MESSAGES:
1- MCF MESSAGE TO THE YOUTH OF TODAY
2- THE SEVEN PASSION WORDS ON THE CROSS
MCF MESSAGE TO THE YOUTH OF TODAY
Youths of today are tomorrow’s people they are future leaders and therefore, the period of their lives between childhood and maturity is indeed very important. Life decisions are being made at this stage, because they are moving from childhood to young adulthood. They begin to think about higher education, having a good job, marriage and other major important decisions. And if their lives are not properly in check, they miss the right path in life. It is a crucial stage of youth life and testing process in which they want to prove what they have been told and have learned from childhood. The decisions they make affect their lives in the future. If they make right decisions it would lead them to a bright future, but if they make wrong decisions their lives become uncertain. Their behaviour determines the next generation. The future depends upon the youths of today.
Therefore MCF would like to encourage the youths out there that society needs them. They are special people and must lay down future foundation to build a better world. This is a great task awaiting them. The right path to a destiny is not found in immoral lifestyles, such as drinking, smoking and having sex at early stage in life. These habits would lead them into destruction and disappointed. They should be very careful in chosen friends, because “bad company corrupts good character.” (1 Corinthians 15:33) Drinking leads to poor decisions making, smoking brings diseases and in-mature sexual choices also cause HIV infections. The sad thing in the world today is that it should be the young who buries the old, but instead it is the old who are burying the young. Young people are not enjoying a full life, but are dying very young.
However, there is hope for them in Christ. If they turn to Him, and involve themselves in Church activities by learning Christian Education, their lives would not end in failure. For this reason God sent His Son into to world. “For God so loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.”(John 3:16) Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.”(Matthew 11:28) It is our prayer that the youths of today would draw near to Jesus, fill by the Holy Spirit, and dwell under the shadow of the Almighty God in Jesus name.
Pastor Francis Asante-Boadu
MCF
THE SEVEN PASSION WORDS ON THE CROSS
Jesus’ First Word from the Cross:
Pilate wanted to set Jesus free, so he appealed to the crowd again. But they shouted back, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them the third time, “But what crime has he committed? I cannot find anything he has done to deserve death! I will have him whipped and set him free.” But they kept on shouting at the top of their voices that Jesus should be crucified, and finally their shouting succeeded. So Pilate passed the sentence on Jesus that they were asking for. He set free the man they wanted, the one who had been put in prison for riot and murder, and he handed Jesus over for them to do as they wished.
JESUS IS CRUCIFIED
The soldiers led Jesus away, and as they were going, they met a man from Cyrene named Simon who was coming into the city from the country. They seized him, put the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large crowd of people followed him; among them were some women who were weeping and wailing for him. Jesus turned to them and said, “Women of Jerusalem! Don’t cry for me but for yourselves and your children. For the days are coming when people will say, ‘How lucky are the women who never had children, who never bore babies, who never nursed them! That will be the time when people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us! And to the hills, ‘Hide us! For if such things as these are done when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” Two other men, both of them criminals, were also led out to be put to death with Jesus. When they came to the place called “The Skull,” they crucified Jesus there, and the two criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. Jesus said, “Forgive them, Father! They don’t know what they are doing.”(Luke 23:20-34)
Jesus’ Second Word from the Cross:
One of the criminals hanging there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” The other one, however, rebuked him saying “Don’t you fear God? You received the same sentence he did. Ours, however, is only right, because we are getting what we deserve for what we did; but he has done no wrong.” And he said to Jesus “Remember me, Jesus, when you come as King!” Jesus said to him, “I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me.”(Luke 23:39-43)
Jesus’ Third Word from the Cross:
Standing close to Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there; so he said, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” (John 19:25-27)
Jesus’ Fourth Word from the Cross:
At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?” (Mark 15:33-34)
Jesus’ Fifth Word from the Cross:
Jesus knew that by now everything had been completed; and in order to make the scripture come true, he said, “I am thirsty.” (John 19:28)
Jesus’ Sixth Word from the Cross:
A bowl was there, full of cheap wine mixed with vinegar, so a sponge was soaked in it, put on a stick of hyssop and lifted up to his lips. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished!” (John 19:29-30)
Jesus’ Seventh Word from the Cross:
Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father! In your hands I place my spirit! (Luke 23:46)