Download Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church Lent 2013

Additional Notes
Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church
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Lent 2013
Daily Devotional
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for the sermon series
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Seven Words from the Cross
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“Father, forgive them, for they do not
know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
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Week 1: February 4-10
The following series of daily readings and questions has been designed by
Pastor Tom Cullen to lead up to the sermon for the coming week. There are five
daily studies for each week. Allow about 20 minutes a day to complete each
daily devotional.
Endnotes
1.
Warren W. Wiersbe, The Cross of Jesus, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books,
1997) 50.
The weekly sermons can be listened too at scbc.com
Each week’s daily devotional guide is also available online at scbc.com under
the small group tab.
Week 1 – Seven words from the Cross
2.
Edward H. Stephens, Words from the Cross, (St. Lois, MO: Creative Communications
for the Parish, 1996), 3.
3.
John Phillips,, Exploring the Psalms (Volume two) (Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux
Brothers,1988) 127-128.
4.
Brennan Manning, Above All (Brentwood, TN: Integrity Publishers, 2003) 112-113.
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
3. Is there someone in your life that you have refused to forgive
As Christ as forgiven you? Why do you find it difficult to
forgive?
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Reflection and Prayer
Charles Price tells of a time when he was at a prayer meeting he
heard a man pray, “Lord thank you for not making us cups but
for making us pipes.” Charles wondered about that, but he
discovered that that is a great picture of the Christian life. We
are meant to be pipes where the mercy of God flows out to others.
We are not meant to be cups holding his love and grace in.
Write out a prayer asking God to help you forgive those who have
hurt you and wronged you. Picture the person sitting across from
you and tell them that you forgive them. Allow God’s Spirit to fill
you with the grace of Jesus Christ and imagine that grace
washing over the person you imagine in front of you. Write out
your prayer below.
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Week 1 – Seven words from the Cross
Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church Lent 2013
Sermon Series Devotional Guide
Seven Words from the Cross
A study of our Lord’s words from the cross
The final words of a dying man can tell you a lot about a man’s heart and mind.
For instance, Louis XIV, king of France, demonstrated his self- awareness when
he said to those gathered around his death bed, “Why do you weep? Do you
think that I was immortal?” Contrast his humility with the pride of the dying
Roman Emperor, Vespasian, who said, “Woe is me. Me thinks I am turning into
a god.” Certainly those words tell you a bit about his character.
I’ve always been inspired by the last words of John Wesley, that great preacher
to the common man, whose last words were, “The best of all is, God is with us.”
And another great preacher, Charles Spurgeon said this just before he died,
“Jesus died for me.” Truly, you can tell a great deal about a person from their
last words.
During this Lenten season we’ll be looking at Jesus’ last words from the cross.
Of course, these are not Jesus’ final words since he rose again. Our Lord’s final
recorded words are in the book of Revelation. But the gospels do give us his
last words before he died on the cross.
They are important words because he is the truth and speaks the truth. So we
need to consider carefully every word that Jesus speaks for it is bread to our
souls. But these words are not only important because Jesus spoke them but
also because of where he spoke them. In the words of Warren Wiersbe,
“While our Lord was doing his greatest work on earth, dying for the sins of the
world, he uttered some of his greatest words. These seven last words from the
cross are windows that enable us to look into eternity and see the heart of the
Saviour and the heart of the gospel.”1
I pray that as we study and meditate on these seven statements we will deepen
our love, devotion, and understating of our Lord Jesus Christ. We begin our
study with our Lord’s words found in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for
they do not know what they are doing.”
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
This is a seven week series. Each of the daily readings and questions have been
designed to prepare us to hear the preached word on Sunday morning. There
are five studies for each week. Allow about 20 minutes a day to complete each
one.
The sermon themes and dates are listed below. The devotions will be available
the week before each sermon. You will notice that we need to take a short break
in the study for our AGM.
May the words of our Lord pierce our souls and transform our lives as we
meditate on them.
Lent Sermon Schedule
Seven Words from the Cross
February 10 – “Father forgive them…” (Luke 23:34)
exposed nerve when he thundered, “If the crucified Christ has
washed you in his own blood and forgiven you all your sins,
what right do you have not to forgive yourself?”
Beware the evil one who prowls the earth seeking to undo
what God has done in the passion and death of Jesus Christ!
