The service began with the Psalm 29, the Gloria Patri and the hymn of praise was "Lift High the Cross." We had words of joy and testimony, and special music. "Kum ba yah" was performed by Marci Schneider, a junior church member. A selection from Handel's Messiah was performed by Barbara Bond, and accompanied by Nancy Schneider.
The sermon was based on Acts, verses 14 through 24. Pastor Robbie asked "What is the worst thing you have ever done?" He said that, whatever it may be, we are all absolved from our sin through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
Ac 2:14
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
Ac 2:15
For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
Ac 2:16
But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
Ac 2:17
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Ac 2:18
And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Ac 2:19
And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Ac 2:20
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
Ac 2:21
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Ac 2:22
Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
Ac 2:23
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
Ac 2:24
Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
Pastor Robbie said that the scriptures make it clear that we are all guilty for the crucifiction of Christ. He also said that Christ is the Greek word meaning "annointed One" and Messiah is the Hebrew term for the same thing. This the worst thing we have ever done - nailing Christ to the cross, even if we did not pound in the nails ourselves. Jesus died to atone for our sins, pride, or whatever they may be - even the worst thing you can imagine. Jesus forgave many sins, and He forgives ours.
The crucifixion exists outside of time, and atones for all of our sins - when we ask sincerely for forgiveness in the name of the Lord.
Ro 3:23
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Pastor Robbie said that just as the physical body sometimes must be brought to its lowest point in order for healing to begin, so it is with the spiritual body. The evil we have done was absorbed and forgiven by Christ's death on the Cross. We now must earn that forgiveness by calling out God's name and praising Him in everything we do.
The closing hymn was "Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross."
