In the early days of his ministry Billy Graham was shocked after one service because no one responded to the altar call. Seeing his dismay, one of his coworkers put his arms around Billy’s shoulders and said, “Billy, you should not be surprised. There was no cross in your sermon.”

How important is the Cross? It is the central theme of the Bible. Much of the weakness of the church in America today is the result of not preaching the cross of Jesus Christ and asking people to make such a commitment to the Lord that it involves risk, growth and responsibility.

As Christians we have a high and holy calling! Yes, we enjoy the peace of God that passes all understanding. Yes, we have an eternal life promised! Yes, Jesus promised He would never leave us or forsake us, but Jesus also said, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what He has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." Matthew 16:24-28

Spiritually speaking, there are two kinds of people:

1. The saved.

2. The lost.

If you are lost today, please seriously consider answering God’s call on your life! Allow Jesus to be your Savior!

I believe there are 3 types of Christians.

1. The permanently immature – always needing pampering, and risky to rely on for anything.

2. Those who take up their cross some days, but drag it along behind them; frequently complaining about it.

3. Those that enthusiastically follow Jesus no matter what comes their way.

Jesus was totally committed to His work on Calvary. Early in His ministry He told His mother and others, “My hour is not yet come.” But when it came time for His crucifixion He said, “For this very reason I come to this hour!”

Was it easy? Absolutely not! Read Mark 14:32-42. Luke adds that the pressure was so great that Jesus’ sweat was “like drops of blood falling to the ground.” The medical term for this is: hematidrosis, the actual mingling of blood and sweat as in cases of extreme anguish, strain or sensitivity.

Jesus was committed to dying for our sins, but the Son of God who knew no sin actually became sin for us – plus He bore our grief and sorrows. This is why He said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow, even to the point of death.” Mark 14:34

Christ’s death at Calvary is absolutely essential to our salvation! Jesus paid the full price for our sin! Without that hope, we would be doomed to the Devil’s hell forever! But! If we will receive Jesus Christ as our Savior, then we have the glorious hope of eternal life with Jesus, starting today!

As I reflected on Oswald Chamber’s comment I finally realized why those who hate Christianity demand that crosses be removed from public buildings and public land!

This may sound harsh and judgmental, but Satan and his crowd are trying to deny the existence of God – and of Jesus Christ. The cross is a stark reminder of what God has done for us and why He has a claim on our lives!

They do not want to acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

The following poem was written by Darrell Scott. Darrell is the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, CO. Although Darrell wrote this before he knew he would be speaking to Congress, this was part of his speech before the special session of Congress.

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,

You words are empty air.

You’ve stripped away our heritage,

You’ve outlawed simple prayer.

Now gunshots fill our classrooms,

And precious children die.

You seek for answers everywhere,

And ask the question “Why?”

You regulate restrictive laws,

Through legislative creed,

And yet you fail to understand,

That God is what we need!

Jesus bore His cross – and died on it. Probably we will not have that call on our lives. But Jesus did say that we must take up our cross daily and follow Him.

This evening I challenge each of us to live our Christian life boldly! In light of what Jesus has done, is doing, and will do for us, how can we possibly just drift through life without selling out to God!