The gospel message of Jesus Christ has many insightful points that inspire people to believe in and trust God’s goodness for their lives.  It also has the profound ability to help people ask deep questions as well.  Good Friday has irked and prodded people to ask what it means both inside the Church and also outside the Church, too!  Good Friday inevitably leads us to ask ourselves what does God want from me?  People over the centuries have come up with different answers to that perennial question.

I am going to quote C.S. Lewis as he answers what Christ wants from people who call themselves Christians which ultimately connects us to Good Friday.  In his classic book, Mere Christianity in chapter 8 under the heading: Is Christianity Hard or Easy C.S. Lewis makes the following statement:

“The Christian Way is different: harder, and easier.  Christ says “Give me all.  I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You.  I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it.  No half-measures are any good.  I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down.   I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out.  Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked-the whole outfit.  I will give you a new self instead.  In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.’ “

Good Friday brings us to the stark realization that Christ died on our behalf because we are sinners and trading in the old natural self for a new self in Jesus Christ.  In other words, out with the old man or woman and in with the new man or woman in Christ!  Martin Luther the great German Protestant reformer called it, “The Happy Exchange.”

Join us on April 3rd at 5pm.

Remember, there can be no Easter morning in your life until you have Good Friday first!  God be with you during this holy season of Lent and Easter