Beacon Good Friday Service: March 29th 2024

And as we make our way back to our seats, would you just sing with me the gospel song? It's just really simple song that's just singing out the gospel. May we sing that out and just be reminded of the goodness of God and what he has done through his son Jesus Christ on our behalf. May we sing that out together God again.

Isaiah fifty three three says, He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs.

Is free so and love flow me go down there such love and sorrow meet all thorns composed so rich of cross oh the wonderful cross oh the wonderful cross it's me come and die and find that I may truly live oh the one defects Oh the one defull cross all who gather here by grace strong here bless your name with a whole run and were the whole realm of nature that were in all free for small love so may so fine yes my soul my life my own defull cross oh the wonderful cross it's me come and die and find that I may truly oh the wonderful cross oh the one cross all who gather here by grace draw near and bless your name oh the wonderful cross oh the wonderful cross oh the wonderful cross it's me come and die and find that I may truly live and love so maybe so man's my soul my life my own cross oh the wonderful cross it's me come and die and find that I may truly o the wonderful cross oh the wonderful cross all who gather here by grace draw near and bless your name oh the wonderful cross oh the wonderful cross oh the wonderful cross it's me come and die and find that I may truly I'm gonna ask you to be seated.

And I want the kids to be where they can see for sure.

Because I want to tell you something that's simple for you. You know what's interesting to me? We say that coming to know the Lord can be as simple as ABC. So how many of you know your ABCs? Oh. And look, boys and girls, a lot of the adults don't know their ABCs.

Maybe they didn't have Sesame Street when they were growing up or something. You know, but what I want you to begin to understand tonight is, you know, I I almost hesitate to do something like this on such a sacred uh night. But when we knew that we wanted to have kids here, I wanted them to be able to catch what the gospel is really all about and why we celebrate this Good Friday. And so what I want to tell you about is I want you to know for sure how you can know you could go to heaven. And it's as simple as uh a ABC. And so, but before I get into that, just leave it right there for a second. What I want to do is for a second, I'm gonna let this box represent heaven.

Okay, not that it's empty, but but I just want it to be heaven, and here's what I want you to understand that God's plan to get us to heaven, started in heaven. So these ABCs, what I want to do is this. I'm gonna put this A block right in here, I'm gonna put this B block right in here, and I'm gonna put this C block right in here. Because God's plan to get people to heaven started in heaven. And what God in his design from heaven came down to earth, and he brought this plan so that people could know how to get to heaven. And so now, if this is heaven, and this is where the plan is, then I'm gonna bring the bring the plan down to earth.

And I'll put it right down here. The uh C block, the B block, and then the A block, and I'll put it right here. Now, I want you to understand, for you to get to heaven, it's pretty simple. As a matter of fact, that's why a lot of people don't trust the Lord, because they say, Oh, it can't be that simple. They want to work their way to heaven. And God says, No, I just want to give it to you. But the first thing you have to do is the A block is all have sinned. You have to understand that you're a sinner, that you do things, say things that displease God. And before I go further with the ABC blocks, I'm gonna come down here and get closer to you.

And here's what I'm gonna say to you. I have three ropes. I have a long rope, a medium rope, and a short rope.

And you know what happens in our lives? We think about sin. We think, oh man, oh, that's a big sin. Somebody does something if they kill somebody. Wow, that's a big sin, isn't it? To kill somebody. And how about if somebody just tells a little lie? How does God look at that? God looks at it. We look at sin and we think, oh, that's a big one. Oh, that's a little one. Doesn't matter to God. You know, but it does matter to God. God's word says it this way. Whoever keeps every law, the whole law. James chapter 2, verse 10. Whoever keeps the whole law and yet offends in one point is guilty of all. How many times, let me uh how many times do you have to rob a bank before you're a bank robber? Just once, right?

How many times do you have to sin before you're a sinner? Just once. And God's word says, let me put it on the screen here in Romans chapter 3, verse 23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So let me take this. And I want you to see how they view God, how God views sin. Let me just, we have a tendency to say, oh, we're gonna, I'm just gonna put these up here like this. We have a tendency to say, oh, they're all equal. You know, they're rather they're that was a big one and this is a little one. But God says they're all equal. Now are they all equal?

Abby, you don't think they're all equal? No, because they hang down here, right? But see, when God looks at our sin, now I want you to really pay attention, okay? When God looks at our sin, even though there was a long rope and a medium rope and a short rope, when God looks at our sin, he sees all of them as equal.

So God says, wow, this sin we think is a big sin, and this sin is just a little sin. But from God's perspective, sin is sin. And it's doing things or saying things that displease God. So the question I have is, have you sinned? And the answer is yes. I sinned, you sinned, and in order to get to heaven, you have to admit that you're a sinner. A I guess I get to say instead of all sin, I can say, admit you sinned. See, there are people that want to get to heaven and they don't want to admit they sin. But, you know, if I took this and just pull it out.

