The Power and Purpose of the Cross

In the room.

I am yes, if I was Greek, this would be

my birthday, because apparently in the Greek Orthodox Church do

you celebrate your birthday on the Saint's Day in today's

David's Day.

So I'm going to claim that why not? Why not?

The queen has two birth the king has two birthdays.

Why can't we, well, some of us have a birthday.

Can you remember when you were born again? Because that's

a different birthday, isn't it. You were physically born on earth.

Your mum remembers that, your dad probably remembers that. But

when were you born again? Can you remember that? Is

that in your diary? Do you celebrate it? Just something

to go away and do a bit of research and

think about. In March, we're considering and thinking and exploring

the Cross. The Cross speaks. We've celebrated Communion already this morning.

I want to explore us we head towards Easter, what

it means. We thank you for those who prayed for us.

Whilst we were on holiday.

It was a bit wet.

We had a good time down in Cornwall and we

spent some time with Alex and Nino and our god

daughter Verity and Alex used to be in these group here.

But he used to go to Windsor Boys School as

a child, and he used to walk past the Catholic

Church and outside the Catholic Church was a crucifix Jesus.

Hanging on the cross.

And I remember his mum telling me one day he said,

please let him down. He looked at the statue of

the cross, looked at Jesus hanging there and the reality

of the pain that was in the sculpture of Jesus

hanging on the cross. And as a little boy, his

response was, please let him down, Please free him from

his suffering, because you know, he didn't go to the

cross because of punishment.

And I'm going to explore that today. Now.

The cross is not something insignificant. The cross is central

to our faith. Many of you will wear a cross

in different ways, and there's some interesting rules about whether

you were allowed to wear crosses in different places. Do

you know what, I'm going to wear one anyway. I'm

not going to wear it because of not because of

a rule. I'm going to wear a cross if I

want to wear a cross. The cross is central. It's

not peripheral. It's not just a decoration. It's not just

a piece of jewelry. It's a moment in history that

sets from before to afters. Without the cross, there is

no forgiveness without the cross, there is no reconciliation with God.

Without the cross, there is no transformation for us. And

without the cross, what is the point of church? I

might even go say without the cross, there would be

no church.

The cross is.

The Cross is both power and purpose. It wasn't just

something that happened. God had a plan, and we're going

to explore some of that over the next few weeks.

Power that redeems and purpose that redefines. One Corinthians one

eighteen says this, For the message of the Cross is

foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who

are being saved, it is the power of God. Do

you know what the world sees when they read those

kind of scriptures. What the world sees is weakness. But

Heaven declares power, the power of the cross, power to forgive,

power to justify. At the cross, sin was not ignored,

it was judged.

We all do things wrong.

If I asked everybody to put the hand up he's

done something wrong this week, most of us would put

our hands up and some of us would say, well,

I don't want to put my hand up, but I

know it's still done wrong. You know we don't get

it all right. Well, none of us are perfect. If

you're looking for the perfect church, please don't join it because.

You'll spoil it.

Jesus did not die as a tragic example, but as

a willing substitute for you and for me. In One

Peter two four, it says this, he himself bore our

sins in his body on the cross, so that we

might die to sins and live for righteousness. By his wounds,

we have been healed. This is the divine exchange. This

is what went on at the cross, our sin laid

on him, his righteousness credited to us. The cross settles

are standing before God. I remember reading the Old Testament.

No one can see God and live.

I remember reading that.

So how can we come into the presence of God?

We come into the presence of God because of Christ.

The cross settles are standing before God. So let's stop

striving to earn what Christ has already secured. I'll say

that again because I think it's important. Sometimes we kind

of try a bit harder, we work a bit harder,

we do a bit more. We need to stop striving

to earn what Christ has already secured. We live from acceptance,

not for it. The acceptance is already there. The cross

was not a private thing. I mean when we read

the scriptures. When when when If you read the greatest

story ever told, you know this came out recently. Bear

Grills wrote a wonderful illustration. I'm still reading it through

the second time right now. And some of the scenes

if you just get into it and think, oh wow,

I just imagine people looking up at the cross as

their friend, their savior, their teacher hanging there. It was

not a private defeat. It was a public victory Colossians

two fourteen and fifteen. Having canceled the charge of our

legal indebtedness, he has taken it away, nailing it to

the cross, and having disarmed powers and authorities, he made

a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

When the enemy's accusation, when the enemy's weapon was accusation,

call yourself King of the Jews. It was nailed above

him on the cross. But that accusation requires unpaid debt,

and the debt has been paid at the cross.

Debt was canceled.

I know there are people in the room who have

had money issues at different times in their lives, and

at some point the debt has been canceled. Do you

know what the liberty that brings to someone who's lived

under the onus of debt is really pressing. It keeps

you awake at night, It gives you nightmares. The debt

was canceled, shame was silenced, fear is confronted. So I

want to declare and proclaim and encourage you by saying,

we do not live under condemnation. You know, sometimes people

will say to you, I think it is a British thing.

We'll say, Hi, how are you? And sometimes our response

is not too bad? Under the circumstances? What are we

doing when we say those kinds of things. I'm not

saying change your language. Just think about some of the

things that we say.

What are we actually under the circumstances? Oh?

Okay, I'm under the circumstances, am I okay? I mean

we might still want to acknowledge the circumstances. Let's not

put ourselves under the circumstances. Let's go through the circumstances

with Christ. Let's do it with somebody else. Let's do

it with prayer and faith, for we stand in freedom

secured by Christ.

The Cross does not.

Merely change our legal status. It reshapes our inner life.

And I will put a little brackets in there if

we will let it. There are certain parts of our

lives that sometimes we kind of hold on to. Sometimes,

when I was a little child, of a voice would

come upstairs from my mum.

Her name was Jeane. She said, David, what are you doing?

Or actually, more specifically, David, what are you doing? And

sometimes I'll be doing something I shouldn't be doing, and

down the stairs we come the little voice saying nothing.

Jesus sees all.

It reshapes our inner life Galatians two twenty. I have

been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but

Christ lives in me. Consequently, the Cross confronts some things here,

the costs. Cross confronts our pride. The Cross confronts our

self sufficiency in our independence, I can do it. I

don't need God. You don't need faith if you don't

need God. There are many times when we come to

the end of ourselves. What was it, Paul that rose

When I am poor, then I am rich? When I

am weak, then I am strong. We come to the

end of ourselves and we have to lean on somebody

else or lean on God. The Cross confronts our pride,

our self sufficiency, our ego, our independence from God. Nothing

resists surrender more than us, our independence, our selfishness. Yet

transformation begins when we come to the end of ourselves.

Daily discipleship means daily surrender. Spiritual maturity grows when we

yield ourselves to Him. What is the purpose of this

cross that we're exploring today. It reveals the character and

the nature of God. It reveals his heart for us

in Romans five eight. But God demonstrates his own love

for us in this whilst we were still sinners. Christ

died for us, didn't wait till he got to know us.

He died for us anyway. He paid the price for

you and me At Calvary. Justice was upheld, mercy was extended,

Love was and continues to be demonstrated. If we understand

the heart of God, we look to the Cross and

church and those listing and those listing online and those

who listen later. Let's keep on keeping the Cross central.

It's a gruesome story. It's the sacrifice that God sent

his one and only son, that whosoever believes in him

should not perish but have everlasting life. The Cross does

not create just Christians in isolation. It helps to create church,

and church is community two fourteen to sixteen. For He

himself is our peace. His purpose was to create in

himself one new humanity, thus making peace and in one body,

to reconcile both of them to God through the Cross.

The Church is a cross shaped community for us. RF

Unity is not optional. If we have a disagreement a

brother with a sister, we need to work on it.

