Good Friday 2021

and people like a good miracle or try to trick jesus into something was he forgiving the soldiers for doing their jobs was he forgiving barabbas for getting paroled was he forgiving his sleeping disciple disciples are the fearful ones are the ones that denied him father forgive them for they don't know what they're doing they don't know what this crucifixion means they don't know what's going to happen in the future they don't know have any idea what is coming they don't know they don't know the prophecies they don't know my lineage they don't know i was born to die they don't know anything about what's going on they don't know i'm a messiah they don't know the full extent of the meaning of my death they don't know who i am the writer of hebrews saying through the spirit christ offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice freeing us from all the dead in efforts to make ourselves respectable father forgive them for they don't know what they are doing notice jesus didn't say i forgive you because you don't know jesus says daddy forgive them jesus is fulfilling his earthly earthly assignment and he's asking god to destroy the record of what people have done he's asking god to cancel the debt he's asking god to pardon them he's asking god to stop potential punishment my brothers and my sisters what shall we say to these things when our ancestors asked the question were you there when they crucified my lord combined with father forgive them martin luther says that sin is a veil that obscures the visions of what we've done wrong brian brunt said in order for god to save us god has to pierce the veil god has to invade us we were not physically at calvary on good friday but god is invading our hearts and our minds and our souls asking us to reflect on what we have done to recount the words that jesus spoke to god on the cross as we complete this 2 20 21 lenten journey of fasting and praying and self-examination let's not rest to the rush to the resurrection but linger at the foot of the cross to come clean about who we are that the first word teaches us the depths and the debt of forgiveness it exemplifies how to approach the throne of grace and agony and pain and model how to intercede for ourselves and for others to talk to god we learn as children social etiquette a means of excusing ourselves for our behaviors to navigate an awkward situation to smooth over a mistake a pre-apology for an accident a prevent a possible misunderstanding a make an exit to admit we are wrong to bridge a situation the cross on which jesus died bridge our way back to god saying excuse me reconciles a breaking relationship of faith or process perhaps it's time for us to lament what we have done what we are doing or will do and stop keeping jesus on the cross it is time for us to own our own stuff and ask god to forgive us forgive me excuse me please excuse me please god for cluster towering and gating covenanting and property gentrifying excuse me please for assault excusing and melanin privileging and immigrant obstructing excuse me please for racialized hiring and cultural appropriating and bigotry accepting excuse me please for color erasing history biasing and child trafficking excuse me please for religious demonizing and post trolling and life executing excuse me please god for liturgy colonizing and affluent sentencing and undocumented persecuting excuse me please for health care withdrawing and elder warehousing and media shaming excuse me excuse me please for race dividing and cyber bullying and children killing excuse me god excuse me please for love commodifying and war funding and lifestyle debasing excuse me please for culture canceling and love critiquing and political pandering excuse me please for truth fabricating and global stereotyping and linguistic lynching excuse me please for humanity euthanizing and resource hoarding and death rising excuse me please for my sanctified selfishness when i wouldn't put a mask on to save someone else excuse me please for antiquated theologizing and leadership gaslighting and justice pimping excuse me please for anger festering and and and gossip hemorrhaging and preacher worshiping excuse me please for call regretting and trauma initiating and pandemic ignoring excuse me please for peace rejecting and thought plagiarizing and self-hating excuse me excuse me for talent inflating and possession covenanting and resource bragging excuse me god excuse me please pardon me please forgive me please jesus in agony took time to utter an intercessory prayer for us even though he was going through all of this on our account he's laboring to speak this first word we are with for them at the foot of the cross we're with them on either side of the cross we are the ones that keep making excuses for what we have done but we need to say to god with heartfelt sincerity excuse me god i want to do better forgive me god i know who jesus is forgive me god jesus has requested to save us we can at least respond by walking halfway there and saying please excuse me were you there when they crucified my lord were we there when they crucified my lord sometimes it should cause us to tremble to tremble to tremble were we there if we were we need to say excuse me please amen to the one and only reverend dr marcus d cosby to the wonderful congregation of wheeler avenue baptist church in houston texas to all of the giant amazing preaching women that i share this space with on today's roster and to all of god's people everywhere i greet you in the mighty and the magnificent name of jesus the christ the prayers have been prayed the stage has been set and my assignment this afternoon is to bring a word of reflection on jesus's second last word which comes to us from luke chapter 23 verse 43 where jesus says to a dying man truly i tell you today you will be with me in paradise i ask that you pray with me very briefly on the subject god's got a place for you this second word of jesus is a powerful word of blessing and promise jesus says today you will be with me in paradise this word alone is enough to shout and praise and thank god in god's sanctuary however as i perused the texts around this word of promise i'm compelled by two things first i'm compelled by the political context seconds i'm compelled by a personal conversation into which these words are spoken and even though there's some mighty good news in this here second of jesus's seven last words my homiletical sensibility urges me to slow down do not rush to the power of the promise without critiquing the crisis of this criminal this promise is spoken to one of the criminals who was crucified next to jesus we don't know if this was the one to his right or the one to his left but we do know that there was a conversation on the cross and while jesus has five more words to speak after this one it is quite possible that these words were this criminal's dying words when he said jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom these perhaps were the biblical equivalent of i can't breathe the final words of alton sterling i have a daughter the final words of oscar grant mama the final word of george floyd and perhaps an rem sleep induced inhale or exhale of brianna taylor this word reminds us this morning family that jesus was not the only one to be crucified on good friday there were two others the text says and it goes on to specify that both of them were criminals but the crisis of these criminals is not that they were here suffering the same fate and also dying by the hands of the state just like jesus but the crisis of these criminals is that we have no idea what they were found guilty of and more importantly we have no idea if they actually did it this story betrays to us that these men and jesus were dying at the hands of a state that seemed to be governed by the court of popular opinion and we cannot divorce this powerful promise from the context into which it was spoken so let's talk about that context just moments before jesus had been condemned to crucifixion in the place of barabbas an insurrectionist and a murderer under the pressure of the public jesus pilate handed over innocent jesus over to be crucified in the place of a known criminal and recused himself from jesus's fate we have learned then that within this context the title or the language of criminal is a slippery slope based on this story the designation of criminal doesn't necessarily denote that a criminal has actually committed a crime it doesn't actually mean that they've committed a crime that is punishable by death it appears that it merely means that they've been placed in a category of people who did not have the power to contend with rome it appears that it merely means that the people in the highest positions of power were too weak or too afraid to exert their power for good over the will of an irrational people it appears that in this way the roman context has some things in common with our context and because of this we should always be suspicious of who has been deemed a criminal and we should always ask and just what was their crime when we speak of criminals we have more than one category we have the category of barabbas those individuals who can commit high crimes such as busting into the nation's capital capital while our democracy is performing one of its highest acts in an attempt to stop the imaginary steal of the election and instead of facing the consequences of sedition and treason and insurrection they get to take selfies with the capitol police in fact if one were to google these three terms sedition treason insurrection you would see images from january 6 2021 at the top of your search results this is the same category of criminals that get to make a pit stop at burger king after slaughtering nine black church goers and then fleeing the scene in charleston south carolina this is the same category of criminals that gets the benefit of the doubt that they were merely having a bad day oh god after they slaughtered eight innocent people including six asian women across multiple spas here in atlanta georgia this friends is a privileged protected class of criminals whose crimes are actual events documented sometimes recorded and even admitted to extremist events that they carried out on their own recognizance to be clear this class of criminals often gets to live to tell their side of the story they get to live to walk free they get to live to write a book and sign a movie deal about what they've done they get the privilege of being barabbas but then there's another class of criminals whose crimes are not necessarily events but existential ontological crimes of simply being this is a far more criminalized class of criminals who in the words of trevor noah may not have ever actually committed a crime but who were born a crime these are those persons who suffer the consequence of crucifixion because they're poor too poor to make bail or too poor to pay for competent legal representation such as khalif broder these are those persons who are crucified for being black black and young black and male black and female black and woman black and lgbtqia plus driving wild black barbecuing while black protesting wild black playing in the park while black worshipping god while black breathing wild black bird watching wild black sleeping wild black and i could call the roll on this good friday of those who have been crucified for such crimes of being for being born a crime into this anti-black misogynoiristic homophobic world and we can look at the numbers the stories and the names of those black americans who have suffered the same fate of capital punishment as this man hanging on this cross next to jesus suffered the same fate for the as this man for some petty crime for the crime of being at the wrong place at the wrong time for having a faulty affiliation or because the system was too lazy to reopen their cases even after new evidence of their innocence had been found and so my friend into this political context that jesus spoke these words to a man who had just watched a known and convicted criminal walk free and now here he was hanging on a roman cross to a man who had lived and was now dying in hell on earth jesus said today you'll be with me in paradise which says to me three quick things the first thing that it says is that you are not an inconvenience to jesus here was jesus suffering the consequence of crucifixion having not received a fair trial himself having been flogged having been humiliated having been abandoned by his male disciples and in this moment the life within jesus is slowly leaving his own body and yet and yet even in this very moment jesus musters up enough energy to speak a word of life to a dying man in jesus own pain in his own torment jesus is still holding the door to the kingdom of god wide open even in this moment of abandonment and rejection by the only home that he'd ever known jesus is still welcoming this criminal into his community and even in this moment of mockery jesus is still the messiah who holds the keys to the kingdom holds the keys to paradise and this is a word this morning to those who might be feeling like jesus is tired of hearing your prayer that jesus has grown weary of your constant requests for his help and his assistance and his guidance and his grace and his mercy you might be feeling like jesus oh he's got more important more pressing matters than the things that i'm concerned about jesus is