I want to begin by reading for you again two statements from our text.  The first one comes at the beginning:  Saul was breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord. (v. 1)  And at the end of our text we are told, Immediately [Saul] began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues saying, He is the Son of God. (v. 20)  Stop for a moment to appreciate what we have here!  At the beginning of our text, Saul hates Jesus!  And he hates the followers of Jesus!  So much so that his goal and mission is arresting Christians and threatening them with death unless they renounce faith in Jesus.  And at the end of our text, Saul is standing up publicly proclaiming for all to hear that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God!

Are any of you here today Marvel fans?  The Marvel movies or Marvel comics?  If you are, maybe you are familiar with one of the super-villains in the Marvel franchise.  The villain I am referring to is named Thanos.  Thanos first appeared in a comic book back in 1973.  Thanos is generally a bad guy.

At the center of our meditation tonight is one word: “covenant.” “Covenant” is a very important word in the Bible. In fact, the Bible itself is divided into two main divisions, the Old Covenant (or more commonly called the Old Testament) and the New Covenant (or more commonly referred to as the New Testament). A “covenant” (or testament) is a formal, many times legally-binding, agreement between parties.

Tonight, as we finish our Lenten series in which we have been meditating on “The Hidden Glory of the Cross,” we come to a most unusual text. Our text tonight contains a dialogue that took place between the three men who were crucified on Good Friday. Does that strike you as at all odd? What would there be to “chat” about? What do you talk about when dying on a cross?

Pastor Scott Schwertfeger – Zion, Leeds is leading our Worship Service today.