As I write this newsletter, I am preparing for Holy Week. Although Easter is one of my favorite times of the year, the long look at the cross during Holy Week can be hard. Why do we need to spend time thinking about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the cross?

I read a Billy Graham devotional that speaks of the truth of the cross. Rev. Graham says,

"Good Friday celebrates the day our Lord died for our sins on the cross. I have often sat by the hour and tried to imagine the agony and suffering He went through because of our sins. At one point He said from the cross, "It is finished" (John 19:30). He meant that God had accepted His work on the cross as the penalty for our sins. Christ's death on our behalf is the reason God can forgive us and still be just. And His death teaches us the depth and breadth that there should be in our forgiveness of one another.

While that holy Friday was tremendous, it was only a prelude to Sunday morning when He was raised from the dead. Godly women had come to see His tomb, but angels made the glorious announcement, "He has risen!" (Like 24:6). His resurrection guaranteed that we, too, will be raised, if we are believers and obeyers of His Word."

A Bible without a cross is a Bible without a climax, a Bible without an ending, a Bible without a solution. The spiral of sin that began in Genesis 3 must be stopped; the death of Jesus terminates the downward spiral. In Jesus's body, He took on the sin of the world, paying the price for all humanity.

After Jesus explained to his disciples that he must suffer, he tells them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Matt 16:24). The cross is not only where our sin is paid for, where the devil is conquered, but the shape of Christianity. The cross is at the center of Easter and it is the center of our lives. "Taking up my "cross" means a life voluntarily surrendered to God." A.W. Pink

Rev. Billy Graham ends with this question, "As you celebrate the truth that Jesus came from Heaven to redeem you, are you reflecting His likeness to those around you?"

Friends, this world needs Jesus and they need us to reflect His likeness. As you look at the cross, see the love of Jesus for you and share that love with this hurting world.

'God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, "I love you." - Billy Graham

Have a blessed Easter!

In Christ's ministry ~ Pastor Caryn