggesting continuous action — they were singing and kept on singing. This was not a brief burst of emotional praise; it was sustained worship in the midst of suffering.
The phrase "at midnight" (kata de to mesonuktion) is significant. Midnight represents the darkest, most hopeless moment — the furthest point from dawn. This is when their praise was most active.
The Earthquake and its Aftermath (v. 26–34):
The earthquake was not merely a rescue operation — it was a witness. The other prisoners heard Paul and Silas praising (v. 25), and when the earthquake came, they did not flee (v. 28). The jailer, converted by what he witnessed, asked the defining question: "What must I do to be saved?" (v. 30). Their faithful praise under pressure became the catalyst for evangelism.
Supporting Text: Job 1:13–22 — Praise in Catastrophic Loss
Job's response to the sudden, total destruction of his family and wealth is one of the most theologically profound moments in all of Scripture.
The Losses (v. 13–19): In a single day, Job loses his oxen, donkeys, servants (to raiders), sheep and servants (to fire), camels and servants (to more raiders), and — most devastatingly — all ten of his children (to a windstorm). The losses come in rapid succession, each messenger arriving before the previous one has finished speaking. The literary effect is overwhelming.
The Response (v. 20–22):
"At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.' In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing."
Several observations:
- Job's grief is physical and real — he tears his robe and shaves his head, both ancient Near Eastern expressions of mourning. He does not pretend the losses don't hurt.
- Yet his grief leads him to the ground in worship, not away from God.
- His theological statement — "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away" — is a profound affirmation of divine sovereignty without bitterness.
- The narrator's editorial comment in verse 22 is crucial: "In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." This implies that it would have been possible to sin in this moment — but Job did not.
Job's praise was not based on his circumstances. It was based on his understanding of who God is.
PART FOUR: THEOLOGICAL CONCEPTS FOR DEEPER STUDY
Concept 1: The Theology of Worship
What is Worship?
The English word "worship" derives from the Old English weorthscipe — "to ascribe worth." To worship God is to declare that God is supremely worthy — not because of what he does for us, but because of who he is in himself.
The Hebrew Bible uses several words for worship:
- Shachah (שָׁחָה) — to bow down, to prostrate oneself
- Abad (עָבַד) — to serve, to labor (often translated as both "worship" and "serve")
- Halal (הָלַל) — to praise, to boast in (root of "Hallelujah")
The Greek New Testament uses:
- Proskyneō (προσκυνέω) — to bow down, to kiss toward (used in John 4:23–24)
- Latreuō (λατρεύω) — to serve, to render religious service
- Sebazomai (σεβάζομαι) — to revere, to hold in awe
John 4:23–24 — Worship in Spirit and Truth
Jesus's conversation with the Samaritan woman represents the most theologically dense teaching on worship in the Gospels. He introduces two criteria for authentic worship:
"In spirit" — The Greek en pneumati can refer to the Holy Spirit or to the human spirit. Most scholars believe both are in view: worship must be Spirit-enabled and must engage the whole inner person, not merely external ritual.
"In truth" — This refers to worship aligned with the true nature of God as revealed in Christ (cf. John 14:6 — "I am the way, the truth, and the life"). It is worship that corresponds to theological reality, not to our wishes or projections about who God should be.
The combination is critical: spirit without truth produces emotionalism unmoored from theological substance. Truth without spirit produces cold orthodoxy devoid of genuine encounter. Jesus calls for both.
Concept 2: The Nature of Discipleship
The Cost of Following
The sermon draws a sharp distinction between praising Jesus and following Jesus. This distinction is central to Jesus's own teaching on discipleship.
Luke 9:23 — "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."
Three elements of discipleship:
- Deny yourself (arnēsasthō heauton) — a decisive, ongoing rejection of self-determination as the governing principle of life
- Take up your cross (aratō ton stauron autou) — embrace suffering and self-sacrifice as integral to the Christian life, not exceptions to it
- Follow me (akoloutheitō moi) — the Greek present imperative suggests continuous, ongoing action
The Palm Sunday crowd was willing to celebrate Jesus. They were not willing to follow him on his terms.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer's "Costly Grace"
In The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer distinguishes between cheap grace and costly grace:
"Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ."
"Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has... It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life."
The Palm Sunday crowd wanted cheap grace — liberation from Rome without the cross. They wanted the blessing without the discipleship.
