To Seek & Save | Sunday, March 28, 2021

Days may be darkest, but Your light is greater. You light our way, God. You light our way. When evil is rising, You're rising higher with power to save, with power to save. You keep hope alive.

Because Your life is stronger, Jesus, there is hope in the breaking, hope in the sorrow, and hope for this moment. My hope for tomorrow is found in You. There’s hope in the morning, there’s hope in the evening, and there’s hope because You are living in us.

Hope, cause you're breathing in this hope in the breaking. You keep hope alive. From Jesus, you are alive.

The head that once was crowned with thorns is crowned with glory now. The Savior knelt to wash our feet; now at His feet, we bow.

Hey there, Cross Connection Church! Welcome to our Sunday morning online service. It would be awesome if you took this opportunity to invite somebody. Send out an email, send a text, or even make a phone call, as dated as that is. Just invite someone to church.

With that, let's head over to Pastor Anthony for worship.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for this day. Lord, we are so blessed to be here. We are blessed to be able to sing songs about You, to sing to You, and to worship You with our whole hearts. God, we want to get into Your Word and dig into the truths You have to speak to us today.

God, would You just remove all distraction? Would You speak directly to us and receive our praise? May it put a smile on Your face, the meditations of our hearts. In Jesus' name, Amen.

So precious is the compassion that pours on the ones that have won our salvation. Sin was strong, but the Savior is stronger. Come, let us worship. Great was the debt that we owed, and how high was the price of our healing, paid in full by the One.

Who is worthy? Christ, the Savior. In His name, a new creation. Now our song will rise, adoring Christ.

Death is overcome. Jesus says Christmas is here. Now our song will rise. The Lord's sin was strong, but Jesus is stronger. Our shame was great, but Jesus is stronger.

Jesus. Jesus' shape was great for Jesus. Now our song, the Savior in His name, a new creation. Now our song will rise, adoring. Super strong, Jesus is.

Jesus is stronger. Our shame was great, but Jesus is greater than our shame.

Hey, Cross Connection! I'm Pastor Garrett. Here at Cross Connection Church, we're all about living life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus Christ. I'm glad you could join us today. Today is our first day back in the sanctuary, live and in person. For those of you tuning in online, thank you for tuning in. We love having you with us.

Part of living life in connection here at Cross Connection Church is prayer. It's our direct line of communication between us and God. He is always listening and always faithful, not only to hear our prayers but to answer them too. I want to encourage those of you tuning in online to visit prayer.lifeinconnection.com. Check that out; it's your resource for all prayer requests. It goes directly to our pastoral team, staff, and prayer team. They want to be praying with and for you, your friends, your family—whoever needs prayer this week. So again, prayer.lifeinconnection.com is where you can submit your prayer requests.

For those of you in person today, we have prayer cards in front of you in the chairs. If you would like to fill one of those out, go ahead and do that. You can turn them in as you leave the sanctuary today in one of the orange mailboxes in the foyer.

With that, our mission this week is you. We are coming up on Easter; this is Palm Sunday, and Easter is next week. We want you to be inviting your friends and family members to church. God is on the move, and people need Him now more than ever. So go out and invite some people to church!

You can invite them to our online service at lifeinconnection.com or live.lifeinconnection.com. Check it out and invite your friends! If they don't want to come to an in-person service, remember that next week we will be live in person in the sanctuary at 10:30 a.m. We would love for them to join us there. We believe God is going to do an amazing work, so be praying for those who are on mission this week. If you're praying this week, just lift up all those in our community, all the friends and family, and all the connections that we have that we're going to invite to church this week.

In just a moment, we will be joining Pastor Anthony for a song of worship. This will be a time where we worship the Lord with our giving. If you came prepared to give today, and if you're online, there are a couple of different ways I want to encourage you to do so. You can text the number 84321 on your cell phone, or you can go online to give.lifeinconnection.com, where you can give easily. Third, you can simply mail in your offering to 1675 Seven Oaks Road, which is our church address here in Escondido, California.

If you're with us here live at 10:30 in the sanctuary, we won't be passing the offering bags around today. Instead, in the back of the foyer, as you're exiting the sanctuary, you'll see those bright orange mailboxes. They are beautiful! That is where we're collecting all of our tithes, along with the wooden Agape box on the wall. You can put your prayer requests and offerings in there as you exit the sanctuary.

For those of you online, again, you can text the number, go online, or simply mail it in, and we'll receive it that way. With that, let's go ahead and worship the Lord with our giving and join Pastor Anthony for the song of worship. God bless you all, and have a great week! What a beautiful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ my King! What a beautiful name it is.

Nothing compares to this. What a beautiful name it is, the name of Jesus. What a wonderful name it is, the name of Jesus. How wonderful the praise of You is.

What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ! What a powerful name it is; nothing can stand against it. Yours is the powerful name of Jesus Christ, my King.

Yes, God, you are beautiful, wonderful, and powerful all at the same time. We can't even fathom exactly who you are, Jesus. We just thank you, God, that we get to call you our King and that you are our Father. We can never deserve you, Jesus; we can never earn you.

But yet, you freely just place your eyes upon us. Who are we, God, that you would be mindful of us? We thank you, Jesus, and we praise your name forever. With everything we have, we pour out all of our adoration because you deserve nothing less. We pray all this in your holy name. Amen.

Well, it has been a while. I took a few weeks off from preaching, and I really am blessed and grateful for our pastoral team. I'm thankful for Pastors Jason and Garrett, who could cover for me while I took a little time to focus on a number of other things. This has been a busy season for myself and for my family, but I am looking forward to some good things coming up in the next couple of weeks, especially since today is a great day—a great time of celebration. More on that in just a few minutes.

It has been a long and challenging season. I know it has been for many people, not just for me but for many of you as well. I have been working to try to put words to my thoughts and emotions over the last several weeks, and I find that I am sometimes at a bit of a loss for words. I know that you might find that hard to believe. I feel as though I have a lot to say, but at the same time, I'm not entirely sure how to express the things that I've been thinking about.

Several times over the last couple of weeks, I've found myself asking the Lord in prayer the same question that the Apostle Paul asked the Lord in Acts chapter 9 after he encountered the risen Jesus. He said, "Lord, what would you have me to do?" A year ago, when all of the COVID chaos first began, I had a pretty dialed-in weekly routine, and that all went away. Also, a year ago, I was planning with our pastoral team and our leadership team at the church some changes for things within the church as we were coming into Palm Sunday and Easter. We had all kinds of new things that we were working on and planning.

But a year later, I feel as though we've kind of lost a year of productivity, which can be pretty challenging for someone with a personality like mine. I think a lot of people feel that way—that this has been something of a lost year. But in the midst of...

All of that and all the things that have happened remind me quite a few times, and I want to remind you today that God does know what He is doing. I do not believe that everything we have experienced in the last year has been a surprise to God. We still may not know all that God is doing or understand why He is doing the things that He is doing, but we can trust that He does have a purpose and a plan. I also trust that eventually many of those purposes and plans of God will become clearer.

I'm not sure if you saw this article last week, but I came across it in one of my news feeds this past Tuesday. The news feed from the Irish News reported that in 2020, Google searches for hope and prayer peaked. The article began this way: terms such as hope, hug, and prayer reached a record high on Google search in 2020. Challenging and chaotic times have a way of pushing people to pray and to search for greater sources of hope, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Of course, I'm not saying that God's purpose in everything over the last year has been to push us to pray or to search for greater sources of hope, but it isn't a horrible byproduct. It is highly likely that you've come across that famous verse before in Romans 8:28. It is a favorite of many people. One translation of that verse says, "God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them."

Depending upon your view of God's sovereign and providential working in the world, you may really key in on those words "God causes everything." Some people live their lives as if God causes everything, which is just fine when things are going pretty well. However, when things fall apart and become challenging, it can be a real struggle for us to maintain that mindset of "God causes everything." I'm not one to key in on that perspective.

On those words, God causes everything in Romans 8:28. Instead, I find that I key in on those words "according to His purpose." I do not always know or fully understand the workings of God's providence; no one really does. However, I am able to accept that God is providentially working according to His purpose, and that gives me great comfort.

