Sanctified by the Cross

Acts 2:22-24   22   “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—  23   this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.  24   God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.  Acts 2 contains possibly one of the best "sermons" ever given in the Bible.  Here Peter lays out point #2 of his two point sermon.  That Jesus Christ is the Messiah and Savior.  The description that Peter has of Jesus is incredible.  Jesus was "attested" by God: proved, approved, set forth, demonstrated, exhibit A to be the Messiah and Savior of all men.  He is the one, the signs and wonders done through him in front of their eyes proved Jesus to be from God an...

In light of our Easter holiday, it is appropriate to say: The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event in human history.  What happened on the cross of Calvary is the absolute bedrock of our faith.  Yet sadly our view of what happened at the cross is sometimes way off or inadequate.  Sometimes what we say about Jesus dying is true, but it is not the whole truth nor is it the most essential part of the truth.  For example, We often say that the cross at its core is all about or only about the love of God. It is about the love of God, but not only.  That is like saying that someone is a "nice guy", it tells you something about them, but it falls short because it doesn’t tell you enough about the person to tell you why or how he is "nice".  The person may be a nice guy because he is trying to get something from you, or because he has no backbone, or because he is naïve.  Instead of saying this guy is a nice guy because he ha...

   1  I will give thanks to the  LORD  with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.  2   I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.            Psalm 9:1-2 Our hope and goal as believers in Jesus Christ is to give God whole hearted praise.  To have true and full thanksgiving come from our hearts to God i praise.  To be truly glad and exult in God and sing praise to His name.  I hope that is your experience not only on Sunday mornings as you gather to worship God, but every day of your existence on this earth.   But what if that isn't your heart on Sundays or Anydays? What if you find that your thankfulness seems to have the same problems as the old galvanized pipes in your chlildhood home?  What if the water pressure of your praise has been reduced to a small trickle? If we have been walking with Christ for any length of ...