From the Blog
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Now, What Do I Do With the Cross?
Imagine yourself on a path. That path is the collection of the choices you are making right now about what is important in life, what is the priority in how to spend your time, your energy, your thoughts, your desires, your essence. Not how do you want to spend all that. But how are you actually spending it? Now, look down that path. Where is it leading? Where are you heading? If you keep just doing the things you are doing right now, are you confident that it is going to end up where you want it? That it will lead to a satisfaction and a reward that is eternal in value? Jesus is here, today, inviting you to follow his path towards the best that the creator of the universe has for you. And, spoiler alert, it involves a cross…
In Luke chapter 9, Jesus told His disciples He would soon suffer, die and be raised on the third day and that their greatest reward would come when they chose to follow Him in this same way. When we choose to follow Jesus, we are choosing to live a self-sacrificial life that brings eternal reward. -
Why the Empty Cross?
Of all the symbols that Christians might have chosen as an emblem of the faith, why the cross? The answer is that the cross points to Christ’s death as payment for our sins and the fact that the cross is empty points to Christ’s resurrection as the power that gives us new life in Him. The empty cross points to the empty tomb!
In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, he told them that it was being united with Christ in His death and resurrection that made it possible for them to live a new life. We can experience this new life in union with Christ’s death and resurrection. -
Which Side of the Cross?
Although Christ entered Jerusalem on a Sunday to adoring crowds waving palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matt. 21:9), Christ exited Jerusalem on a Friday to an angry crowd shaking their fists and yelling, “Crucify him!” The crowds in Jerusalem were divided in their response to Jesus. They had different views of Jesus and took different sides. The message of Christ and His cross still divides people today. It still calls people to choose sides.
You and I weren’t in Jerusalem when Jesus made his triumphal entry on Palm Sunday 2,000 years ago. Nor were we there when He was hung on a cross between two criminals. We may not have been there, but the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross calls all of us to answer: “Which side of the cross are you on?”
In the gospel according to Luke, he recorded that Jesus was crucified between two criminals, one on the right side and one on the left side. They were both criminals facing death, both seeing and hearing how Jesus faced death. Yet they chose different views of the cross of Christ. They chose different sides. We are faced with the same choice. Which side of the cross will you choose? -
How Can the Cross Reconcile Us?
Have you ever experienced a break in a relationship? A broken relationship is often one of the most painful things we ever experience. And reconciliation? Well, that might be one of the most difficult things to accomplish.
In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he explained that it was trusting in Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross that reconciled them to God. We can trust in Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross to reconcile us to God. -
Why the Cross?
Do you see the need for Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross for your sins? Do you understand its significance? Do you believe that people are separated from God in this world, struggling with sin, addiction, and death without God’s intervention? Do you believe that people who die separated from God will spend eternity without Him in a place called Hell?
In the apostle Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth, he explained why the message of the cross of Christ was crucial to their salvation. -
I’m Trusting You Anyway, Lord!
What are you facing today? It seems easy to keep the faith when life is good, when all your prayers are being answered, and everything is coming up roses. But how do we keep trusting God when life gets hard? When our prayers seem to go unanswered? When our worst fears seem to be coming true? How can we keep trusting the Lord anyway?
In Habakkuk 3:16-19, after hearing the Lord’s plan to use Babylon to discipline Judah, the prophet concluded his little book of lament with a strong resolve to trust the Lord anyway. We can resolve to trust the Lord anyway. -
Where Are You, Lord?
This week, in part three of our God Questions series, we see Habakkuk asking, “Where are you, Lord? What are you doing? I’m confused. I don’t see You at work in this. Where are you, Lord?”
How are we to stay faithful when it seems like God is absent? Even when life doesn’t make sense and God seems far away, we can lament, crying out our questions and complaints to God, believing that He is good and that He will cause all things to come together for good in the end. In the book of Habakkuk, when the prophet struggled with understanding how a holy God could use an evil nation like Babylon, God answered him, declaring five woes of judgement on Babylon. Within these five woes, God encouraged Habakkuk’s faith by helping him understand where God was at work. We can be encouraged in our faith by understanding where God is at work. -
Why Lord?
What do you do when you’ve prayed to God and you don’t like the answer you’ve received? What do we do when God’s answer doesn’t seem to be “yes,” but “wait,” or even more difficult, “no?” That’s Habakkuk. He doesn’t like God’s answer. It doesn’t fit his understanding of God and the world. So now, he has more questions for God.
He even lifts up his “why” questions. “Why Lord? Why would you let this happen?” And “why” questions are the hardest of all. In the book of Habakkuk, when the prophet struggled with why a holy God would allow an evil nation like Babylon to prevail over Judah, the Lord called Habakkuk to trust that His plans would be better in the end. We can trust that God’s plans for us will be better in the end. -
How Long Lord?
Do you have questions for God today? Are you asking, “Lord, how long?” How long before You answer my cry for help? I’m going through a divorce, my wife left me, I’m trying to raise these kids alone… Lord, how long before you send help? I’m hurting. I’m grieving. I’m lonely. Help! Maybe you’re facing a health scare. You’re asking, “Lord, why aren’t you healing me? Or why aren’t you healing my loved one? Or you’ve lost someone. “Lord, I don’t understand why? How long will this sorrow last? How long will this grief linger? Or maybe the violence and strife of this world is filling you with fear, you’re crying, “Lord, how long must we wait for Your return? How long, Lord?”
That’s why the little Habakkuk is so timely today. It teaches us how to cry out in lament to God. In the book of Habakkuk, the prophet cried out his questions and complaints to God believing that He would answer. We can cry out our questions and complaints to God believing that He will answer. -
Serve to Lead
We live in a day when many of us are drifting along without a guiding purpose in life. Or we’ve bought into the culture’s idea that happiness and fulfillment come from self gratification, of owning material things and having exciting experiences. Yet we still come up feeling empty and unfulfilled. Or we think that being successful, or being the greatest at something will fulfill us. But as many who have achieved worldly success have said, “It’s lonely at the top.” Because they left behind family or stepped on or over friends while climbing the so-called ladder of success. So how do find our purpose? How do we find ourselves?
Jesus says that the way to greatness, the way to leadership, is serving others. Jesus calls us to be servant leaders. In the book of Matthew, the mother of James and John asked Jesus to give her sons seats of authority in His kingdom. Jesus answered that leadership in His kingdom meant first becoming a servant. We can follow Christ’s call to servant leadership.