too busy he's too occupied for me you might have stopped praying about the things that have been laying on your heart because you think that jesus has bigger fish to fry than mine oh but in this very moment on this cross we see a jesus who's never too burdened and never too busy never to put out to tend to the souls of his people this dying man needed to be comforted he needed to know that he would not be forgotten he needed to hear that after everything he'd done and everything he'd seen and everything that he had been through and after the way that he has been treated by his own country that there was still a place for him in the heart and in the mind of god jesus he says oh jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom and i know that we're here to talk about jesus on this good friday but for a second let's talk about this brother who said to himself i may not have the most eloquent words to say i may not know the right words to say i may not be the most proper i may not be the most powerful man but here i am in this very moment ready to make a change sometimes you've got to get over yourself and you've got to silence that inner voice that would condemn you when jesus wants to come and save you jesus is never inconvenient by his children and it is never too late or too much for any one of us to say jesus remember me oh don't forget about me oh lord please come and see about me do not pass me by what a friend we have in jesus all our sins and griefs to bear what a privilege it is to carry everything to god in prayer he's not inconvenienced by your prayers so keep on praying keep on speaking to god you are not an inconvenience to the god that created you god is waiting to hear your prayer so you're not an inconvenience to jesus second you matter to jesus this promise was spoken to a criminal who bore the brunt of a system that was intoxicated by its own power and clearly saw some people as disposable and while we don't know this man's whole story we don't have to know his whole story to know that something isn't right in this moment we don't have to know this brother's story to know that there had to have been a better way to reconcile his crimes there had to be a better way to deal with whatever he did than hanging him on a tree we don't have to know this brother's story we don't have to know his name to know that he was somebody's son he was somebody's grandson he was somebody's nephew maybe somebody's brother perhaps somebody's uncle maybe somebody's lover of course he was somebody's friend we don't have to know his particularities to know that his life mattered and that it mattered to jesus here in this moment in this conversation at the cross we see that jesus could see straight through the the criminal record that rome dug up and he could see straight through the the photos of of of this man with this durag and his sagging blue jeans that rome dug up he could see through all of the superfluous ways that rome sought to defend and to justify its decision to kill this man jesus saw through the brokenness of this man's life he saw that his heart was broken for all that was and that his heart was broken for all that could have been jesus did not see in this man a criminal jesus did not see in this man an animal jesus saw a man with a story with a past and with hopes and expectations for his future jesus saw a man who mattered jesus saw a man who was weary and who needed some rest a man who was reflective and repentant and was in need of some redemption jesus saw a man who had been rejected and needed a home be reminded this morning oh beloved of god that we do not serve a high priest who's unfamiliar with the feeling of our infirmity he knows our pain he knows our traumas he knows our struggles he knows the troubles that we've seen why does he know because he's been there all uh long if nothing else people of god this criminal on this cross could take comfort in this most painful moment because jesus was right beside him and if not if not him then how much more so jesus is in the midst of the struggles that you're going through jesus is walking right beside you in your valley jesus is walking right beside you moving with you through your pain because you matter to god our lives matter to god black lives matter to god to all of us jesus says come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and i will give you rest you who have been forsaken you who have been forgotten you who have been buked and scorned and talked about shows you born come unto me you matter to me you are important to me i made you in my image and in my likeness and i did not do that just to throw you out and just to forget about you come unto me hope for this day you'll be with me in paradise uh we're not an inconvenience to god we matter to god and finally jesus has a place for you i know that many of us are deeply invested in the work of making heaven happen right here on earth we're committed to our ministry to our activism we want so badly to help god's people live and survive and thrive in this life despite the challenges and the tribulations that they go through we take the risk of speaking truth to power and turning the systems and the kingdoms of this world right side up we do the work that our souls must have in the words of our great ancestor dr kenny geneva cannon we do the work that our soul must have because we truly believe that our people deserve better in this life however we've often gone so far in our mission to create heaven on earth so as to dismiss the idea of a heaven or a paradise to go to if we can't make it happen here and now oh but god's people we need both we've got to work in this life even as we wait and we hope for heaven in the next life we need this hope we we need something to ground us we need something to look forward to in the future after all the work that we do and all the labor and all the seeds that we sow in god's name after all this praying and this protesting and this ministry and this marching oh gods people we need the rest and the confidence that comes from knowing that something better has been prepared for us after all the labor and all the toil and all that we do on behalf of god in service to others it is good to know that there's a place somewhere where somebody else has done all the work and all we've got to do is show up and enjoy the party that's what jesus meant at the heart of i go to prepare a place for you so that where i am there you may be also as i prepare now to take my virtual see very simply i just came to remind you god's people that this place is not it for us this world is not our home it might be our vineyard but it is not our home it may be our battlefield but it is not our resting place it may be our pit stop oh but it is not our final destination and this is good news today this is marvelous news today because somebody sitting behind this screen is weary this morning somebody is discouraged some of us are sick in our bodies and sick in our minds some of us have lost our hope some of us have lost everything in this pandemic and so it's good news this morning to know that jesus has gone ahead of us and prepared a place for us where we will not be weary anymore where we shall hunger no more nor shall we thirst anymore for god shall wipe away every tear from our eyes and there will be no more death and no more mourning and no more crying and no more pain for the old order of things has passed a way if i were john the revelator i would call it a new heaven and a new earth if i were walter hawkins i would say i'm going up yonder if i were aretha franklin i would call it a land where will never grow old if i were thomas whitfield i would say that i shall wear a crown i shall wear a crown i'm going to put on my robe tell the story of how i made it over soon as i get home here on this cross on this crucifixion day jesus says to this man the same thing today you will be with me in paradise in other words jesus says i'm gonna do more than just remember you i'm gonna do more than merely reminisce on this moment that we share on this cross i'm gonna do more than pray for you and send you my thoughts and prayers i'm gonna do more than send you some good intentions no no no i'm gonna do more than that i'm gonna do exceedingly and abundantly above all that you can ask think or imagine i'm going to come back and i'm going to get i'm not going to leave you in this situation i'm not going to leave you in hell i'm going to come and get you so that where i am there you may be also this day you shall be with me in paradise hallelujah jesus said i won't leave you i won't forsake you i'll be with you to the end of the age you're not an inconvenience to jesus you matter to jesus and jesus has a place just for you it's been prepared for you your name is on it it will be ready and waiting when you get there today you'll be with me in paradise this is god's word for god's people thanks be to god grace and peace be unto you my brothers and my sisters we greet you today with the joy of the lord declaring indeed that the joy of the lord is our strength we thank god for this worship experience certainly we thank god for the wheeler avenue baptist church and we thank god for your illustrious pastor the reverend dr marcus d cosby what an honor what a privilege it is for me to join you virtually all the way from new york city what an honor and a privilege it is to be among the number of these great this great army of preachers who have come today to illuminate the word of god the seven last sayings of jesus christ god bless you god keep you and my sisters i greet you too in jesus joy won't you turn your attention with me today to the new testament book of john chapter 19. we will read verses 26 through 27 the third saying of jesus christ when jesus saw his mother there and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby he said to her woman here is your son and to the disciple here is your mother from that time on this disciple took her into his home may the lord have a blessing to the reading and hearing of his word as we preach to you this afternoon from the sermon topic your future is secure your future is secure on tuesday april 8 in the year 2014 a brother by the name of jonathan fleming was released from jail after having served 24 years and eight months for a crime that he did not commit from the very beginning mr fleming had an alibi at the time of the alleged crime you see he was in florida with his family and he had the proof that would have substantiated his whereabouts but of course uh uh uh the proof was intentionally withheld the evidence was withheld from the judge and the jury oh it is tragic to say that the ambitious brooklyn prosecutors and investigators were not really interested in truth they only wanted a conviction and they wanted it so badly that they were wicked enough to overlook the truth that this man mr fleming was over one thousand miles away vacationing in disney world when the murder was committed and these men these law enforcement officers heartlessly sent an innocent man to prison without an ounce of shame or remorse for almost 25 years this man had fought to be heard and finally a newly elected brooklyn district attorney re-examined the evidence agreed that his alibi was valid and mr fleming was released from prison i happened to be watching the news that day the day that he walked out of prison and of course my heart was made glad all but the tears that came to my eyes when i saw his mother uh patricia run up to him and grab and embrace her son oh she was a mother whose heart was filled with joy and so as a mother as a woman of color i so identified with her joy and i cried yes with her as she hugged her child and shouted and praised god that he was finally set free having seen her innocent son punished for a crime that he did not commit she now thank you jesus had the privilege of seeing his sentence reversed of course seeing this mother made me think of other mothers who've had to endure the false convictions and the unjust sentencing of their sons outside the courtroom i thought of mamie till bradley whose son emmett till was sentenced to death by racist citizens who claimed that he whistled at a white woman i remembered sabrina fulton the mother of trayvon martin who saw her son tried falsely convicted and wrongly executed by a crazed self-appointed vigilante by the name of george zimmerman i saw i i thought of how her son was killed on trump of charges the trumped-up charges that he looked suspicious i thought of lucia macbeth the mother of jordan davis the teen who was murdered by an arrogant and callous michael dunn after deciding that davis's loud music warranted a death sentence and we yet grieve with the mothers of eric garner and michael brown and ahmed ah barry and the countless other mothers and fathers too who've had to endure the brutal killings and illegal sentencing of their sons who had to learn to live beyond the loss of their seed all because it seems that the racist and systemic forces in this country are forever moving to kill and oppress those who they deemed the wrong color and those whom they see as deserving prey and so my brothers and sisters our minds go back to jerusalem on that friday and we are reminded that systems have long been guilty of railroading the innocent and taking the lives of those who have done no wrong on this good friday we remember another mother who had to watch her innocent son drink from the