{"id":249,"date":"2013-02-04T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-04T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biggerbetterfaith.com\/?p=249"},"modified":"2015-01-02T06:58:23","modified_gmt":"2015-01-02T06:58:23","slug":"sunday-sermon-starter-2-4-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerbetterfaith.com\/?p=249","title":{"rendered":"Sunday Sermon Starter 2-4-13"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe government of Polish Prime Minister Jaruzelski had ordered crucifixes removed from classroom walls, just as they had been banned in factories, hospitals, and other public institutions. Catholic bishops attacked the ban that had stirred waves of anger and resentment all across Poland. Ultimately the government relented, insisting that the law remain on the books, but agreeing not to press for removal of the crucifixes, particularly in the schoolrooms.<\/p>\n

But one zealous Communist school administrator in Garwolin decided that the law was the law. So one evening he had seven large crucifixes removed from lecture halls where they had hung since the school’s founding in the twenties. Days later, a group of parents entered the school and hung more crosses. The administrator promptly had these taken down as well.<\/p>\n

The next day two-thirds of the school’s six hundred students staged a sit-in. When heavily armed riot police arrived, the students were forced into the streets. Then they marched, crucifixes held high, to a nearby church where they were joined by twenty-five hundred other students from nearby schools for a morning of prayer in support of the protest. Soldiers surrounded the church. But the pictures from inside of students holding crosses high above their heads flashed around the world. So did the words of the priest who delivered the message to the weeping congregation that morning. \u2018There is no Poland without a cross\u2019” (www.sermonillustrations.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The last several weeks I have been devoting a lot of my attention to the cross as it is the theme of our upcoming lectureship \u2013 \u201cThe Cross: Man\u2019s Greatest Sin, God\u2019s Greatest Gift.\u201d\u00a0 While I have always been obviously impacted by the cross and its influence not only on my life but on society, recently I have been impressed even more by the sheer number of perspectives from which it can be discussed.\u00a0 What greater theme could we possibly get more benefit from discussing than the cross and what it should mean in our lives\u2026<\/p>\n

Title:\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>The Story of the Cross<\/p>\n

Main Point:\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>Isn\u2019t it amazing how that the single symbol in world history that has more unifying power has become such a factor of division!\u00a0 I guess that shouldn\u2019t be that much of a surprise, though, considering that Jesus said He had not come to bring preace but a sword (Matthew 10:34).\u00a0 But such division only occurs because of the stubborn disbelief of so many in the world \u2013 they have missed the story of the cross (John 3:16).\u00a0 Many do not realize that while the cross had one purpose (the saving of man) He had three reasons for going to the cross and that is the story:<\/p>\n

Discussion Points:<\/b><\/p>\n