I remember when I launched a message series at Grace Hills about The CROSS. I’m not sure if I ever felt the power of God overwhelm me for a message as much as it did in that series, and I think I know why. Paul said it this way:
The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God… Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
– 1 Corinthians 1:18, 24 NLT
For non-believers, the message of the cross is foolish. That is, it’s confusing, mysterious, and impossible to completely understand. Yet it demands action. The cross calls for a decision. You can’t ignore the cross.
And for God’s people, those who believe, the message of the cross is the power and wisdom we so desperately need in our lives. There’s nothing deeper to be studied. There’s nothing beyond the cross in the Christian life. Or to put it another way, we never outgrow our need for the gospel of God’s saving grace.
I need to be reminded of the cross every single day. Or to put it in a slightly abstract way, I need to be preaching the gospel to myself. And nothing is more powerful to move a community of Christ-followers forward in their faith than the preaching of the gospel. It’s the reason why communion matters so much – it’s a visible reminder of the cross.
Never allow the cross to lose it’s centrality to the ministry of your church. I believe we ought to connect ancient truth to contemporary questions, but the ultimate source of hope for every problem we face in our lives is the cross where Jesus died.
What about the resurrection? It matters just as much. It’s the glorious end to the redemptive narrative and it’s hope can never be separated from the message of the cross. But it’s the cross that calls us to decision, to repentance, and to the life of a disciple of Jesus.