…. To escape our demons we seek comfort in our addictions:
Alcohol or being right, workaholism or winning, ice cream,
television, religion, cocaine, movies, marijuana, money, power,
sex, gambling, compulsive reading, or simply having the last
word. What is conspicuously missing is an unshaken trust in
the merciful love of the crucified, redeeming Christ.”4
Pray: Lord, even as you have forgiven me for my sins and tell me
there is no longer any condemnation for me – keep me from
condemning myself for past sins. Amen.
February 17 – AGM
February 24 – “Today you will be with me…” (Luke 23:43)
March 3 – “Dear woman, here is your son…” (John 19:26-27)
Friday February 8
Forgiving others
March 10 – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
(Matthew 27: 46)
Pray: Dear Lord: May your grace be real to me today. Let your
grace so permeate everything I say and do that I will be a
gracious person to those around me.
March 17 – “I am thirsty.” (John 19:28)
Read: Ephesians 4:17-32
March 24 – “It is finished” (John 19:30)
1. How does this passage say that we are to forgive others?
(verse 32)
March 29 (Good Friday) – “Father into your hands I commit my
spirit.” (Luke 23:46)
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2. What then is the source of our power to forgive others?
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Week 1 – Seven words from the Cross
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
2. How have we been delivered from condemnation? (verse 2,3)
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3. What was the result of God setting us free? (verse 4-8)
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Monday February 4
Setting the Scene
Pray:
Dear God, as I begin to think about Jesus’ death and the
words he spoke open my ears that I may hear your voice;
open my eyes that I may see Jesus dying for me; open my
heart that I may be filled with your Spirit. Transform me so
that I may truly live for you.
Read: Luke 23:26-34
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1. Jesus is led outside the city in order to be crucified and as he
goes a large number of people follow him. He turns to the
many who are weeping and suggests that they stop weeping
for him. Why does he say this? (verses 29-31)
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Reflection and Prayer
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4 What difference does it make to you knowing that there is now
no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus?
Reflect on these words by Brennan Manning. Is he describing
you?
“The Christian with a poor self- image, deceived by Lucifer, is
reluctant to take risks. In a classroom, Bible study, or an
evening with friends, she never asks a question. If she stays
silent, the group (she hopes) may assume she is a profound
thinker. Rather than risk a negative evaluation – “What a
stupid question!”- she feels that is safer to say nothing, wear
an intelligent mask, and let the group suspect she is brilliant.
Needless to say, she experiences great anxiety over her
mistakes.
Our tendency to berate ourselves for real or imagined failures,
to belittle ourselves and savage our self-worth, to dwell
exclusively on our dishonesty, self-centeredness, and lack of
personal discipline is the hegemony of low self-esteem,
spawned by Satan.
2. Luke describes the crucifixion very simply – “When they came
to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him …” (v.
33) From what you know about the crucifixion describe the
physical pain that Jesus is feeling.
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3. Think of the emotional and psychological pain that Jesus
must be feeling. What do you think it would feel like to be
hung naked between two criminals?
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Where is the crucified Jesus who bore our infirmities and
carried all our sins in this self-destructive situation? In his
keynote address in Atlantic City, Francis MacNutt touched an
Week 1 – Seven words from the Cross
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
4. In the midst of his pain Jesus utters a prayer (verse 34). Who
do you think he is praying for? What is he forgiving?
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5. What strikes you about his prayer?
On this planet where those two infinite lines intersect: the
vertical line and the horizontal line. The point is Calvary! We
draw all our lines from the cross. The upright of the cross,
driven like a stake into the ground, is where we begin our
vertical line. We extend it up into infinity. The crossbar of
the tree, flung wide as though to embrace the world, is where
we begin our horizontal line into infinity. That is how the Lord
measures His mercy – in terms of the cross.”3
Pray: Write out a prayer to God
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Thursday February 7
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No Condemnation
Pray: And can it be that I should gain, an interest in the Savior’s
blood? Died he for me, who caused his pain? For me, who
him to death pursued? Amazing love! How can it be that
thou, my God shouldst die for me?”
6. When you think of your relationship with Jesus is there
anything that you feel he needs to forgive in you?
Read: Romans 8:1-8
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Focus: “…. there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus.
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1. What is the condition of those who are “in (union with) Christ
Jesus?” (verse 1)
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(“Condemnation” is a legal term that refers to the punishment that is
given after sentencing – penal servitude.)