We are purpose-seeking and purpose-driven beings. We need purpose, or else we descend towards a nihilistic hopelessness. Even the great unbeliever Friedrich Nietzsche recognized, "He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." Psychologist and German concentration camp survivor Viktor Frankl wrote about interactions with others in the concentration camps during the Second World War in his book, "Man's Search for Meaning." He wrote, "Woe to him who saw no more sense in his life, no aim, no purpose, and therefore no point in carrying on. He was soon lost." If we lose our understanding of or our sense of purpose, then we are in danger of losing ourselves. God made us this way; we are purpose-seeking and purpose-driven beings.

Not only did God make us this way, but Jesus, when He was here upon the earth, exemplified a purpose-driven mindset. I have talked about this a lot in the past because I really do think that this is an important truth from the Scriptures. Being that this is a special day in the life and calendar of the church, I want to return to passages that may be familiar from the Gospels.

Every year, the church throughout the world has two major periods of celebration and a number of things that surround those major periods. The first major celebration has to do with the coming of Jesus into the world during Advent at Christmas, and we all love that time of year. The second major celebration is much longer than the first and surrounds several major events. The first event is the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, which is today, followed by the crucifixion on Good Friday, the resurrection on Easter, the ascension 40 days after Easter, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit 50 days after Easter.

Days after Easter, at Pentecost, which is also the birthday of the Church, we are celebrating together. Wrap your mind around this: we are celebrating with more than two billion people throughout the world who identify themselves as Christians. There is a lot of diversity among those individuals, but just think about that. We are approaching eight billion people in the world, and more than a quarter of those people identify as Christians. At this time of year, we are all, at least in some measurable way, united together, celebrating the most essential aspect of Christianity, which is what we will be celebrating next Sunday on Easter.

Let me back up again to the whole issue of purpose. We are purpose-seeking and purpose-driven individuals. Jesus, when He came to the earth, exemplified a purpose-driven mindset in His life. In what way did He do that? Jesus came to the world, which we celebrate at Christmas, and then He came to Jerusalem, which we celebrate on Palm Sunday, for a very clearly defined and articulated purpose. Palm Sunday is the day that we celebrate Jesus' coming into Jerusalem on the Sunday before Good Friday for that very clearly defined purpose and objective.

On the Sunday that Jesus came into Jerusalem, five days before the crucifixion, part of His purpose was revealed in how the people responded as He entered the city. The people at His triumphal entry sang from the Psalms these words: "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." They were singing from Psalm 118. The word "Hosanna" is actually two Hebrew words, which are translated for us in Psalm 118, verse 25. They are translated as "Save now, I pray." Psalm 118, verses 25 and 26 says, "Save now, I pray, O Lord! O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you from the house of the Lord."

All of this brings us back to the purpose for which Jesus came to the world.

Christmas came to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. To zero in on this, I want to go to the passage in the Gospel of Luke where the story of Palm Sunday is found. The events of Palm Sunday and the triumphal entry of Jesus are in Luke chapter 19, beginning at verse 28. However, I want to back up this morning to Luke chapter 19, verse 1, which takes place probably a day or maybe two before Palm Sunday. This could have been the Friday or Saturday before Palm Sunday; we don't really know, but it was right around that period of time as Jesus was making His way to Jerusalem for that final Passion Week.

This passage has been fresh on my mind and heart because I am reading through it in my own devotional time right now. My coffee time videos have also been centered around this reading. So, in Luke chapter 19, beginning at verse 1, we read these words: "Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. He sought to see who Jesus was, but he could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way."

When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him. He said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house." So he made haste and came down and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner."

Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half my goods to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore it fourfold." Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house because he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

This is a familiar passage of Scripture for many people who have been around church for a long time, especially if you grew up going to church and participating in children's ministry. It's hard for me to read this passage and not be immediately reminded of...

That little song, "Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he," is one my kids know, and I know it too. You might know that one as well. If you don't, you should! Hopefully, when we get back into our regular gatherings together, you might be able to help with children's ministry and learn that song.

This is a great passage of Scripture, and you may have noticed already, if you were paying attention as I was reading through it, that the very last bit keys in on the purpose for which Jesus came into the world. But we'll get there in just a little bit; we're not there yet.

