The Cross is a Place...

It's so good to have you with us this evening as we spend some time in the Word of the Lord together and you'll reflect back on Calvary's cross. It's great to have Brad playing the flute again. Brad, thank you so much. It's great to have him back in the saddle. And I was reminded on the way in this evening by Dina Bond that she has notes from all of my Good Friday sermons in her Bible. So I got to make sure I don't repeat myself over the last 15 or 20 years because she's got them all written down.

She was showing them to me this evening. So I said, don't worry, I'm not going to repeat myself. Don't want to do that. So you're going to be good to go. But tonight's a great night. In fact, let me say it this way.

This is the highest of all holy days, Good Friday. We call it Great Friday here at Christ Community Church. But it truly is the highest of all the holy days. In other words, that would make it the most important day of the entire year. So I would go to say this, if you were to only go to one service in one year, this is the one you need to go to. If you miss them all, don't miss this one. Because this one is the most important one of them all. If this is the highest of all the holy days, that makes it the highest of all the other days as well.

So the best place for you to be on the Friday called Great is in a place called the house of the Lord, worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Why do we say that? Because everything in the Old Testament points to this day, everything. Everything about the Old Testament has a force, a drive to take you to this day. This is the apex of redemptive history. So everything in the Old Testament would move you to a very particular time in history, the day in which Jesus Christ Himself would die on Calvary's tree, a very precise day, a very important day.

So much so that the cross is central to the mission of Christ. The cross was central to the mission of Christ. He came to die. He was born to die. He specifically came for this day. In other words, Christ said over and over again, the Son of Man must suffer. The Son of Man must die. The Son of Man must be on His way to Jerusalem. Everything drove Him to this day. The cross is the central mission of the Messiah. The cross is the central message of the gospel. Our whole gospel centers around Christ crucified.

Paul says, I preach Christ and Him crucified. It's all about the death of Christ. We partake at the Lord's table, right? As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do proclaim the Lord's death until He comes again. Paul would say in his messages that he would have a sole purpose to present Christ crucified. So if the apex of redemptive history is Calvary and everything in the Old Testament pointed to this day, and the cross was central to the mission of the Messiah, the cross was central to the message of the gospel, the cross is central to the meaning of Christianity.

Without the cross, there is no Christianity. What does it mean to be a Christian? Christ said, if any man come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me, Luke 9 23. That is the gospel message. Christ was saying that the cross is central to Christianity. Paul would say, I am crucified with Christ. Paul says, I am crucified, Galatians 6, to the world. So that which is central to the mission of the Messiah, to the message of the gospel, and to the meaning of Christianity is the cross.

This is the most important day in the year. And so you have come to hear about the cross, and rightly so. In fact, let me say it to you this way.

The soul of every person in the room, in fact, the destiny of every soul in the room, lies in the promise of the cross. And the ministry of every saint in the room, lives in the pathway of the cross. If you missed anything, don't miss that. The soul, or the destiny of every soul in the room, lies in the promise of the cross. And the ministry of every saint in the room, lives in the pathway of the cross. The cross is central to everything. It is the one symbol which Christianity is known for. It is the cross of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

So tonight, I want to take you back to Mount Calvary. I want to take you back to the place of the skull. I want to take you back to the place called Golgotha. I want to take you back to the cross. Because at the cross, we learn all we need to know about Jesus Christ, our Lord, and the message of the gospel. So let me say it to you this way.

The cross is a place where Jesus was mercilessly despised. The cross is a place where Jesus was mercilessly despised. We can read about that in Matthew chapter 27, when it says, at that time two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those passing by were hurling abuse at him, wagging their heads and saying, you who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself if you are the Son of God. Come down from the cross. They mocked him. And they could do that fairly easily because Christ was not crucified up on top of a mountain, but he was crucified on a road, on the side of a road, a very busy road.

The Romans always crucified on the busiest roads in the town so everybody could see who the criminal was. That's how you know that in Jerusalem, at the place of what they commonly call the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, is not the location in which they crucified the Messiah. We know that because during the time of Christ it was a residential area, and the Romans never crucified in a residential area. Case closed. But everybody wants to go to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher because that's where Jesus, quote, was buried.