You know, yeah, there are sins that we see as bigger, but how does God see them? All the same, right? So let me go back up here and say, He brought this plan from heaven. Matter of fact, let me even do it this way. Cover that up. He brought this plan from heaven down to earth. And he said, here is what you need to know to get to heaven. You must admit that you're a sinner and that you need a savior. Then the B block is going to be believe in the Lord Jesus. And in Acts chapter 16, verse 31, it says this. They said, believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. What do you believe? Look at the color on the block on the screen.

Look at the color on the block here. What color is it? Red. And what did Jesus shed on the cross? He said his blood for you and me. So let's make sure that this B block is Jesus. Because Jesus came down from heaven to earth. So if we admit we're a sinner and believe in him, he said, ah, you look at the last few words there. You will be saved. Not a hope. I hope I can make it. I hope I can go to heaven. No. This is you're gonna, you will be saved. But there's a there's a C in the block slanted up there. The C block is called upon the name of the Lord. And what does it say in Romans chapter 10, verse 13? For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, and what's it say again?

Will be saved. Not, I hope you make it. You will be saved. Now, the plan came from heaven. We said heaven over here, came down to earth, and today we remember how Christ died for our sins. He was died for, he died for our sins on the cross, but our cross doesn't have anybody on it because Jesus isn't on the cross anymore. And I'm gonna let this represent, we'll call this the tomb, okay? And what I'm gonna do is this. When Jesus died on the cross, where did they put him? In a tomb. So I'm gonna start this way. Let's just put this right down over all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Okay. And I went, Titus, make sure you keep your keep your eye on this, okay?

It's all have sin and come short of the glory of God. What's the B block stand for? Believe in the Lord Jesus. And the B block is going to be Jesus and how he shed his blood on the cross for us. And then the C block, what is the C block again? Call upon. Call what? Call upon the name of the Lord and you'll be saved. Now, how many days was Jesus in the tomb? Three.

Not so Jesus could get out. Because Jesus could go out through the stone. It was rolled away so we could look in and see that he's not there. And so look at this. When we come to earth, we need to call on the name of the Lord to be saved. Is that right? And if we go here. And right here, not in here. He's not in the tomb. So my question is, where is Jesus today? Or is Jesus today? He's in heaven. And where did we say heaven was?

So if I open up this and I look in here, Jesus is in heaven. And now he goes before the Father, and when I call on him and I believe in what he's done for us on the cross, he said, You will be saved. And his blood was shed for our sin. And so when we get together for a good Friday service, that's what we remember what he's done. And that's why we celebrate and take communion so that we can so that we can remember what he's done for us on the cross.

And so we have these elements here. And I'm going to let's just advance this.

It's not often that you have um trumpet souls and stuff like that in churches. Um especially, you know, because it doesn't have the words. So I'm gonna have the words on the screen. And I I guess the question is, how many of you know the old rugged cross? Okay. So a great old hymn. That's what we're what we talked about there, what we're looking at here. And we want to you know what's what's interesting to me is Jesus said, Let the little children come unto me and don't forbid them, because heaven has these these people here, these little kids here. And that God keeps knows how to reach children. They understand when they do wrong, you tell them, hey, that was wrong, and that was sin. And we teach them about that.

And that's why Jesus went to the cross. So if you if you know this, you want to sing along it, you can do that. Uh, but this is the old regular cross as we prepare for communion.

And at this time, uh let's uh rise and just have a corporate time of confessing our sins to the Lord. So would you rise with me and confess with me together? Eternal God, our judge and redeemer, we confess that we have tried to hide from you. For we have done wrong. We have lived for ourselves and apart from you. We have turned from our neighbors and refuse to bear the burdens of others. We have ignored the pain of the world and pass by the hungry, poor, and the oppressed. In your great mercy, forgive our sins and free us from selfishness, that we may choose your will and obey your commandments through Jesus Christ, our Savior. And at this time you may be seated. May we just have a time of personal confession to the Lord.

This good Friday, we remember Christ's death on the cross and uh the price that was paid on our behalf. And so may we come before Him in repentance and confession. Let's pray.

Not because we sin, we are sinners because that's who we are at the core. And Lord, we thank you so much that you have brought us from that, and you have shown us your great salvation through the sacrifice of your Son Jesus Christ. We thank you so much for dying on that cross, living the perfect life, and resurrecting again, Lord God. You are such a great God. We trust in you. And so, Lord, may we as a church, just by faith know that we have peace with God through uh through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so we thank you, and it's in Jesus' name we pray.

