#7 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. Luke 23:44-46

When the hour was both literally and figuratively the most dark, Jesus final words from the cross are a reminder for us. Father into your hands I commit my spirit. With his last breath Jesus acknowledges that God is in control of everything. Jesus, the son, yields himself entirely to the care of the Father. He does not say Father receive my Spirit as did Stephen cried while he was being murdered, but Jesus says Father I give you my spirit. Evil may have appeared to have won the battle, but has not one the war. With this statement we see the reunion of the Father and the Son, Jesus no longer suffering the wrath of God on our behalf, but beginning his return home.

Only the hands of God can protect our spirit from the harms of this life. No other place will satisfy. The right political party cannot save you. The right spouse cannot save you. Your children turning out all right cannot save you. Going to the right church cannot save. Saying the right prayer cannot save you. Only throwing yourself into the hands of God can save you. For years you may have been fighting with him, but let me assure you, your arms are far too short.

Let this be the time that you surrender. Tonight, you have nothing, just as the thief who hung on the cross unable to do anything but breath his last breath, there is nothing of worth that you can bring to God. Begin your return home, recognize your need for God in you life, and give him control.

In the movie 21 Grams Sean Penn plays the part of a heart transplant patient who’s body rejects the new heart. When his symptoms first come up he visits the doctor and the doctor explains that he is a walking time bomb and things are only going to get worse and tells him to check in to the hospital. And Sean Penn ask this question, “Can you save me?” Not can you guarantee that I will live, “Can you save me?” And the doctor says I can guarantee that you will be comfortable but I cannot guarantee that you will be saved. The world tells us that it can make us comfortable, but our heart rejects it. It is like when Christ said to Saul, It is hard for you kick against the goads. Christ does not promise us that we will be comfortable, but he does guarantee that we will be saved.

#5 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled saith, I thirst.” John 19:28


The shortest of all the sayings of Jesus from the cross, “I thirst” is only one word in the Greek, and though you may be tempted to think short and sweet. This saying is as bitter as the vinegar offered to him to satisfy. “I thirst”, proves that Jesus who hung on the cross was no mere phantom or spirit, but suffered the most carnal of human appetite. For while a person may live for many weeks without food, it is only eight to ten days without water before the average person dies. Water makes up the majority of bodies, and is at the core of our needs as mammals.

The next time you have been out riding your bike or exercising and you are thirsty remember these words of Jesus. God who became man, who identifies with every experience you go through as a person. It is remarkable and an unbelievable story. God who created the entire ocean, who provides the snow that during the spring melts and supplies our entire state with water, is thirsty.

Just a shocking is that while Jesus spoke to the woman at the well he says, “Whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” It is only through Jesus becoming thirsty, the one who refers to Himself as the Living Water that, anyone can be satisfied.

For Jesus what it meant for Him to believe the Gospel was for him to deny everything. He denied every right and privilege that was his to take. When God asked, “Who should save humanity?” And the choir of angels stood silent throughout all of heaven, it was the Son of God a king in his own right who stepped forward and took the responsibility to become man and save humanity. At his birth there was no room for him at the inn, he lived a life with no where to lay his head, and now at his death there is not even a cold glass of water to satisfy his thirst. Those who he came to save rejected, mocked, cursed, and crucified Him. And the vinegar given to him by the soldier was far too small a token, only highlighting the humiliation of Jesus the King.

Even now Jesus is thirsty. If you remember in Luke 22, at the last supper, Jesus once again in his life denies himself. This time it is the last cup of a series of cups at the Passover meal. You see the last cup of Passover is the cup of blessing, and Jesus says to his disciples I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God. But he passes the cup and encourages them to drink. Jesus says, you believe the Gospel, take all the blessing of God, drink of living water, all that I have is yours. But for me I will wait and my thirst will remind me of you until we celebrate that blessed day in heaven. He is awaiting our reunion with him. It is only because Jesus denied himself what the body craved, that you and I may have the thirst of our soul quenched.

#3 So Jesus seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his family. John 19:26-27

No event is more tragic for a parent than witnessing the death of his or her child. Mary sat at the foot of the cross while Jesus died. Jesus had suffered in a similar way during his earthly ministry through the death of His best friend Lazarus. Remember after Lazarus had died and Jesus met Mary in front of the house, we are told that Jesus wept. Though he suffered terribly by this point Jesus still could identify and sympathize with His mother’s pain.

