Easter at CrossPoint was crazy. In a really great way. The numbers are in and between our 2 campuses and 7 different services over the weekend some 4000 people came together to worship Jesus.  And, if you were there, then you know that in all of the weekend’s events CrossPoint—as usual—made a ton of bold creative choices in our effort to bring the brutality of Good Friday and beauty of Easter to life for all those in attendance.

This was especially true for our Good Friday’s Service of Darkness. In it we taught of Good Friday’s connection to Passover and how both the historical event, when God rescued his people from the hands of Pharaoh through the blood of a lamb, and the annual celebration of it that followed for millennia, were foreshadows to the death of Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. We did this through a series of short films which taught how the death of a lamb became a powerful, heart-wrenching, Israelite family tradition—commanded by God—that helped them remember their dramatic salvation from slavery to Pharaoh and look forward to how God would save us all from slavery to sin in the future.  If you missed the films you can watch them HERE. (Be sure to watch all three in order.)

Also, at the high point of the service, depicting Jesus’ death, we saw a man in black lay a brutal beating on a metal cross. The cross that began beautiful  ended up a dented and mangled mess. Together, these moments made for a powerful Good Friday. That’s been confirmed by the strong responses I’ve received from those that attended. The thoughts shared with me have ranged from, “That was the most meaningful hour and a half of my life” to “I had to leave. It was just too much.” I’m not sure where you stand in the spectrum. But all of them have moved me to throw together just a few pastoral thoughts to remind us all why it is that CrossPoint strives to make such bold choices in our worship of Jesus.

First, we always aim to put the focus on the Bible. As Campus Pastor with every decision that’s ultimately made I begin with the goal of being faithful to what’s offered to us by God in the Scriptures. Any imagery we use, emotions we instill or message we convey must be a true reflection of what’s given to us in God’s Word. If what’s said or done makes a jaw drop it’s never done to sensationalize but simply to be obedient. Of course, with a pastoral mind always on who will be in attendance and how things should be respectfully done.

But with that said, the picture painted in the Bible of our sinfulness and the depth of our depravity is incredibly stark. Likewise, the way God goes about rescuing us from the punishment for sin that we deserve and the lengths he will go to show us how deeply and richly he loves us are breathtakingly and unavoidably brutal. Our sins deserve death. Justice must be served. But rather than kill us he kills another.

Second, most of us are completely numb to our nastiness of our sins and the cross of Jesus. We grow up seeing crosses hanging in church and swinging from the necks of celebrities. We take for granted the phrase, “Jesus died” and it becomes like the hum of the air conditioner at the office. It’s loud at first but eventually we tune it out. Therefore at times we must take the time and the artistic journey to revisit the cross with fresh and honest eyes so that we can see it, appreciate it, and bow down to it for all that it is and all that is has accomplished.

Here’s the truth. Most of us—myself included—take salvation for granted without regularly wrestling with and being broken in thankfulness over the cost involved. It’s like a child who grows up their entire life having received incredible blessings from a generous mother and father. Never having to work for the equivalent on their own they’re numb to the effort it takes to provide it. That is, until they themselves hit the wake-up call that is adulthood and the generosity and sacrifice of their parents is hitting them right in the face as they’re now having to offer the same.

Good Friday is a similar wake-up call. When we come face to face with exactly what it has cost Christ to give us life it is both shocking and humbling. It forces us to be painfully honest about the depth of our brokenness and to look without blinking at the lengths God has gone to in order to  forgive our sins, right our wrongs, and make us His own. Just take a look at some of the key words from Isaiah 53 which describes the work of Jesus in saving us from sin: stricken, smitten, afflicted, wounded, crushed, chastised, stripes, oppressed, afflicted, slaughtered, judged. Pretty brutal stuff.

If we steer away from the reality of the scriptures and never refocus our eyes on the cost involved in setting us free then we risk two things: thinking too highly of ourselves and too little of God’s love. Not good. That’s why this weekend at CrossPoint we saw both the harsh reality of sin and it’s punishment and the joy and miracle of resurrection sitting side by side, in bold detail. It was gritty at times and lovely at others. But in all things, our aim, is that it was understandable by everybody, true to Scripture and, above all, gave glory to Jesus.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this weekend—what you enjoyed, what God accomplished, what your guests thought, and more. We’ve learned a few lessons already. For example, next year we aim to offer a Good Friday alternative for kids 12 and under, not simply 5 and under.

Thank you for such a wonderful weekend. Thanks for serving, for inviting your friends and family and for loving Jesus so much.

Peace…

Pastor Matt

p.s. The lamb’s name is Oprah. She’s doing just fine.