cup of suffering and degradation a mother who watched while they nailed her son's feet and hands to a cross who whose heart was ripped when they hung him high and stretched him wide we can only imagine her pain as she gazed on his pain his his bloody and battered body and as she heard his cries of agony oh my god i wonder if she remembered the words that the prophet simeon had prophesied to her telling her that an invisible sword would pierce her very soul now be clear the mother this mother knew about suffering you see she had suffered shame and ridicule just to bring jesus into the world as an unmarried jewish girl for years she had watched many reject and persecute her son because of the good that he did and that could not have been easy for her all but this day that day standing at the foot of the cross this was indeed the pinnacle of her maternal suffering it was not just that her firstborn was dying it was the way he was dying hanging on a cross openly publicly and shamefully uh of being ridiculed it was hard to watch but but love for her son made her stay right there because as joan chitister writes to choose to have a child is to choose to suffer their suffering as well as your own indeed parents do bear the crosses that their children bear but the paradox of this moment of that moment while jesus was hanging on the cross is that in the midst of his dying with a thorn of crowns on his head and blood running down his face having already asked god to forgive his enemies securing their future and after having opened the door of eternity to the thief hanging next to him on the cross after having secured his future he now turns his attention to the mother that he loved and the mother who had loved him and he turns his attention to the disciple that was standing nearby and uh uh we celebrate the fact that john was still there for you see he was indeed the only disciple a disciple who uh remained the other disciples had fled but but these two john and mary stood together in the power of their shared love and shared pain mary and john remind us that standing with jesus will not always be easy but it is what we must do even when times are bad when hearts are breaking when physical and emotional suffering are our lot uh we must stay near the cross when folks are laughing at us and enemies are attacking us it is to the cross of jesus that we must clean and know that for those of us who remain near the cross those of us who will not be swayed by trouble and hardship there will always be a special dispensation of grace and provision oh you ought to give god praise today for you see for those who stay near the cross there will be lasting glory there will be a healing stream the cross is a place of deliverance the cross is a place of renewal and liberation and though there uh uh there are times that it it it it seems that opposition and hostility uh come upon us because of our love for jesus if we remain committed it is at the cross that we will experience favor it is at the cross that we will experience healing for our broken hearts and restoration for our depleted emotions somebody knows what i'm talking about today it is at the cross that our lives are redefined and our futures are ordered our futures are secured by the sovereignty of the master plotter and that is why my brothers and sisters as real believers we have to stay near the cross because apart from the cross of jesus there is no salvation but the bible lets us know that john we we we see john staying there in his presence show jesus and showed mary that they could surely count on him and so is it any wonder that when jesus saw his mother that when jesus saw the pain on her face he once again became the epitome of grace and mercy and made provision for the woman who had carried him for nine months made provision for the woman who had raised him and nurtured him and loved him and strengthened by his love for her he cries out woman behold your son now history tells us that jesus had brothers who would have been in line to care for mary but clearly jesus did not trust them to do the job or he just had another plan so from the cross his love took charge of his hurting mother's life and he declares that she would indeed become a part of john's household truly this is an unparalleled characteristic of our savior but you see jesus is always jehovah jireh the lord who provides and when there is a need jesus will supply that need oh you are the same man where there is lack he will send the fullness of his love uh and to the person who feels that jesus is not concerned with what you're going through uh my word to you this afternoon is be not dismayed whatever be tied god will the lord will take care of you uh uh uh we need to celebrate today we need to thank god today because i'm sure many of us listening many under the sound of my voice can testify i never knew uh uh i never knew how god was gonna bring me out i just had to trust god to bring me out i just had to trust god uh with my future and i'm happy to report today that my trust paid off because god took care of me god watched over me god made a way out of no way and you ought to just put your hands together right now and give god praise for his profit his providential care give god praise right now because he has kept you he has watched over you and he has done great things in your life so the bible says that then jesus turns to john and says son behold your mother he says to john i need your brother to take up where i'm leaving off this is not just a call i believe for john to take care of mary but i also believe that god was saying to john that he was leaving him with the responsibility of continuing in his ministry continuing jesus ministry on earth i i believe he was saying to john yes watch over my mother but i also need you to preach the gospel i need you to call men and women to repentance expand the kingdom of god just as you have taken your stand at the foot of the cross today john always stand near the cross and if you stay near the cross i promise you your future will be secure i'll open doors for you i'll watch over you i will protect you because when you are near the cross that means you have hallelujah a covering that the world didn't give you and the world can't take it away and even as i go to my seat i declare to you who are listening to me today i speak that word over our lives i speak that word over the lives of god's people our future is secure uh even though we are now faced with this dreadful situation of covet 19 i declare that we can still put our trust in the providential provision that comes when jesus intercedes on our behalf jesus is saying to us today don't worry so much about what's going on in the world around you your future is secure because your life is in my hands in the midst of your grief in the midst of your inner struggles in the midst of your suffering uh your hope your hope should be in me and your hope will expand should expand even in the midst of your despair in the midst of whatever is going on why because the lord will make a way out of no way oh put your hands together and give god praise on this day on this good friday i declare that life hallelujah the life that we live in jesus uh swallows up death because we will stay near the cross we will be reconciled to god our sins are forgiven because it is near the cross that we cling ah there this is a time hallelujah that we can depend on god to refresh our souls renew our strength because our future is in his hands oh i need you to understand on this day that apart from the cross we will not only miss out on eternity we will miss out on blessing after blessing we will miss out on healing we will miss out on restoration apart from the cross we will have no power but near the cross we will have power when life knocks us down we can get back up again uh near the cross we will have the power to overcome evil and live in the glory of the lord jesus christ the devil will try to come and steal your life he'll try to steal your sanity but i declare to you today you can maintain your sanity if you stay near the cross i'm happy thank you jesus that i don't know what the future holds but i do know who holds the future and i thank god today that there is a power working in my life a power that overcomes darkness there is a power working in my life a power that lets me know that i can run on to see what the end may be there is a power working in my life that lets me know that jesus is working on my behalf he's working behind the scenes uh he's orchestrating my future he's orchestrating my steps and i thank god today that there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from emmanuel's veins and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains put your hands together and give god praise that your future is secure because jesus the son of god jesus the lamb that takes away the sins of the earth has declared hallelujah that my hand is over your life and no weapon formed against you will prosper let the church say yes let the church say hallelujah now turn to your neighbor wherever you are and testify to them and say i've got a shout in my spirit because the word of the lord is my future is secure storms may come trials will come ah but my hope is built on nothing less than jesus blood and righteousness say yes say yes say thank you jesus [Laughter] [Music] my future is secure [Music] is and he never said and he never said [Music] [Music] in said um [Music] and he never said [Music] world a word um [Music] he is came true [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] not a word not a word [Music] is [Music] l [Music] [Music] is [Music] be [Music] [Music] [Laughter] not [Music] [Applause] about the ninth hour jesus cried with a loud voice saying eli eli that is to say my god my god why hast thou forsaken me as we preach on this fourth word uh we want to use as a subject how to handle how to handle the silence of god the end of jesus life was so different from the beginning in the beginning of his journey a great company at the heavenly host appeared and proclaimed glory to god in the highest at the beginning of his journey men were willing to travel mouths to see this that had happened they came and they gave their best gifts to him and they bowed and worshiped him and offered their treasures to jesus at the beginning of his journey when he was baptized the heavens opened up and he saw the spirit of god the sin and he heard a voice saying this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased oh but at the end of his journey it was not like the beginning after he had given his entire life to doing the will of his father after he had gone from place to place with nowhere to lay his head after he had been rejected by his own people despised by the religious authorities after traveling with his disciples and teaching them what they never fully understood after performing miracle after miracle after rising up early in the mornings and going to a solitary place to pray ah here jesus is at the end of his journey hanging on calvary bones broken spikes in his hand and his hands a crown of thorns on his head a mouth dryer blood dripping down his face eyes rescinded in their sockets a body growing cold and his head hung in the locks of his shoulder i said uh that the end was so different from the beginning on calvary he was by himself for at the end there was no company of angels no great company of angels declaring his glory no one came to offer him gifts instead they gambled at his feet no one bowed down and worshipped him but they did mock him there was no opening up of the heavens but there was great darkness no sun no star in the east no dove descended no parting of the cloud no loud voice speaking to him no what jesus experienced as he hung on the cross was a profound sense of abandonment from the one that he had served at the end of his journey hanging on an old rugged cross when jesus asked a question my god my god why hast thou forsaken me god did not bother to answer him there was silence on calvary now one would think that if god was pleased with how jesus lived his life one would think that in light of his tremendous suffering and pain god would have said something but the record is he did not speak a mumbling word i'm preaching this afternoon on the silence of god listen my brothers and my sisters the silence of god is a difficult thing to accept and yet it is a spiritual reality ah the silence of god that awful time that eventually comes to us all call it that season of desolation if you will those times when your spiritual life is dry void of the outpouring of god's presence it is when you feel as though you are in a spiritual desolate place up when you feel no presence experience no glory it is when you feel like ichabod for the glory the anointing has departed from you uh calling with john of the cross names of the the dark knight of the soul when you feel as though you are trying to ascertain into the heights of heaven and shed your soul spirals down into the depth of a silent head until this journey with god is marked by seasons of uh not hearing a word i mean not a word from god and i don't care how faithful you have been how obedient you have been how committed you are how much you have sacrificed there comes a season in all of our lives when we cry out to god and god does not answer we may be in our very worst place of suffering we may be going through the greatest crisis in our