THIEF.

In our Good Friday tour Communion service I shared the story from Luke 23.32-43 of the two thieves either side of Jesus on the cross- sung about by the band in the song THIEF. I'd recently preached this passage at home in Cardiff under the title Saved by Grace, using the song Thief in the service.
Here's my summary:
* This passage shows the identification of Jesus with sinners!
*James and John had wanted to be at the right and left of Jesus- I wonder if they were watching this scene from a distance?
*We are all thieves and murderers- stealing worship from God and being partly responsible for the death of Jesus.
*But where there is sin, there is even more grace!
*When we don’t get what we deserve it’s a real good thing-MERCY
*When we get what we don’t deserve it’s a real good thing-GRACE
*God's grace is immediate- the thief would be in paradise 'today'.
*He showed more faith than the followers of Jesus who had deserted their master.
*The consequences of God's grace are that we are forgiven, restored, reconciled with God, given new life.
*We were sinners but now we are new creations!

After the death and darkness of Good Friday there is always the new life and light of Easter Sunday.
You may feel like it's Friday in your life but Sunday is coming!

Comments

[Joan Young/Godgrl Gomer]

Wow. Very good points.
You know, I never thought of John and James in regard to where the 2 thieves are situated. Fantastic insight.
I love how the Lord's Word is very deep and has many levels.

Hope you had a blessed Easter.
Joan

[Felicia Huff]

Beautiful message! I'm proud to be a "NEW CREATION!"

My husband and I really enjoyed the joy last night in Raytown. It was so amazing experiencing the show for the first time. I've been moved by the music of Third Day for years and would like to thank all of you for sharing your God given gifts with all of us. May I ask for prayers from all of you? If you get a chance, we are currently in the process of adopting a 3 year old precious boy from Guatemala. And since I DEFINITELY believe in the power of prayer, prayers are VERY much welcome! And if you get another free moment (Do you get many of those?)... we'd love all of you to visit us on our blog. (You will see that prayers have worked previously - as we have a 6 year old boy from Guatemala and a 2 year old girl from China as well) God has been good to us - in so very many amazing ways! Our blog shares our story.

I pray that God will continue to bless you, as your gifts have been blessings to us. God bless you on the remainder of your tour.

Your Sister in Christ,

Felicia

Felicia

[Bernie]

Nigel... I taught a similar Sunday school lesson to my 7th/8th grade students and even played the song "Thief" which really tied it all together in a powerful way. We covered the relevance of the positioning of the thieves when it comes to us all... we are either "for Jesus" or "against Him". It was also a cool fact that the thief who accepted Christ for who he was also had to live by faith (for however short period of time) since Christ died first. Thanks for these lessons from the road.
Bernie