Before we do, there are some things I want you to take note of in this passage. First, Jericho, 2,000 years ago. If you were a Jewish pilgrim making your way from Galilee in the northern part of the nation of Israel to Jerusalem, which is more towards the southern part of the nation, you would make this journey for Passover. Every Jew was supposed to go to Jerusalem for the feasts annually, and they would go three times, with the first one being for Passover.

You would travel from Galilee in the north along the Jordan River down to Jerusalem. Most of that journey was downhill, following the Jordan River until you reached the last major town or city before making your way up into Jerusalem. That last major town was Jericho. The Sea of Galilee is at an elevation of about 650 feet below sea level, while Jericho is at about 850 feet below sea level, going down towards the Dead Sea, which is the lowest place on Earth.

So, you are making your way down from Galilee to Jericho, and once you get to Jericho, that last stop before you go up into Jerusalem, you have an 18-mile journey climbing some 3,200 feet into the mountains of Judea. This is where Jesus and thousands of Jewish pilgrims were passing through 2,000 years ago before the triumphal entry that we read about in Luke chapter 19.

The second thing to note in this passage is that there was a man named Zacchaeus who lived in Jericho. Zacchaeus, we are told, was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. Now, as an aside, we are just a couple of weeks out from April 15th.

The favorite day of every adult in America is not really April 15th. Now, take a moment to consider how you feel about that day and compound those feelings a few dozen times. That's how people felt about tax collectors in Israel 2,000 years ago. Tax collectors, like Zacchaeus, were employed by the occupying Roman Empire. They were not employed by the nation of Israel, nor were they collecting taxes on behalf of Israel; they were working for the despised occupiers, the Romans.

People hated tax collectors. While we may not like April 15th and are not fans of paying taxes, I don't think people hated tax collectors in Jesus's day any less. They would have doubly hated rich tax collectors like Zacchaeus. So, Zacchaeus was likely not well-liked. However, he wanted to see Jesus. The rumors about Jesus had been spreading throughout the land, and now he heard through the crowds that Jesus was going to pass through his town.

Remember, there was a huge crowd; thousands of pilgrims were making their way from all over the nation of Israel up to Jerusalem. Jericho would be the last place they would stop, so they were all making their way through Jericho to go to Jerusalem for Passover. Zacchaeus wanted to see who this Jesus was, but he couldn't because of the large crowd and his short stature.

As an aside, archaeologists who have studied human remains in this part of the world at that time in history have determined that the average male in Judea in the first century was about five foot six. If Zacchaeus was a wee little man, he was probably very short. Here was this super short guy who wanted to see Jesus, but the crowds were too big, following along with Jesus, so he couldn't see him.

Despite his shortness, he was industrious. The Scriptures tell us that he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus because he knew that Jesus was going to pass by that way. The third thing to note in this passage, which always stands out to me when I read through these words, is when Jesus...

Came to the place where Zacchaeus was up in the tree. When Jesus came to the place, He looked up. This was probably the only time in Zacchaeus's life that anybody ever looked up to him. But Jesus came to the place, looked up, and saw him. He said, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house."

Here's the key: the important thing that stands out to me when I read this passage every single time is that Jesus sees those who are overlooked and looked down upon. Why does Jesus see those who are overlooked and looked down upon? Well, that's where we're going to be going in just a moment to the purpose statement of Jesus.

But first, back to the story in Luke chapter 19, verse 5. When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him. He said, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house." So Zacchaeus made haste, came down, and received Jesus joyfully.

However, when they saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." Something about how Zacchaeus looked clued the multitude into who he was or what he did for a living. It was evident by his clothing or by the way that he carried himself that he was rich and that he was a tax collector. The people surrounding Jesus, the crowd, despised tax collectors.

To the Jewish people of Jesus's day, a tax collector was synonymous with sinner. Here's the mindset of the first-century Israelite: heathen, extortioner, adulterer, harlot, sinner, tax collector. The tax collector was listed among the people who were the most looked down upon, the most despised.

