Colossians: The Paradoxical Victory of the Cross

What appears to be Christ's greatest defeat... is actually His greatest victory and our victory too!! Paul is describing the victory scene to the Colossians.

Ephesians 1:18-2:10,6:10-20
Colossians 2:9-15,1:16,1:13-14,3:9
1 John 5:18
Genesis 3
1 Peter 5:8-9
James 4:7
Romans 6:6,6:11-12,8:12-13,8:3,16:19-20
John 6:37

These powers, angry at his challenge to their sovereignty, stripped him naked, held him up to public contempt, and celebrated a triumph over him. In one of his most dramatic statements of the paradox of the cross, and one moreover which shows in what physical detail Paul could envisage the horrible death Jesus had died, he declares that, on the contrary, on the cross God was stripping them naked, was holding them to public contempt, and leading them in his own triumphal procession - in Christ, the crucified Messiah. When the 'powers' had done their worst, crucifying the lord of glory incognito on the charge of blasphemy and rebellion, they have overreached themselves. He, neither blasphemer nor rebel, was in fact their rightful sovereign. They thereby exposed themselves for what they were - usurpers of the authority which was properly his. The cross therefore becomes the source of hope for all who had been held captive under their rule, enslaved in fear and mutual suspicion. Christ breaks the last hold that the 'powers' had over his people, by dying on their behalf. N.T. Wright Colossians and Philemon

Sermon discussion questions for parents to use with their children:

• Who are the principalities and powers?
• How do they impact the world?
• Can we break free?
• How are we delivered?
• How did God turn the tables on the principalities upon the cross?
• How was Jesus' greatest defeat His greatest victory?
• What are the implications of all of this for us today?

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

Colossians: Paid in Full

When a debt is paid off the bill may be stamped Paid in Full, or even a mortgage may be burned. In Colossians Paul writes of a handwritten debt being nailed to the cross. A dramatic word image of what Jesus did for us.

Colossians 2,1:15-19
Proverbs 11:15,17:18
Acts 12:23
Hebrews 10:31,8:12,7:22
Psalm 103:12

Sermon discussion questions for parents to use with their children:

• How in debt are we before God?
• How serious is that debt?
• Why is it so difficult to take on someone else's debt?
• Why is our salvation like burning a mortgage?
• What specific encouragements were we given so as to not desecrate the cross and what God has done through Christ?

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

Knowing That What We Know is Truly True

Even if we didn't know there is a word for it, epistemology, we all have a theory about deciding what is the truth. And how do we arrive at that truth? There are several ways, depending on the circumstance. We will look at some sufficient means of knowing the truth about Jesus and some that are not.

Luke 24:13-35,24:3,6:46
John 20:11-16,21:1-7
James 2:19
Matthew 11:25-27,13:10-11,16:13-20,17:1-5,27:54
1 Corinthians 2:14,12:3
Hebrews 2:14-17
Romans 4:25,1:3-4
1 John 4:2-3

Sermon discussion questions for parents to use with their children:

• Read Luke 24:13-35. Cleopas asks the stranger, "Do you not know these things?" What things does he mean?
• What is epistemology?
• Explain why physical senses alone are not sufficient for knowing the truth about Jesus. Give an example from Scripture that demonstrates this truth.
• Why are facts and Bible study insufficient for knowing the truth about Jesus?
• What is the one infallible way of knowing the truth about Jesus and the resurrection? Consider whether this is the basis for your epistemology.
• Why is it important for us to understand that Jesus came in the flesh?
• Despite the testimonies of Simon Peter, God the Father at Jesus' transfiguration, and the centurion at the cross, the disciples still did not grasp that Jesus is God's unique Son. What had to happen so that they could understand this truth?
• Explain why you agree or disagree with this statement: Jesus can be a person's Savior, yet not his Lord.

Scott Graubard
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

Willing to Be Greatly Inconvenienced

Jesus was sent on a mission which would involve an amazingly deep level of sacrifice, loss of status, and pre‑incarnate glory. All for you?