In speaking these words to John and His mother, Jesus provides them with a way to deal with their grief. These few words by Jesus totally redefine who our family is. It is not as if Mary was left childless for we know that Jesus had at least one brother, who was James. So there must have been some other reason for Jesus’ words. This statement by Jesus from the cross is the practical application of his words from Luke 8:19-21 “His mother came to him and his brothers also, and they were unable to get to him because of the crowds. And it was reported to him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see you.” But he answered and said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

The relationships that impact you the most throughout your life are those of you family, whether for good or evil. Some of you in this room had very loving fathers and mothers while others of you would crumble if anyone knew the acts that went on with your family. In no way do Jesus’ words diminish the role of our blood relationships (for we are still to uphold the sixth commandment to Honor your Mother and Father), but these words do exalt the relationships that we have within the Church. From now on it is not only the responsibility of Mary’s blood relatives to help her emotionally, physically, and spiritually. But for all those who call themselves followers of Christ including John must take on this responsibility.

A friend of mine here at All Nations, when I asked him the other day why is it that he stays at All Nations answered, “This is my family.” This does not mean that the family of God is any more functional than your natural family. There will still be misunderstandings, sometimes you won’t like the way the furniture is arranged, and sometimes there will be fights. In the words of Augustine, “The church is a whore, but she is my mother.” We are to be long suffering with each other, quick to repentance, and always speaking the truth in love. The most important difference between your natural family and the family of God is that no matter what you have done or ever do, you are not kick out of the house.

#1- Father, Forgive them for they know not what they do. Luke 23:34

The same words Jesus spoke to the disciples as he taught them to pray, Father, the same words that Jesus prayed while in the garden of Gesetheme as he prepared to face the wrath of God, Father, the same word I am sure he utter thousands of times as He went off away from the crowds early in the morning to pray, Father. Is it any wonder that this man who’s entire life was define by prayer, rather than screaming a grown or curse, prays in his first words from the cross.

And rather than praying an imprecatory prayer, which calls God to take victory over his enemies by destroying them as we read in the psalms, and rather than a prayer of despair or blame toward God. Jesus prays to God as His Father, still recognizing His position as a Son who is loved, even in the most terrible of circumstances.

How often when we are in difficult circumstances do we blame God. God why did you make me lose my job, I do not know where my next pay check is going to come from. God why did you take away my loved one, I may never love again. God why did you allow me to be abused, I will never recover because of what has been done to me. After he had been physically tortured, after nails had been driven through his wrists and feet, after His cross had been raised and dropped into the ground, and after the joints of his body had dislodged, the first words out of his lips are a prayer for others.

Jesus in his matchless love spies out a reason for mercy; ignorance. “They know not what they do.” How great our saviors love that as he hung on the tree he pleads on our behalf. For ignorance of the law does not make you above the law and though ignorant you must still receive forgiveness. It is as if you get a ticket for parking at a broken parking meter and your only defense is that you did not know that was illegal. You will still have to pay the fine. Whether you grew up in the church or not or whether you ever read the bible or not. God’s law has been broken and it demands that his wrath must be satisfied. Will you choose to suffer the penalty on your own or allow Jesus to suffer it on your behalf?

No prayer in the Bible do we have greater evidence of being answered than this one. It is as if Jesus through a stone into a lake forming at first a narrow circle and then a wider ring, and soon a larger sphere until the whole lake is covered with circling waves. After Jesus death on the cross we have the testimony of the Roman soldier. At the day of Pentecost, with the coming of the Holy Spirit, we are told that three thousand repented and were baptized, through out the Roman empire through the ministry of the disciples, through the rest of history through the acts of Christian martyrs and missionaries, you and I being here tonight is God’s answer to this prayer that Jesus uttered while on the cross. Praise be to the God who answered Jesus prayer.

Last Sunday was very chaotic. With Lewis getting over tonsillitis and strep throat, and myself suffering over a cold, we not only had the normal responsibilities of church but many others. I was working on the final touches of the promotional video I will be using for fundraising, Karin had to go to a performance so Aidyn was running around, and we had a Vision Class for those who are new to the church.

