Luke 23:1-5 Then the whole assembly rose and led Jesus off to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.”
3 So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”
5 But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by His teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”
Luke 23:20-25 20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
22 For the third time He spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore, I will have Him punished and then release Him.”
23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that He be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.
Luke 23:32-3732 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with Him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals—one on His right, the other on His left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at Him. They said, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked Him. They offered Him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
Luke 23:44-49 44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When He had said this, He breathed His last.
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their chests and went away. 49 But all those who knew Him, including the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
JESUS BECOMING GREATER AT THE CROSS John 15:13 Springford Baptist Church Good Friday: April 7, 2023.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
In our ongoing desire and prayer for Jesus to become greater and for us to become less, we come on this Good Friday to the cross. Here we encounter the greatest expression of love ever displayed.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
We recall the events that led to Jesus going to the cross for us. He was completely innocent, but was willing to take the punishment for everything wrong we have ever done. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
We as human beings react strongly to what is unfair and unjust. There are loud protests when we or someone we know is falsely accused. Jesus, motivated by His intense love for us was willing to express what is the greatest expression of love by laying down His life for us. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
The remarkable thing is that rather than being overcome by death and diminishing from view, as a result of the cross, Jesus is magnified. Our awareness of Jesus and His love for us is never to be forgotten because of the cross. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
Jesus lifted up on the cross has become a forever reminder of what love is and what love looks like.
What then does Jesus’ supreme example of love demand of us? If we are to become more of Jesus in our living and loving and less of us, what will that require?
Jesus did not just pretend to love us. It was in every fibre of his being. He counted the cost and was still willing to go ahead with this plan that would secure our redemption. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
When, day after day we witness people acting in their own self interest, Jesus’ definition of love seems quite foreign to us. There is a common pattern of people working hard to secure their own comfort and pleasure. There appears to be an innate tendency to do more for self and less for others.
Plans are generally made with the thought of our own enjoyment in mind. It is radically different to consider an expression of love that involves laying down one’s life.
This is what Jesus was willing to do and here we are almost 2000 years later still remembering Jesus and what He has done for us at the cross.
Love is remembered! I think about hearing of someone who was deeply touched by an act of love expressed when their baby died. Several years later, this individual remembered what an act of love and compassion meant to him at a grief stricken time in his life.
Each of us can recall what it felt like to be loved and supported at a time when we desperately needed that. When that kind of love is offered, we do not forget it or the one who expressed it.
Throughout our lifetimes, there are plenty of experiences and details of life that do get forgotten. Sometimes we are reminded of them when we look at some old photographs and think, “I had forgotten all about that.”
Having been loved greatly is not something we can push aside and dismiss from our minds.
That is why we have gathered on this Good Friday. We have come to remember together how much we are loved by our Saviour. Jesus’ loving act of grace compels us to recognize Him and the depth of His love for us. We are also confronted with how costly it was for Jesus to lay down His life for us. Jesus defines the greatest concept of love and then He walks the steps to the cross to carry out what that very definition.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
As well as coming on this Good Friday to remember Jesus and the extent of His everlasting love for us displayed at the cross, we must also hear the challenge of us becoming more like Jesus. Just before this verse that I have repeated throughout this message, Jesus says emphatically, Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) In our loving as Jesus loves, He does become greater and we do become less!
This will not happen without intention and commitment. The only way for us to be transformed by the love of Jesus into individuals who become more and more like Jesus in our loving, is for us to keep our focus on Jesus. Not just on Good Friday, but every day we can be compelled by the love of Jesus. In this greatest example of love ever, we encounter the possibility for us, by God’s grace to love each other as Jesus loves.