Concept 3: The Theology of Suffering and Praise
Why Does God Allow Suffering?
The sermon raises an implicit theodicy question: if Paul and Silas were doing God's will, why were they imprisoned? If Job was blameless, why did he suffer?
Several theological frameworks are relevant:
Formative Suffering: Romans 5:3–4 — "We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Suffering is not punitive but formative — it produces qualities that cannot be developed in ease.
Participatory Suffering: Philippians 3:10 — Paul speaks of "the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings." There is a mysterious participation in Christ's suffering that deepens the believer's union with him.
Revelatory Suffering: Job's suffering ultimately leads to a direct encounter with God (Job 38–42) that transforms his understanding. The suffering became the context for revelation.
Witness-Bearing Suffering: As the Acts 16 passage demonstrates, Paul and Silas's faithfulness in suffering became the catalyst for the jailer's conversion. Their suffering had evangelistic power.
The "Sacrifice of Praise" (Hebrews 13:15)
The phrase "sacrifice of praise" (thysian aineseos) is drawn from the Greek translation of Leviticus 7:12 and Psalm 50:14, 23. In the Old Testament, the todah (thanksgiving offering) was a sacrifice offered in fulfillment of a vow, often in the context of having been delivered from danger or death.
The author of Hebrews applies this concept to the continuous praise of believers in the new covenant. The word "continually" (dia pantos — "through all things") is the key: this is not occasional or circumstantial praise but sustained, ongoing worship offered through every circumstance.
The phrase "fruit of lips" echoes Hosea 14:2, where Israel is called to offer "the fruit of our lips" as a substitute for animal sacrifice. The author of Hebrews is making a profound theological point: in Christ, the ultimate sacrifice has been made, and our response is to offer the sacrifice of praise — not to earn anything, but as a natural outflow of who God is and what he has done.
Concept 4: Revelation and Spiritual Maturity
Peter's Progressive Revelation
The sermon uses Peter as a case study in incomplete revelation. This is theologically important because it demonstrates that genuine faith can coexist with significant misunderstanding.
- Matthew 16:16 — Peter confesses Jesus as "the Messiah, the Son of the living God" — a genuine, Spirit-revealed confession
- Matthew 16:22 — Peter rebukes Jesus for speaking of the cross — a revelation that has not yet matured to include the necessity of suffering
- Matthew 26:33–35 — Peter declares his undying loyalty — sincere but untested
- Matthew 26:69–75 — Peter denies Christ three times — the failure of untested loyalty under pressure
- John 21:15–19 — The restoration of Peter, who is now commissioned to shepherd Christ's flock — revelation matured through failure, repentance, and grace
Peter's journey illustrates that revelation is not a single event but a process. The Palm Sunday crowd had no revelation at all — only emotion and expectation. Peter had partial revelation that needed to be deepened through the crucible of failure and restoration.
The Role of the Holy Spirit in Revelation
1 Corinthians 2:9–14 teaches that the "deep things of God" are revealed by the Spirit. Human wisdom cannot comprehend them. This is why Jesus's prayer in Luke 10:21 — thanking the Father for hiding these things from "the wise and learned" and revealing them to "little children" — is so significant. True spiritual understanding requires divine revelation, not merely intellectual effort.
PART FIVE: CROSS-REFERENCES AND RELATED PASSAGES
Passages That Deepen the Study
On the Nature of Praise:
- Psalm 22:3 — God inhabits the praises of his people
- Psalm 34:1 — "I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips"
- Psalm 63:3–4 — Praising God because his love is better than life
- Isaiah 43:21 — God formed his people to proclaim his praise
- Revelation 4:8–11 — The unceasing worship of heaven
On Loyalty and Faithfulness:
- Ruth 1:16–17 — Ruth's covenant loyalty to Naomi as a model of hesed
- Lamentations 3:22–23 — "His compassions never fail... great is your faithfulness"
- Daniel 3:16–18 — Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's loyalty regardless of outcome
- Habakkuk 3:17–18 — Praising God even when every earthly blessing is removed
On the Cost of Discipleship:
- Luke 14:25–33 — Jesus's explicit teaching on counting the cost
- John 15:18–21 — The world's hatred as a mark of true discipleship
- 2 Timothy 3:12 — "Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted"
On Enduring Faith:
- James 1:2–4 — The testing of faith producing perseverance
- 1 Peter 1:6–7 — Faith refined like gold through trials
- Romans 8:28 — All things working together for good
- Hebrews 11 — The "Hall of Faith" — a catalogue of those who trusted God without seeing the fulfillment
On the Contrast Between Palm Sunday and Good Friday:
- Luke 19:41–44 — Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, knowing what is coming
- Isaiah 53 — The suffering servant, the prophetic anticipation of the cross
- Psalm 22 — The cry of dereliction and ultimate trust
PART SIX: DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Questions are organized from observation through interpretation to application. Groups may select questions based on available time and group maturity.
Section A: Observation Questions
(What does the text say?)
1. Read Matthew 21:1–11 carefully. Make a list of every detail in the text that indicates this was a planned, deliberate act on Jesus's part rather than a spontaneous event. What does this tell you about Jesus's awareness of his mission?
2. The crowd shouted "Hosanna to the Son of David." Look up Psalm 118:25–26 and 2 Samuel 7:12–16. What specific promises and expectations would a first-century Jewish person have associated with the title "Son of David"? How does this help explain the crowd's enthusiasm?
3. In John 6:2, what specific reason does John give for the crowd following Jesus? Compare this with John 6:66. What changed between these two verses? What did Jesus say or do that caused the departure?
4. Read Acts 16:16–34. List everything that was against Paul and Silas in their prison situation (circumstances, physical condition, time of day, etc.). What did they choose to do despite all of these factors? What was the result?
5. In Job 1:20–22, Job's response involves both grief and worship. What specific actions did Job take, and what does each one represent? Why is it significant that the text says he "did not sin" in his response?
Section B: Interpretation Questions
(What does the text mean?)
6. The sermon argues that the Palm Sunday crowd was looking for a "political savior" rather than a "spiritual savior." How does the historical context of Roman occupation support this interpretation? Can you find other passages in the Gospels where people misunderstood Jesus's mission in this way?
7. Jesus said in John 4:23 that the Father is "seeking" true worshippers. The Greek word (zētei) implies an active, ongoing search. What does it say about God's character that he seeks worshippers? What does it say about the rarity of true worship?
8. The sermon draws a distinction between "emotional praise" and "lasting praise." What is the difference theologically? Is emotional praise always wrong? Can you think of biblical examples of both kinds of praise? What makes the difference between them?
9. ⬛ Read Hebrews 13:15 and then look up the Old Testament background of the "sacrifice of praise" in Leviticus 7:11–15 and Psalm 50:14, 23. How does understanding the Old Testament concept of the todah (thanksgiving offering) deepen your understanding of what the author of Hebrews is calling us to do?
10. The sermon uses the metaphor of a firework versus an ember to describe emotional praise versus lasting praise. How does this metaphor connect to Jesus's parable of the sower in Luke 8:4–15? What are the "roots" that allow praise to endure?
11. ⬛ Peter's story in the Gospels traces a journey from partial revelation to mature faith. Read Matthew 16:13–23, Matthew 26:31–35, Matthew 26:69–75, and John 21:15–19 as a sequence. What does Peter's journey teach us about the relationship between revelation, failure, and spiritual maturity? How does this differ from the Palm Sunday crowd's trajectory?
Section C: Theological Reflection Questions
(What are the deeper implications?)
12. The sermon raises the issue of people coming to God primarily to fix their problems, then leaving when God doesn't respond as expected. How would you distinguish between legitimate petition (asking God for help) and transactional religion (using God as a means to an end)? What passages of Scripture help you make this distinction?
13. The crowd wanted a "conquering king" but Jesus came as a "suffering king." This contrast runs throughout the New Testament. Read Philippians 2:5–11 (the kenosis passage). How does Paul's description of Christ's voluntary self-emptying challenge cultural assumptions about power, success, and what it means for God to "win"?
14. ⬛ The sermon mentions Bonhoeffer's concept of costly grace (implicitly). Read the following quote and discuss: "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." In what ways does the Palm Sunday crowd represent the desire for "cheap grace"? In what ways might we be tempted toward the same?
15. Job praised God even after losing everything. The sermon argues we should worship God for who he is, not for what he gives. Theologically, what is the difference between these two foundations for worship? How does each one hold up under the pressure of suffering? Which is more stable, and why?
