The Centrality Of The Cross

Pastor Allan Kircher

Shell Point Baptist Church

23 March 2014

Gal. 6:11-16

The Centrality of the Cross

Goal/message/Hope/Cross/Today

• Learn how/make/cross central in our lives

• we can experience/power, peace/mercy

• Comes through a relationship with Christ.

In football, the football determines everything.

• First downs/measured/ball is placed

• Touchdowns/measured/ball crosses/plain

• “Out-of-bounds” tied/your control/ball/relationship/feet

• Fumbles/determined/who grabs the ball.

• Field goals/measured/whether/ball goes through/Up Rights

Men fight over it, rejoice over it, and strive to possess it.

• In other words/football/missing there/no football game

Without/football, everything else/goes/stadium/field/waste/time.

• In football, the football is the main thing.

• In Christianity, the cross is the main thing.

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Want/share something incredibly important with you:

• In Christianity, the cross is the main thing.

• What Jesus satisfied and gained at cross/main thing.

Without it

• no power/freedom/forgiveness/authority/strength/victory

• Nothing at all.

• The cross is the main thing.

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Every year around Easter time, people typically focus/cross.

• We remember/Christ’s death paid/penalty for our sins.

We meditate on how/reality/cross enables those who believe and trust in Jesus to spend eternity in Heaven.

• However, once Easter passes

• we frequently go back to doing our own thing

• Trying to live our lives without the cross as the central focus.

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1. THE CROSS IS CENTRAL TO THE CHRISTIAN

• Remember Christ and the cross

• Paul wrote to the Galatians in large letters

• He boasted only in the cross of Christ (Galatians 6:14)

• Paul recalled the historical reality of the cross

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Make the cross central in your life

• To Paul, the cross was not a decoration or an icon

• it was/centrality of his very existence (see Galatians 2:20)

See, it isn’t enough:

• Gather together/right place each Sunday—the church

• Gather together/right people in our lives—fellow believers.

• There/program/plan/books, seminars

• Worship/personal devotional time on Sunday/thru out week.

All of that is good, and all of that is critical

• All that means nothing without centrality of the main thing—the cross.

• If we leave out the cross

• We are only left/empty shell called religion.

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Without/cross, we/left/empty set of rules, laws, requirements, and judgments

An attempt to legislate spirituality without

• Power/intimacy/grace/ability/live spiritually victorious lives.

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As a result, believers find themselves in perpetual defeat

Never:

• Measuring up--fully overcoming/struggles

• rising above/circumstances---fulfilling/destiny

• achieving the complete manifestation of their significance

Because they/operating without/power/deliverance of the cross.

trying to live/Christian life without the main thing—the cross.

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2. THE CROSS PROVIDES POWER

…………….Look to the power of Christ

Church/Galatia looked/their flesh instead/Christ’s power Gal 3:1–3

Galatians focused/what they could do in their flesh instead of what Christ already did…Gal. 6:12

Many believers today want to live in victory yet continually live defeated lives.

Problem we face/modern, contemporary Christian culture

• We/forgotten/purpose/preeminence/power/cross

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We view/icon reflecting something/happened thousands/yrs ago

• Little relevance/us today other than/communion or Easter

• That’s only/produce feelings of guilt or appreciation.

• Far too many Christians view the cross/historical event

• Take it for granted/something they deserve.

• Rather/current event wielding everything they need to bring heaven to bear on earth.

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Electricity/flow of power/makes everything work in your home.

• Virtually everything/house operates because/electricity

Your appliances/lights/heat/air conditioning/computers/television work because they are receiving electricity.

If you are severed from electricity

• Flow/power stops even though you still own/appliances…..

It’s not/you no longer possess these items

• Nor is it you didn’t pay for/purchase them

• You can have something you have paid for/Not enjoy it

• Simply because/flow/electricity/no longer there.

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To be severed from Christ or to fall from grace:

• Means/flow of what God wants to do in you and through you is no longer flowing.

• You have essentially been unplugged/disconnected

• From/power/Jesus even though you still have all of the paraphernalia of religion.

Therefore, your:

• hope is gone/peace is gone

• Courage is gone/faith is gone/authority is gone.

In writing to his audience at Galatia, Paul urged them over and over again, in one form or another, to remember Christ and the cross.

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3. CROSS PROVIDES A RELATIONSHIP AND NOT RELIGION

Don’t let religion replace the cross

Judaizers had religious rules but not/relationship/Jesus

• Group/people/still attached/religious rules OT

• Judaizes were trying to subvert the message/cross

• Trying to convert new Christians/circumcision.

• They had religion. They just didn’t have a the relationship

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In school, we may be asked to write a research paper.

• To accomplish this assignment/perform due diligence

• Control/material/analyze all/arguments.

• After our hard work, we feel great about our paper.

Suppose/get/paper back/professor/big fat red zero/top

• Along/smaller note/bottom scrawled

• “Great work. Great preparation. Wrong assignment.”

It wasn’t that/hadn’t done great work

• You had done great work/wrong assignment.

• You/researched/wrong topic.

• As a result, you didn’t get credit for what you had done.