lives we may be in the midst of a storm we may be deep in a valley surrounded by our enemies uh abandoned by those uh on whom we have depended and trusted us we may have been crucified and left to hang out there by ourselves and yet like jesus when we cry out to god we don't hear a word not a word crisis comes and you seek comfort not a word a sickness comes and you ask for healing not not a word death makes a visitation and you won't understand why not a word a pandemic for over uh 380 days and you want to know when it will end not a word you pray and you experience nothing your prayers feel like a hollow ritual that you engage in because you know that it's the right thing to do and you feel guilty if you don't pray but you feel like you are just talking enough to yourself a prayer is just a ricocheting off of the wall don't reach any higher than your ceiling now praying for you uh has become an exercise in spiritual fertility it's a hard place yes it is it's a hard place to be and none of us are ever really prepared for the silence that follows those times a spiritual intimacy those times of spiritual consolation it's hard to accept god's absence when you have experienced god's presence it's difficult to adjust to the darker when you have seen god's marvelous light it's hard to get accustomed to the silence of when you have known the sound of god's voice and listen to me uh some of you get undone when these moments come and we fail to understand that god's silence is necessary and an essential aspect of the christian journey and that ultimately it makes us more like jesus uh so this afternoon i suggest that we learn how to handle the silence of god can i just do a little teaching right here well first first first the first thing i want to say to us is that we need to stop beating up on ourselves and feeling guilty uh feeling that when you that you have done something wrong and so god has stopped talking to you uh no i suggest to you that you uh the more you move into the center of god's will the more silence you will experience oh i know that my theology is correct it's a spiritual paradox yes it is and i know that we are inclined to think uh that the more obedient we are the more we will hear from god but it ain't necessarily so uh it seems that the more we walk with god the more distant of god appears to be uh from us yeah i said it's the nature of the journey god did not answer jesus because jesus had been disobedient we all know that the reason that he was hanging on calvary was because he was dead in the will of god i repeat it uh it is simply the nature of the journey the truth is that this christian journey even for the best of us is best characterized by our having periods of of ecstasy and then periods of melancholy seasons where we hear the holy and the sacred and season when the perception of even the memory of god's voice is far in the distance we have moments of deep abiding faith because we know that it was god's voice and god was very close uh but then there are those moments when we despair because the silence is definite yeah it is the dynamic of this spiritual journey and those who dare say otherwise are living in spiritual denial they are polyanate christians with a pre-adolescent mentality who cannot accept the truth uh-huh we must stop allowing others to define the legitimacy of our spiritual walk with god based upon the number of ecstatic moments that we have with god i have had to deal with my own sense of spiritual guilt as i felt that something something must be wrong with me when i'm around those preachers or people who are always on fire i always got to direct from god and that word from god i always know exactly what god has said because they have a direct line to god and here i am here i am at my lowest point in life in ministry here i am praying for people to live and they have died here i am trying to understand why this strange season has come at this time in my life uh this pandemic that has kept me from retiring after 44 years of dedicated service and when i'm talking to god can i tell you the truth i i ain't hearing nothing now so here i am feeling like i've been duped up because after all these years of spending time with god 39 years of getting up early in the morning to spend time in prayer i said consistently do you hear me consistently getting up in the morning and now when i really need to hear from god can i be honest and tell you that i feel nothing so i've been feeling kind of strange around my colleagues you're always up hearing from god during this season and yes i was feeling spiritually inadequate until i came to realize that they just lying and they are in denial and they are afraid to admit to looking here i ain't heard of nothing from god this week as a matter of fact i don't know what i heard from god but by faith i'm going to preach what i already know about god i'm telling you none of us and i do mean none of us i hear from god all the time and when we don't hear uh god's voice of god is telling us something in the silence can i keep on teaching i just believe that the silence of god is god's way of getting us to pay closer attention to god we can become so programmed and so accustomed to experiencing god in certain prescribed ways until we begin to take god's presence for granted we cannot limit or define how god will show up god's silence is a way of teaching us to perceive him in new ways and in new places my friend dr anita weems in her book entitled listening to god says that when she found herself in the midst of her seasons of silence she had to learn how to stop peeping behind altars and looking up for epiphanies but to allow the law between those moments to seek god in new ways i i suspect that this is what god is teaching us in this pandemic we've had to learn how how to seek god without benefit of being in this sanctuary we've had to learn now how to seek god up without hearing sermons out in person we have to learn how to seek god as we preach to empty churches we've had to learn how to live for god in new ways so then god's silence trump is a way of stripping us of our dependence on exterior results sometimes we can become so used to the exterior manifestation of god until we reject anything that doesn't fall up within our self-imposed boundaries our gods will not be limited to our controller by us can i keep on can i keep on can i keep on teaching uh this afternoon and then my sister's son and my brother's son we must understand that god's silence is a way of stripping us some offensive this is even more painful because it threatens us at the root of all that we believe in and have given ourselves to paradoxically young god is purifying our faith by threatening to destroy them god's silence produces a baronism in our souls allow us to look at what is superficial up and false within us we have been taken off of vain securities and false allegiance god's silence is for the purpose of our learning detachment some stuff we need to let go god's silence is for the purpose of teaching us patience and perseverance and learning how to wait on god so we are not tough to feel strange when we go through these times and silence up but know that we are no different from the prophets at all it's not a new phenomena and it's the cry of those who walk with god didn't it happen to job and when joe was going through the most unbelievable time in his life and joba was an upright man a man who is skewed even but job lost it all and his body was afflicted and when job i needed to hear from god he got nothing he said if i look up to the east he's not that hot if i look to the west he's not there that i can find him and joe wasn't by himself somebody else or the prophet rebecca declared lord how long god will i cry unto you and you won't answer me and then the psalmist picked up the same sensor of abandonment and estrangement from god but he said my tears my tears have been my meat day and night my very soul first for you and my enemy declares me my enemy is mocking me and said where is this god that you serve where is this god that you praise where he is this god you've talked about and i couldn't hear nothing from god but we need to understand that when we go through these seasons of silence we're no different from jesus when he hung on the cross and he cried my god my god why has thou forsaken to me but listen i've learned that when god does not answer when god doesn't show up when god doesn't say a word when god is saying the absence when god is silent it's god's way of teaching that son to live cause i feel something coming on me and i might preach too long but this is god's way when we don't hear god's voice it's god's way of teaching us something to live in a place up called the meantime between the last time you heard from god and the next time you hear from god in the does not blossom up and there is a no cattle in the stall and no great sun on the vine can we still can we still rejoice up in the silence i don't know about you but if we stay in this pandemic for another 365 days and if i don't hear from god even if my most earnest prayers i might answer even if i can't hear god or speak instructions for the changing circumstances of my life even if i feel like jesus felt tough on that caucus forsaken her and abandoned her in a dry and destiny place as i have to live up in this in between places after you have to live up in the in between places after you have to live between that place where you've heard god and you don't hear god between that place where you feel the brush of angel wings on your face and you don't feel nothing between that timer when your solder is happy and your solder is dry and in between plates we got to keep on keep on shouting anyhow say yes sir as i look at jesus on the cross i'll still i'll still i'll see you yes i will yes i will yes i will i'll still say yes this is the day that the has made let us rejoice and be glad in it i said this is the day that the lord has made we ought to give him some glory and praise even on good friday reverend dr marcus d cosby phenomenal preacher teacher pastor developer of people and buildings you are my brother and my friend everybody knows that i love my brother marcus and lady audrey too all the other ministers of the gospel my colleagues in ministry members and friends of wheeler avenue baptist church what a joy it is to be here with you this day virtually it's always a joy for me to be among the people of wheeler you are such loving and kind folks and we have gathered here on this good friday for the seven last words of jesus service the gospel writer john records the fifth word of jesus from the cross in 1928 through 29 and it reads later knowing that everything had now been finished and so that the scriptures would be fulfilled jesus said i am thirsty a jar of wine vinegar was there so they soaked a sponge in it put the sponge on a stalk of the hisaplant and lifted it to jesus lips when he had received the drink jesus said it is finished with that he bowed his head and gave up his spirit pray with me gracious and loving god we thank you for your word today and for what it's going to mean in the lives of each of the persons who now listen help us to hear you god speaking to us i pray that in the next few moments the people will hear and see none of me but all of you and we will be so careful to give you the praise glory and honor for the rest of our days in jesus name we pray amen for the next few moments i want to talk to you from the topic trust me i understand trust me i understand the end of jesus earthly life was imminent the assignment that he had been sent into the world to complete was now accomplished jesus was dying and he knew it the moment of his glorification had arrived jesus understood fully the implications of this moment though earlier he had been troubled by what he knew was going to be a difficult experience and in anguish called on the father to save him from this hour nevertheless he refused to abandon his destiny the purpose for which he had come to earth after having been arrested in the garden falsely accused and sentenced to die stripped of his clothes and his dignity marked beaten and made to carry a heavy cross piece up golgotha's heel he was nailed to it halsted up on a pole and hung there for six hours john says knowing that everything had been finished and so that the scriptures would be fulfilled jesus spoke three words from the cross that tell us more about his humanity than any of the others he said i am thirsty these three words express a need of jesus with which all of us can identify it is the only assertion of physical need that jesus allowed to escape his lips throughout this horrible experience it is through this statement that we are brought face to face with the suffering of jesus thirst was one of the undeniable agonies of crucifixion a man who had been beaten was bleeding and hanging on a cross under the scorching hot sun would be so desperately dehydrated that thirst would be part of the torture he experienced jesus was no doubt thirsty before he even went to golgotha because he had had nothing to eat or drink since leaving the last supper that he shared with his disciples no one had given him anything to drink throughout this ordeal except when they offered him wine mixed with gall to dull the pain but the right of mark makes clear that he refused to drink it he wanted to experience the full weight of the suffering but now he was thirsty and he