John 10:1-30,1:1-4
Philippians 2:5-11
Colossians 1:16-17
Galatians 2:20

Sermon discussion topics for parents to use with their children:

• Why do we not like to be inconvenienced or lose status?
• What was Jesus' situation like before He came to earth?
• What was the proposed mission?
• What did He answer and why?
• Can you personalize this?

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

The Gospel in the Old Testament: Photograph of the Cross

The Old Testament's Psalm 22 is quoted by Jesus on the cross, and is a powerful photograph of the sufferings Jesus willingly underwent for us. This should produce a dramatic effect upon us.

Matthew 27:15-54
Psalm 22:1-19

"Thou:" I can understand why traitorous Judas and timid Peter should be gone, but thou, my God, my faithful friend, how canst thou leave me? This is worst of all, yea, worse than all put together. Hell itself has for its fiercest flame the separation of the soul from God.

...he could only utter moanings and groanings as men do in severe sicknesses, like the roarings of a wounded animal. To what extremity of grief was our Master driven? What strong crying and tears were those which made him too hoarse for speech! What must have been his anguish to find his own beloved and trusted Father standing afar off, and neither granting help nor apparently hearing prayer! This was good cause to make him "roar."

But I am a worm, and no man. This verse is a miracle in language. How could the Lord of glory be brought to such abasement as to be not only lower than the angels, but even lower than men. What a contrast between "I AM" and "I am a worm"! yet such a double nature was found in the person of our Lord Jesus when bleeding upon the tree. He felt himself to be comparable to a helpless, powerless, down trodden worm, passive while crushed, and unnoticed and despised by those who trod upon him. He selects the weakest of creatures, which is all flesh; and becomes, when trodden upon, writhing, quivering flesh, utterly devoid of any might except strength to suffer. This was a true likeness of himself when his body and soul had become a mass of misery - the very essence of agony - in the dying pangs of crucifixion.

Turning from his enemies, our Lord describes his own personal condition in language which should bring the tears into every loving eye. I am poured out like water. He was utterly spent, like water poured upon the earth; his heart failed him, and had no more firmness in it than running water, and his whole being was made a sacrifice, like a libation poured out before the Lord. He had long been a fountain of tears; in Gethsemane his heart welled over in sweat, and on the cross he gushed forth with blood; he poured out his strength and spirit, so that he was reduced to the most feeble and exhausted state.

Thou hast brought me into the dust of death; so tormented in every single part as to feel dissolved into separate atoms, and each atom full of misery; the full price of our redemption was paid, and no part of the Surety's body or soul escaped its share of agony. The words may set forth Jesus as having wrestled with Death until he rolled into the dust with his antagonist. Behold the humiliation of the Son of God! The Lord of Glory stoops to the dust of death.

Charles Spurgeon The Treasury of David, Psalm 22

Sermon discussion topics for parents to use with their children:

• Why can Psalm 22 be called a photograph of the cross?
• What hit you as you listened to Jesus' sufferings described?
• How did the illustration of the man who went to prison for what his dog did fit into the sermon?
• Why should this all have a dramatic impact upon us that is
  1. Pervasive?
  2. Always?
  3. Forever?

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

The Gospel in the Old Testament: The Bronze Serpent

Jesus pointed to a bronze serpent on a pole — that Moses was instructed by God to make in the Old Testament — as a teaching tool to help us understand what an wonderful thing He did to save us!

Numbers 20:1-21:9
John 3:13-18
2 Kings 18:4
Revelation 2:1-5
1 Peter 2:7

Sermon discussion topics for parents to use with their children:

• Why is complaining against God so bad?
• Why was the serpent both a chastisement and a gracious thing?
• How does this point to Jesus?
• Why are people still in danger of perishing?
• Why did the bronze serpent need to be destroyed?
• What does this teach us?