Praise God instead of having fifteen like we had expected we had twenty people in the class, which contributed to getting things set because we had to be sure we had all the materials for everyone. This class was by far the largest in attendance in the four year history of All Nations. We were overwhelmed by God's graciousness in leading all these people to our church.

The sweetest moment of the class was when we were covering the values of All Nations. After diversity, authenticity is listed as a core value. "In a world discouraged and made skeptical by phonies, we will be a place known for honesty, transparency, and vulnerability." The description goes on, but before I could finish covering it Margaret, a lady from Kenya spoke. She recalled the first time she came to All Nations. Her eyes filled with tears as she recalled the smiling faces, the hugs, and the warm welcome that the people of our church offered her. She said, "They had no idea whether I was a thief who came to rob them or what, but they embraced me with the love of Christ."

We know that without the work of God we will not be able to make an impact on the city of Oakland or achieve any of the values that we have laid out for our church. Yet he has begun the work. When people who look and are very different from us come into our church and they sense the love of Christ, it is clear that he is alive and at work. Praise Him for the work he is doing at All Nations, and what a blessing it is to be a part of it.

Talking with Vu about baptism would have been enough for me to celebrate the All Nations Visitor dessert that we hosted, but the fact that we had thirty people at the dessert was amazing. There were a few moles present but over all the majority of people were new to the All Nations Community. A mole is someone representing one of our Community Groups or who is just fun to have at functions like that.

The highlight for me of the evening was when we sat in one very large circle which took up our entire living room and dining room and people told how they had come to find out about All Nations. Mark and Karen Yolton had what is to me the most touching story of them all. Karen said that she grew up Catholic and only went to church on Christmas. But each Christmas she would take her children to a different church to show them that God is in all churches. This past Christmas her grown children and her grandchildren came to All Nations with her and her husband Mark. Now I remember this service and I remember them specifically. It was easy to remember them because we had very few people from our congregation present and I remember part of the service going terribly wrong. Now Karen's experience was very different from my own. She said walking into All Nations that night she felt something. She realized all of these years that she had not been going to church just to show her children that God is in all churches, but that she was searching for a spiritual home. She went home that night and was changed. Yet she didn't say anything. The power of the Holy Spirit was obvious when her husband the next morning (Christmas Day) said to her we need to go back to that church.

Praise God that He moved in their hearts dispite our efforts. I am often amazed that God uses the most feeble of our actions for His good. The Yolton's are becoming members of All Nations and continue to be a blessing to our community.

I cannot begin to explain how exciting the past few weeks has been as I have been ministering the Gospel here in Oakland, and how we have seen very clearly God answer prayer. Just a few weeks ago I was sharing the Gospel with Vu, a young man who is a structural engineer and navy reservist. It was during that conversation that he said to me, "Mike is sounds like everything I want, but my heart is just numb." I assured him that God promises to take our hearts of stone and turn them into hearts of flesh.

Vu and I had a few more conversations yet the confusion was still there, yet he continued to come to church and is a part of our family. It was during this time that I was having it out with God. Not just over Vu, but with all the people who I had been sharing the Gospel with, it seemed that God was not changing their hearts. And if my theology teaches me one thing it is that I am not responsible to change a persons heart, only God can do that. I was seriously wondering why God was not doing it.

Two Friday's ago we hosted a BBQ. At one point in the night I walked outside and found Vu by himself in our back yard. When I asked him what he was doing he said, "Mike, I am out here praying to my heavenly Father asking him to show me what I am supposed to do with my life. I want Jesus to guide me and direct me." I yelled at him and said Vu you sound like a Christian. He looked at me and said that he had surrendered and realized he cannot do it on his own.

The next night I was going out with Vu to celebrate our worship leader's birthday. When I got into his car on the floor was a John Piper book. I asked Vu how he heard of John Piper and he said he is a Minneapolis pastor. I told him I knew who John Piper was but I wanted to know how he found out. He told me that he went to the Christian book store and had been reading that book everyday at lunch! I told him he better cut it out or soon he was going to know more than I do.

At our visitor's dessert for All Nations that we hosted at our house that same Sunday, Vu, Lewis, and I talked about baptism. This Sunday Vu will be baptized. God has been faithful. The reason that we are ministering here in Oakland is to see those who have never been in church before in their life come to know Christ. Both Karin and I are so excited and thankful for what God has done and we anticipate that this is the beginning of many here in the Bay Area coming to know the Lord.