Matthew very clearly says, go to someone first of all.

If they won't hear you, take somebody else with you.

If not, get others involved. Really simple principle. Unity is

not optional. We need to work at it. It's not

easy either, is it. We don't all agree all the time.

We have different perspectives. One of my favorite questions is

is this a cultural issue? And I look out across

our congregation and think and look at the flags around

the room and think, those are the nations we've touch,

Those are the nations that are represented in this room. Actually,

whilst I remember, I'll do a little notice here. If

your flag is not hanging up in this room this Sunday,

let us know, because we've got other flags at the back.

I've just got the children this morning to go through

all the flags at the back, a little bit of work,

and they identified all the flags that we've got. And

if we haven't got a flag, we will buy a

flag and we'll have another string of flags. Because we

are a church of many nations, and we touch many nations.

So I saw people from.

Turkey, Cameroon, South Africa, and Italy already on Facebook when

I was connecting up this morning. Unity is not optional,

Humility is not negotiable, and love needs to be evident.

And they will know we are Christians by our love,

by our love, and they'll know we are Christians by

our love. The Cross was to establish a new way

of living. It redefines greatness. There are books out there

which are not Christian books that talk about servant leadership.

They're founded in the Bible.

The principle of servant leadership was illustrated by Jesus. The

Cross defines greatness and leadership. In Mark ten forty five,

even the Son of Man did not come to be served,

but to serve and to give his life as a

ransom for many. For at the Cross, power serves us.

At the Cross, authority was sacrificed at the Cross. Leadership Nils,

the Cross becomes our pattern, our pattern for family living

being sacrificial at home.

You know, we live in a.

World now where lots of people would say it's my

right to have ABC. I remember sitting in a friend's house.

In there, they've got six children, Christian family. And when

you've got a large family, I don't know what families

you come from, but you often have chores. You know,

different people, different doesn't matter how old you are, there

are some chores you have to do. And I was

sitting with the family. We were having dinner and it

was time and I can't remember the name of the

fourth daughter, but the fourth daughter was her job to

do the washing up. And she sat there and she said,

I don't want to do the washing up. It's my

right not to do the washing up. So the plates

were stacked away. One of the other children took the

plates into the kitchen and they sat in the kitchen

and we did some other stuff in the afternoon, and

we came to the evening and family started to sit

down at the table. Plates were put out on the table,

empty bowls were put out on the table. And then

Mum came and she said, it's my right not to cook,

so there's nothing for tea this evening. And some of

the children went, Mom, that's not fair, We've got to eat.

She said, well, actually, some of the plates we want

to use are still dirty from lunchtime. And so one

of the children said, I'll help wash up if I

can have some dinner, and she prepared some dinner. But

she was just making a point. And sometimes we need

to remember that the thing is for the greater good,

for the good of the family, for the good of

the community, for the good of our planet, for the

good of the church. Sometimes we end up making a

sacrifice for a greater good. The cross appears to be weakness,

yet it is strength. The cross appears to be a loss,

yet it is again because the cross is empty. The

body was laid in a tomb, but the tomb is

empty too. For he is risen, and the cross appears

to be defeat, and yet it is victory. To Corinthians thirteen,

verse four, for to be sure, he was crucified in weakness,

yet he lives by God's power. God's strategy often looks

like surrender before it looks like success. I'll say that

again because I think it's something we probably need to

linger into. Other illustrations like this would say things like

the darkest night comes before the dawn. Didn't somebody famous

once say that God's strategy often looks like surrender before

it looks like success. The Kingdom advances not through force,

but through faithfulness. So what is our response to the cross?

The cross deminds more than wow. The Cross demands more

than admiration. The Cross calls for surrender. Luke nine twenty

three says this, whoever wants to be my big disciple

must deny themselves and take up their cross and daily

follow me.

We believe the Cross, We receive its grace.

