Lent - Day 38, Stations 7 & 8 of the Cross

The Scripture Readings for today are: Psalms 22, 141, 143; Jere 29:1, 4-13; Romans 1:13-24; John 11:1-27 & 12:1-10

The two stations of the cross that we are at are: Seventh Station: Jesus Bears the Cross

Scripture: "When the chief priests and the guards saw [Jesus] they cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him." ... They cried out, "Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar." Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha."
John 19: 6, 15-17

And, the Eighth Station: Jesus is Helped by Simon the Cyrenian to Carry the Cross

Scripture: "They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross."
Mark 15: 21

The scripture reading today from Psalm 22 is worth slowly reading and meditating upon. A psalm written some 1000 years before Jesus is descriptive of the pain and the suffering of the cross.
As we enter into the end of this Lenten period we enter into the journey of Christ to the cross. It has begun as Jesus has the cross placed upon him and he struggles to carry the cross to Golgotha. Along the way Simon, forever immortalized for being selected out of the crowd of those watching to help carry the cross for him.

At this point there is no turning back. There is no place for Jesus to have spoken up and said, "It's all a mistake". He didn't, wouldn't, and because of it he suffered this ignominious shame and death...and why? For us!

A Prayer:

"Holy Father, Precious Jesus, we bow before your throne in humility and adoration. It is for our sins that you bore the cross of grief and shame. You tell us that we must pick up our cross and follow you. It is with pain and grief that you carried this cross...something we can never duplicate. So, we bow...we worship and pray. Amen."

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The Tabernacle

The readings today are Exodus 36, 37, 38 I wanted to post some pictures of what these various parts of the Tabernacle looked like. It's not the easiest read in the world, but if you persevere through it, you can get a picture of all the different pieces that made up the tabernacle. It is a replica of the various parts of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness: First thing in the chapter listed is the outside of the tabernacle which consisted of curtains tied together and put on cross bars through loops. Next at the beginning of 37 is the table and lampstand: Also, the altar of incense: And, the altar for the burnt offering which was in the courtyard: Finally, the courtyard which made it all come together: Hope that helps with what it might have all looked like. Most importantly, this was their "place" of worship they were building. I hope you have a great day of worship. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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For Kids: There’s a lot of things we have to do each day. Get up from our sleep, Get dressed, Eat Breakfast, Get ready for School, Listen to the teacher, play with friends, eat our lunch, and after it’s all done, go back home. There’s time to play, Then we eat our supper… And eventually we have to get ready for bed and go to sleep! And then we do it all over again the next day. Sometimes there’s a vacation - like right now - and we get more time to play, to have fun and not have to do work at school. Our parents are good at helping us know what time it is and what we need to do next – even when we don’t want to move on to the next thing. God is also good at helping us know what time it is, and what is next. He doesn’t shout at us, or yell, or even scream…he does it peacefully, quietly. He wants us to understand that he does it, most of all, for us. Christmas can be quite busy and there’s lots of things going on at once…but let us not forg

The difference between defending and explaining

The news of recent has focused the suffering of Christians in the middle east who have been martyred for their faith in Christ at the hands of Islamic Terrorists. Through the centuries many Christians have lost their lives as a result of their faith. For us, who live in America, there is little chance that we would have this happen here - but it's entirely possibly that terrorism will strike out at Christians sometime. But, for many Christians in the western world - especially here in the U.S. - being a Christians who believes God's word there is a form of persecution that is defined by words like "ostracized", "passed over", "ridiculed", and more. What do we do in the face of opposition to faith? When the Apostle Peter writes to the early believers who are undergoing great pressure, even persecution for their faith in Jesus, he gives them this charge. 1 Peter 3:8-18 8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly lov

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