So to the crowd, as they looked at Zacchaeus, who stood down below Jesus after he got down from the sycamore tree, they thought, "How on earth could Jesus go to be the guest of a man who is a sinner?" That's what the people were thinking, and they complained, expressing it openly. But Jesus sees and calls those.

Overlooked and despised, the crowd was displeased by Jesus's decision. But then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half my goods to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore it fourfold."

Now, I think there's a lot more in this verse than I have the time to get into today. Traditionally, this is seen as repentance from Zacchaeus in Luke 19:8, and that may be true. However, the original Greek in which this was written seems to imply otherwise. But that's not really the point of the story, at least not the point that I want to zero in on, so I'm not going to get into that so much today.

Suffice it to say, there's something happening in this wee little rich tax collector named Zacchaeus as he stood there before Jesus and before the crowd. He says, "Look, Lord, I give half my goods to the poor, and if I've taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore it fourfold," which was way more than the law would require of someone.

To this, Jesus responds and says in verse 9, "Today salvation has come to this house, the house of Zacchaeus, because Zacchaeus also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

Four chapters before this, in Luke 15, Jesus told three very important parables. I talked about them in my coffee time video from Wednesday, I believe it was. Jesus tells a story of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost or prodigal son. In each of the stories, the lost things are found, causing great joy and rejoicing.

Those stories tell us something about God and something about Jesus, and they clue us into His purpose. Why does Jesus see those overlooked and looked down upon? Today, salvation has come to this house because he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Jesus sees those overlooked and looked down upon because Jesus came to...

Seek and to save the lost and despised is really important good news. As we prepare to remember Jesus's death on the cross, his burial in the tomb, and his resurrection from the grave this next week, we need to remember that all of this, which may not have made sense to the people at the time it was happening, was for a purpose. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. That's why he came to the earth, why he went to Jericho, why he entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and why he carried and died upon the cross. All of that was to seek and to save that which is lost.

This is such important news for us. There are people we interact with on a regular basis, and maybe you are watching this right now and realize that you are like Zacchaeus—despised and looked down upon. You may feel far away from God and far away from others, but it's God who seeks to save. He seeks to find those who are lost that he might rescue them. When he rescues them and brings about salvation by grace, mercy, and forgiveness, there is joy and rejoicing.

As we prepare today to remember and celebrate Palm Sunday, and as we prepare through this week to think about the crucifixion on Good Friday and ultimately the resurrection on Easter Sunday, we need to remember that Jesus came to the world for a purpose: to seek and to save that which was lost. I love this story about Zacchaeus, and I find myself drawn to it every year around this time as we come into this passage dealing with Palm Sunday. Zacchaeus was the one who was hated by people because of who he was and what he did for a living. Yet, Jesus singled him out and came looking for Zacchaeus as he went through Jericho because salvation was going to come to his house.

I believe that the Lord wants salvation to come to your house as well. If you've not received that salvation, one of the most famous verses of Scripture is found...

In the Book of Revelation, chapter 3, Jesus says, "I stand at the door and knock, and if anyone opens unto me, I will come in and dine with him." The Lord stands at the door of our hearts and knocks. He stands at the sycamore tree that we've climbed up into, like Zacchaeus, and says, "Come down from there because today I want to have a meal with you; I want to have a relationship with you."

In just a moment, we're going to partake of communion, which is the meal that symbolizes what Jesus did for us so that He could redeem lost sinners. We think a lot about these things when we come to this time of year. We celebrate Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter, but all of that is really wrapped up in this meal called communion, which Jesus actually instituted 2,000 years ago this week.

In the bread and the cup of communion, we remember the body that was broken for us and the blood that was shed for us, so that we might be able to receive forgiveness and grace. In just a moment, I'm going to pray, and if you have the elements for communion today, I hope you'll be able to partake with us after Pastor Anthony and our worship leaders lead us in a song.

Maybe sometime this week, during this Passion Week, you and your family or another loved one can sit down and remember the body of Christ that was broken for us and His blood that was shed for us. As I mentioned, I'm going to pray in just a moment, and then Pastor Anthony will lead us in a song. I will come back and lead you in communion shortly.