Not so. They're wrong. They don't keep the finger in the text. And of course, if he was buried there, he'd have to be crucified close by as well because that's what the text says. But the location of Golgotha was located on the busiest road leading out of Jerusalem. And so he would have been crucified on the road, and those walking by would be able to look at him and talk to him and speak to him.

And so they would walk by and they would wag their hands and they would mercilessly despise him. But that was all prophesied. That was all said way back in Isaiah 53 when it says in verse number three, he was despised and forsaken by men.

The word despise is the same word used of Esau when he despised his birthright. Same word used of Goliath when he despised David. Same word used to speak of vile kings in the Old Testament in the book of Jeremiah. In other words, he was treated as a vile person. He was one worthy of only contempt by those who walked by. He was despised and he was forsaken by men. And we know that the Bible says that the disciples forsook him and they fled.

Text goes on to say he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and like one from whom men hid their face, he was despised and we did not esteem him. So Isaiah the prophet written over some 700 years before Christ prophesied that our Lord would be mercilessly despised. It says in Isaiah 49 verse number seven, thus says the Lord the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One to the despised one to the one abhorred by the nation. The servant of the Lord who was the Messiah was abhorred by the nation.

He was despised by the nation. So when you think of Calvary's cross and you go back in time to a place called Mount Calvary, you begin to understand it was a place where Jesus was mercilessly despised. But you must also know that the cross is a place where Jews and Gentiles were divinely utilized. Jesus was mercilessly despised, but Jews and Gentiles were divinely utilized. Listen to what Peter says in the book of Acts. Acts chapter 2 verse number 22. Men of Israel, listen to these words, Jesus the Nazarene.

Now you got to stop there, right? Why does Peter refer to the Messiah as Jesus the Nazarene? Because that's how everybody referred to him. He was Jesus the Nazarene. Now remember what Matthew said at the birth of our Lord. It's not the birth of our Lord, but at the dedication of our Lord in Matthew's gospel, the second chapter verse number 23.

Matthew says these words. He says, then after being warned by God in a dream, Joseph left for the region of Galilee and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken to the prophets. He shall be called the Nazarene. So the prophets had spoken the fact that he should be called the Nazarene. But if you read 39 books in the Old Testament, there's not one prophet who records that statement. Does that mean that Matthew was wrong? No, not at all. Just because it wasn't recorded doesn't mean they didn't say it.

Remember, Matthew does no commentary on that statement. Because if I'm a Jew and I'm raised in Judaism, I know what the prophets of old had said about Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Nazarene. So the prophets of old would use that phrase because as a Nazarene, he would be contemptible. He'd be a man of derision, because it was a term to represent the Galileans in a negative way. He was born in Bethlehem. Why don't they call him Jesus the Bethlehemite? That's where he was born. But they don't. Why? Because Jesus made sure that the prophets said he'd be called Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus the Nazarene. Remember when they came to get him in the garden in John chapter 18. He says, whom do you seek? What did they say? Jesus the Nazarene. A term of derision. Why? Because Jesus was mercilessly despised by all. They couldn't stand him. Jesus the Nazarene. And what does Christ say? I am. And they immediately all fall over backwards. Why? Because he is the great I am of Exodus chapter 3. He wants them to know who he is. And they get right back up again. It's almost as if Jesus clears his throat and says, excuse me, who were you seeking?

And they said again, Jesus the Nazarene. Why? Because they had such contempt for the Messiah. The prophets of old said he should be called Jesus of Nazarene. Oh, by the way, think about it this way. When Peter says this in Acts chapter 2, remember in John 19, the inscription above the cross, Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews, right? And the religious leaders were so upset with that statement. Why? Because if you read the statement and you read it in Hebrew, it's like it says Jesus, the branch, because Nazareth, the etymology of the name Nazareth is from the name Neser, which is from Nesir, which is the term for branch, which is a term for the Messiah in the Old Testament.

And so when the Jews would read that, it would say Jesus, the branch, the king of the Jews. It was a true statement. And they wanted Pilate to change it. And Pilate said, I've said what I've said. It's written. What I've written, I have written. It's over. It's done. And God used him to speak the truth. There's so much behind the word Nazarene, Nazareth. There's so much there. There's a reason why he's called Jesus of Nazareth. There's a reason why that was his hometown. There's a reason why they wanted to throw him out of the synagogue in Luke chapter four, because they despised him.

People say, well, everybody loved Jesus. No, they loved the miracles of Jesus. They didn't love the man Jesus. They loved the miracles he did. Caused the blind to see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear. He raised the dead. Who wouldn't love that? They loved what he did for them, but they didn't love him. And so Peter says in Acts chapter two, these words, men of Israel, listen to these words, Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs, which God performed through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know.

In other words, you know this. In other words, you don't lack information. You just lack adoration. Adoration. You have all the information, all the signs, all the miracles, all the wonders were done before your eyes. You were able to see them. You watched them. There was no denying a man who was once blind can now see. A man who was once paralyzed can now walk. A dead man raised from the dead. Who's going to deny that? That's why in, in John 12, the religious establishment wanted to go to Bethany, not to see Jesus, but to see Lazarus, the one that Jesus raised from the dead.

Because there was something unique about that individual who had died and risen again. Because Christ raised him from the dead. So there was no denying his miracles. So he makes it very clear that you know this because you saw this. This man was delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death. This Jesus, Jesus of Nazarene, the one that you despised, the one that you hated, the one that you mercilessly despised.

Peter says, I want to let you know that Jew and Gentile alike were divinely utilized in the old process. He was delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. And the word for plan is Boulomai, which means a decreed plan of God. This was the plan from the very beginning. He was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. It was the plan. And God would use the evil acts of man to accomplish his purposes. He uses the wrath of man to praise his name. That's exactly what he did with the Jews and the Gentiles.

So you say, did the Jews kill Jesus? No, they didn't kill Jesus. Well, that's what it says. He was delivered up, right? To the Jews and Gentiles. The Jews didn't kill Jesus. Jews don't crucify. Jews stone, right? Jews never crucified anybody. Did the Romans kill Jesus? Well, they nailed him to a cross. Yeah, they did. Did they kill him? Nope. Who killed Jesus? God killed Jesus. Isaiah 53, verse number 10, it pleased the Lord to crush his son. God the father killed the son. That was the predetermined plan.

And God used the evil acts of men to accomplish his purposes. You see, Mount Calvary is more than just a mount. The place of the skull is more than just a place where people's skulls were left there after the vultures had eaten the bodies. It was more than just a place of crucifixion. It was more than just a place of stoning. It's a place of the cross where Jesus himself was mercilessly despised, and Jews and Gentiles were divinely utilized. But there's more. The cross is a place where Jewish leaders relentlessly criticized.

Where Jewish leaders relentlessly criticized. Matthew chapter 27 says, in the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him and saying, he saved others. He cannot save himself. Interesting. They affirm that he saved others. He saved others, but he cannot save himself. So they affirm the miracles of the Lord. And it says, these words, he is the king of Israel. Let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in him. Would they? No. No. He could have come down from the cross.

He still wouldn't have believed. Christ talked about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, right? And the rich man was saying, just send someone back to tell my family. If you send someone back from the dead, they'll believe. And Christ says, no, they won't.

They don't believe Moses and the prophets. They will not believe the one be raised from the dead. And of course, he would be raised from the dead, and they still didn't believe him. So here is the Lord who made it very clear that there's no miracle that saves anybody. It's only the message of the gospel that saves someone. When he wrote in on that Palm Monday to the cheers of everyone around him, they praised him for his miracles, but no one praised him for the message that he taught. That was irrelevant to them.

They wanted to see what Jesus would specifically do for them. So the cross of Christ is a place where Jesus was mercilessly despised. Jews and Gentiles were divinely utilized. Jewish leaders relentlessly criticized. In fact, it says in Matthew 27, these words, it quotes from Psalm 22. He trusts in God, let God rescue him. Now, if he delights in him, for he said, I am the son of God. They even quoted scripture, prophetic scripture that would deal with the death of the Messiah. That's how blinded they were to the events surrounding them.

And they relentlessly criticized the Lord. But the cross is also a place where John, the apostle, was personally singularized, personally singularized. Remember what it says in John chapter 19, John chapter 19, but standing by the cross of Jesus, where his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. And when Jesus then saw his mother, the disciple whom he loved, standing nearby, that was John, he said to his mother, woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, behold your mother.

From that hour, the disciple took her into his own household. Now, think about this. Jesus is suffering for the sins of the world. He's been beaten so much so that Isaiah 52 tells us that he is beaten beyond human recognition. In other words, you would not know that it was a man because he was beaten so badly beyond human recognition. That's how much they despised him. And the religious leaders didn't just despise him during Passion Week. It began way back in John chapter 5 at the Pool of Bethesda, when he healed a man who was paralyzed for 38 years.

And he took up his bed and he walked on the Sabbath. And they became so irritated with him, they began at that moment seeking how they might kill Jesus. It just so happens that now is that time. And so they relentlessly criticized him because they were being divinely utilized by God himself to bring about his purposes. But John the apostle was personally singularized. In other words, there's something about John. He's the disciple whom Jesus loved. All the other apostles had fled, but John was there.

He was there with the mother of Jesus. And here is the Lord suffering tremendously, but all he could think of is how to take care of my mother. What honor, what respect. And John was there. And so he looks to his mother and says, woman behold your son. He looks to John and says, behold your mother. And John would take her in. And John would care for her. Why didn't Jesus just entrust her to his half brothers? Because he had them in John 7. We know that he had half brothers. Why? Mary and Joseph had other children.

Mary didn't remain a virgin. No, Mary and Joseph had other children after the birth of Christ. So why didn't he trust his mother to them? Because they didn't believe in Jesus. They didn't believe in Jesus till after the resurrection. But John, John was the disciple that Jesus loved. And that's how he describes himself all throughout the gospel of John. He never says I John or me John or whatever the case may be. It's always the disciple whom Jesus loved. Why? Because he was so enamored by the fact that Jesus would love him.

That's how he characterized himself. So sure enough, Jesus would take him and single him out from everyone else and use him in the ministry of his mother. Now remember what Simeon had said when he held the Christ child in his hands in Luke chapter 2 verse number 34. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel and for a sign to be opposed and a sword will pierce even your own soul to the end that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

The soul of Mary was pierced deep. How hard would it be for Mary, the mother of our Lord, to be able to raise other children who despised Jesus? And just watch her son being ushered out of the synagogue in Luke chapter 4 in Nazareth and the people of his hometown wanting to throw him off a cliff. And now to see her son beaten beyond recognition hanging on a tree, her soul was pierced deeply. And Simeon had prophesied that. She had no idea all that would entail, but on this day she knew. But they needed someone to care for her, and the Lord chose John.

So the cross is a place where Jesus was mercilessly despised, Jew and Gentile were divinely utilized, Jewish leaders relentlessly criticized, John was personally singularized, and judgment was fully exercised. And let me give you the sixth one on top of that one.

Justice was truly finalized. Because judgment was fully exercised, justice was truly finalized. He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. This is where justice was truly finalized. Because this is where your sin and my sin was judged. It was judged at Calvary. Christ would bear your sin and my sin in his body. The sinless one would become our substitute. This is the fulfillment of Genesis chapter 22 on Mount Moriah, where Mount Calvary is. Where the Lord said to Abraham, I will provide a lamb.

I will do this. I will provide a substitute. And it says Abraham rejoiced to see my day. What day was that? It was the day of the death of the Messiah. Abraham rejoiced to see that day. Because in the death of the Messiah would be a substitute. That's what theologians call substitutionary atonement. Where Christ would die in our place. And so Christ would be treated as if he lived your life, so God could treat you as if you live Christ's life. That's what justification is all about. And that's what Christ did for us.

It's here where judgment truly was fully exercised and justice was finally exercised or finalized. The Bible says over in, and I think Tim read this earlier in Galatians chapter 3, verse number 10, it says these words, for as many as are the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them.

In other words, if you can't keep the law perfectly, you're cursed. You can't step out of line in one instance. Because if you do, you are cursed. So you need someone to pay the price. Because the wages of sin is what? Death. Someone's got to die. Someone's got to die. You sin, somebody's got to die. If you die for your sin, you'll pay eternity in hell. But if you embrace the Messiah who died in your place on Calvary's cross, then you experience eternity in glory. But someone's got to die. Because the wages of sin is death.

And so it says in verse number 13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. And then over in Romans chapter 3, listen to this. It says these words, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by his grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. When God displayed publicly as a propitiation or a satisfaction or a appeasement in his blood through faith, this was to demonstrate his righteousness, because in the forbearance of God, he passed over the sins previously committed.

For the demonstration, I say, of his righteousness at the present time, that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Peter said it this way, 1 Peter 3, the just one died for the unjust ones in order that he might bring us to God. How do we get to the Father? Only one way, through Christ who died in our place. And that's why the cross is so important. That's why the cross is essential, because without the cross, listen, there's no forgiveness. Listen, think of it this way.

Friday, the crucifixion. The crucifixion deals with the sin issue. Saturday, a proclamation where Christ would descend into the lower parts of the earth. And with that proclamation, he deals with the Satan issue. On Sunday, the resurrection. At the resurrection, he deals with the separation issue, the death issue, right? Christ came to conquer sin, Satan, and death. Each of them plays a major part in his conquering those things. He has to conquer sin at Calvary in order to conquer death, in order to conquer Satan.

He is our victorious warrior. He is the conqueror. And without Calvary, judgment would not be fully exercised, and justice would not be truly finalized. And let me give you another one.

I think this is number seven, if you're counting. It's number seven, even if you're not counting. Joy is ultimately realized. Joy is ultimately realized, only at Calvary, only at Calvary. Remember what the Bible says in Luke's account.

Now, when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, certainly this man was innocent. Mark's account says, certainly this man was the son of God. He began to glorify God. He began to praise God, knowing that this man was a righteous man. This man was an innocent man. Now, think about this. Here was the centurion who came with his men to arrest him in the garden. He would have been with Jesus all throughout the process. And those guards who had gambled and had played the king's game, those of you who have been with me to Israel know where the king's game was played, because we know exactly where it's been excavated and where they would sit with the prisoner and play a game and crown him with a robe and a crown on his head and a scepter in his hand and mock him mercilessly, in which they did with Jesus.

And the centurion and the soldiers were all a part of that. And then they would usher him through the Via Dolorosa to the place called Calvary, and they heard every word he said. They heard, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they're doing. They heard what he said to the thief on the cross. Today you shall be with me in paradise. They heard what he said to John and his mother. He heard, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He heard, I am thirsty. He heard, into thy hands I commend my spirit.

He heard, it is finished. What was finished? The price had been paid. Redemption had been accomplished. Now sin can be forgiven. Only thing left to do is die and rise again. But it was finished. So the centurion and the soldiers, they sat and listened, watched. They felt the earthquake, right? They saw the darkness of the sky for three hours. They saw that. So they had seen and heard everything. And when it was all said and done, a centurion becomes the very first convert after the death of Christ.

Truly this man was the Son of God. He glorified the Lord. He praised His name. He was the answer to the very first words of Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.

That wasn't just a carte blanche forgiveness for everybody that was there. You can't only be forgiven if you repent, right? As opposed to those who left beating their breasts. Remember that? They left beating their breasts as they went down the hill. In fact, it says in Luke's gospel, I think it's Luke's gospel, it talks about after this man, centurion, and these soldiers praised God, the rest of the crowd, they left beating their breasts. Remember when the movie, The Passion came out with Mel Gibson?

