April Fools Day

This morning it crossed my mind to play and April fool's joke on the students, but I reflected on the day itself. Today commemorates Jesus coming into Jerusalem riding a donkey, triumphant, heralded as king. Palm Sunday exalts Jesus as King.

This morning I chose to engage students by bringing them to stand at the foot of the cross. God prompted me to use a great session from Worship Session for Youth Groups by Jim Marian, a Youth Specialties resource. I discovered it while browsing at Half-Priced Books on Bethel Road in Columbus, Ohio. I've found a few items there. This one was so helpful.

This session directed students to reflect on Good Friday and the crucifixion. My hope was to get students to worship Christ because he died for us. I intended to bring students to the foot of the Cross so they can come away having seen and understood Christ's unparalled, sacrifice and unconditional love from them. The session called for use of video, music, mediatation, confession, and the physical act of affixing your sins to a cross.

I wanted students to revisit this great place--at the foot of the cross. I prayed for God to have students open their minds to the personal impact of the Cross. Students prayed that each one of them would have open minds stirred afresh to open minds and hearts to focus on Christ asking that God would give a fresh, real, and personal understanding of Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross.

Symbols used were hard cut masonry nails. The nail is a powerful symbol that helps to keep students focused on the Cross. We pondered the painful details to help direct students to make this event real to them. The truth is that you deserve death for your sins. We should have been up there, not Christ (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Christ loves you so much that he chose to take the punishment for our sins so we could have life forever, not eternal death in hell (Romans 5:8).

A personal reflection time ensued where students wrote down a sin or sins that they are currently struggling with. You could write down as much as you wanted: the paper had "SIN" on one side, the other side was space for you to list your sins as God prompted. No names were printed--you had total anonymity. It was between you and God. Students sought honest and serious reflection directing students that it was your sins that took Christ to the Cross.

Jesus' death also provides cleansing for sin. God's Holy Spirit prompts us to respond with thanks and gratitude. He prompts us to worship God for His provision.

So students entered into a time of praise and worship where personal reflection by affixing your sins to the cross engaged you in realizing what Jesus had done. He took your sins. He died for you. You sang an i-mix of tunes from the following artists: Michael W Smith; Jeremy Camp; Petra; the Katinas. Students sang three choruses: The Wonderful Cross, Here I am to worship, Lord I lift your name on high. As students sang, room was created at the foot of the cross to affix your sin to the cross. Students got up individually as each one felt led anytime during the singing. You could affix your sin to the cross imagining Jesus paying the price for your sins. You could have left celebrating Christ's sacrifice for you.

I trust you thank God for Christ's sacrifice this week and celebrate God's love and forgiveness. May He speak to you and may you hear,

Pastor D