Here’s a cross you may or may
not have seen before. It’s a nail cross. You see how the four ends of the cross
are made from four separate nails, which are cut and then joined together in
the middle. It’s pretty tricky isn’t it! Why do you think someone decided to
use some nails to make a cross? That’s right; they did it because Jesus was
nailed to the cross through his hands and feet. Jesus was crucified for us. He
was put up and hung on the cross to die for us. That’s the important message we
have as Christians, the “message of the cross”.
In the second bible reading
today from 1 Corinthians; we are told that the message of the cross is wise and
foolish. We might call it smart and stupid. How many of you have watched the ABC
television show “Horrible Histories”? It’s a great show that presents some of
the blood and guts and interesting facts of history. One of the segments on the
show involves a skeleton person who comes out singing a song called “Stupid
Deaths”. He interviews people from history and asks them how they died.
I want to ask you, if Jesus was
on this television show “Horrible Histories” and we didn’t know anything about
his life and he appeared before this Skeleton figure do you think we would say
his death was a stupid death? (Probably yes) Jesus was dobbed in by one of his
own friends. He had the chance to be freed but the people chose to free a
criminal over him the innocent man. He was whipped and nailed to a cross,
crucified. It is a horrible way to die, a stupid senseless death. But the message
of the cross, the message of these nails is that for us Jesus’ death is not stupid
but smart. The message of these nails, the message of the cross is that God
uses the stupid things of life to make us smart to him and his love for us.
Move:
X
Check
out a “nail cross” from the display of crosses, a small one made from horse
shoe nails or a bigger one made from railway spikes. X Point out the difference between a cross and a crucifix. A cross is empty while a crucifix is a cross with a body of Jesus on it. How many crosses can you see here on this table and how many crucifixes can you see in church today?
Pray:
Lord we when we try to be smart in so many ways, help us to see that your death for us on the cross is the smartest thing we can hold onto. Amen.
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