CROSSing the Intersection

•ACTS: Witnesses to Christ •1 JOHN: Children of God •LUKE: In the midst of Christ

•These three very meaningful verses make our relationship to Christ come alive even more.

•The reading from Acts tells us that the disciples were witnesses to Christ. 1 John calls the disciples children of God, while Luke mentions that Christ was in the midst of his disciples.

But these intimate encounters with Christ weren’t just for his disciples. –We too can be witnesses to Christ–We can help others become God’s children–We can experience Christ in our midst

•But how can we experience these 3 things if we aren’t around Christ like his disciples were?•The answer is simple. We can have an intimate encounter with Christ when we

Come to the cross

•Christ crossed the intersection of life & death on the cross—that’s what Easter is all about.•We can help others cross this same intersection.

•But where is the cross?•It’s right in our midst, wherever we find people who are

CarnalRebelliousOppressedSelfishSeparated

Christ died on the cross so

we can overcome sins

like these.

But what about this troubled

man who doesn’t know

how to overcome his

sin?

•He‘s struggling with guilt over behavior he’s not proud of.•But he doesn’t how to make his guilt go away. • He doesn’t know how to cross the intersection from

Sin

GRACE

•How can we help him cross this intersection to become a child of God?•The disciples certainly saw how Christ dealt with this. •Jesus was willing to

Associate

with sinners

•And so can we. •And when we reach out to sinners, Christ will be in our midst.

This lady needs help crossing the intersection from

Hate

LOVE

We can help her if, like Christ, we are willing to

Love the

unlovable

•The disciples themselves were not always lovable, but Christ loved Peter even after he betrayed Jesus. •Jesus loved the apostle Paul even though he persecuted the early Christian church.•This same love of Christ is also in us.

•Here’s a young man who also needs to cross an intersection to become a child of God.•Only at the cross can he learn how to turn

Selfishness

SACRIFICE

•Jesus was no stranger to selfish people. Many of them, like the rich young ruler in the Bible story, were drawn to him.•God sends hurting people to us too, so they can witness Christ in us. •All you have to do is

Sacrifice your time

& comfort

When we bring this woman to the cross, she can turn

A wasted life

NEW LIFE

•But how can we help her cross this life-giving intersection?•Very simple, we just need to

Reflect Christ in our own

lives

•As Christians, we know what it’s like to be God’s children•Sharing this with others can give them a new lease on life

What this grieving woman needs right now is to turn

Despair

HOPE

•Our hope for the future is receiving eternal life

•But for today, prayer is

our greatest hope. •We can revive people’s hope not only when we pray for them, but also when we

Pray WITH others

•This burdened man needs to cross the intersection from

Disbelief

FAITH

Faith in God

begins with...

Faith inChristian

s!

•We can’t help people cross the intersection to Christ unless they have faith in us.•Their faith comes from our own faith in Christ.•They can witness Christ—in each of us.

•Like the disciples, we witness Christ when he is in our midst.•And Christ is in our midst every time we help others cross the intersection to the cross itself & become children of God.