Jesus does become greater at the cross, as we remember Him and the truth of His words,
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
As Jesus faced the cross, we read in Luke 22:39-46,“39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and His disciples followed Him. 40 On reaching the place, He said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. 44 And being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. 45 When He rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” He asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” This Scripture reveals for us the consistent pattern of prayer in the life of Jesus. Whatever was happening, Jesus was in the habit of praying. He did not simply turn to God His Father in prayer in desperate times, Jesus had already demonstrated that prayer and spending time with His Father was a priority all the time. Jesus counsels His followers that they should pray that they will not fall into temptation. When circumstances of our lives are in turmoil and when we do not know how to understand what is happening, we can always pray. It is prayer that keeps our faith grounded. This is how Jesus approached this time of anguish in His life. He poured out His heart to God in prayer. Jesus comes through this concerted focus on God in prayer with a releasing of everything into God’s hands. He invites God’s will, not His. We can follow the pattern of Jesus by regularly committing our lives and their circumstances to God in prayer. We can actively engage with God and come to the sincere conclusion that we want what God wants. As a result, our faith can be strengthened and we can avoid the temptation of faltering in our faith, as we stagger under the weight of what is before us. We can become more like Jesus when we join for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow April 5th at 1 pm.
Wanting to follow Jesus and become more like Him, with prayer being the consistent focus of our lives, Pastor Lola
God our Father, we thank You that we have free access to You through Jesus Your Son. We recognize that it was the usual pattern of Jesus’ life to be committed to spending regular time with You in prayer. This is why He turned to You when facing the incomprehensible reality of the cross. We see in Scripture that Jesus’ disciples followed Him to His usual place of communing with You. We too want to follow Jesus to a place of communing with You in prayer. Please God, may prayer be the usual practice of our lives too. We want prayer to be such a habit that we naturally turn to You for guidance and for strength that living life requires. This truth that prayer can be the means of us avoiding falling into temptation, motivates us to want to pray more often and more effectively. And also like Jesus, we do not want to give up praying. When we are in anguish and distress, we ask that we will pray even more earnestly. Thank You God for assurance of Your loving care for us that is established as we do pray even more earnestly. Our God please lead us to continue in prayer until You show us that it is time to rise up from prayer. When we return to those we have asked to pray, we ask that they will have remained faithful in prayer. We do want to avoid the temptation of having our faith falter. When You do meet with us in prayer and lift us up and give us renewed hope in You, we want to be reminded to trust You even more. And God, with busy activities and family gatherings that are often part of Easter weekend, we want to maintain time to pray. Like Jesus, we ask to be lifted up in prayer. Beyond our personal experiences of meeting with You in prayer, we do pray that others will also want to encounter You God through prayer. Thank You God that each of us will have unique transformation that You bring about through sincere prayers. For those things in our lives that we have been bringing to You in prayer for an extended time, we continue to invite what You will do. When how we hoped You would answer our prayers is not what happens, we do not want to abandon our faith in You. We actually pray for faith in You that deepens with the struggles of our lives. We do pray for compassion towards the anguish of others. Our prayer is that following Jesus in His pattern of prayer will result in following Jesus more closely in every aspect of our lives. We anticipate that remembering Jesus and what He has done in giving Himself for us can amplify our commitment to Him and our amazement at what He has accomplished in being willing to go to the cross for us. We pray this prayer with profound and humble gratitude in the Name of Jesus. AMEN.
How do we make it our consistent practice to welcome Jesus into every part of our lives? As we look towards Palm Sunday this week and Easter Sunday the following, we know that there is a heightened emphasis on this truth of our faith that will be celebrated. We as followers of Jesus, recognize Easter as much more than a religious holiday. Welcoming Jesus into our everyday lives is more about relationship than religion. We see in Scripture that many of the religious people of Jesus’ day missed Who He is altogether. They did not welcome Him as the Promised King, Son of God. They rejected Him because the confines of their religious superiority blinded them to what was reality. Their being caught up in religion did not facilitate life changing relationship with Jesus. In reference to Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem that we celebrate on Palm Sunday, we read in Luke 24:37b,38a, “the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord.” Elsewhere in Scripture, we read that waving palm branches was part of this joyful expression of praise directed towards Jesus. It was those who had travelled with Jesus and had witnessed His miracles who initiated this exuberant welcome. It remains true today that those who have known the love of Jesus and have seen His miraculous answers to prayer will be those who will initiate WELCOMING JESUS. This can happen as we are praying and expectantly trusting Jesus and growing in our relationship with him. For our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow March 29th at 1 pm we will pray thanking God that welcoming Jesus is all about the gift of relationship with Him!
