At the Cross

Jesus gave His life for us on a cross and calls us to die to self and live for Him, by the power of the new life we now have in Him. In Mark 8, Jesus used the image of the cross to call His disciples to a life of self-sacrifice; the Word says:
34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.
36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Each day, we can make sure that we are living that surrendered life to the Lord.  We should not be motivated by selfish motives, but by the love of Christ, to love Him, as Jesus taught, with the entirety of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to allow that love to flow from us and touch the lives of others who need to see the hope of the Lord. We are not to adopt a "me-first" mentality, but we are called to make Him the Lord of our lives. 

+++++

It is helpful to reflect on the death of our Savior on a cross, giving His life so that we might come into a relationship with Him and experience His new life. Colossians 2 addresses the significance of the cross, reminding us that He has, according to verse 13...
(13b) ...forgiven you all trespasses,
14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

The presence of a cross can provide a reminder of what Christ has done for us. For this reason, it is common to see a cross adorn a church sanctuary and other venues, as well.  Throughout the years, Faith Radio has been gratified by the number of people who have come by our studios and other locations in our coverage area to obtain 7-foot crosses to be displayed during the Christmas season.  I would also invite you to consider displaying your cross during the Easter season, as well, as we communicate what Jesus has done for us.  I remember the listener who challenged others who tune in to Faith Radio to display crosses during the height of the coronavirus pandemic as a symbol of hope.

A recent article at The Alabama Baptist made me aware of churches throughout the state who have placed or are in the process of placing crosses at their locations.  One example is Riverview Baptist in Troy.  According to the article:

A few months ago, Malone Chandler, bivocational pastor of Riverview Baptist Church in Troy, invited Terry Long, spiritual renewal and evangelism specialist with the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, to share the concept of his book, “100 Days at the Cross: One Man’s Journey to Understanding the Power of the Cross of Christ.”

The church family decided to go through the book together. A cross was built and set in the ground; stationed around it are two concrete benches providing a place to sit or even kneel. There is a weatherproof box for prayer requests.

That 100-day effort ended earlier this month. The article relates that: "Chandler has been amazed to see and hear about the number of people who take the time to pull off the busy highway and come to the cross. People stop simply to pray; others pray and put requests in the box, which are then reviewed by the pastor, and members pray over them."

The Alabama Baptist piece goes on to say that "Long has been encouraging churches to erect crosses and promote prayer efforts around the cross for quite some time. In 2012, Long put up an 11-foot wooden cross at the intersection of Highway 63 and 613 along the Mississippi Gulf Coast."  This occurred when he was pastoring there; he has been with the Choctaw Baptist Association in Alabama since 2015 as associational missions director.  And, he reports a new wave of churches erecting crosses; the article, published earlier this month, says:

Overall, Long said 10-12 crosses have been erected since November 2020. Currently, several churches, including Eden Westside Baptist in Pell City, are in the process of erecting a cross.

When asked about his vision for the future Long said, “I would love to see a cross go up in every association in Alabama. Danny Dean, associational missions director for Butler [County Baptist] Association, led them to put one up last year, and he is making plans for two more in 2022.

Jesus invites us to join Him at the cross, so that we might know His forgiveness - we die to self, we die with Him, so that we might experience new life.

Jesus also invites us to take up our cross daily.  Before He died - on that cross - He spoke about that act of sacrifice; it was not accident or coincidence that He used the word picture of the cross to describe devoted discipleship.  The question before us each day is whether or not we will pursue selfish ambition or self-adulation rather than pursue a life of surrender to Christ.