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

The Gospel in the Old Testament: Not Sparing a Beloved Son

Sometimes God's ways are confusing or even appear cruel, especially if we only look at the Old Testament. But then the cross gloriously clears up the confusion and reveals who He really is with such clarity and power.

Genesis 22:1-19
Hebrews 11:17-19
Romans 8:31-32,8:35
John 1:1,12:27-28,8:56

Later writers, reflecting on the incident, make much of the turmoil in Abraham’s heart, although the biblical narrative has little enough to say on this score. Indeed, the impression we get from the biblical narrative is that Abraham treated it as God’s problem: it was for God, and not for Abraham, to reconcile His promise and His command. So, when the command was given, Abraham promptly set about obeying it; his own duty was clear, and God could safely be trusted to discharge His responsibility in this matter. F.F. Bruce Epistle to the Hebrews

Earlier, Abraham had been tested as to whether he would believe that God could do the seemingly impossible task of giving Abraham and Sarah a son. That was a test, but it was not as hard as this one. This test involved a conflict apparently within the words of God Himself. God has promised posterity through Isaac. But God had now also commanded Abraham to kill him.
How could this problem be resolved? There were only two ways. Abraham could have concluded that God was erratic, wavering from one plan to another because He did not know His own mind. This had not been Abraham’s experience of God. The long wait for the son had taught him better than that. Or Abraham could have concluded that, although he – being finite and sinful - was unable to see the resolution of the difficulty, God could nevertheless be trusted to have a resolution, which He Himself would certainly disclose in due time. This was the harder of the two options to accept, but Abraham’s experience of God led in this direction.
Abraham acted in a manner consistent with his knowledge of God. That is, he trusted Him, concluding that whatever God’s purposes may or may not have been in this situation, God had at least shown that He could not be his enemy. God was his friend. When the command to sacrifice Isaac was first given, Abraham did not understand how, if the command were carried out the promise could be fulfilled. But that was alright. Abraham left the difficulty with God, which is the essence of true faith. What is faith? Faith is believing God and acting upon it. That is what Abraham did. God had shown He could be trusted, so Abraham believed God and acted, even though he could not understand the solution to the difficulty. James Boice Genesis 12-36

Sermon discussion topics for parents to use with their children:

• Why did God's command to Abraham both trouble and confuse him?
• Why was Isaac so central in God's plan of redemption?
• What did Abraham conclude was going to happen?
• Why is Abraham's faith and obedience commended?
• Why is God not considered cruel in this request and all suffering?
• Why is the cross central in understanding God and His heart?

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

Redemption Accomplished

The plan of redemption was established even before the creation of the world. The Cross was the completion of that plan. Therefore, work out your salvation with fear and trembling to do the good works God has called you to do.

Ephesians 2:1-10,1:4
Genesis 1:1
John 3:19,3:16
Romans 4:25
Hebrews 1:1
James 2:17,3:24
Revelation 3:19-22

Sean Byham
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

Mark: He Gave... I Give... A Guided Response

In this summary to the crucifixion we have been studying in Mark, Jesus gave Himself for our sins... when the reality of this grips a person the response is "I give myself to You".

Mark 15:21-47
Galatians 1:3-5,2:20
Titus 2:11-14
2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Sermon discussion topics for parents to use with their children:

• What does this present evil age mean?
• What is all involved in the biblical expression He gave Himself for us?
• What should our response to this be?
• Give examples of how this works out in a person's life after someone does something sacrificial for them.
• What are some of the outcomes the Bible says should happen when we grasp the significance of Him giving Himself for our sins?

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

Mark: Suffering, Yet Concerned for Others

Mark tells us that Jesus revealed so much about the character of God by His concern for others during the very hours of His suffering and death.