let it be known john said that he revealed his thirst so that the scriptures might be fulfilled jesus whole life was lived in line with the word of god marx max lucato in his book he chose the nails said that in his life christ fulfilled 332 distinct prophecies in the old testament he was born to the virgin mary according to the scriptures he was given the name jesus in fulfillment of the prophecy that he would save his people from their sins he drove out evil spirits and healed all the sick to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet isaiah he took up our infirmities and carried our diseases he spoke the word to the people in parables to fulfill what was spoken by that same prophet i will open my mouth in parables i will utter these hidden things since the creation of the world he made a triumphal entry into the city of jerusalem a week before his death to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet see your king comes to you gentle and riding on a donkey on a coat the fowl of a donkey and now he is announcing his thirst in fulfillment of the scriptures jesus came to earth to fulfill god's plan for his life the fact that jesus operated according to the scriptures allows us to see that every part of jesus life and passion was not only in the father's plan of redemption but a consequence of the son's direct obedience to it the scriptures that he obviously had in mind when he said i am thirsty are psalm 22 15 my mouth is dried up like a pot shard and my tongue clings to the roof of my mouth and 69 my throat is parched they gave me vinegar to drink the throats of those who hung on the cross were parsed and dry their lips were cracked their tongues were swollen and stuck to the roof of their mouths from a lack of water thirst is a horrible thing that no one should have to experience but thirst is a common human experience we all know what it's like to be thirsty millions of people around the world and even in america suffer from the lack of clean and safe drinking water we dare not forget flint michigan or the fact that only a month ago millions of people right there in texas perhaps many of you did not have clean and safe drinking water for weeks after the storm proper hydration is essential to our survival our bodies need to consume a significant amount of water each day to function properly one cannot live long without water water is more essential to your body than food it's only possible to survive without water a couple of days we all know what thirsty is like and it's not pleasant jesus knows what it's like to be thirsty and said as much from the cross john unlike all the other gospel writers made a point of adding this word of jesus from the cross because he wanted his readers then and now to know who jesus really is throughout history there have been persons who have not taken the humanity of jesus seriously john is specifically writing to those who could readily accept and affirm jesus divinity but found it hard to accept him as fuel fully human they believed that all matter was evil and the spirit was good they could not imagine that god who was spirit could possibly take on sinful human flesh therefore they would say that jesus did not actually suffer because he wasn't human it was for this reason that when john wrote his account of jesus life he carefully introduces god's intention to become human in order to deal effectively and thoroughly with the human predicament he said in the first chapter in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god he was with god in the beginning through him all things were made without him nothing was made that has been made he went on to say in verse 14 the word became flesh and dwelt among us jesus was the word of god god incarnate god in the flesh god exchanging his glory for our full humanity god made being made like us in every way the apostle paul makes this clear with his assertion in philippians 2 where he describes jesus as being in very nature god who made himself nothing by taking on the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even death on a cross jesus the son of god took on our frail and fragile flesh hanging on that cross his body craved something to drink the one who offered living water that ensured that we would never thirst again the one who said if anyone is thirsty let him or her come to me and drink is now acknowledging his thirst the fact that jesus was thirsty allows him to empathize with us in every way he knows intimately what we go through every day of our lives he feels what we feel he's been there and experienced it all the good the bad and the ugly whatever you're dealing with jesus knows all about it he knows what it's like to be hungry and need something to eat to be tired and need rest he understands our weariness with the challenges and changes that we go through every day of life before he traveled around meeting the needs of hurting humanity he was a paul carpenter from nazareth responsible for taking care of his family he knows what it's like to struggle to make ends meet worried about having enough food to feed yourself and your family enough money to pay your bills frustrated with one's condition and wondering if it's ever going to get any better especially during this season of covet 19 when millions of people have been furloughed and lost their jobs having to apply for unemployment benefits weighed on stimulus checks stand in long lines for food and keep your pride in check so you can get through this madness jesus knows about feeling empty unsatisfied and wondering if there's more to life than what you're currently experiencing since you were stuck in the house working worrying trying to study perhaps going stir crazy or mad because you are bored stiff and or dealing with a family that struggles to be patient and understanding of one another jesus knows and understands all the relational challenges that we go through he understands that marriage can be particularly challenging when love has vacated the premises and intimacy is no more there's a cold war going on in your house and ain't nobody saying nothing he knows what it feels like to have folks act like they don't know what you need what when you need it and how you need it what your hopes and dreams are when you have told them jesus knows because he had to tell his disciples how long have i been with you and you still do not understand his family didn't like all of the decisions that he made they called him crazy others disappointed him angered and hurt him though in most instances he didn't show it but there was that time he got angry with the money changers for turning his father's house into a den of thieves in the time he wept over the city of jerusalem for rejecting his help when they desperately needed it jesus knows he was single never married so he has experienced the full range of emotions and loneliness of not having a significant other in his life jesus understands the pain of rejection and abandonment loving folks who don't love you back loving people who don't love you like you deserve and need to be loved he understands the deep longing of the human experience and knows what it is to be tempted to take shortcuts to satisfy the longing with a temporary fix like a one-night stand or settling for less than you deserve that too often has long-term repercussions some of us are paying dearly for foolish decisions and indiscretions committed in the past all in an effort to deal with an insatiable desire or thirst deep down on the inside jesus knows and understands all that we've been through and all that you're going through right now in this text the humanity of jesus allows us to see his empathy with us the writer of hebrews says but we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with us in our weakness but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are yet he did not sin i like the way that it reads in the message bible we don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality he's been through weakness and testing testing experienced it all all but the sin let us then approach god's throne with confidence so that we might receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need jesus knows and understands therefore we can come to him boldly and confidently we can come just as we are without shame or fear that god will reject us or turn us away no matter what we've done or where we've been or who we've been with or what condition we happen to find ourselves in he knows everything there is to know about us and he loves us unconditionally and he longs to be a present help in times of trouble that's what makes him so sensitive to us it puts him at a unique advantage when it comes to meeting our needs he never has to ask never has to guess or wonder if he's saying or doing the right thing he anticipates in his providence he makes possible whatever it is we need even before we know we have a need he's always there always on the case he's proved that with his life and with his death you see from the cross he prayed that god would forgive those who crucified him from the cross he answered a dying thief's prayer that he would be with him in paradise from the cross he provided for the security of his mother by giving her to john his beloved disciple jesus knows that's why we can trust him lean and depend on him there's not a friend that's what my grandmama used to say like the lowly jesus so when it gets too much to bear or better still before you get there trust him rest in him cast all your care upon him because he cares for you nobody can love you nobody can take care of you nobody can provide for you like jesus can finally in his humanity we see the sacrifice of jesus on the cross he came to earth to die in our place it was not his sin but our sin that caused him to experience the horrors of death on the cross what a sacrifice he gave up everything for you and for me he had to be made like us in every way he had to set aside his divinity empty himself of his royalty and become like us that's the only way he could redeem us the writer of hebrews said it like this in bringing many sons and daughters to glory it was fitting that god for whom and through whom everything exists should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered since the children have flesh and blood he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of death that is the devil and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death jesus became all that we are so that we might become all that he is amen amen amen what a joy it has been to hear from these five women of god who have blessed us already in this year's good friday experience of worship thank god for each one of them and for the powerful way that they have preached to us this day we still have two messages left and i'm excited to hear again from the people of god who have stood in this place the women of god especially who stood in this place on times past in times past to preach to us in just a few moments we're going to hear the sixth word from the cross from the imminent bishop vashti murphy mckenzie the president of the 10th episcopal district of the african methodist episcopal church i'm so grateful that she considered to share with us today and i'm excited about what she has to preach to us from that sixth word from the cross and then to round out all of the preaching of this day to close our time together in preaching the reverend dr gina marcia stewart from christ baptist church of memphis tennessee is going to preach the seventh word from the cross we still have two powerful messages to hear from but just before we do that let's give unto our god is offering time in this house and in your house and i hope that you will prepare now to give unto the lord as an act of worship unto god it's time for us to honor the lord with our substance the bible says that we're to do that with the first fruits of our increase and so i'm in anticipating that you will stay true to your responsibility of stewardship and let's offer to god a tangible gift that says we want the kingdom of god to continually be expanded through wheeler avenue baptist church and so as we prepare to give this friday afternoon won't you bow in just a moment of prayer as we take these devices and give unto our god this day gracious god how we love you and praise you and thank you for who you are and for all that you mean to us we thank you for the presence of your spirit even in our varying locations right now and we thank you that that spirit prompts us to give unto you as an act of worship unto you so that we pray that you'll take from our hands which you face first placed into them receive these gifts as an act of worship unto you that proves to you just how much you mean to us and how much your ministry means to us as we seek to expand it for everyone to hear and to know of the goodness of our god i pray now that no one will go lacking as a consequence of what they give this day but you'll return to your sons and daughters as you see fit so that we will always have the testimony that we can't beat god giving no matter how we try god we thank you for victory in our finances in jesus name amen praise the lord our sisters and brothers are going to minister to us in saul and as we hear from them aren't you grateful that reginald smith jr sang for us earlier in this service thank god for that deep rich voice that blessed us on this good friday afternoon now our music ministry prepares us for the last two words from the cross of calvary and immediately thereafter we will extend an invitation to those who need to know of this christ about whom our sisters are preaching and then we'll head to the table and we'll remember what jesus christ did for us on a hill called calvary receive our music ministry with joy [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] when jesus [Music] from to see [Music] they said if you be [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] but my she jesus [Music] tempting him time from [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] me [Music] hallelujah [Music] yes me foreign [Music] is is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] um [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] hey [Music] praise the lord god bless you dr marcus cosby my brother and friend and first lady cosby all the officers and members of wheeler avenue baptist church i greet you in the precious name of jesus who is the christ and praise god for the virtual uh family that is worshiping with us today and the extraordinary six women other women who are preaching today for the seven last words from the cross let me tell you these women of god are absolutely anointed and marvelous and i'm just happy to be in the room praise god let us pray jesus amen the sixth word comes from the gospel of john verse 30. when he had received the drink jesus said it is finished with that he bowed his head and gave up his spirit and our theme and thought of meditation is until that's right until it's not what you think beloved i know what it looks like it looks like a mess a mess in a garbage heat called golgotha people who have very few social outlets came to golgotha to watch the spectacle like some today binge on kickboxing just like decades ago people came and spread their blankets and brought the kids in their picnic baskets to watch strange fruit hang from southern trees eminent scholar and theologian james cohn links this crucifixion with lynching as being both forms of spectacle torture they are forms of extra traditional punishment they are a cruel way to put someone to death it's worse than the electric chair worse than the gas chamber and worse than the executioner's needle filled with poison the people came uh were you there that's what the hymn writer asked some stood afar off watching and waiting and others gambled at the feet of the dying for personal property just like it was furnishing sat on the curb after eviction others teased and taunted hey if you are the christ come and save yourself like you saved others i know what it looks like it looks just like cruel torture inflicted upon the human body it looks like an excruciating death and it is as the weight of the body suffocates its victim to death i know what it looks like it looks just like a miscarriage of justice or the day that the insurrectionist storm the steps of the capital i mean calvary and one i know what it looks like it is brutal uh cruel vicious fierce heartless unhuman inhumane it looks severe and rough and and callous it looks terrible unfeeling i know what it looks like atrocious wicked evil vile and violent it looks just like persecution it looks just like maltreatment and tyranny subjection it it looks like oppression yes it does discrimination subjection suffering here here was jesus christ unduly persecuted hounded singled out harassed whipped bullet it was willful a collusive conspiracy with complicit calculating characters it looks like flesh decomposing on a tree and rigor mortis is setting in i know what it looks like but i also know what it sounds like it sounds like whips cracking 39 times on exposed fret flesh sharp weapons piercing body parts and ugly pounding of hammers impaling feet and hands on a tree and sometimes it causes me to tremble you remember the ham were you there when they crucified my lord were you there when they nailed them to the tree sometimes it causes me to tremble and i shake and and shutter in its sound i know what it sounds like it sounds appalling as the sound of flesh rips from the bone as rivers of blood slither to stain the tree upon which its victim is hung it sounds dreadful and rotten and frightful and shocking it sounds terrifying and it is ah anguish has a sound listen listen listen can you hear it bruised and beaten has a sound listen listen listen can you hear it torture has a sound listen can you hear it betrayal has a sound can you hear it sin sin has a sound can you hear it can you hear the sound of 30 million covet uh cases can you hear the sound of 500 000 plus families mourning the needless death of their loved ones falling victim to covet in america can you hear the sounds of helpless children on the borders of fleeing uh their own atrocity can you hear the sound of asians americans experiencing the very same and real experiences of african americans and native americans and latino americans have been experiencing for decades can you hear these sounds listen and also know what it smells like it smells putrid and intense and extreme it smells rotten bad it stinks it stinks to high heaven yes it does it's rancid and foul and right and protestant it smells like death it is death crawling up out of the pits of hell with this unyielding pursuit of human flesh as the sky darkens and the earth shakes and shudders up ah john's gospel said that after jesus drinks from the stale wine he speaks a sixth time it is finished here we see the new covenant once again visualize not not not like on thursday at the passover meal with jesus surrounded by his disciples when he took the bread and broke it and after uh after he took the cup he said here yo here's my bread here's my body here's the here's the cup here's my new covenant this time on this friday it wasn't around the table but it was in the cross on the cross jesus is not surrounded by his followers but he's surrounded by his adversaries wine and blood and body on the cross see see this is the body of jesus christ broken for you look now and remember his brokenness for our wholeness look look this is the blood see it oozing from his side see this and remember that christ died it's the blood of jesus yeah the stale wine the flesh blood the broken body and broken dreams yeah i know what it looks like on the cross i know what it sounds like i know what it smells like but i can't say that i know what it feels like and neither can you you and i how we can't even wish to know because we cannot drink from the bitterness of his cup but i do know how i felt in my own season of feeling crucified but our crosses are not like the cross of christ heavy though they be this cross that we remember today this these words that are spoken are spoken for the redemption of the whole world not just some of the world not just part of the world ah but redemption of the whole world not just your friends but also your enemy the whole world not just those over across the street or overseas but the whole world yes while we were yet sinners jesus died for us oh yes he did while murderous stress laid upon the perfect lamb of god who takes away the sins of the world in the shadow of our own crosses we must trust this christ high and lift it up upon the garbage heaps of of our own golgotha that he is able and he is still able to turn our burning into dancing give flowers instead of ashes a garment of praise instead of grief doesn't it sound like the lord's the lord's initial sermon his child sermon oil for gladness because he's been what i've been anointed to preach the good news to the afflicted the brokenhearted and those yet to be delivered john the baptist asked are you the one or should we look for another that was the question yeah i know what it looks like but this here jesus is the divine transposer and the divine transformer what you say yes he transposes he reverses he reverses uh he turns around the order the order of what the order our relationship with god from being an enemy of god to be a child of god from being a sinner to forgiven he changes the order of our relationship he swaps out our tears of mourning for tears of joy swaps the ashes that is the remaining residue of our messes our mistakes and our mishap with joy ah the parting gifts of bad decision and disappointment and disaster jesus swaps out our fear for faith to help us deal with our own thorns in the flesh so that faith is enough transformed so we can trust god to make unexpected resources available to enable us to carry our own burdens our own cross that we can carry on with courage where the cross is a symbol of reversal it is also a symbol of transformation it transformed this cross the symbol of degradation and shame ha it is the place where the deepest change takes place yeah on the cross yeah he transforms transforms what transform two pieces of wood into a symbol that nurture and still nurtures the hope in the most hopeless of people and hopeless of some of of situations yeah it's an obstacle it's a hurdle to those who do not believe but to us it affirms life in the presence of death it insists on peace while there are signs of unrest it plants god's uh it paints jobs god's justice bright and beautiful and bold colors against the dark somber tonalities of human and justice and paul writes that jesus endured the cross disregarded its shame for this cross may not have been his preference but it was his choice vashna how do you know because jesus says is not my will but thy will be done this cross was deliberate how do i know because jesus set his face towards jerusalem where there was a sure death waiting for him this crosswork was voluntary how do i know what jesus said i lay down my life that i may take it up again no one takes it from me but i lay it down on my accord then then then now in the sixth word john sums up the whole shebang with careless tie the whole three-year journey in just one word telestyle points to the fulfillment that the work that christ came that he did it is finished and it is fulfilled it is in harmony with the whole johannine presentation de la la style is the same word used twice before in this scene verse 28 come on back up a bit it brings the life of jesus christ to its gold he had completed his work and now he's going to bow his head and go on home telestyle this is the hinge upon which john's gospel swings it is the death of jesus not just the resurrection that serves as the completion of his work as reflected in romans 6 and 5 and we have been united with him in a death like his we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his it is a work that didn't just start on the cross didn't just start three years ago out of galilee didn't just start there but it began in the beginning when when god said a word god spoke and light came god said a word yeah and the earth was separated from the heavens and water god spoke the animals and humans were created that's when it began te lestai it was in the beginning says john was the word and the word was with god and the word was god and the word became flesh and dwelt among us continue the work itself as far as jesus was concerned his job was to be obedient to and finish the work that god had begun way back there right the work began at the very beginning was brought to completion in christ jesus tell estate the plan of salvation has worked has been fulfilled the door is closed the last chapter completed the job is done the enemies of our soul have been vanquished it is done don't you remember the last time you said i'm done i'm done here right i'm done working with this i'm done working with you well i'm done working here and back again i'm done i'm done with them i'm done with day i'm done with it i'm done tell a lesson this cry was not one of defeat but it was a victory cry done the long day of suffering done in christ god reconciling the word to himself tongue the full course of his obedience done the work of atonement done the dismantling of description the sting of death tan the long plan of redeeming human kind john the job was finished the song sung the sacrifice made the blood poured the race kept the good fight won the race finished till the last time tell us it's done and paul's victory dance was i have finished the race i have kept the faith and jesus says tell us die it is finished well beloved ah i have news for you you ready you sure you ready ah it is finished yes it is but it's not done uh in christ christ finished the work yeah he did he did he finished it is fulfilled it is complete but for you and i we're not done we're not done until until what until uh until is a function word that means up to a point up to a point in time up to an event until indicates continuance uh until there is justice in the courtroom where people are judged not by their bank accounts or the color of their skin but by the merits of the evidence we're not done until we have access to unfettered voting justice at the ballot box we're not done ah freedom until there's freedom from complicit characters and culture and wickedness and high places community congregation and corporations we're not done because we who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes we're not done while there is exploitation of the poor the disregarded dignity of the elderly the disenfranchised or the marginalized we're not done until there is no more george floyd no more brianna taylors no more trayvon martins no more michael brown's no more freddie gray's no more orlando castile no more