16. The sermon describes praise as a "sacrifice." What makes praise a sacrifice? When is praise not a sacrifice? What does it cost you personally to praise God in the circumstances you are currently facing?
Section D: Application Questions
(How does this change how we live?)
17. The pastor described a moment in his truck when God asked him, "Will you still love me and worship me if I don't answer your prayer the way you want?" Have you ever faced a similar moment — a point where your loyalty to God was tested by unanswered prayer or unexpected suffering? How did you respond? How would you respond now?
18. The sermon suggests two diagnostic tools for examining what we truly value: our calendar and our finances. Take a moment to honestly reflect: What does your schedule reveal about what you are truly loyal to? What does your spending reveal? How does this align with what you say you believe?
19. Paul and Silas praised God at midnight in prison. What is the equivalent of "midnight" in your current life — the darkest, most hopeless circumstance you are facing? What would it look like, practically and specifically, to offer praise in that situation this week?
20. The sermon distinguishes between "Sunday morning praise" and "midnight praise" — worship in community versus worship in private. How is your private worship life? Is it consistent with your public worship? What practical steps could you take to develop a more consistent private practice of praise?
21. ⬛ The sermon references the making of a true disciple as background to this message. Read Luke 14:25–33, where Jesus explicitly teaches on counting the cost of discipleship. Identify three specific areas of your life where following Jesus "on his terms" rather than "your terms" would require a significant change. What is one concrete step you can take this week toward one of those areas?
22. The sermon ends with the question: "Will your praise last?" Write your honest answer to this question. What conditions or circumstances would most threaten the longevity of your praise? What spiritual practices, relationships, or truths would most strengthen it?
Section E: Group Reflection Questions
(For the group to consider together)
23. As a group, discuss: What does your church or small group culture communicate about what God is for? Do your prayers, conversations, and expectations reflect a "Burger King God" or the King of Kings? What would need to change?
24. The Palm Sunday crowd was caught up in collective emotion — a large crowd, excitement, high expectations. How can a small group or church community guard against collective emotional experiences that substitute for genuine discipleship? What safeguards does your group have?
25. If someone visited your small group and observed your worship and conversation over the course of a year — through good times and hard times — what would they conclude about the foundation of your faith? Is it rooted in circumstances or in Christ?
PART SEVEN: PRACTICAL APPLICATION EXERCISES
Exercise 1: The Loyalty Audit
Individual exercise, to be shared with the group if comfortable.
Answer the following questions honestly:
- When was the last time God did not answer a prayer the way you wanted? How did you respond emotionally? How did you respond spiritually?
- Is your praise more consistent when things are going well or when they are difficult? What does this tell you about the foundation of your worship?
- Complete this sentence: "I would struggle to praise God if he _______________." What does your answer reveal about what your worship is ultimately based on?
Exercise 2: The Hosanna-to-Crucify Timeline
Group exercise.
Read Matthew 21:1–11 (Palm Sunday) and Matthew 27:20–23 (the crowd before Pilate) back to back.
As a group, construct a timeline of the week between these two events. Use the Gospel accounts to trace:
- What Jesus did and said each day
- What the religious leaders did
- What the crowd likely experienced and heard
- At what point the crowd's expectations were definitively disappointed
Discuss: What was the pivotal moment when the crowd's praise turned to rejection? What does this reveal about the fragility of praise built on false expectations?
Exercise 3: Midnight Praise Practice
Individual exercise for the week.
Choose one difficult circumstance in your life — an unanswered prayer, a persistent struggle, a disappointment. Each day this week, set aside 10 minutes to do the following:
- Acknowledge the difficulty honestly before God (don't pretend it isn't hard)
- Find one attribute of God's character that is true regardless of your circumstance (his faithfulness, his sovereignty, his love, his wisdom)
- Offer a specific prayer of praise based on that attribute — not asking for anything, simply declaring who God is
At the end of the week, journal about what changed (if anything) in your perspective on the circumstance and on God.
Exercise 4: The Job Statement
Group exercise.
Job said: "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."
As a group, identify three things that God has given you that you deeply value. Then discuss:
- If God were to "take away" one of these things, would your praise survive?
- What would need to be true about your understanding of God for your praise to survive?
- How does this exercise reveal the difference between worshipping God's gifts and worshipping God himself?
