When Open Door Baptist Church (Churchville, NY) invited Emily and me to their 2013 Missions Conference and asked me to preach, God began impressing upon my heart the topic of the cross of Christ. I started taking a closer look at the cross through the lens of scripture. Both testaments in God’s Word have much to say regarding the topic. Perhaps the most powerful of all the scriptures is Isaiah 53. The beautiful passage so specifically foretells of the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins. Intimately, the chapter connects the cross with us. It was “our” sin, “our” iniquity, “our” transgressions, “our” peace, “our” healing. It was truly “our” cross. Yet, Jesus willingly took it in order to complete a work we could never complete.  Praise His holy name!

A couple of weeks ago, as I prepared to head to New York, I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to take a break from our chapel series “Who are you?” and to share the message which I had prepared for the missions conference with our students in chapel. God used His Word in a mighty way at both our middle and high school chapels that week (you can read a specific testimony: https://pastordavidposton.wordpress.com/2013/10/14/how-big-is-our-god/ ) Again, God moved as I preached the sermon in New York. I considered briefly summarizing the sermon here on the blog for you, but decided that it would be nearly impossible for me to keep the summary concise. Fortunately, Open Door records their services and posts them online. If you have the time, you may view the video or listen to the audio  http://opendoorchili.org/sermons/SermonsV13.php?link=101313m2&title=Three%20Views%20of%20the%20Cross)

Mrs. Shannon Bailey, our new media communications instructor at ACS, has been gracious enough to allow me to work with some of her students in preparing media for use in chapel. Our goal is to eventually record the chapel services so that our parents and friends can have access to them online. In the meantime, please know that you are always welcome to attend chapel. Please simply check in with the front office to receive a visitor’s pass before heading to the drama center.  Feel free to notify me that you are planning to come and I will make sure you have a seat reserved among the teachers.