emmanuel lines until the killing of unarmed men and women is outlawed until every place and everywhere is free from active shooters no christ's work is tongue but we're not done until everyone who wants to work gets a job and gets paid a living words until women get equal pay until everybody living on the street gets decent housing until crack houses become safe houses we ain't done yet until every child can go to bed with a full belly until a child's potential is encouraged instead of discouraged until children cease to be neglected jesus has done his work now we got to do out until the elderly don't have to choose between prescriptions and rent until racism becomes an obsolete word in our vocabulary tell your neighbor until until until until until until justice rolls down like a mighty water until cancer backs up until covey gives up until disease dissipates until our prayers are answered until the unprotected are secured until the abused are healed the harassed relief the stress blessed the worried free from fear until every knee shall power and every tongue shall confess that jesus christ his lord know what it looks like know what it sounds like know what it smells like tell a lester jesus finished and pout his head he powered his hand but we cannot bow about ours because they are still too many people with their heads bow down uh are you one are you are you one well lift up your heads all ye gates and be ye lifted up your everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in who is the king of glory the lord strong and mighty the lord mighty the lord mighty the lord almighty in battle until until until [Music] to my friend colleague and brother dr marcus d cosby to audrey and the cosby family to your pastor emeritus the pastor emeritus i should say dr lawson the lawson family and to the wheeler avenue family the seventh word is found in luke 23 verse 46 and i'll be reading from the new international version of scripture and the word of the lord reads like this father into your hands i commit my spirit and when he had said this he breathed his last the word of god for the people of god thanks be to god i want to talk for just a few moments about it's finished but it ain't over it's finished but it ain't over it is the sixth hour and jesus is still high and lifted up darkness covers the land for the space of three hours the sun had stopped shining the veil and curtain of the temple had been torn in two it had to be an eerie scene for those who remained at the cross that afternoon it had witnessed in real time a travesty and miscarriage of justice a travesty and miscarriage of justice a case akin to brianna taylor george floyd ahmed arbury a tatiana jefferson and botham gene and so many others who have died at the hands of the state on one of the most emotionally charged symbols that represent both death and the promise of redemption judgment and the offer of mercy suffering and the power of hope the messiah is executed despite his innocence in a case of capital punishment built on circumstantial evidence and trumped up charges jesus an unarmed man from north east africa is nailed to a cross and crucified crucified as a public display crucified the punishment reserved for those who rebelled against the roman government crucified an instrument of torture designed to dissuade anyone from acting like the ones who were being executed crucified a first century lynching a prolonged torturous death used by rome to terrify people who cherished alternatives to dominant imperial values especially defiant slaves and unruly foreigners by now his thirst and the physical agony including the weight of the cross that jesus had to carry was beginning to take its toll by now the emotional pain of seeing the crowd choose barabbas the desertion of the disciples the scorn of one criminal and the grief of his mother have left him his time had come he has finished the work he was assigned to do as we have heard from the previous words by now jesus has forgiven the people he has offered salvation retributive justice to a thief on the cross he's offered a new relationship to his mother and his favorite disciple and he has gone through the human emotions of abandonment thirst and distress and finally his work is completed he has done and finished what the father instructed him to do beaten battered and scorned but he had finished what he was instructed to do unrewarded unappreciated and misrepresented but he had finished what he was instructed to do forsaken by friends abandoned by family talked about by church folk rejected by religious rulers and ridiculed by the crowd but he had finished what he had been instructed to do by now the sadducees are satisfied the pharisees are peacock happy and pleased the enemies of the cross should have been elated demons were probably dancing and hell was happy and satan had to be shouting because jesus has just declared that it's finished with flesh ripped from his body bones exposed to the elements a crown of thorns pressing into his bleeding head nails in his hands and feet bruised for our iniquities and battered for our sins bloodied for our atonement jesus is about to die for the sins of the world jesus in his human condition has been in the hands of those who have already beat him in the hands of those who have lied on him in the hands of those who have betrayed him in the hands of those who spit on him in the hands of those who placed the crown of thorns around his head in the hands of those who placed a purple robe on his shoulder in the hands of those who washed their hands of him because they didn't want innocent blood on their hands in the hands of those who sat at the foot of the cross shooting crabs in the hands of those who drove nails in his feet and in his hands jesus is now has been in their hands it's important to note that as jesus has been in their hands that jesus has also used his own hands to heal the sick to raise the dead to comfort the afflicted to restore sanity to the mentally ill to cast out demons to feed the multitudes and steal the tempest but he had been hanging on the cross for so long that his hands could no longer work his hands had been damaged his hands had been pierced on a cross and he could no longer use his hands the same hands that healed the sick the same hands that raised the dead the same hands that comforted the afflicted the same hands that restored sanity to the mentally ill the same hands that laid hands on the sick and cast out demons the same hands that steal the tempest those same hands no longer work and although he could no longer use his hands there was one thing that jesus still had he had his mouth and his voice and it is at this moment in a curious and counter intuitive move that jesus uses his mouth and his voice to utter the final words from the cross after he's as declared it is finished out of the pain of and public persecution a proclamation comes forth from the cross jesus places the other book in to the cruciform conversation that he began with his father with the first word father forgive them for they know not what they do now he ends with the crucial and final words and bookends the conclusion of the seven words with the final words father into the into your hands i commit my spirit a counter and curious a curious and counter intuitive clothes i have often wondered why the seventh word is the last word it seems that there would be nothing to say left to say after jesus says it is finished for jesus did not say i am finished jesus said it is finished there is a difference between saying i am finished and it is finished it seems curious that the sixth word is not the seventh word it is finished sounds like jubilation into thy hands sounds like resignation into thy hands sounds so anti-climactic it seems to be out of sequence with the rest of the words or it is an error possibly in syntax it is a curious and counter intuitive close that after declaring it is finished jesus would say into my into your hands i commit my spirit it would help us to know however that while the words that jesus uttered may not sound appropriate to us that they may seem to be out of sequence to us that there may seem to be an error in syntax to us then but we would not be it would sound these words that jesus uttered may not sound appropriate to us but every jewish person in the crowd instantly recognized his last words that startled possibly everyone who heard it because what jesus was doing was not just making an idol statement jesus was actually quoting a line from the hebrew songbook psalm 31 and 5 was a bedtime prayer that mothers taught their children it is believed that mothers taught their children to say before they went to sleep every night telling their heavenly father that they were trusting him while they're spit trusting him with their spirits through the night while they slept and the words found in the hebrew songbook in psalm 31 and 5 go something like this into your hand i commit my spirit you have redeemed me o lord faithful god and some of us can remember those bedtime prayers that we prayed as little children growing up growing up it's amazing to me the universality of the bedtime prayer that many of us prayed when we were growing up i remember the first bedtime prayer that i was taught by my parents it went something like this now i lay me down to sleep i pray the lord my soul to keep if i should die before i wake i pray the lord my soul to take perhaps jesus mother taught him to pray at bedtime too and jesus quotes that verse and prays that prayer but he added one word that is not included in psalm 31 and 5. father into your hands i commit a better translation of commit would be to say i entrust my spirit to you jesus does in his depth what he has done throughout his life he commits and entrust himself into his father's hands not hands that are made up of small bones known as metacarpals and phalanges these are not hands composed of veins and arteries and blood vessels and muscles and tendons and ligaments and other tissues these are not hands that have intricate groupings of cells that work with the rest of the body to relay electrical impulses from the brain to the hands and finger in order to accomplish routine tasks such as writing and pointing and driving these hands are god's hands these hands are good hands these hands are not all state hands but they are god's hands god's hands our good hands god's hands are safe hands god's hands are healing hands god's hands are helpful hands god's hands are delivering hands god's hands are sustaining hands father into your hands i commit my spirit it is not a statement of resignation it is a statement of resolution it is not an act of defeat it is an act of defiance for you see for the past several hours jesus has been in the hands of sinful men and women now he places his spirit in the hands of the father another way of saying it in the ancient way of thinking is that jesus is placing his very life into the hands of his father he entrusts his life he entrusts his spirit into the hands of his father he will not let the crucifiers have the last word or determine the significance of the cross for even though jesus has declared it is finished jesus is saying it still ain't over and he entrusts his spirit his life to his father to safeguard it so now that jesus has completed his work of redemption here it is he does what he did in creation as the second member of the god here he takes a rest with the seventh word jesus does what he did on the seventh day when he was in the godhead with god in the beginning genesis 2 verse 3 says so god bless the seventh day and made it holy because on it god rested from all his work that he had done in creation jesus does the same thing with the seventh word that god does with jesus in the godhead on the seventh day jesus took a rest and the scriptures bear witness that death to jesus ain't nothing but rest i'm reminded of specific events which support this assertion in the scripture that demonstrate that jesus was not a fan of funerals when lazarus died and jesus made the decision to go back to bethany to see about his friend despite the fact that lazarus had died despite the fact that lazarus had laying in the tomb for four days and jesus decided to go back to bethany jesus says to the confused disciples who are wondering why he's going back to bethany he says lazarus is asleep but i'm going to awake him out of his sleep when the daughter of jairus died and the messengers had suggested that it was useless to trouble jesus about his daughter jesus went back to the house with jairus and the bible says that when they came to the home of the synagogue ruler jesus saw a commotion with people crying and wailing loudly and he went in and said to them what's with all the commotion and the wailing the child is not dead but she's asleep uh and after he put them all out and took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him and went in where the child was he took her by the hand and said talithakum which means little girl i say to you get up when the widow of name was on her way to the graveyard coming out of the graveyard from bearing her son jesus went up and touched the beer and they were carrying him on and the bearer stood still and jesus said to the young man young man i say to you get up and the dead man set up and began to talk and jesus gave him back to his mother so if death for jesus means sleep or rest then it makes sense to me that after jesus says it is finished that the last word would be the prayer that jesus possible jesus mother possibly taught him to pray at bedtime it's a clue that even though death would not be an illusion that jesus would die that he would die a miserable death that he would lock his head in his shoulders but thanks be to god that death would not be the end but death would be rest because a bedtime prayer is what you pray before you go to sleep not before you die perhaps that's why jesus cried out with a loud voice and the last word father into thy hands i commit or commend my spirit here it is because the last word for jesus was not goodbye but goodnight goodbye is a parting word goodbye is a word that expresses good wishes in the evening especially when somebody is leaving oh but good night is a different word you see good night is a pleasant expression it is used at the end of the day before going to sleep and so jesus says to the father father into your hands i commit my spirit perhaps he said it because jesus understood that nobody takes my life but i lay it down yes jesus possibly is saying if i can use my homological imagination yes i'm going to die but death doesn't have the last word because in my economy death is rest so i'm not gonna beast permanently sleep i'm going to sleep with the expectation that morning is coming oh can you just talk to yourself on this good friday and some morning is coming so at the end of the day the word is not goodbye but good night death where is your sting grave where is your victory the strength of sin is death and the strength of sin is the law but thanks be to god who gives us the victory because death won't have the final word it might be finished but it ain't over i double dog daddy to just take a few minutes and talk to yourself and preach to yourself and say it's finished but it ain't over but that's not how the story comes three days later oh god i wish i could go there but i can't go there yet but yes he did die and yes he was buried in a bar tomb but thanks be to god that it was finished but it wasn't over thanks be to god i can see more than breaking through the cloud tap yourself and shout on this good friday it's finished but it ain't over what then shall we say do these things if god be for us who can be against us father into the hands i commit my spirit and i gave up the ghosts cause it wasn't goodbye it was just good night you want to clap your hands and give god glory you gotta clap your hands and shout to god with the voice of triumph you want to throw your head back and shout it might be finished but it ain't over cause we've been made hey endure for a night for joy but it ain't over i'll get you preaching voice and preach to yourself i've been through the fire and i've been through the flood i've been through great sorrow but god gave me a song in the night season and all the day long it might be finished but it ain't over [Music] this is the word of the lord the grass with us the flower fades but the word of our god shall stand forever because the last word is not a final word because in jesus in the economy of jesus goodbye is not good night morning is coming hallelujah i'm so grateful on this good friday afternoon that morning still comes after the good nights of our lives to guide me the glory for these seven preachers beginning with dr theresa fry brown dr michelle guidry continuing with all of the sister preachers who have come to us on this good friday afternoon i'm so grateful that the lord has blessed us this day to hear from the first word to the seventh word the great things that god has in store for us thank you doctors thank you preachers thank you so much dr flake thank you dr hale thank you so much dr ingram we appreciate you thank you so much dr dr dr doctor who just preached the sixth word dr bishop bishop bishop vashti murphy mckenzie my goodness that was absolutely amazing until and then to close it all out with dr gina marcia stewart thank you so much preachers for blessing us on this good friday afternoon i need everybody in the virtual space to just celebrate god for just a moment as we honor the lord yes lord listen we're about to go to the table i want to do two things before we do that i'm going to extend an invitation in just a moment but i also want us to remember that sunday morning is coming that's really where dr stewart was trying to go but because of her commitment to the cause that she has preached for she could not get all the way there but i want you to know that sunday morning is coming and we're going to share in a grand way at the nrg stadium in the parking lot and i hope that you have registered for our experience of worship experiences of worship we'll have two and seven a.m and then 11 a.m some had given the misguided notion to others that all of the spaces had been filled that is not true you still have opportunity for either service to get in and be a part of our experiences of worship on resurrection sunday 7 a.m 11 a.m choose one of those services and come and share with us as we celebrate good morning exactly exactly dr dr stewart has led us to that very brink of celebration now brothers and sisters if there's one among us who's been listening to all of these preachers seven preachers from 12 noon to 3 p.m if you've been listening to all of this preaching and you've now forgiven your life to the lord jesus christ who died on good on that friday afternoon to spare your life from eternal separation from god to save you to the uttermost if you have never said yes to the lord jesus christ i want you to say yes to him right now i want you to email us at new members ministry wheelerbc.org and when you do that someone's going to get in touch with you and let you know the plan of salvation for your life and then likewise let you know how what it means to be a part of the wheeler avenue congregation wherever you are you can be a part of our church we are wheeler wherever and we'd love to incorporate you into the family of god known as wheeler avenue baptist church it's a great time to be saved today's a great day to join the family of god and the faithful who gather at wheeler avenue baptist church even in a virtual land i want you to be a part of our family and as we come to this table today we do this in remembrance of the lord jesus christ about whom we've heard these seven sermons we do this in remembrance of the one who gave his life that we might live we do this so that we might show forth the death the suffering of jesus christ until he comes again and so we come to the table as is our custom on good friday afternoon and we remember the sacrifice of jesus christ i want you to bow with me right now as i consecrate these elements to the lord's use and to our use as we purse as we receive them i hope that you've already prepared your elements there in your home they're at your job wherever you are because i want us all to fellowship to commune one with another even in a virtual reality great god we thank you for the precious gift of salvation through jesus christ we thank you for these symbols now of bread and wine and now i ask in jesus name that you will consecrate them and you will oh god by your own power make these to become the symbols for us that help us to remember your broken body and your shed blood we remember today what you have done we've spent this time in remembrance of you and now we do as you have commanded us as you have ordered us we take these elements in remembrance of you our savior who sacrificed your life thank you for the sacrifice of jesus christ and it's in his name that we pray with great thanksgiving and expectation and we will be better in days to come than we have been in days gone by in jesus name we pray amen amen [Music] oh god [Music] yay [Music] whatsoever [Music] he should not perish [Music] yes [Applause] [Music] nevertheless [Music] yay [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is god could have chosen [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] god [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] yes you don't have to ah [Music] [Music] bless his name bless his name thank you so much mr willie thank you trevo olivia ron thank you leona thank you sabrina thank you duncan for lifting your voices for the glory of god thank you instrumentalist for blessing us thank you stephanie for coming over and being with us today thank you minister lewis for your leadership thank you preachers and deacons deaconess thank you so much thank you jesus for what you did that friday afternoon thank you jesus for loving us enough to give us everlasting life thank you jesus for being so good to us oh we bless his high name today all this week we've gone to the table monday tuesday and wednesday our family groups sucked together thursday we as a church family celebrated monday thursday when jesus instituted this supper with his disciples today we come to this table yet again on good friday to remember the death the sacrifice of the lord jesus believe it or not because sunday is first sunday we're going to the table again to remember what jesus has done as often as we do this we remember the sacrifice of our savior until he comes again and i'm so grateful for everlasting life on this friday afternoon i don't know what in the world to do but celebrate god to thank him for being the great god that he is by giving to us salvation through jesus christ and everlasting life so as we have these elements in our hands today we remember what jesus christ has done we're able to see and hear even what is happening in the sanctuary what has happened in several cities across this country as these women have come to preach to us today we're grateful for our team that allows us to experience worship in this great way thank you chris and team we appreciate all that you've done for those who do not hear as well as others we've got a sign language ministry keeping their hands uh before us so that we might be able to know all that is taking place in this house and all of that takes place because we recognize we've got to remember jesus in a grand and glorious way so as we remember how his body was broken beaten battered bruised because of us because he loved us because he cared about us his passion was real toward us when we think about the fact that he who knew no sin at all became sin hallelujah so that we might become the righteousness of god we take this seriously we take this bread in our hands and we eat of it as we remember the broken body of the lord jesus christ let us eat together we learned likewise after supper he had eaten with the disciples he took the cup he said this covers the new covenant in my blood he told those disciples that they had this they drink all of it i will not drink of it again until i drink it of it anew with you in my father's kingdom so we come today to drink of the cup representing the shed blood of the lord jesus christ oh so many songs good help us celebrate what the blood really means what can wash away my sin nothing but the blood of jesus the blood that jesus shed for me way back on calvary would never lose its power i know it was the blood i know it was the blood for me one day when i was lost he died upon the cross i know it was the blood from me we've got so many songs we can sing about the blood of jesus as we hold these cups in our hand we are reminded that that blood covers all of our sin and then cleanses them as if they never happened so as you remember what jesus did at calvary on a friday afternoon on this friday afternoon let's drink of this this cup that reminds us of the efficacious blood of the lord jesus christ let's drink together and we have communed one with one another with one another we have experienced communion today as we have many days this week and we thank you that we're able to reflect upon what you've done for us through jesus christ thank you that we're able to remember that death that secured our lives now as we go forth from this time into the evening hours of this friday the silent saturday when not much activity was going on except that revival that jesus preached even in the doldrums of hell we thank you that we can prepare for a resurrection sunday morning that allows us to celebrate you conquering death hell and the grave and we honor you this day for what you have done for us we bless your name this day for what you're doing right now and in anticipation and expectation we thank you for the plans that you have for us those plans are to prosper us not to harm us and to give us a future and a hope be with us now as we depart from one another in this virtual reality until we get back together again on resurrection sunday may your will be done through us so that you might always get the glory out of us we pray this prayer with great thanksgiving unto you in the name of the lord jesus christ our savior who died that we might live in jesus name we pray amen praise god god bless you church family and all of our extended family members i pray that you were blessed today until we get back together again on sunday morning the lord bless you and keep you is our prayer let's sing of him and let's leave from this mountain amen [Music] [Music] come on [Music] you

Channel: Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church

Views: 9,232

Rating: 4.9225807 out of 5

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Id: sRH7v9V7Gkc

Length: 172min 15sec (10335 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 02 2021