Praising God that when we welcome Jesus, we find Him welcoming us into ever deeper relationship with Him, Pastor Lola
Our Generous God, we offer praise to You right now! We thank You for Jesus the King Who has come in the Name of the Lord and is worthy of all our praise! We thank You that when we do choose to praise You and to welcome Jesus Your Son into every part of our lives that You do fill us with joy. God we are grateful that You have arranged for us to be in relationship with You through Jesus and what He has done for us. We think of those who travelled with Jesus and experienced His love and grace. They heard His wise teaching and witnessed His miracles. They were the ones who initiated praise and welcome for Jesus when He rode into Jerusalem. We too have experienced the love and grace of Jesus. We too have heard His wise teaching recorded in Your Word, the Bible and we have witnessed miraculous answers to our prayers that You have provided. May we also be those who initiate praise for You. We want our praise to be genuine. We want the praise of our hearts to flow from relationship with You. We want our faith to be centered in relationship, not religion. When we move so quickly from one prayer request to another and do not acknowledge Your provision and thank You, we pray that You will forgive us. Please help us to be in the habit of offering praise to You. We want to trust You that this will encourage others to recognize what You are doing and to also lift up praise to You. We know that what we say and do, can influence others. Our prayer is that our words and actions will influence others for good. As praise deepens our relationship with You, we pray that it will also inspire others to praise and welcome You into their lives. As many times as we have celebrated Palm Sunday and Easter, we are praying that the significance of wholeheartedly welcoming Jesus will be fresh for us again this year. It is our desire for this to be a personal experience and one that we then enter into with others who are also reminded of what it means to belong to You. Thank You God for the ways You revealed Yourself when Jesus was here on earth living among people. Thank You for all the ways You continue to reveal Yourself to us every day. We do pray for eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to accept Your holy revelations. Those who travelled with Jesus were forever changed by Him and we long for that to be so for us as well. We pray for our faith to be vibrant and to extend life and hope to others who will also choose to welcome Jesus into their lives. Wherever we have lost sight of Who Jesus is, we look for a rekindling of faith. We pray that we will expect to encounter Jesus and to have Jesus accompany us in an ever growing dependence on You and Your plans for us. Thank You that this Easter season can be a time of renewed commitment to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in Whose Name we pray, AMEN.
I am thanking God that the calendar indicates that it is spring and that we are moving steadily in that direction. Last weekend, in anticipation of spring’s arrival, I removed the evergreen arrangements from our front porch and fixed up my spring arrangement. I had finished getting it in place and went back inside. When I came back out again, it was snowing. Soon the spring flowers in the arrangement were all covered with snow. There is a life lesson here. Even when it is spring, that does not guarantee exclusive warm weather and sunny skies. Neither does day to day life guarantee this. What we can absolutely rely on whatever the weather is God’s loving Presence with us and His ever present help for us. Everything that we experience reminds us how much we need to depend on God and to look to Him to help us. Our hope in Him is solid and reliable! Recall the encouragement from Psalm 46: God is our refuge and strength. An ever present help in times of trouble.” When we pray we can affirm our trust in God. We can thank Him that He is always available to be our refuge and strength whatever the weather conditions of our lives. In our prayers we can specifically name where we need help and expect that God will respond. Please plan to join us for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow March 22nd at 1 pm.
Placing our hope and confidence in God who is reliable when the weather is not, Pastor Lola
Our loving God, we do thank You for the promise of warmth of Spring after the long cold duration of Winter. While we cannot rely on the weather, we know that we can rely on You. Thank You God that everything we experience leads us to the realization of how much we need You. And as we pray together today we are deeply grateful that whenever we turn to You, we find that You are with us. You are for us our refuge and strength. Again today we take refuge in You. We know that You provide for us a place of safety and rest. You shelter us from the bitter winds of disappointment and distress. Our God, we also know that we can find our strength in You. We want to anticipate this new season ahead as a time when we will draw strength from You and keep growing stronger in our faith and dependence on You. We know so well the limitations of our own strength so we are greatly relieved to know that You Yourself are our strength. Today we pray for those we know who need the assurance of You being available to be their strength. For those who have not recognized You with them or have not been close with You, we pray that each one will come closer to You. In our prayers today, we acknowledge that we have come to know You as One who always welcomes each one who comes to You. We come as we are and receive Your much needed strength. We cannot know what this day holds or what the coming days and weeks hold. We are asking for Your grace for the succession of new days ahead. As we think about promising signs of the hope of Spring, we want to also be looking for promising signs of the hope of what You are bringing about for us. The fact that You are an ever present help for us in times of trouble, lifts us up. We know that we are not without Your help and hope. You lift us up and give us purpose and direction. When we have missed seeing where we need Your help, please show us. We want to be intentional about recognizing the ways that You have helped us and we want to make a point of thanking You. Please God, use us to bring strength and help to others who can also trust You to be ever present for them too. On our persistent journey towards the cross and the hope of Easter, we pray that we will be reminded that Jesus was determined to do Your will. We too want to be determined to carry out Your will for us every day. May this be so, in the Name of Jesus our Saviour. AMEN.
The shamrock is a symbol that we associate with St. Patrick’s Day which will be celebrated this Friday. Apparently, St. Patrick used the shamrock as a way of explaining the Trinity-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we are living our everyday lives, how aware are we of the significance of the Trinity? When we pray, how do we invite and give thanks for the initiatives of God the Father; God the Son; and God the Holy Spirit? We know that God the Father out of His intense love for our world and for us sent Jesus His Son. As we continue our journey towards Good Friday and Easter Sunday, we know that Jesus, God’s Son willingly came to give His life for us. Jesus chose to secure our salvation from sin by surrendering Himself for us. He overcame death forever when He was raised back to life. This is the triumph of Jesus the Son that gives us eternal hope. Then there is the Holy Spirit, Who was promised as a Counselor and Guide when Jesus was returning to heaven. The Holy Spirit is meant to remind us of Jesus’ teachings and to empower us to live for Him. We need all three of the members of the Trinity and we can appeal to them when we pray. Jesus emphasized the inclusion of all three expressions of God when He commissioned His disciples with these words, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:18,19) This week when we share our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHERtomorrow March 15th at 1 pm, we will pray inviting the united and consistent work of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Trusting that God will continue to reveal Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Pastor Lola
God our Father, we thank You for Your love for us that caused You to send your own Son Jesus into our world. You knew, God our Father, that Jesus Your Son was the only One Who could make it possible for us to be set free from our sin. You were willing to arrange this for us at great cost. We consider You knowing that this was the only way to overcome sin and death and proceeding with what would be so heart wrenching for You, Your Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are astounded at Your love for us Your creation. Father God, we think of You revealing Yourself to people through history leading up to the revelation of Jesus Christ. Over and over You compelled people to come to You and to live their lives for you, but they would not listen. We see that same pattern in our world today. As desperate as things have become, people still turn away from You instead of towards You. Thank You Father God, that whoever will turn to You is welcome. And Jesus, God’s Son, we think now of You entering our world as one of us. You became human and therefore understand us and our humanity. In facing the reality of the cross, You did not turn away from what was planned to bring about our salvation. Jesus, still today, we read Your teachings and are amazed at Your wisdom. You have given us a way to live that is completely contrary to the selfish pursuits of our world. You gave Yourself as an example of living in daily rhythms of love and grace. We fall short of this, but will keep asking You to bring to our minds what it means to follow You wholeheartedly. We are praying that in this season leading up to Easter that our hearts will again be transformed by the wonder of what You did Jesus in dying and being raised back to life. We pray that this miraculous event will never be taken for granted, but will instead increase in its intensity of importance to us and our faith. Lord Jesus, we want You to be more and more important to us with each new day. We want to understand how You intend us to apply Your teachings to our daily lives. And here God, the Holy Spirit, we are so grateful for Your purpose and mission in our lives. Thank You that You remind us of the teachings of Jesus. Thank You Holy Spirit that You are for us a constant Counselor and Guide. We need the power that You can give us to live faithful to God every day. We do pray that the evidence of being filled with Your Holy Spirit will be apparent in us. We long for the fruit of Your Holy Spirit to flourish in us. Thank You Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that You work together to accomplish Your purposes and to transform us and our world. We want to be Your disciples and we want to fulfill Your commission for us. We openly admit that we cannot do this without You Father, Son, and Holy Spirit continually providing us with Your empowerment. As we see evidence of how You Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist together and work cooperatively together, please enable us to work together with each other to accomplish the work of Your kingdom. All of this we commit to You as we recommit ourselves to You in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