PART EIGHT: RESOURCES FOR FURTHER STUDY
Books
On Worship:
- Worship: The Ultimate Priority — John MacArthur
- Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship — David Peterson
- Shout to the Lord: Making Worship Central in Your Life — Alvin VanderGraaff
- A Praying Life — Paul Miller (on the relationship between prayer, suffering, and trust)
On Discipleship:
- The Cost of Discipleship — Dietrich Bonhoeffer (essential reading)
- The Spirit of the Disciplines — Dallas Willard
- Radical — David Platt
- Follow Me — David Platt
On Suffering and Faith:
- The Problem of Pain — C.S. Lewis
- A Grief Observed — C.S. Lewis (Lewis's personal journal after his wife's death — raw and honest)
- When God Weeps — Joni Eareckson Tada and Steve Estes
- Walking with God through Pain and Suffering — Timothy Keller
On the Psalms (the biblical textbook of honest praise):
- Praying the Psalms — Walter Brueggemann
- The Message of the Psalms — Walter Brueggemann
- A Long Obedience in the Same Direction — Eugene Peterson
On Palm Sunday and Holy Week:
- The Final Days of Jesus — Andreas Köstenberger and Justin Taylor
- Jesus and the Victory of God — N.T. Wright (academic but comprehensive)
- The Jesus I Never Knew — Philip Yancey
Bible Study Tools
For Word Studies:
- Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
- Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words
- New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis (NIDNTTE)
For Historical Background:
- The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament — Craig Keener
- Josephus: The Complete Works (for first-century Jewish historical context)
- The New Testament World — Bruce Malina
Online Resources:
- BibleGateway.com (multiple translations)
- BlueLetterBible.org (Greek/Hebrew tools, commentaries)
- BibleProject.com (video overviews of books and themes)
- GotQuestions.org (theological questions)
Suggested Sermon Series for Follow-Up Study
Based on the themes of this message, consider studying:
- The Psalms of Lament (Psalms 22, 42, 88) — honest praise in suffering
- The Book of Job — complete study
- Paul's Letter to the Philippians — joy and contentment regardless of circumstances
- The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) — the cost and character of kingdom living
PART NINE: CLOSING DEVOTIONAL
A Final Word on Loyal Praise
The Palm Sunday story is not primarily a story about a fickle crowd. It is a mirror. It invites us to look honestly at the foundation of our own worship and ask the uncomfortable question: What am I actually praising God for?
If our praise is built on what God does for us — on answered prayers, on favorable circumstances, on God behaving the way we expect — then it is as fragile as the enthusiasm of the Jerusalem crowd. It will hold as long as things go our way, and it will crack the moment they don't.
But if our praise is built on who God is — on his character, his faithfulness, his sovereignty, his love that sent his Son to die in our place — then it has a foundation that no circumstance can erode. This is the praise that Paul and Silas offered at midnight. This is the praise that Job offered in the ash heap. This is the praise that Habakkuk offered when the fig tree did not blossom and the fields produced no food (Habakkuk 3:17–18).
This kind of praise is not natural. It is supernatural. It does not come from our emotions — it comes from revelation. It does not come from our circumstances — it comes from our convictions. And it does not come cheaply — it comes as a sacrifice, offered daily on the altar of trust.
The Father is seeking this kind of worshipper. Not the loudest. Not the most emotional. Not the most enthusiastic in the good times. But the most faithful — those who will worship him in spirit and in truth, in the crowd and in the prison, in the abundance and in the loss, on Sunday morning and at midnight.
May that be the kind of worshippers we choose to become.
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." — Job 1:21
"Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise — the fruit of lips that openly profess his name." — Hebrews 13:15
GROUP COMMITMENT
Close your session by reading this commitment together:
Lord, we acknowledge that our praise has not always been loyal. We have praised you when you gave and complained when you took away. We have shouted hosanna when things went our way and grown silent when they did not. Today, we choose a different foundation. We choose to praise you not for what you do, but for who you are. We choose to worship you not only in the crowd, but at midnight. We choose loyalty over emotion, truth over feeling, and enduring faith over seasonal enthusiasm. We are your people, and you are our God — in every season, in every circumstance, in every chapter of our lives. May our praise last. In Jesus's name. Amen.
This study guide was developed for small groups seeking deeper engagement with God's Word. It is intended to supplement, not replace, personal Bible study, prayer, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. All Scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise noted.