Mark 15:20-32
Luke 23:26-43,23:47
Philippians 2:6-8
Matthew 26:53,27:44
John 19:25-27
Revelation 2:17

His own racking agony of body did not make Him forget others. The first of His seven sayings on the cross was a prayer for the souls of His murderers. J.C. Ryle

Let us see in our Lord's intersession for those who crucified Him, one more proof of Christ's infinite love to sinners. The Lord Jesus is indeed most pitiful, most compassionate, most gracious. None are too wicked for Him to care for. None are too far gone in sin for His almighty heart to take interest about their souls. He wept over unbelieving Jerusalem. He heard the prayer of the dying thief. He stopped under the tree to call the tax-collector Zaccheus. He came down from heaven to turn the heart of the persecutor Saul. He found time to pray for His murderers even on the cross. Love like this is a love that passes knowledge. The vilest of sinners have no cause to be afraid of applying to a Savior like this. If we want warrant and encouragement to repent and believe, the passage before us surely supplies enough. J.C. Ryle

One thief was saved that no sinner might despair, but only one, that no sinner might presume. J.C. Ryle

Sermon discussion topics for parents to use with their children:

• What examples does the Bible give of Jesus' concern for others while He was dying?
• Do we tend to be like this?
• Why not?
• hat do His actions tell us about the character of God?
• Why should this encourage us to come to Him?
• Why should we not delay even though the dying thief came at His final hours of life?

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

Mark: Utter Abandonment

As we focus on the crucifixion as described by Mark, Jesus was utterly abandoned by everyone on the cross, including His Father... so we will never be!

Psalm 22
Isaiah 53,59:2
Mark 15:16-41
Philippians 2:6-8
Matthew 16:53
Deuteronomy 21:23
Galatians 3:13
Revelation 22:14-15,22:17
Amos 8:9-10

Death by crucifixion was one of the cruelest and most degrading forms of punishment ever conceived by human perversity, even in the eyes of the pagan world.⁴⁶ Josephus described it as "the most wretched of all ways of dying", and the shudder caused by the cross as an instrument of execution is still reflected in the English word "excruciating". Yet in the Roman provinces crucifixion was one of the customary means of preserving public order, and the history of turbulent Judea is punctuated by accounts of men being crucified.


---

⁴⁶
J.Blinzler cites Cicero... "Even the mere word, cross, must remain far not only from the lips of the citizens of Rome, but also from their thoughts, their eyes, their ears." Elsewhere Cicero calls crucifixion the grossest, cruelest, or most hideous manner of execution.

William Lane The Gospel According to Mark

Sermon discussion topics for parents to use with their children:

• What was it like for Jesus before He came to earth?
• Who were all the groups or individuals who abandoned or rejected Jesus?
• Why was He utterly abandoned?
• What are the implications of this for us?

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

Mark: The Hard Decision

We live in a fallen world; a world at war. Sin, Satan, a rebellious humankind, and a holy, loving God who is saving. That puts all of us in a hard place and in need to make hard decisions. In this text from Mark, Jesus presses us for an answer.

Mark 8:27-38
Romans 8:7
John 10:17
Galatians 2:20
1 Corinthians 1:18,4:9-10
Luke 14:26
Acts 20:22-24

Jesus stipulated that those who wish to follow him must be prepared to shift the center of gravity in their lives from a concern for self to reckless abandon to the will of God. The central thought in self-denial is a disowning of any claim that may be urged by the self, a sustained willingness to say 'No' to oneself in order to be able to say 'Yes' to God. This involves a radical denunciation of all self-idolatry and of every attempt to establish one's own life in accordance with the dictates of the self. This demand is reinforced and intensified by the horrifying image of a death march. Bearing the cross was not a Jewish metaphor, and Jesus' statement must have sounded repugnant to the crowd and the disciples alike. The saying evokes the picture of a condemned man going out to die who is forced to carry on his back the crossbeam upon which he is to be nailed at the place of execution. By the time Mark prepared his Gospel this had become cruel reality, both for Jesus and the Church. Jesus' words were a sober caution that the commitment for which he asked permitted no turning back, and if necessary, a willingness to submit to the cross in pursuance of the will of God. His followers must be prepared to die...Professor William Lane The Gospel of Mark

Sermon discussion questions for parents to use with their children:

• What is the situation we are in that requires us to make a hard decision?
• What is that decision?
• How do I renounce myself?
• What does that look like?
• Why does Jesus make such hard demands on us?

