Currently - The Cross Encountered

“The Cross Encountered”

Who was this Man, Jesus? Why has His life impacted so many hundreds of millions of people around the world in the past 2000 years? What can explain this phenomenon? Is there a “pattern” to being encountered by Him or is He eternally creative and resourceful? The truth is that every “encounter” with Jesus is unique and special.

The word encountered carries several different connotations. It could be accidently bumping into a stranger on the street or in a lobby. It can mean being introduced to someone new who may have little if any impact on your life, or it could be a “once-in-a-lifetime” encounter that changes you forever. Maybe it was meeting the person whom you would one day marry, or someone with whom you would forge a life-long friendship. However it occurs, it has a result – for good or bad. With God there are no “casual” encounters. He is seeking us out, looking for us so that He can transform us and use us for the glory of His Kingdom.

Over the next six weeks we will look at men and women who encountered Jesus on the road to the Cross and after the Resurrection. We will look at their lives before they encountered Him, how He impacted them and what that impact had on them and those around them. In the process we hope to remind ourselves about the time we first encountered Jesus and how that encounter eternally transformed us.

What were the circumstances when you first realized that Jesus knew you and wanted to have an intimate relationship with you? What did it mean when you began to understand how this relationship brought you into a much greater “family” – the family of God? What did it mean to you that the God of the universe knew you, loved you and wanted to have a deeply personal relationship with you – in spite of what you – and He - knew about yourself?

In addition to the biblical characters we will meet during this sermon series we are also going to introduce you to several people in our church family whose “encounters” with Jesus radically transformed their lives. We will “tell” their stories during the messages and share them on our web site. These stories are not meant to lift up the individuals but to lift up the One Who lifted them up! You will be able to find these stories at: www.olivetwichita.com. Take time to read these stories and rejoice in the One Who seeks us out so that He might make us new.

In the weeks leading up to Easter we will introduce you to these men and women who were transformed by encountering Jesus as He walked purposefully and obediently to the Cross. Their stories will challenge you and encourage you—and…their stories get to become our stories! They will help us remember the One Who went to the Cross so that you could experience new life and forgiveness.

So, we invite you to encounter the Cross all over again. The Cross of Jesus is still encountering people today. It calls and beckons to all to come and die daily. We invite you to have a fresh encounter with the Cross—and be changed! Join us as we see The Cross Encountered this Easter season. Invite friends and family to join you. Pray that they, too, will be encountered by the Lord Jesus Christ and be transformed!