“Independence Day: Place of the Skull”
We find Unity in the most unlikely Place of the Skull
From Luke 23:32-43
Grace comes when we permit the Holy Spirit to speak to us and through us.
📖 Galatians 3:28-29 (NLT) There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.
1. The Place of The Skull.
📖 Matthew 23:37 (NLT) “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.”
📖 Luke 23:33 (NLT) When they came to a place called The Skull they nailed him to the cross.
Notes Section:
2. The Criminals [Revolutionaries].
📖 Luke 23:32-42 (NLT) Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with [Jesus]…And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left…One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”
📖 Matthew27:44 (ESV) Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way.
Notes Section:
3.The Leaders.
📖 Luke 23:35 (NLT) The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
📖 Matthew 16:21 (NLT) From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.
📖 Romans 3:19 (NLT) Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God.
Notes Section:
4. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
📖 Luke 23:34, 40 (NLT) Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing!”…But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God?”
📖 John 3:16 (NLT) For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
📖 John 17:1 (NLT) Father, the hour has come.
📖 Hebrews 12:24 (NLT) You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.
📖 Luke 23:45 (NLT) The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle.
InEquities in the Kingdom?
A. Parable of the Hired Hands in the Fields.
Hired hands in field with Equal Pay. (Matthew 20:1-16)
B. Parable of the Talents.
📖 Matthew 25:14-30 (NLT) Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man…Look, here is your money back.’…“Then the Master ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver.. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'”
📖 Genesis 1:27 (NLT) So God created human beings[a] in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
📖 Galatians 5:1 (NLT) So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
Notes Section:
5. Sons and Daughters of Cain.
📖 Luke 23:32, 43 (NLT) Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”… “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
📖 Genesis 3:15 (NLT) And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Notes Section:
Sermon in a Sentence:
This is your Independence Day: I accept Jesus’ forgiveness from the Cross. I want to stand up to voices that mock You and accuse me. I confess my sins against You and my neighbor. Remember me today and put Your life in me. Redeem me from this Crooked Generation and from slavery to sin. In Jesus’ name, I pray today, Amen.
Notes Section:
