Jesus in Gethsemane, Is There No Other Way?

If God is the great and all-powerful God of the universe then why did He make His only Son suffer and die? That wasn't very nice! Couldn't there have been an easier and better way to save us?

Matthew 26:36-46,1:27
Hebrews 4:15-16,2:17,1:3,10:4
Romans 8:7,1:18,3:24-26
1 Timothy 2:5-6
Acts 4:12
Isaiah 64:6
Colossians 2:23
1 John 4:10
John 13:31-32,6:40

Sermon discussion topics for parents to use with their children:

• Describe Jesus' circumstances in the text.
• Explain why He would ask, Is there no other way?
• The Father said no to the Son for several reasons. What is the Bible's teaching in Hebrews 2:14-18,4:14-16 about why the Father said no?
• In His garden brokenness, what does Jesus reveal to us about the Father?
• What parties were at war in the garden of Gethsemane?
• Who brought an end to the war, and how did He accomplish it?
• Why couldn't we drink the cup of God's wrath for ourselves?
• Why could only Jesus drink it, and what did His drinking it accomplish?
• What was the cosmic contradiction that needed to be set right?
• How did God set it right?
• What is the ultimate reason the Father said no?

Scott Graubard
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

Who Am I?

Our culture is so self absorbed that the only answer to the question Who am I? leaves us without much hope. Maybe the question should be Whose am I?.

Galatians 2:14-21

Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a Squire from his country house.

Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As thought it were mine to command.

Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equably, smilingly, proudly,
like one accustomed to win.

Am I then really that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat,
Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectations of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all.

Who am I? This or the Other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptible woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?

Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am thine!
Who Am I? Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Sermon discussion topics for parents to use with their children:

• In whom do we find our true identity?
• Why do we need to seek righteousness?
• What does it mean to be justified through the faithfulness of Christ?
• What does it mean to be new and loved?

Scott Graubard
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

1 Peter: Godly Suffering in the Midst of Injustice

How do you feel when you are treated unjustly? How do you then respond? How does God want us to respond? The answer is surprising and hard... but the reasons that Peter give are a glorious look at Jesus.

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1 Peter 2:18-25
2 Corinthians 5:21
Isaiah 53:7
1 Corinthians 4:12-13
Matthew 5:44
Romans 12:20-21

Sermon discussion questions for parents to use with their children:

• How do we feel when we are treated unjustly?
• How does God want us to respond?
• Why is this so hard?
• What reasons does Peter give to help us to respond correctly?
• Why is Jesus our great helper in this area?

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

The Doctrine of Justification (Part II)

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Leviticus 25:47-55
Luke 18:9-14
Romans 3:19-26,4:4-5
Deuteronomy 25:1
Proverbs 17:15

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

The Doctrine of Justification (Part I)

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Luke 18:9-14
Romans 3:19-26,8:33-34,4:5-8,5:1-2
Deuteronomy 25:1
Proverbs 17:15

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA