Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. – MARK 8:34

We use the expression, “cross to bear” to encompass a number of things:
sciatica, poor math skills, night blindness, a sweet tooth, a trick knee, or any unfulfilled desires. Only, a cross to bear in the first century was hardly trivial. To see a person carrying a crossbar atop their shoulders would have provoked few questions. A cross-bearing person bore the condemnation of one convicted of only the most heinous of crimes. So extreme was this style of execution that Roman citizens were exempted from it.

As we enter into the roughly forty-day season leading up to Easter, called Lent,  Christians worldwide will deny themselves various things in an effort to connect themselves to the sufferings of Jesus. But, the challenge in Lent isn’t in finding some luxury to go without for a few weeks. It is, however, in connecting whatever that thing is from which we willingly abstain with the true notion of bearing a cross. The apostle Paul describes it like this: “I have been crucified in Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” So, bearing a cross is about putting to death an old nature (crucified with Christ) with the hope and power of living in a new kind of life (resurrected with Christ at Easter).

To aim our hearts at Easter, join us for our Ash Wednesday service at 7p. In it, we’ll orient ourselves at the truth, the tragic beauty, and the glorious irony of the cross. We’ll consider how our journey toward Easter begins intentionally and deliberately. No child care is provided. But, bring kids of any age you deem appropriate for such an experience.

See you Wednesday Night,

Jeff