Week 1 – Seven words from the Cross
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
2. Meditate on verses 11 and 12. How far is east from west?
How far has God removed your sins?
7. Circle the words or phrases that best describe your feelings
toward God’s forgiveness of your sin.
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undeserved
partial
based on my goodness
3. Do you believe there is some sin that God has not forgiven in
your life? What? Does that belief contradict this passage?
complete
a free gift
limited by time
selective
for all
based on the cross of Christ
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free flowing
for you
for everyone else but not you
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8. Do you sometimes find it difficult to believe that God forgives
you of sin? What keeps you from accepting his forgiveness?
Reflection and Prayer
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One of my favorite expositions of Psalm 103:11,12 comes from
John Phillips:
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“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is
his love for those who fear him.” That is the vertical measure.
We take a point on this planet and we draw a line upward.
We extend that line beyond the clouds, up beyond the
remotest planet, up beyond the highest star. Up! That is the
vertical measure.
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our
transgressions from us.” That is the horizontal measure. We
take a point on this planet and we draw a line horizontally,
but we must be careful. We must not draw the line from
north to south because that would be a finite distance. Light
travels from pole to pole fourteen times a second. The northsouth measure is finite, not so the east-west measure. If we
travel north from a given point, sooner or later we will reach
the north pole, a definite point; then we travel south to the
south pole, another definite point. East and west are a
different matter. We can start to travel east and there is no
point, so long as we continue in that direction, at which we
start to travel west; or we can start to travel west and, no
matter how long we continue, there is no point at which we
start to travel east. West is always west; east is always east.
So we take a point on earth and draw a line vertically into
infinity. We also draw a line horizontally into infinity – “so far
has he removed our transgressions from us.” There is a point
Week 1 – Seven words from the Cross
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Reflection and Prayer
This is an amazing event. Jesus is being rejected, ridiculed,
shamed and tortured and yet he utters a prayer of forgiveness.
Truly he is a great God. Review your answer to # 6. Ask God to
forgive you of the sins you listed – then write out a prayer of
thanksgiving for his forgiveness. Know that he has paid the price
for your sin and if you confess (that means to call your sin, “sin”)
your sin he is “faithful and just and will forgive your sins and
purify you from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9)
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“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
Reflection and Prayer
Tuesday February 5
Accepting Christ’s forgiveness
Pray: Dear God, help me to see the wonder of the cross today.
May I know something of the pain that you went through
because of my sin. May I experience the joy of the truth
that you bore my sins in your body on the tree. Enable me
to realize that I am dead to sin and can live for
righteousness through faith in Jesus.
Today’s Scripture falls in the context of a larger passage that
speaks of living for Jesus in every circumstance, especially in
difficult, unjust circumstances.
Read: I Peter 2:18-25
1. For whom did “Christ suffer” on the cross? (verse 21)
If you were to watch any Hollywood action movie today you would
probably discover a hero moved by one motivation – revenge.
Everyone seems to want revenge. Have you considered what
would happen to the world and yourself if God was motivated by
revenge? Thankfully that’s not how God operates. “Jesus’ first
word from the cross is God’s last word for sinners: forgiveness.
That forgiveness doesn’t come cheaply, yet when Christ reappears
at Easter, forgiveness is a fact. We can count on it, live on it…” 2
even practice it.
Pray: Dear God, I know it was because of me that you suffered
and died. Thank you for bearing the pain, the shame and
death of my sin. Thank you for not seeking revenge against
me – but instead forgiving me and enabling me to live for
righteousness. Amen.
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2. What does verse 23 say the crowd did at Jesus’ crucifixion?
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3. In what two ways did Jesus respond? (verse 23) What do you
think of his response?
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Wednesday February 6
As far as east is from west
Pray: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast
spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take
your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your
salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”
(Psalm 51;10-12)
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Read: Psalm 103
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Focus: “…as far as the east is from the west, so far has he
removed our transgressions from us.”
4. What did Jesus “bear” on the cross? What was the result?
(verse 24)
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1. On a separate piece of paper list all the spiritual blessings
mentioned in this Psalm that are yours through faith.
Highlight the ones that you enjoy. Highlight the ones that
seem foreign to your experience.
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Week 1 – Seven words from the Cross
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)