And you could watch television, and you could read the stories, and it was all that people would leave the theater weeping and beating their breasts because of what they had seen. That's what they did when Jesus died. That wasn't a godly sorrow. That was a worldly sorrow. A godly sorrow was the centurion, the soldiers who praised God. Joy is only realized when your sins are forgiven. Joy is only realized when you don't have to pay the penalty for your sin. Joy is only realized when you realize that Christ paid the penalty for your sin, and you can be set free from the bondage of sin, and the bondage of Satan, and the bondage of the fear of death.

Jesus did all that. That's where joy truly comes from. That's why joy is ultimately realized at Calvary. So, the cross is a place where Jesus was mercilessly despised, Jews and Gentiles were divinely utilized, Jewish leaders relentlessly criticized, John was personally singularized, the judgment was fully exercised, justice was truly finalized, joy is ultimately realized, and your journey is completely or can be completely crystallized. Your journey can be completely crystallized if you go to the cross, if you embrace the cross, if you embrace what Christ said about the cross.

This is where your journey truly begins. The journey of joy begins at Calvary. That's why Christ said over and over again, follow me, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. He said that over and over and over and over again, and He knew that people weren't getting it. So, He gave them one last illustration, one last opportunity to see what He meant. So, there was this man who came to Jerusalem at Passover. Like many of the pilgrims did, there were millions in Jerusalem for Passover.

And there he was in the crowd, wanted to know what all the excitement was about, what all the hubbub was about, why people were screaming, why some were crying, why some were yelling, didn't know. So, he gets into the crowd and begins to look and sees this man Jesus. You might even ask somebody what His name was. And all of a sudden, Jesus falls. And so, Simon of Cyrene was compelled by the soldiers. He was dragged out of the crowd to carry the cross of Christ. Now, think about this. This is the Son of God.

This is the Almighty King of the universe. You don't think He can carry a cross through the Via Dolorosa to Calvary? I think He can. He certainly can. But He didn't. In His humanity, He had been whipped. In His humanity, He was drained. And yet He knew, there's one last opportunity for me to show them what I mean. So, Simon of Cyrene is compelled to carry that cross beam behind Jesus. So, as he carries that cross beam behind Jesus, it was that living illustration. If any man come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

One last illustration, one last opportunity to say, this is what I've been telling you for three years. You want to follow me? This is what it costs. You want to be a Christian? This is what it costs. This is what it looks like. I've told you what it looks like. Now, I'm going to show you what it looks like. And there was Simon of Cyrene who had no idea what the day held for him until that moment when he was compelled to carry the cross of Christ to Mount Calvary. That's why your journey can be completely crystallized at Calvary.

Give your life to Christ. Admit you're a sinner. Affirm that Jesus is Lord. Acknowledge that all He did on Calvary was for you and give your life to Christ. That's why this is the greatest of all days, the greatest of all the holy days, the greatest of every day. If you have to go to church only one day a year, this is your day. And guess what? You're here. You're here. This is the day. Why? Well, we tell you earlier, the destiny of every soul in the room lies in the promise of the cross. The ministry of every saint in the room lives in the pathway of the cross.

Why? Because the cross was central to the mission of the Messiah, the message of the gospel, and the meaning of Christianity. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you, Lord, for this opportunity tonight to come together and to sing about the cross, to reflect on Calvary, to begin to realize, Lord, what happened at Calvary was precise. Yes, it was predetermined. Christ fulfilled all prophecy leading up to that last point when He bowed His head and gave up the spirit. He completed all that you had given Him to do. The only thing left to do was to be buried and rise again. So, Father, we gather together to thank you for Calvary. That's where our sins are forgiven.

That's where we realize as the thief did, You are Lord, You are King. Remember me when You come into Your kingdom. He even understood the resurrection. Here was a thief who knew nothing of the Messiah, but knew He was Lord and King and would rise again. You said to him, today you shall be with me in paradise. Lord, our prayer is for anyone in this room who has yet to give their life to Christ. May today be that day where they embrace Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and follow You all the days of their life.

In Jesus' name, amen.