The Cross - The Answer to Isolation
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Part of a series based on The Cross of Jesus by Dr Leon Morris audio (5MB)
You may have seen any of the countless programs about the sinking of the Titanic over the past few weeks. One of the things I find interesting about the sinking of the Titanic is that when they wanted to call for help all they had was Morse code, a technology that had been in use for a couple of decades to transmit messages by radio. That’s just 100 years ago.
Since then we’ve seen an explosion in communications technology. From telegraph using Morse code to telephones, to radio to television to Internet technology until today we have unprecedented access to others through mobile phones, email, facebook, twitter and probably a dozen other social networking tools that I haven’t even heard of yet.
Personal Isolation
It’s interesting though, that despite the many ways we have of connecting you’ll still find that many people feel a deep sense of isolation. Even young people who communicate regularly through social media can feel alone, unable to connect in any real way, unable to experience the closeness of a relationship that allows them to express the deepest feelings within them. A sociologist from MIT in the US claims that the growth of social media has actually resulted in an increase in isolation. She says this: “Under the illusion of allowing us to communicate better, it is actually isolating us from real human interactions in a cyber-reality that is a poor imitation of the real world.”
The Cross: The Answer to Guilt
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- Written by: George Hemmings
Part of a series based on The Cross of Jesus by Dr Leon Morris audio (6MB)
Tonight, after all the church events are over, after the boys have gone to bed, you’ll find me flopping down on the couch. There I’ll indulge in at least three of the top five guilty pleasures. I’ll have some chocolate treat on the coffee table, alternating between a trashy novel and catching up on some ridiculous reality TV. We all love guilty pleasures like these don’t we? I wonder what yours are? In case you are wondering, the other two in the top five are expensive accessories and greasy food. The enjoyment we get from these things is somehow heightened by that thrill of knowing we probably shouldn’t be indulging in them. We should feel guilty, but instead we find pleasure in these things.
Series: Theme: Why the Cross?
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Why the Cross?
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Eph 4:17-24 |
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1 Cor 12:23-26 |
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1 Kings 17 |
Why the Cross
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Part of a series based on The Cross of Jesus by Dr Leon Morris audio (6MB)
I trust no-one here would doubt that the cross is central to the Christian faith. Without the cross Christianity becomes just another religion, emptied of its power.
The cross is central to our life together; central to our belief in Jesus as the Son of God; central to our salvation, central to our preaching of the gospel.
You can see that in the way Jesus’ life is portrayed for us in the 4 gospels. There we find a sketchy history of his early life, then a brief account of various incidents in his time with his disciples over a period of 3 or so years, followed by an extended account of his death and resurrection.
You can see it in Paul’s preaching - he sums it up in 1 Corinthians 1:23-24: “we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Today’s reading from Hebrews states: “9but we see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”
So let’s think about why the Cross is crucial to us as Christians?
Mark 16:1-8
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Jesus is Risen audio (3MB)
You can imagine how the disciples must have felt. First of all, all their hopes had been dashed as Jesus was arre Save sted and then put to death. They may not have understood everything that Jesus told them but they had a pretty good idea that he’d been talking about building his kingdom. His kingdom, right? That means he must be a king. Well, the Romans had a bad record of getting rid of would-be kings and it seemed Jesus was just another example.
So what were they going to do now? Go back to their old lives with their tails between their legs? Try to pick up where they’d left off three years before? They must have been totally depressed mustn’t they? Maybe they even felt let down. All the things Jesus had promised had come to nothing.
They were certainly scared. John tells us they were hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jewish leaders: afraid, no doubt, that they’d be next to be arrested, since they were Jesus’ closest followers. It would have been a sombre time wherever they were that passover Sabbath.
Well they may have been heartbroken and scared stiff, but at least the women knew what they had to do. Mark tells us that as soon as the Sabbath was over, that is, as soon as the sun had set on the Saturday night, they went out and bought spices. (late night shopping was around even then.) They hadn’t had time to buy spices on the Friday. They’d only just had time to follow the soldiers to see where Jesus was laid before the Sabbath began.
But off they go now and buy spices but it’s already dark so they have to wait until the morning to use them. You can imagine what a long night it would have been. Finally dawn breaks in the distance and they go out very early to the tomb.
You can tell how distraught they’ve been because it isn’t until they’re nearly there that they remember there’s a very large stone lying across the entrance. In fact there are also Roman guards put there to keep people out. So how are they going to move the stone - what a shame the men hadn’t come with them?
But when they arrive they’re amazed - this very large stone has been rolled away. Again you can imagine their confusion. Imagine the questions that’d be going through their heads. What’s going on? Is Jesus still there? Who moved the stone? And where are the guards?
The 7 Sayings of Jesus on the Cross
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- Written by: Chris Appleby & George Hemmings
Good Friday 2012
Father, Forgive
Luke 23:32-34 (NRSV) "Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals -- one on his right, the other on his left. 34Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots."
What sorts of prayers do you pray when you find yourself in trouble? Are they prayers for help; prayers directed to your own needs? I wonder how you respond when people hurt you? I mean really hurt you? Do you wish that you could get even? If you pray, do you pray the sort of prayer you hear so often in the movies or on TV: “May you rot in hell!”? It’s understandable if you do, I guess. It would have been even more understandable if Jesus had called out to his father in heaven to remember those who were doing such cruel things to him; those whose words must have stung as they jeered and mocked; Pilate who’d knowingly passed an unjust sentence on him; the soldiers as they gambled for the clothes they’d just torn off him, leaving him naked and exposed. But no. We’re told that he prayed for those who were hurting him, “Father forgive them!” In fact the sense of the Greek is that he went on praying for them. Even as they did their worst he was praying that God would forgive them. He understood far better than we ever will, why he was there; that his death was to bring forgiveness to those who are his enemies. The forgiveness that comes from Jesus’ death on the cross is for those who are most in need of it.
Do you worry about whether you’re good enough for God? Well that’s actually the wrong question. The right question is: are you bad enough to need God’s forgiveness? You see only when you acknowledge your need for forgiveness are you in the right state of mind to ask for it and to receive it. Those that Jesus prayed for didn’t know what they were doing, so they couldn’t ask for forgiveness. Yet in his love he prayed for them anyway.
1 John 5:13-21
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Believing with Assurance audio (5MB)
Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Mind you, he probably hadn’t imagined the industry that’s sprung up around tax avoidance these days. But he was certainly correct about death. You can’t live with it. You can’t live without it. Of course if you ever want to kill a conversation, just start talking about death. It’s inevitable, but none of us seems to want to face it. It’s almost as though we’re scared of it. For some there’s even a superstitious fear that if you talk about death someone might die. I was talking to someone about our funeral request forms last week and I was saying how hard it is to get people to fill them out. Why is that? Is that because people here don't want to think about death? I know one person whose daughter doesn’t want to talk about it. But why? Do they think that not thinking about it will put it off? Well, I’m afraid that’s a vain hope. None of us knows the day or the hour when God will call us to him.
For the people of the new Testament death was often in their thoughts. They were a persecuted Church for whom the next day, the next hour even, could signal arrest and possible death. So we find some 200 odd references to death or dying in the letters of the New Testament. But notice that death was never referred to as a thing to fear. Rather the message of the gospel was that the fear of death has been removed. In the place of death is eternal life. Far from fearing death, the Christian can see death as a necessary step that leads to new life, to release from all the ravages of this world.