We live the pattern of the Cross, and we proclaim

and declare its message. If us as a church, if

our effort we are to flourish, and God is blessing us,

and God is opening doors and stuff is happening, and

that's exciting, we must move. We must not move beyond

the cross, not move beyond the cross. We must move

deeper into the Cross. I did put a video up

and I'm not going to play it, but i will

share it on the WhatsApp group.

There was a video that.

I found called the Sounds of the Cross. Just think

about a nail being hammered into a piece of wood.

Some of the sounds around the cross were not pleasant,

and I'm not going to play it today, but I

will share it because I think sometimes it's good to

think about things in a different way. Because the power

of the God, power of God is revealed in sacrifice.

In this sacrifice his son Jesus, and the purpose of

God is fulfilled in our surrender to him, the power

and purpose of the cross.

Let me pray. I want everybody just to close your eyes.

Those listening at home, those listening later.

Just close your eyes, and I'd like you to picture

a cross.

Whatever your cross is.

It's a wooden cross, or it's a stone cross, it's

a metal cross, it's outside a church, it's on somebody's neck,

it's something your mom gave you, whatever is, would you

just picture across an instrument of torture. Romans wanted to

show their power in Jesus' time by public demonstration, by

something painful and visible, but God allowed his son Jesus

to walk through this, to die on the cross for

you and me. The price has been paid. It doesn't

matter how bad you or I have been. The price

at the cross was paid for you and me, and

that's something we need to continue to live with. It's

not a one time transact. It's a one time transaction

in eternity. But for us, we need to live the

reality of that every day because I don't know about you,

but I sin. Sometimes I do things I shouldn't do.

I do things that don't glorify God, and I have

to come back to him. I repent, I turn from

that thing, say God, I'm sorry forgive me. And that

is possible because of the cross. The price was paid

at the cross. Jesus stood in your place, yes, and

that empty cross is His body was taken down and

put into Joseph's tomb. It all seemed like it was ended.

That what a great loss, a great man gone. And

then on the third day the stone was rolled away,

the empty two and Mary cried out to him and said,

what have you done with the body of my savior,

my teacher?

And what was the reply?

He is not here, he is risen. So we believe

in a resurrected Christ, and he's still alive today by

his spirit seated at the right hand of the Father.

So this is not just something that happened in history,

but the reality of it lives.

With us today.

So I'm just going to pause and I'm going to

encourage you to look at the cross, whatever cross you're

looking at, and if there is something that you need

to bring to the foot of the cross, because for you,

the price has not yet been paid. Sometimes we give

all but our FuMB or are something we give all

to God, but this one thing, and I'm going to

press in this morning and just say, if there's something

that you've been holding on to, you will not I can't.

I can't forgive this person for that. Maybe it's time

to bring it to the foot of the cross and

leave it there today.

So I'm going to encourage you to do that.

I'm going to leave a bit of silence, and then

if you've done that, I'm not going to ask you anything.

I'm not going to pray for you.

I'm just I just like you as a declaration of

I brought this to the foot of the cross just

to stand where you are.

I'm not going to focus on you.

That's just you saying, God, I brought this to the

foot across I am leaving it here. And maybe this

is the first time you've heard this kind of message,

and you say, I've done so many bad things. There's

no one that can pay the price for the things

that I've done. Whether if you're listening online, ring us up,

leave a message, give us a phone number. We'll ring

you back and we'll talk you through just how the

price that was paid here is complete and sufficient for all,

not just the good people, for all. And I include

in that murderers. I include in that people who've done

horrible things to other people, because Christ died for all.

That's the scripture I read this morning. Maybe if you're

in the room and that's the first time, or you

want to respond to this again, please come to the

front after the service, Come and have a chat with me,

Come and have a chat with somebody. I'd love to

demonstrate to you just how the price has been paid

at the cross. I'm going to do the notices in

a few moments, and then we're going to come back

to worship to close out our service.

But before I do