GBC Community Update: More thoughts on why Jesus had to suffer

Good morning!  I hope you’re making this a great week!  I was on a call this morning with the head of our Ukraine team for Fellowship of Christian Athletes and that sure was eye opening. The things they’re going through in order to do what I take for granted was quite sobering. Perspective is a pretty amazing thing and sure helps me stay grounded. Where might you seek grounding, or perspective, today?
 
 
Last call for Oasis Leaders
This is your friendly reminder that OASIS camp volunteer applications are now due.  If you haven't sent Director Dan yours yet, please get it to him as soon as possible (ideally this week).  A great team is forming based on the applications received already, and it would be wonderful to have you as a part of it! 
Director Dan will be in touch with all of our volunteers in a few weeks with more details about camp and our upcoming training sessions.  Please don't hesitate to reach out to him in the meantime if you have any questions.  
 
 
Join us on Sunday in-person or on our livestream as we begin to prepare for Easter
We shift focus from our series on Romans to the essence of the firm foundation our faith stands on- what happened that first Easter weekend nearly 2000 years ago.
This year we will be sequentially following several key elements of the Easter story culminating in our celebration service on Easter Sunday, April 9.
This Sunday I will be kicking it off with an event people don’t always see as part of the Easter story-Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Yet it’s a critical element of what follows.  Find out why this Sunday.
If you’d like to prepare, you can read John 11:1-44
If you can’t make it you can connect through our website:  
www.guelphbiblechapel.ca  our YouTube channel as well as Facebook LIVE.
 
 
Thought for the Day: Why the need for the Easter sacrifice of Jesus? Pt.2
On Tuesday I looked at the idea of why Jesus had to go to the cross from the position of our legal standing. It’s important to understand that what happened at the cross was a legal proceeding like no other. God is victim, judge and defense counsel. It may seem a bit strange to us, but this is the way it must be. God is judge by right of creation. He made it all. He owns it all. He sets the rules in place for the governance of it all. God is also the victim here because, in spite of His right to require obedience, I have sinned again Him (and so have you!). I have refused to live according to the decrees of the Owner of all. He is the injured party in this proceeding.
But that verse I shared in Micah on Tuesday also tells me that God is the defense counsel. I discover that God is not simply the moral policeman of the universe. He is exactly as He describes Himself in Exodus 34:6 – compassionate and full of mercy. God steps in to plead my case when there is absolutely no excuse for my actions.
So, what does pleading mean when I am a confessed criminal? From my perspective, it can only mean one thing – a cry for a merciful verdict. In these circumstances, that’s all I could come up with. That, however, is not God’s way. God’s way is amazingly controversial, completely unanticipated and absolutely unique. The victim voluntarily dies in the place of the guilty. This is the whole creation turned upside-down. Nothing could have prepared us for this solution. The law is upheld. The judge is satisfied. The guilty are forgiven. Mercy triumphs over wrath without compromising justice.
That’s why we call it Good Friday and why we praise the God who died in our place. It’s the only reason we are free, that’s why there needed to be a cross, that’s why there needed to be an Easter sacrifice.  Pretty amazing, huh?
 
In His grip,
Pastor Chris