WHAT DOES THE CROSS MEAN TO YOU?
Jerry W. Carmichael
On a hill outside the city of Jerusalem stood three crosses. On those crosses hung three dying men. On the center cross hung the sinless Son of God. Nearly two thousand years have passed and yet the cross of Christ stands as the focal point of human history and the changing point for the lives of all mankind. The cross meant different things to the different people who were there on that day.
To the Roman soldiers, the cross was a means of execution for the people they despised. They were often hated by the people they oppressed and they felt no grief about torturing and killing a few Jewish criminals. They even gambled to see who would get the clothes of the dying men.
To the Jewish leaders, the cross meant that their way of life would no longer be disturbed by the popular rabbi from Galilee. They rejoiced that they would not have to listen to his rebukes and condemnation of their hypocrisy. They had encouraged hatred against him and had blackmailed Pilate, the Roman procurator, into pronouncing sentence against him. They even stood at the base of the cross ignorantly mocking their own Messiah.
To the disciples, though, the cross was the end of their hope. Many hours had been spent with their master as he taught them to live with love and joy and a life based on loving surrender to God as a Father instead of legalism and fear. What would happen to them now? Some forsook Jesus and fled. Some stood by him weeping. All of them waited with faith straining under a load of grief.
The cross is not the final chapter in the life of Jesus, for the Father raised him up from the tomb on the third day. Jesus went to the cross to bear our sins. He paid the price for sin, which is death, for us, in order that we might live in Him. Now He has ascended into Heaven where He sits at the right hand of the throne of God until He comes back in glory to receive His own.
What does the cross mean to you? Is it just a good story with a moral of trusting in God for victory? Is it just a historical event? Or do you see the cross as the ultimate gift of God’s love and Grace, where Jesus took away our sins and made us forever free with Him? Think about the cross and give thanks to God who loved us and gave up His Son for us.
She is 92 years old, petite, well-poised and dignified. She is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with her fair fashionably coifed and her make up perfectly applied. (Oh yes. . . and she is legally blind.)
I met her on the day she moved to the Nursing Home. Her husband of 70 years had recently passed away, making this move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the Riverview Nursing Home where I am employed, she smiled sweetly when told that her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet curtains that had been hung on her window.
“I love it!” she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented a new puppy.
“But, Mrs. Jones,” I said, “you haven’t even seen it yet. . . just wait!”
Then she spoke these words that I will never forget:
“That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” she gently replied. “Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged. It is how I arrange my mind. I have already decided to love it. To be happy is a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice: I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work. . . or I can get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do work. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open in the morning, I will focus on the new day and all the happy memories I have stored away. . . just for this time in my life!”
What a beautiful attitude! May we all learn from sweet Mrs. Jones—both those who, like her, are already in their sunset years, and others who, by God’s grace, will someday reach them. Let us greet each day with a decision to be happy!
Author Unknown—Bulletin Digest
Two hundred years is the average span of great civilizations of the world, with the following sequence of progression:
From BONDAGE to SPIRITUAL FAITY
From spiritual faith to GREAT COURAGE
From great courage to LIBERTY
From liberty to ABUNDANCE
From abundance to SELFISHNESS
From selfishness to COMPLACENCY
From complacency to APATHY
From apathy to DEPENDENCY
From dependency back to BONDAGE
Where on the above scale is the United States? What do you think the signs around us point to?
FAMILY NEWS
Frankie Fitzgerald has been diagnosed with cancer. Please remember him in your prayers. He is Debra Fitzgerald’s father.
If you have any news for your church family, please call .Jerry. Joyce Fehrman, the secretary should have a phone soon and will be able to take the information as well.
COMING EVENTS
Please begin now to pray for God’s help in the following events:
IN JUNE there will be a door-knocking campaign and Gospel Meeting with David Shannon speaking.
IN JULY we will have Vacation Bible School
A woman bought a parrot to keep her company, but returned it the next day. “The bird doesn’t talk,” she told the shop owner.
“Does he have a mirror in his cage?” he asked. “Parrots love mirrors. They see their reflection and start a conversation.” The woman bought a mirror and left.
The next day she returned; the bird still wasn’t talking. “How about a ladder?” the shop owner suggested. “Parrots love ladders. A happy parrot is a talkative parrot.” The woman bought a ladder and left.
But the next day she was back again! This time the shop owner said, “Does the parrot have a swing? No? Well, that’s the problem. Once he starts swinging, he’ll talk up a storm.” The woman reluctantly bought a swing and left.
When she walked into the store the next day, her countenance was more downcast than ever. “The parrot died,” she said.
Shocked, the pet owner said, “I’m so sorry. Tell me, did he ever say a word?” “Yes, right before he died,” the woman replied. “In a weak voice, he asked me, ’Don’t they sell any food at that pet store?’”