19th March 2023 Infill Service - Dave Food - The Cross speaks

Or he's a man of God. Thank you for his heart, for his

willingness to be and standing in the gap for others. Lord, And as

you have placed this word in his heart, allow him just to deliver the

word with the power that comes from You, so lives can be transformed and

touched, and that we all will get to strengthened by the power of your

world through Him. In the name of Jesus, we pray Amen over to

you today. Thank you, Good morning everybody, Good morning day. Good

to see smiling faces in church this morning. Good to see those who are

joining us online. I'm always surprised that I see a little another nation pop

up that we've not touched before. Just a couple of weeks ago, there

was somebody who joined us from Mongolia. Any but you know, anybody in

Mongolia just out of interest in the room. So there's a complete stranger who

we've connected with. And I'm just thankful that we can, as the church

that running me Christian Fellowship, is connect with others around the world and bring

God's glory. We've been focusing on the Cross as we head towards Easter,

and some of us will wear a cross, maybe as a badge or a

broach or as a necklace, and it's become a real battleground as people who

wanted to wear jewelry and wanted to wear crosses at work and have been challenged

because of law. And I'm not ashamed to be a Christian. I'll say

that again, because i don't know what you think, but I'm not ashamed

to be a Christian. And I'm not ashamed, and I'm willing to tell

people. And so sometimes I'm quite comfortable. You know, I don't wear

across all the time, but I will from time to time. Is one

on my suit jacket. I've got a nicthus one of those one of those

signs of the early Christians. But I do want to Sometimes it provokes a

conversation. And here's the thing. The cross speaks. The cross speaks,

and consequently, if you wear a cross, it will provoke a response from

time to time sometimes good, Oh you're a Christian. I'm a Christian too,

what are you wearing that for? It provokes a response. And I

believe the cross provokes a response towards eternity to us as we gather together as

church, as we gather on Easter Sunday, as we will do a walk

of witness together, as the church is together in Egham. So I believe

the cross speaks because the cross is where God sent his one and only son

to save us. That's what he says in John three point sixteen. God

sent his one and only son, so whosoever believed in him should not perish,

but have eternal life. So God sending his son was a sign of

his love for us, as Lorraine unpacked some of that this morning. But

that son went to the cross, the place of the place of pain,

the place of suffering, and God's only son was crucified. And so in

those moments we see and hear and find that God loves us so much.

And this wasn't something that just happened in the New Testament. It was proclaimed,

declared, prophesied in the Old Testament. We find in Isaiah chapter fifty

three, Verses five and six. But he was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him.

And by his stripes we are all. We like sheep, have gone

astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, And the Lord has

laid on him the iniquity of us all. Notice how many times the word

hour appears in just that simple verse. There, yours and mine, he

was wounded. You might want to make it really personal this morning, and

make it personal, and we'll read that again, and I'll put my instead

of hour, because sometimes it's very easy to kind of go, well,

that's somebody else, that's not me today. I believe in the power of

prayer. I believe God is moved by prayer, and so I think prayer

is important. I think it's something we should offer on a regular basis.

But you know, if we go from the general I believe God hears and

responds to prayer to I believe God hears prayer and my prayer now as a

very different thing. So let me take you through a few simple questions here.

Do you believe prayer works? Do you believe that prayer is a process

that God responds to. Yes, there's people in the room, with people

online. Okay. Do you believe prayer works today in this world? Yes?

And okay, let me make it even more personal. Do you believe

prayer? Your prayer works today? Yeah? Otherwise, why do we pray

if that's not true? Why do we pray, And so I'm just going

to make this really personal. Now. Maybe you want to read it with

me if you'd like to, feel free to do so, but I'm going

to put instead of hour, I'm going to make it let's own this this

morning. For he was wounded for my transgressions, he was bruised for my

iniquities. The chastisement for my peace was upon him, And by his stripes

I am healed all we I have gone astray, or sorry, I like

sheep, have gone astray. I have turned to his own way, and

the Lord has laid on him