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

The Holiness of God: Part 2

God's holiness includes the idea of His moral purity. The moral excellence of God has huge implications for all people, and shines an amazing amount of light on the wonder of the cross and of salvation.

Luke 5:1-11
Matthew 8:20-22,8:27-29
Job 34:10
Habakkuk 1:13
Malachi 3:2
Hebrews 10:19-23
Isaiah 6:1-8
Revelation 6:15-17

Sermon discussion questions for parents to use with their children:

• What does it mean that God's holiness can be called His Moral Excellence?
• What was Isaiah's first impression when he saw God?
• Why does God get angry at little sins?
• Why does the holiness of God make sense of the cross?
• How does it make the cross and the benefits of the cross so glorious?
• How can we boldly approach a throne that Isaiah feared?

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

Resurrection, Really!

We Christians make a huge counter cultural claim: a man who was dead three days rose again and is still alive and that man was the Son of God. And we have proof!!

Luke 23:50-24:12,24:33-47
Matthew 28:4,12:38-40
1 Corinthians 15:6,15:20-26
Romans 1:3-4,4:24-25
Hebrews 9:27
2 Peter 1:16
Acts 1:8,1:21-23,2:30-33,3:13-16,3:19-21,4:1-3,4:9-10,4:13,4:19-21,4:33,5:17-18,5:28-32,5:41,17:31

Sermon discussion questions for parents to use with their children:

• What is the historical evidence for the resurrection?
• Why were the actions of Christ's enemies actually helpful in proving His resurrection?
• What is the significance of the actions and convictions of the apostles after the resurrection?
• What is the significance of the resurrection for us today and in the future?

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

Did Not the Christ Have to Suffer?

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Luke 24:13-27,17:24-25
Mark 8:31
John 3:14-15
Zachariah 12:10-11
Isaiah 53:3-6
1 John 3:16
Romans 5:8-10,8:29
Hebrews 9:11-15

Scott Graubard
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

The Saved, the Lost, and the Uncertain

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Matthew 7:21-23,10:38,16:24
Mark 1:15
Acts 16:28-31
Luke 14:27
2 Timothy 1:2
1 John 5:10-13
John 3:36
Psalm 51:5
Romans 3:10-12,3:23,10:9-10

Ron Beil
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

The Glory of Christ: Humble Obedience

The Glory of Christ is seen in His humble obedience. It is astounding to consider first how great His is and yet how willingly He was to lower Himself out of obedience to His Father and love for us... these great themes are the topic of this message.

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Philippians 2:1-11
John 13:3-4

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

Attacking that Besetting Sin

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Galatians 5:16-26
Hebrews 12:1
Romans 6,8:9-13
Ephesians 5:18

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

Luke: The Completed Work

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Luke 23:44-49
Leviticus 10:3
John 19:30
Colossians 2:9-10,14-15
1 Corinthians 15:55-57
Hebrews 10:19-23

There is a sense, however, in which our Lord’s words supply a lesson to all true Christians. They show us the manner in which death should be met by all God’s children. They afford an example which every believer should strive to follow. Like our Master, we should not be afraid to confront the king of terrors. We should regard him as a vanquished enemy, whose sting has been taken away by Christ’s death. We should think of him as a foe who can hurt the body for a little season, but after that has no more that he can do. We should await his approaches with calmness and patience, and believe that when flesh fails our soul will be in good keeping. This was the mind of dying Stephen; “Lord Jesus,” he said, “receive my spirit.” This was the mind of Paul the aged, when the time of his departure was at hand. He says, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day.” (Acts 7:59, 2 Timothy 1:12) Happy indeed are those who have a last end like this! J.C. Ryle

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA

Luke: Today -- Paradise

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Luke 23:35-43

Pastor Todd Jaussen
Crossroads Christian Fellowship Church
Greenville, PA