Broome Anglican Church Podcast

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The foolish message of the cross

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March 30, 2008 09:15 PM PDT

Bishop Stephen Hale, Bishop of the Eastern Region, Melbourne, Australia, helps us through this passage on Good Friday 2008.

Podcast Summary

expository sermons, on the whole, from our weekly bible talks at church in Broome, Australia.

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Broome Anglican Church is a bunch of people in Broome, Western Australia, who have staked our lives on the message about Jesus. The medium of this message is the Bible, which, we are persuaded, is written by humans over about 1200 years, as they were moved by God. It is ultimately authored by God, although without destroying its human authorship. As a group, we at Broome Anglican Church are from different backgrounds, but we share the belief that God so wanted us in his family, that he was willing for his Son to die so we wouldn't be excluded. Although God made this world and all that is in it, we don't treat him with the honour and respect he deserves. Sometimes we do this explicitly, other times we even use religion to keep God at arm's length. But God is not indifferent to our rejection of him. We believe that God has loved us so much that he sent Jesus to die for us. Jesus' death was about defeating death once and for all, by becoming the one true sacrifice for our rejection of God, who is the source of life. In his death, Jesus took on himself all that God hates about the way we treat him and his world. And Jesus exhausted God's anger in his body, as he hung on the cross. God raised him up on the third day, pleased with all that Jesus had done. Jesus is now the ruler of God's kingdom. In the cross, then, God's justice and God's mercy meet. As a consequence of Jesus' death as God's sacrifice for sin, we can be forgiven, and know new life. So, convinced of God's love for us in Jesus, we are committed to learning how to love each other, and, as we have opportunity, the whole world. We believe that Jesus will return to take us to be with him forever in his new creation. The last book of the Bible says of Jesus, anticipating the end, He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. We believe that God is at work in this world today, in the intervening period between Jesus' death and his return, bringing people into his family. The normal way this happens is by people hearing the message about Jesus, and staking their lives on this message. This same word strengthens and keeps those who have already put their trust in Jesus, as we are reminded of Jesus' love for us and warned against departing from the love God has for us.

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