Brown's Daily Word 3-21-08

Good Afternoon,
Praise the Lord for Good Friday. Praise the Lord for Calvary, the richest hill on earth. From this hill flows, nonstop, the streams of blessings of grace and glory. Last summer I met in person Dr. Calvin Miller, a poet and a great communicator of the Good News of Jesus. Calvin Miller said, "One cannot even begin to understand the life of Christ without understanding His death." *
In Peggy Noonan’s book, "When Character Was King", she tells about a meeting between President George W. Bush and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. It was their first meeting as world leaders and Bush wanted to be sure they connected-- that they looked for depth of soul and character, and did not simply have a political meeting. Bush brought up a story he had read about Putin. His mother had given him a Christian cross that Putin had blessed while in Jerusalem. Bush had been touched by the story. Putin told a story in response. He had taken to wearing the cross, and one day had set it down in a house he had been visiting. Strangely, the house had burned down, and all Putin could think about was that his cross was lost in the ruble. He motioned for a worker to come to him, so he could ask him to look for the cross. The worker walked over to Putin, stretched out his hand, and showed him the already recovered cross. Putin told Bush, “It was as if something meant for me to have the cross,” inferring that he believed in a higher power.
Bush said, “Mr. Putin, President Putin, that’s what it’s all about—that’s the story of the cross.” The story of the cross is that God intended it just for you.
A cartoon has been found in the ruins of ancient Rome showing how crazy the Christian message seemed to the people of that time. It’s a caricature of Jesus’ crucifixion, showing a man’s body hanging on a cross – but the body has a head of a donkey. Standing to left of this cross is a man with his hands raised in worship. Underneath is the inscription, “he worships his God!”
As we head into the crucifixion and then resurrection of Jesus Christ, I find these portions of Scripture evoke emotions like no other, but I also know we do not want to zip past the death of Christ to celebrate the Resurrection. We need to pause and ponder.
The cross is about a holy God, a sinful people, and the God-man Savior, Jesus Christ, providing reconciliation between God and man by providing the ultimate sacrifice for sin. In order to better understand the events of Calvary, we can look at some of the persons involved in that traumatic but precious scene. Simon the Cyrene (Mark 15:21), a Jew in town for the Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread, was the first strong looking guy who was walking by. This innocent bystander would likely become a follower of Christ. Mark points out the names of his sons as though they were known to the church.
This horror turned out to be a blessing for Simon; indeed, God often uses trauma and hardship in our lives to draw us to Himself. He shakes us to wake us. Ray Botz’s song, "Watch the Lamb," portrays this event well. Some of us have a testimony like Simons’, a tragic or traumatic experience shook us and awakened the sense within we that we need the Lord, and perhaps that awful thing ended up being the best thing in our lives.
The cross is about a holy God, a sinful people, and the God-man Savior, Jesus Christ, providing reconciliation between God and man by providing the ultimate sacrifice for sin. Jesus carried not only the sins of the world, but their grief; He grieved over the destruction of Jerusalem that would come in 70 AD because His own people rejected Him. Jesus knows our grief and the trials that will befall us as well; He does care, but He also allows these for reasons beyond us. We are not the first generation to ask the questions, "Why? How do we know God loves us? (Romans 5:8)
While Jesus was suffering on the Cross, He was offered wine mixed with myrrh (a tranquilizer), and He refused it. He needed to drink the cup of wrath given Him by the Father for our sins.
He cried out, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." These people were held accountable by Peter in the book of Acts for crucifying an innocent man, but the Father did not hold them guilty for crucifying the Son of God because they did not understand their sin and guilt.
Here we can see a principle repeated in the Word; we need to confess the sins of which we are aware to the Father, but we sin many more times in ways we do not even realize. Yet, "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin."
He had dialogue with the repentant thief and promises Him, "Today you will be with me in paradise." Even in His suffering, Jesus Christ was ministering to others around Him!
In Christ,
Brown
Click here to view video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZsDp01VK40

Our TV outreach today at 7p.m. on Time Warner Cable 4.
Here is a reminder of the weekend services, please invite family and friends to come and join us on this special Sunday, He has Risen from the grave! We are free to be all that He has called us to be. Amen.

Good Friday, March 21--Combined Good Friday service will be held at the Nazarene Church, Rt. 26, Endicott, at 7:00 p.m.



Holy Saturday, March 22--11:00 a.m. Easter egg hunt for the children.

12:00 luncheon for the children, serving hotdogs and candy.





Easter Morning Celebrations, March 23

6:30 AM--Sunrise service—Ray Bartholomew will be preaching and Emily Sabin will be playing special music.

7:30 AM—Family breakfast—Chef Jim Holmes and company.

8:30/11:00 AM-Easter Celebration—Pastor Brown will be preaching

9:50 AM—Sunday school for all ages

9:30 AM—Worship services at Wesley UMC