Intersect
(The Cross In The Midst of Our Human Condition)
Have you ever been in a place where you desperately wanted to “be there” for someone in exactly the way they needed for you to be there for them? Do you remember the frustration as you tried to figure out and understand what this meant? Ie. HOW – in what way – you could “be there” in just the right way? Maybe a husband or a wife?...Or a child or a parent?...Or a friend?...Or someone else you were trying to help?
And on the other hand, have you ever desperately wanted someone to be there in “just the right way” for you?...Do you perhaps remember how frustrating it was even reaching out to someone and trying to explain what you needed, but no one seemed to “get it?”
Our focus in the next few weeks is how God is there for us in our human condition in every situation in exactly the way we need Him to be, always tied to the cross of Jesus; And how in Jesus we can be there in every situation in just the right way for another.
This is for all for us, for we all share our human condition. This is for all of us, for we all share the same Jesus.
Sat./Sun. March 9th/10th Intersect (Getting the “Lay of the Land”)
Have you ever seen the musical, “The Music Man?” The opening scene is a bunch of con-artists (“flim-flam men”) on a train talking about the next town they want to fleece. They are all excited at the prospect, but one guy keeps standing up and yelling a word of caution: “But you’ve got to know the territory!” Have you ever had someone say to you, “You just don’t get it” when you were trying to understand and be there for them? Have you ever said it to another? Today we look at the territory – the lay of the land when it comes to the human condition and the cross of Jesus. God gets it! Today, He would make sure we do.
Sat./Sun. March 16th/17th Intersect (In the Face of Guilt, The Cross)
Ok. Have you ever carried the burden of guilt?...a foul up you can’t make right? You can’t make excuses/justify yourself – it was wrong and there is no good excuse! You can’t make up for it – it is too late for that and anything you could do or any “payment” you might make would fall short! You did wrong. The only way out is to be forgiven…to get out from underneath the burden of a debt you can’t pay!...So, did someone give you that forgiveness? How did it feel? What did it mean for you? In our guilt, the cross intersects, bringing the peace of God and a new beginning… for you…and for the one you can “be there for.” Interested?
Sat./Sun. March 23rd/24th Intersect (In the Face of Shame, The Cross)
It has been said that to live in guilt means to admit, “I have done wrong,”….but to live in shame is to say, “I am wrong.” Where is this you? Where do you know someone in this place in your life? And how does the cross of Jesus intersect into this human condition?...for you…and for the one you can “be there for.” Interested?
Sat./Sun. March 30th/31st Intersect (In The Face of Fear, The Cross)
Where do you live afraid?...especially of those things “beyond your control?” How do you try to cope? Does it work for you? Many times we just stuff things until we have to face them – as many do, I believe, with death. We live our lives in fear trying to cope in ways that, finally, cannot possibly give us victory over what we fear. Our fears dictate our lives!...and no, it doesn’t work very well. Can you relate? Do you know others who can? It is the cross of Jesus that intersects with this human condition, giving victory!...for you…and for the one you can “be there for.” Interested?
Sat./Sun. April 7th/8th Intersect (Synthesis: Guilt/Shame/Fear, Innocence/Honor/Power)
Have you ever dissected a heart or a cow’s eye or a frog in a Biology class? While you learn a lot, you also fail to see what it looks like/how it works when it is alive, interfacing with all the “moving parts!” (Just google a film of a working heart to see my point!) Today, we synthesize everything we have focused on in the past month. In “the alive,” “pumping heart,” living out of our human condition in guilt, shame, and fear, we see the intersection of the cross that brings real time innocence, honor, and power….for you… and for the one you can “be there for.” Interested?