This year, during the season of Lent, our worship and my messages will explore the last words of Jesus as he hung, dying on the cross. Our music director, David Chavez, suggested this as a possible Lenten theme because he had choral music he wanted to do, The Seven Last Words of Christ by Theodore Dubois. Since this was a sermon series that I hadn’t yet preached in my years of ministry, I gladly agreed. Cornerstone will also contribute some brief dramatic monologues.
These seven statements of Jesus on the cross are taken from all four of the gospels, and we will explore them in the traditional order. We begin this Sunday with THE FIRST WORD from Luke 23:34 – “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Wow! the first thing this man being executed says is a prayer asking God to forgive those putting him to death. We need to stop, and ponder that! We who are Jesus’ followers have had a hard time being as forgiving as Jesus, but as his disciples we must learn to forgive.
blessings, Ernie
To listen to my message, click on “The First Word – FORGIVE”