We're gonna celebrate communion here, but I want you to read on the screen. What's interesting is this is in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. I've put on the screen some words in red. This is something that they used to do a lot in the past. We we don't do much anymore. They used to call it, you know, a red letter edition of the Bible. And what that meant to them was the words of Jesus or in red. Now, Jesus, the story of Jesus is found in four books. Uh Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But this is in 1 Corinthians, and it's quoting Jesus. And here's what it says. For I receive from the Lord what I also passed on to you. The night when he was betrayed.

So let me just stop there and say, this is really a serious time. The disciples are sitting around with him. And he says, one of you is going to betray me. One of you is going to turn on me. One of you is going to become my enemy. And they'll go, Oh, well, Lord, is it is it me? Lord, is it me? Even Judas said, Lord, is it me? I think he said that because he knew if he didn't, everybody else was saying it. And it would just be so obvious that he just chimed in like with everybody else. So it says this on the night when Jesus was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you.

And then he tells them why he wants him to do it. Do this in remembrance of me. I don't want you to ever forget. Do it in remembrance of me.

In the same way also, he took the cup after supper and said, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it. And again, why? In remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

It's the Greek word caruso. And you know what the Greek word for curso is? Preaching. You say, well, I I don't preach. Yeah. Every time you do this, you're preaching to others. And remind you to yourself the Lord's death until he comes. He died for you, for me. We're reminding one another of that. I'm going to ask you again, just to examine your hearts before the Lord right now. And then we'll participate in the Lord's Supper. Would you bow and examine your hearts before God?

Father.

Need constant cleansing. You said if we say we do not sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth isn't in us. But if we confess our sins, you are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So we want to remember as we take this tonight, your death, your burial, and your resurrection. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

As you take communion, go back to your seats. I would remind you that we hold the cup. We hold the bread and participate in unison. If you are desiring to partake in the Lord's Supper, I invite you to come right now.

Jesus said, man shall not live by bread alone. But he also said, I am the bread of life.

And so we take this to remember his body given for us. Eat ye of it.

This represents Jesus' blood.

Can I remind you in John 15? Jesus said, I am the true vine. And if you remain in me, and I in you, I'll then you'll bear much fruit. He took the cup that night and he blessed it. He said, I want you to do this as often as you want in remembrance of me. Remember his shed blood before you tonight. Drink of it. Amen. You know, if you heard uh the gospel tonight.

How that Christ died for your sins and was buried and rose again. And you'd never called upon the name of the Lord. You'd never ask him to come and live in you. Colossians 127 says this. Christ in you, the hope of glory. There are very, very few passages of scriptures that talk about how Christ lives in us. Colossians 127 is a very clear one. John one, but as many as received him, to them give you the right to become the sons of God, the children of God. And if you haven't done that before, I would encourage you tonight to say, as we close this time in prayer, for you to just say these simple words, dear Lord. I admit I'm a sinner.

You were buried so that I could be saved. And I want to call on you tonight and ask you to save me. Come and live in my life. Thank you, Father, for these people. Would you take them here now from here now to glorify you? Father, we look forward to returning on Sunday where we celebrate your son's resurrection. And we pray that you would help us to live in the newness of Christ in us.

Amen. God bless you. Sunday morning, we'll be celebrating He is risen. Do you know what you say on Sunday morning when people in the past say he is risen? He has risen indeed. So we'll look forward to Sunday morning sharing with you. Thanks for sharing the kids with me tonight. Thanks for staying in the service with me so I could show you the gospel. Okay? God bless. Have a great weekend in the Lord. We'll just sing one more song in response.

Good Friday is the day that Christ died. But it's good because we have something more to look forward to, and that's that he resurrected on Easter. On the third day, he had victory over sin and death. And so that's what we're looking forward to on Sunday to celebrate. Let's just sing that truth out today with just this last song, The Power of the Cross. To see the dawn of the darkest on the tried by sinful men to be to cross this path of the cross Christ before us to blame the wrath wisdom forgiven.

Oh, to see the pain and go to see the pain renting on your face bearing weight of sin. Every bitter thoughts, every crown in your blood stain this path of the cross Christ became for us, took the blame for the wrath we send forgiving.

Now the day light flees, now the ground be quakes as its maker bows his head to set our race to life, finish, diminished the big tree, the path of the cross.

I am free man death is rushed to death, yes.

Son of God. What a love. What a cost we sin forgiveness the cross. We do stand for given. And he'll never bring your sin up before you. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our sin from us. Let's close him prayer. Heavenly Father, take these people, these dear people from this place tonight. Give them safety. Be their comfort and their joy. And may this weekend we begin to understand that you went to the grave, went to the tomb, you went to the cross.

So we would never have to spend eternity away from you. We thank you for that. In Jesus' matchless name we pray. Amen.