https://youtu.be/hh2c6ypGpck

The Power of The Cross

Have you ever been offended by what someone said or

did?? Upset at what was said?Maybe they made fun of you- or spoke against something

you believed in- double crossed youAn offense is something that makes you feel

uncomfortable. Often- its offensive because its true- One time I walked into my

grandmas house and she said I was portly. I was offended, but it was true. What do we celebrate on Easter 1 cor 15:3-8 READChrist rising from the Dead is not just why we

celebrate Easter- its why we celebrate every Sunday and every other day of the

yearIF this isn’t true. Its all a waste. We are still in

our sin. We’re stupid and we’re wasting our lives1 Cor

15:12-19I’m not going to argue with you whether or not the

resurrection of Jesus is true or not today. I know its true. Volumes of books

have been written proving this fact. Its futile to argue. Its true. It demands

a response.  You’ve responded. You’re here today. You are living

for Jesus, or you are not. Make a decision to  Either to Live for Jesus or reject his claims

that he was God, but you need to respondThe dividing

line between living for Christ isn’t the truthfulness of the claim, but the

Cross of ChristWhy? Because

the Cross is an offense. Most people have an opinion about the Cross. 1

Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ

crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,If you don’t

believe in the cross of Christ you think that those who do are fools and it’s

an offense to you that they do- What is the

cross? The cross is the short

description of Jesus Christ of Nazereth being crucified on a wooden structure

in the shape of T- a cross- usually a 100lb beam on their backIn ancient Rome- Crucifixion was the most publicly

excruciating (ex-cruciating- crucified) humiliating way that a person could dieThe goal was simple- make a public display of the

person so bloody and humiliating that it would punish the wrongdoer and at the

same time discourage anyone from committing the same crimeThey would strip them naked in the public square, beat

them to the edge of death, nail them to the cross by their hands and feet.

Often times they would put a small shelf at the feet or legs to help support

the body weight to extend the pain. Legs would be broken and they would try to

stay alive by holding themselves up and usually eventually bleed out or

asphyxiate.  If that didn’t happen

Crucifiers would accelerate the process by stabbing them in the side or

genitals and leave them on the cross to die eventually from dehydration or animal

attacksHere’s the kick tho- Jesus hadnt done anything

deserving of the death he died. He was sinlessJohn 19:4 Pilate then went out again, and said to them,

“Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault

in Him.”Why is this Cross is an offense? Why is it that people

get so upset about our Jesus?

It says that

we are filled with sinThe bloody horrible public death that Jesus died was

because of the sin of you and IWe hadn’t yet even been born, but the penalty of our sin

was what sent Jesus to the CrossThis is an offense! If I took someone out in the

parking lot and crucified them for your wrong doing, you would  have some sort of an emotional response- or

at least I hope you wouldAnd none of that would have happened if we had lived

perfect lives- but we haven’tLying, stealing, cheating, lusting, greed, envy,

worship of false idols, disobedience, all of itThe Story of

Easter is that we were born sinners and needed our sin forgiven before GodRomans...