What Does the Cross Mean to You?

Beginning on Ash Wednesday, February 25, we will be sharing a meal and worship together every Wednesday evening through April 1. This is known as the season of Lent, a special time of spiritual growth. My plan is that, every other year, we would focus on the Passion of our Lord, that is, what our Lord did for us in his sufferings and death -- and his victorious rising from the grave and what it means to us -- how it makes us love God and how it has changed our outlook on life.

This year, in preparation for Lent, I am asking you to share with me your own personal “Perspectives on the Passion.” What have you read or seen that has personal significance to you in connection with our Lord's sufferings and death? What about Jesus' dying for you is especially precious or meaningful? What story can you tell about what the cross means to you or a loved one?

Here are some Bible verse that might help you start to think:

Romans 3:23-25
- THE CROSS MEANS I AM INNOCENT IN GOD'S SIGHT
…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith…

Galatians 3:13
– THE CROSS MEANS I AM FREE FROM RELIGIOUS LAW
…Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”...

Romans 6:6
– THE CROSS MEANS I HAVE A NEW LIFE
We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.

Galatians 6:14
– THE CROSS MEANS I AM NOT PROUD - EXCEPT OF MY LORD
May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Galatians 2:19-21
– THE CROSS MEANS CHRIST LIVES IN ME
For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Philippians 2:5-8
– THE CROSS HELPS ME OBEY GOD
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.

If you would be willing to send me an email or talk with me about What the Cross Means to You personally, I'd really appreciate it! It will help us have a rich Lenten experience!