Good Friday 4/3/15 The Cross

Dear Father in Heaven: Thank You, Jesus, for going to the cross for me. Thank You for dying on that old rugged cross for me. And Jesus, thank You for doing it for all of us and not just me. Thanks for watching over family and friends. Please, Lord, place Your healing hand upon Glenn and Marie, also Grant. Thanks for Your help at the Good Friday service. Please keep watch over Art and Elaine and hold them tight. Please be with Patsy and Burt Emig and take care of them. Please help me now with the message and then to get it dispatched. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.

Happy Good Friday, dear brothers and sisters. Yes, I know it is Saturday. For those who covered our service with prayer yesterday, we give you thanks and we give God the praise for it going well. When we got home I went to bed. Now to the message, The Cross.

Good Friday: April 3, 2015: The Cross

John 19:16 - Finally Pilate handed Him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying His own cross He went out to the place of the Skull (Golgotha). (NIV)

Mark 15:21 - A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. (NIV)

Today before I started the message, I was praying with Dolores for God to help me with the message, and my prayer went something like this. "Dear Father in Heaven, please help me with the message. I know why You did this." When I got to this part, a voice entered my head. My mind was so clear I know it was our Good Lord and that voice said, "then just tell them." So here in my words, coming from God, is that message.

I used the scriptures above to bring out a point that while most all those being crucified had to carry their own cross, as did Jesus, Jesus was so worn out and tired from the beating He was given that a man, Simon, was pulled from the crowd and was forced to help Jesus carry the cross. So if I were to put all this into my words, I would need to call it "The Greatest Love Story Ever Told." We know and have talked about it this week that God The Father gave us His One and only Son to die on the cross for all of us. Jesus walked the earth and from the time He was born was showing love for all of us. He showed this love by feeding thousands with two fish and five loaves of bread, by driving demons out of those who were demon-possessed, He healed sick people, He healed blind eyes, He healed broken hearts, and yes, He rose up the dead. He told us of how He would help us if we would just learn to love and trust Him. He told us of how if we did trust Him we would be given so many things that I would need to type out the whole Bible to show you. Yes, brothers and sisters, our dear Lord Jesus Christ loved/loves us so much, so very, very much that He gave His life for us and that is why we have "Good Friday."

Let me make one thing really, really clear here. Good Friday was indeed good for us, but not for Jesus. Can you even stop and think about the beating He took for us? The other night I sat down to watch "Killing Jesus," the movie based on the top-selling book of the same name written by Bill O'Reilly, and brothers and sisters, I could not watch it. I watched the Passion of the Christ a few years back and screamed out in the theater when Jesus was eaten. All I could think about both times is that this Man, this Man named Jesus, did all of this for me and of course you. He was beaten, spat on, forced to wear a crown of thorns, nailed to a cross, His side was pierced with a sword, and then left hung on that cross for hours and hours until He died.

I am so unworthy of what this Man did for me, so unworthy. As for all of you, well, we are all sinners, and to the degree of your unworthiness, well, that is between you and Jesus. We have so many men and women over the years who have laid down their lives to keep our nation free, but no one Man ever died for the LOVE OF ALL MEN (WOMEN) regardless if they loved Him or hated Him. He is the greatest gift ever given and it is FREE TO ALL who will just confess that they love Him. Yes, free to all for just a very short confession of their love for this great Man. A free gift picked up by many and left lay by many.

So please let me ask you this. What have you done with your free gift from Jesus? If you are reading this, that means you still have time, but we do not know when the time will run out. Today I ask you, no, I beg you, if you have never come to Jesus, it is time. I cannot save you, your pastor cannot save you, your priest cannot save you, Pope Francis cannot save you, Reverend Billy Graham cannot save you. ONLY JESUS CAN SAVE YOU (John 14:6). I can do this today. I can lead you in a prayer that if you pray in faith will get you started in the right direction. It is an easy way to get started. In the future we will be talking about working for Jesus once you come to Him. Okay, are you ready?

Dear Father in Heaven: I am a sinner, and I confess this to You this day. I do believe that Jesus died for me on the cross to save me from my sins and that He was risen from the dead. I confess this with my mouth and believe it in my heart as told in Romans 10 verses 9 and 10. Please, Lord, place my name in the Lamb's Book of Life. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.

If you prayed that in faith you are now "Born Again." Congratulations on your new birthday!!

One last thing. I do not like the Easter bunny, but at Christmas I think Santa is okay. Do you know the difference between Santa and the Easter bunny? Yes, one has big ears and the other a beard, but why might I feel this way?

Now go forth and share your blessings and love others. Love ya. Please pass on all the love you can pass on.

Pastor Dan