The Activation of the Cross

Returning to the Cross Sermon Series

“The Activation of the Cross”

KEY PASSAGE: 1 John 1:5–10 (NASB)

Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open this morning, all desires are known, and from whom no secrets are covered, I pray that You cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, that we may love You with all our heart, soul, and mind. This expresses our deep commitment to love You entirely—emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. We magnify Your holy name through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray, and everyone says, Amen. You may be seated.

THE LORD’S SUPPER – COMMUNION SERVICE  

The Lord’s Supper: Is A Celebration of God‘s Gift  [And every first Sunday we serve you Communion]  Matthew 26:26-29 (NASB) 26 Now while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it with you, new, in My Father’s kingdom.”

Jesus took two elements from the Passover feast, the unleavened bread and the cup. Jesus used these two elements to picture His death on the Cross. The broken bread picture, His body given for the sins of this world. The “fruit of the vine” in Matthew 26:29 pictured His blood, shed for the remission of sins.

Let us pray. 

O LORD, we praise You for the gift of Your Son Christ Jesus, who died upon the Cross. We do not presume to come to Your table trusting in our righteousness but in Your mercy. I pray that You forgive our transgressions, cleanse our hearts, and put a new spirit within us. Now, make us aware of the presence of our living Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.

· The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is given for us. Let us eat together.

· The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which we have the forgiveness of sins. Let us drink together. 

TITHE and OFFERING

We will call on the ushers to pass around the offering plates so we can collect our tithe and offering. The worship team will lead us [again] with a song as we collect our tithes and offerings.

PRAYER FOR TITHE and OFFERING

O LORD, our Heavenly Father, who has freely given us all things through Jesus Christ, Your Son, accept these gifts that we bring, and give us Your grace, that we may surrender ourselves completely unto You. I pray that You use our gifts and abilities to honor Your kingdom. In the name of Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen.

WELCOME

Welcome, everyone, to our Sunday Worship Service. Please stand up, greet some folks around you, and welcome them to worship. Our first-time visitors, please stand so we can see you. We also welcome all who join us online.

ANNOUNCEMENT

·  Wednesday Night [Remember] is our Bible Study Connect at 7:00 p.m. Please join us this Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. for a time of learning, fellowship, and spiritual growth. We are almost done with the Book of First Corinthians. We have two chapters left, and we will start the Book of First Samuel next month. Next Sunday, May 11, 2025, we will pause our sermon series on the Cross to observe Mother’s Day, a time to honor and celebrate mothers. We are blessed to have Paula Shelton minister to us and bring a special message for the occasion.

· Our Corporate Meeting is every Saturday at 8:00 a.m. If you have a prayer request, please complete the online or in-person prayer request form so we can pray for you.

DECLARATION of FAITH in GOD

Let us stand and say the Declaration of Faith in God together. Please remain standing as we pray.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Please close your eyes, and let us pray. Heavenly Father, may Your Word go forth with power and clarity, and may the Holy Spirit illuminate truth in every heart. Let Your truth penetrate hearts and transform lives. I ask that Your Word be clear this morning; every hearer may receive it with understanding. May Your Holy Spirit take full authority, teaching us and unveiling the true meaning of Scripture. May this moment be filled with Your presence, bringing revelation, conviction, and transformation. I pray for a fruitful and Spirit-led message today! In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

SERMON INTRODUCTION

We are halfway through our sermon series, “Returning to the Cross.” As we continue today, I want to focus on a crucial question: How do we activate the reality of the Cross in our lives? [You see] It is one thing to acknowledge the Cross, to sing about Cross, or to speak of its significance. But how do we experience the Cross power personally, so [deeply] that the Cross transforms us intellectually or emotionally, spiritually, and practically? To activate the Cross in our lives, we must move beyond observation and embrace the Cross reality through:

1. Total Surrender and Faith – By this, I mean the Cross becomes real when we fully trust in Jesus, surrender our self-sufficiency, and embrace His grace as the foundation of our lives.

2. Living by the Spirit – We experience the Cross when we walk in the Spirit, letting Jesus shape our thoughts, guide our actions, and transform our hearts.

3. Deep Communion with Christ – You heard me say throughout this sermon series that the Cross is not just an event but a gateway to fellowship with God.

4. Sacrificial Living – The Cross calls us to embody Christ’s love, humility, and servanthood, turning our faith into action by forgiving, serving, and reflecting God’s grace to others.

5. The Cross gives us Victory Over Sin and Fear – When the Cross is active in our lives, we do not simply acknowledge its victory—we walk in that victory. Sin loses its grip, fear loses power, and faith takes its rightful place.

SERMON EXPOSITION

The Book of 1 John is the most compelling New Testament writing on experiencing God’s reality. The summary word in the Book of 1 John is the word … ‘fellowship.’ In 1 John, chapter 1, verse 3, John says, “What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

The word fellowship is an important word in the vocabulary of a Christian. The doctrinal foundation of all true fellowship is the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Fellowship means “to have in common.” The word fellowship, or Koinonia, is a Greek phrase … it means to have or share something in common. Koinōnia means we share something in common with God. Fellowship with God goes beyond just believing in Him—it is about actively sharing in God’s presence, His purpose, and His life. It means walking closely with God.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION 1

Carpooling is an excellent example [excellent illustration] of fellowship—it is more than just sharing a ride; it is sharing the experience, the cost, and the journey [together]. You are riding with someone else to share the gasoline and the vehicle. That is what fellowship means: to hold something in common and share the experience of it. As sinners, we have nothing in common with a holy God. But God, in His grace and mercy, sent Jesus Christ to have something in common with us.

In chapter 1, verse 4, John says, “These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.” Another translation says, “I am writing you that your joy may be full.” John says he has full joy and that full joy comes because he has fellowship with God. His joy will only be fulfilled when we (the people he is writing to) have that same fellowship with God. The problem in John’s writing is the problem that you and I have today. The listening people [the listening audience] are removed from the personal, physical experience with Jesus Christ. They haven’t met Jesus; they haven’t talked verbally to Jesus. They haven’t physically seen Jesus Christ. They didn’t do what the disciples did when they walked with Jesus.

That was not their experience. John says, ‘I am writing to you that the fellowship we had with Jesus, you have with Him too, even though you haven’t talked to Jesus, haven’t seen Jesus, haven’t walked with Jesus like we did, you still can have the same fellowship that we had with Jesus.’ And your joy can be full. And your joy can be complete. One of the ways you know that fellowship with God is real is that the joy is full. The joy is full; this volcanic eruption of the soul bringing you joy is operating within you; it is operational because this fellowship is so real. What is this joy? This joy is the tangible, grabbable realization that you are experiencing the life of God within.

The Greek word for joy is Chara, which means inner gladness and happiness. In the Bible, joy is tied to the idea of grace. In Luke 1:47, Mary declares: “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” showing how joy flows from an awareness of God’s grace. Likewise, Philippians 4:4 instructs believers to “Rejoice in the Lord always,” emphasizing that joy is a spiritual state tied to divine grace rather than external circumstances.

My point is that true joy is rooted in our fellowship with God. Joy does not depend on circumstances or happiness. Happiness depends upon happenings, but God’s joy in the believer’s heart overrides all. Joy is the experience of God within, regardless of what is going on without. John says, ‘I want you to have full joy!’ I want it to be complete!

SERMON EXPLANATION 1

In verses 5–10, John lays out the most graphic, substantive, potent, powerful description of how we experience the reality of God. How is this reality activated in our experience through this Koinonia, or fellowship experience with God? That you can find anywhere in the Bible. As we walk through this step-by-step teaching, my primary concern today is that you understand these verses. Verses 5–10 hold the key to activating the reality of the Cross in your life—not just acknowledging the Cross, but living in the power of the Cross. This is the heart of our sermon today. I want you to understand the meaning of the Cross, but I also want you to experience the power of the Cross in your personal Christian life.

Throughout 1 John, he consistently addresses his audience as “my little children,” because he is writing to Christians, his fellow believers. Verse 5, “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If you and I are to experience God, we must understand the God we wish to experience. He says, ‘Let me explain God to you so that there is no misunderstanding here—God is Light! ’ How much light? There is so much light that there is no room for darkness; it is complete, comprehensive light.

Paul calls it Unapproachable Light. Paul expands on this in 1 Timothy 6:16, describing God as dwelling in “unapproachable light”—a light so glorious, so radiant, that no human can fully comprehend or stand in God’s presence apart from God’s grace. For God, it is always 12 O’clock noon; it is never 12 O’clock midnight. God only exists in light. God only exists in light, which means He only operates in the realm in which He only exists.

God only exists in light, and that is His field of operation. God exists everywhere [Omnipresence – God is everywhere at all times; there is no place beyond His presence according to Psalm 139:7-10]. But when we talk about His field of operations, God is light. So, God operates in light. The contrast of that is Satan, who only operates in darkness. Satan only operates in darkness, and God only operates in the light. Now, light in its essence is pure, uncontaminated, clear, and clean. But while light is pure, uncontaminated, clear, and clean, it simultaneously exposes what is contaminated and unclear. But because light is pure and clean and illuminating, it exposes that which is impure, unclean, and needs to be illuminated. John wants you to know that the reality of light is the reality of God, and it is the sphere in which God operates. Because light is free from any defect or impurity, God is free from any impurity or defect. And so, to see God clearly, you must see Him in the context of the light in which He operates.

SERMON EXPLANATION 2

Having established God’s connection to light, John speaks to you and me. He says in verse 6, “If we say we have fellowship, we hold in common (with God), with Him, and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” He says, ‘If we say’ ‘I know God.’ You can say, ‘I am close to God.’ You can say, ‘I love God’ … you can say, you know..… ‘me and God, we are close; however you say it.

John says, ‘If you say we have fellowship with God, and yet we walk in darkness, ’ he says, ‘you are confused!’—We lie! He says, ‘I don’t know what you think you are experiencing, but it is not God because you are walking in a space [a sphere] in which God does not operate. Guess what. Far too many Christians deceive themselves, claiming to have fellowship with God while they continue to walk in darkness. Because verse 5 says, ‘God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.’ So if we are operating in darkness, [Watch This], we are not experiencing light because that is not where God is operating.

One of the main reasons we are not experiencing more of God is that we are operating in a space where God is not. John says we lie. No matter how nice or good it sounds, to walk is to live in or operate in. That is the concept of walking in the Bible. You cannot claim, I cannot claim fellowship with God while operating in darkness. When we operate in the sphere of darkness, we leave the room where God is. We walk into another room, and God is not in that room.

When you trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you had a legal relationship with Jesus. But you may not be experiencing intimate fellowship with Jesus. God is Light; there is no darkness in Him—if we say, ‘me and God are doing fine. But when you operate in darkness, you are lying. Far too many of us come to church week after week, professing faith while still walking in darkness—living as spiritual liars before God. Scripture declares, ‘God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all’according to 1 John 1:5.

SERMON EXPLANATION 3

He says, ‘We lie and do not practice the truth.’ In verse 7, “but if we walk in the Light as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” “We have fellowship with one another.” Those who walk in the light, that is, those who are Christians because John is writing to Christians, have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses them from all sins. [With one another] is not a believer to another believer. But one another is God, because that is the fellowship John talks about.

What is the thing we have in common with God? Light! God is light. God operates in light; so, when we walk in light, we have fellowship with the One who is light. We have fellowship with one another! “And the Blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.” This verse is powerful and profound—it cuts through deception and exposes the life-changing reality of true fellowship with God. The songwriter says, ‘The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power.’ When John wrote 1 John 1:7, Jesus had already died, risen, and ascended, but His blood remained fully effective to cleanse, redeem, and restore us. John’s words emphasize that the power of the Cross is not bound by time. John wants his audience to know, and us to know … two thousand years ago, that the Blood of Jesus is still working. And the Blood is the Cross; the Cross is where Jesus shed His Blood. The Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sins.

One of the reasons why many Christians are living in defeat rather than victory is that we are functioning in a location where the Blood of Jesus is not operating. The Blood of Jesus is not a historical event confined to the past. According to verse 7, the Blood straightens things up with folks who are in the light, not for folks who are in the darkness. [Not for folks who are living and walking in the darkness.]

SERMON ILLUSTRATION 2

If you are walking in darkness, the blood of Jesus is still powerful and working, but it does not operate in the darkness. We cannot be cleansed while remaining in sin and darkness, trying to receive purification in a place where the light of God is absent. The Cross and the blood of Jesus are active in the light, calling us to step out of darkness and into God’s truth. The Cross is the Blood of Jesus Christ, which cleanses us from all sin. One of the greatest struggles among Christians at every level is the attempt to repair ourselves in the darkness. There is no power in the darkness, and the Cross does not operate in darkness. A church without light is without the active work of the Cross; the same is true in an individual’s Christian life.

SERMON APPLICATION 1

When we go to the darkness and not to the light, we cut off the Cross supply, and the Cross loses its power. The Cross loses its power not in actuality, but in our experience. We do not experience the power of the Cross even though we sing the song, ‘There is Power in the Blood’, because we are operating in a room where God is not operating. The Blood of Jesus Christ, the work of the Cross, is like an X-ray machine or seeing the dentist and having your teeth X-rayed. It reveals things that brushing your teeth won’t show you. The Blood of Jesus Christ will address what God shows you so that you are now operating in the light of God. The blood of Jesus brings us into the light. The Blood of Jesus exposes sin, reveals truth, and calls us into true fellowship with God. That keeps the Cross alive and working as we maintain this exposure to God and give God freedom to shine His light on us.

SERMON EXPLANATION 4

The best way you can start your day is by saying…. “Lord, expose me to You!” David’s prayer in Psalm 139:23-24 says: “Search me, God, and know my heart; Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there is any hurtful way in me,  And lead me in the everlasting way.” I give You God the right to expose me to You. When you honestly and uprightly say that to God, you are now in God’s room where God operates. Fellowship with God requires that we acknowledge the truth concerning ourselves. Verse 8, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

The Scripture says we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we think being in the light means there is no sin, we don’t understand the light. We deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If anyone thinks they can keep from sinning, the truth is not in them; that person is utterly deceived.

Sin is imperfection. Sin is coming short of God’s glory and perfection. That means we miss the mark of God’s glory and perfection. This is the reason no person can ever live with God. God is perfect; therefore, only perfection can live in God’s presence. The person who thinks that they can control sin enough to become adequate to God has a low view of God and a high view of themselves.

The resolution [the promise that assures us that God’s faithfulness meets our repentance] is in verse 9. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so He will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The Greek word ‘confess’ means ‘to say the same thing.’ To confess something is to agree with God about what He says it is. It is to say the same thing God says, which means if God calls it sin, you cannot call it something else. If God calls it sin, you cannot reduce it to a mistake.

If God calls it sin, you cannot reduce it to a bad habit. If God calls it sin, you cannot say, ‘This is my personality.’ If God calls it sin, you cannot say, “This is how my parents raised me. ‘Or, I was raised this way.’ If God calls it sin, you cannot say ‘I can’t help it.’ If God calls it sin, you cannot say, ‘everybody does it. ’ If God calls it sin, you must say the same thing God says! You must agree with God that it is sin.

If we confess our sins (John used the word sin), make it plural. He says if we confess the sins (the individual things God reveals), not ‘Lord, I confess everything bad I said yesterday.’ Confession is to say the same thing, so God shows me something that I have done that is not consistent with Your character, based on the light that You shine on me. And when you agree with God that it is sin, the Blood of Jesus Christ has been activated. And once you come to the Light, the Blood of Jesus Christ starts flowing, and when you agree with God, the Blood forgives your sin.

The Blood of Jesus Christ, the Cross of Christ, will cleanse you from stuff you forgot. He closes with this statement in verse 10, “If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and the Word is not in us.” If God reveals something in the light, but you deny it or dismiss it as nothing is wrong, you reject God’s truth and resist God’s correction. If God shows you in the Light, you say, “Well, it is not that bad!” … If God shows you in the Light and you say, ‘everybody does it.’ If God shows you in the light and you say, ‘Well, … there is nothing wrong with me, that is just my background history and personality.’

John says, ‘You just told God, God, you are a bold-faced cosmic liar.’ I don’t know who is big enough or bad enough to go up into God’s grill [into God’s face], and to tell God that “you are a liar! John says, “You called God a liar!’ But Romans 3:4 says, “Let God be true but every man a liar.” How will God fellowship with folks [who are] up in His face, telling Him He is a liar?

FAITH APPEAL, CALL to ACTION, and ALTAR CALL

John says, If you say, ‘I have not sinned, ’ you made God a liar! The truth is not in you, because you are operating in darkness. I will close with First John Chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. “My little children, [Christians – members of the family of God], I am writing these things to you so you may not sin.” I am not telling you to go sin. But if you do sin, we have an advocate, the word advocate means lawyer … with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous—which is why the Blood keeps flowing, and Jesus Himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world.

God says, if you will acknowledge what I say about you, the lawyer will stand up in the courtroom. Jesus Christ, the Advocate who died on the Cross, will say, “God, they just acknowledged to You what You said about them is right and that they were wrong, so I stand up in the court because I am Your Son. And because I am Righteous, I am qualified to stand before You, and I want to let You know I have already dealt with what they just confessed on the Cross. Jesus intercedes before the Father, saying, “I want You to maintain fellowship with them. I want You to keep working with them. I want You to keep empowering them. And I want You to keep blessing them.” And God responds, “Because of My Son Jesus, I have removed your sins so that You and I may continue in fellowship.” John says this is how the Cross is activated. The Cross is the bridge that keeps us connected to the living and righteous God, ensuring that fellowship with God is never broken. God bless you!

If you are here today and don’t know Jesus, I want you to come to the Cross, give your life to Christ, and trust Jesus to be your Savior. If you need prayer, please come forward so we can pray for you.  Let’s stand on our feet.

BENEDICTION [CLOSING PRAYER]

Join me in prayer, please.

Father God, the God of light, as we contemplate this marvelous spiritual truth and foundation today, we want it to become a point of hard examination. We want to look at our own lives and say we are in the light, and we also want to say the light is in us. May we manifest the characteristics of that divine life, truth, and holiness. That is what John presents to us today. We know that all our sins in Christ are covered, and our willingness to confess proves that we have received eternal life. We thank You for giving us Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for our sin in full. We long for the day when we enter the whole light of eternal glory, where the longing for pure truth and pure virtue will be forever fulfilled in our lives. Until then, it is the pursuit of our hearts to know the truth, and that involves doing what You have asked us to do, confessing our sins, and bringing them before You now, thanking You that provision has been made through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior in His name, we pray. And everyone says, Amen.

God bless you. We will see you next week at 10:30 a.m.