Father, I thank You that You, Lord, seek us out. Jesus, You came to this world for a purpose. You came to seek and to save that which was lost. You came for us, the one sheep that had strayed from the ninety-nine. You came for us, the lost coin. You desperately seek for us and wait for us like prodigals to return to You. You wait with open arms for us to come back. Lord, I pray that You would draw to Yourself right now, even through this message, whether it's being listened to on Palm Sunday or three weeks or six months from now.

Lord, I pray that You draw people. Maybe right now you're listening to this and you realize that you're like Zacchaeus, far from God, having climbed up a tree, or you're like that prodigal son, a lost sheep. You want to come to the Lord or return to the Lord. He calls you to come, and He says if you will believe, trust in Him, and confess your sins, He will forgive and save you.

If that's you today, I want to lead you in a very simple prayer of confession and petition, asking the Lord to come into your heart. So, if that's you, I just want to lead you in a simple prayer. Pray wherever you're at right now:

Dear Jesus, I recognize that I am a sinner. I know that I need Your forgiveness and grace. I pray that You would come into my life, forgive me of my sin, and rescue me. In Jesus' name, Amen.

In just a moment, Pastor Anthony is going to lead us in a song. But before he does, if you prayed that prayer, would you just go to the website mentioned on the screen and let us know that you have committed your life to the Lord or recommitted your life to the Lord today?

As we now cut over to Pastor Anthony, remember that you chose the road that led to suffering. Nothing was fair to prove Your love for me. Oh, the mystery! Your final breath became eternity. What we had lost forever, You're indeed forevermore.

Jose, forever majesty. There's never a yard beyond Your victory. You are the one that we are welcoming. You are the one that we are welcoming forever.

Blessed is He. Blessed is He.

Who comes in the name of the Lord? Join now and sing, "Jesus is He." Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Now, sing, "Jesus is."

Hallelujah, forever! Hallelujah, forever! Forever!

Forever. As I shared in the message today, we are celebrating the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, just five days before His crucifixion and just a week before His resurrection. It was during that week, the night before His crucifixion, that Jesus partook of the Passover meal with His disciples.

At a certain point in that meal, He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me." If you have the elements of communion today, I want to partake with you as we remember what Jesus did for us 2,000 years ago to make it possible for us to receive the forgiving grace of God. His body was broken for us so that we would be able to receive God's grace and forgiveness. He said, "Do this in remembrance of Me." For the last 2,000 years, the Church has continued to remember the Lord's death, burial, and resurrection by partaking of the bread, remembering His body. So let's partake of the bread together.

Likewise, Jesus also took the cup after they had eaten the bread and said to them, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." This grape juice reminds us of Jesus's blood that was shed for us. The book of Hebrews says that without the shedding of blood, there is no removal or remission of sins. Jesus died on the cross; His body was broken for us, and His blood was shed so that we could be forgiven. He says, "Do this in remembrance of Me," to remember My blood shed for you. So let's partake together.

Jesus, we thank You for the work that You did on our behalf, the work that we remember this week. We remember it often, but this week especially.

We remember Your body that was broken for us, Your blood that was shed for us. You were bruised for our iniquity; the chastisement for our peace was upon You, and by Your stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way. But God, You laid upon Jesus our iniquity, and Jesus, You died on the cross for our sins. We thank You that You have given us grace through Your death on the cross.

Lord, we look forward to celebrating the resurrection next week because You are not still in that tomb; You are alive. You could not be held by death. We rejoice in that, and we praise You, God. Help us to rejoice in that throughout this week and to share that with others. In Jesus' name, Amen.

And now may the Lord bless and keep you. May He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May He lift up His countenance upon you and give you His peace. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. God bless you; we'll see you next week.

Tune in this week on Friday for our time as we worship the Lord on Good Friday, and then, of course, next week is a celebration of Easter together. God bless you!

Hey guys, this coming Sunday is Easter, so it would be a great time to invite somebody to church. Seriously, invite someone to church! There has never been an easier time to do it. People need to hear the Gospel. Don’t be scared; seriously, invite someone to this building right here at 10:30 a.m. Just do it!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it—and you should—is very simple: invite somebody to church. In all seriousness, don’t try to wiggle out of this. Invite someone to church!

This is a tremendous opportunity.