Key Life Network

Announcer: It's Friday, but Sunday's coming. Let's rejoice on Key Life.

Matthew: This is Key Life. We're here to let you know that because of what Jesus has done, God will never be angry at you again. Steve invited our friend Pete Allenson to do the teaching this week. Pete is a former pastor, founder of forgive truth.com, and the author of Like Father, Like Son.

Steve Brown: Thank you, Matthew. I love that sermon that Tony Campolo. You know, I miss him. I really did. We did not agree on anything but Jesus, but we talked a lot. I think I told you just before he died, he called me and he, he'd been doing really well, and he sounded really sick. And I realized when I heard that he died, that he called to say goodbye. And I miss him. He loved Jesus.

Matthew: You guys did so much together. You did TV together, you did radio together, you spoke at the same place.

Steve Brown: Yeah, we did a lot and I miss him because underneath all of what I felt were his silly political views. There was a reality, it's the reality that we're talking about all this week.

Matthew: Yep. Yep.

Steve Brown: But he preached a sermon. If you guys have never heard it, you can get it online where he, he was a member of a black church. And he preached a sermon in a black, one of the few remaining American art forms, African American preaching. He preached a sermon called, It's Friday, but Sunday's coming. And in that sermon, people joined in with him. Pretty soon as you get to the end, people are saying with him and shouting, It's Friday, but Sunday's coming.

Matthew: Oh man.

Steve Brown: So, that's, it is Friday. It's Good Friday.

Matthew: It's good Friday. Why do we call it Good Friday?

Steve Brown: I don't know, you know. Could you tell me?

Matthew: Well, because what happened on, on Good Friday when Jesus meets with his disciples and later is arrested, leads to all that is good for those of us who are saved by his work. And but this is where it all comes together.

On the previous Sunday, he rode into Jerusalem on the donkey and presented himself, and they was acclaimed. And then he taught his disciples, and he spent the week in preparing them for, for Friday. And then,

Steve Brown: Which was the Eucharist, the communion, the last supper.

Matthew: The Eucharist, yes. That's right. And we see that. We've been talking about the resurrection because of its foundational nature to everything. But now we we dial back to 1 Corinthians 11, where Paul says, I receive from the Lord what I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way, also, he took the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me and as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Steve Brown: You know, across the country, many churches, maybe most, will be having a service this evening, or even now, a Good Friday service where they will be receiving the elements of bread and wine and remembering what happened on this day.

Matthew: That's right. In a very real way, in this supper, this last supper, Jesus recalibrates and reinvigorates the whole Passover feast.

Steve Brown: Yeah.

Matthew: They're to remember that God had rescued them, the Israelites, out of Egyptian bondage, and the Passover lamb was given. And on that night as they were celebrating the Passover, Jesus is about to become the Passover lamb.

Steve Brown: The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Matthew: That's right.

Steve Brown: You know, I remember one time when you were the pastor at Willow Creek. On Good Friday, I think it was. There was this gigantic wood cross that somebody made. And they laid it down up front so that it almost stood up. And they invited the people who'd come after communion to get a piece of paper, to write down their sins, and then there were nails and hammers up front, and you could nail it to the cross.

Matthew: Yes.

Steve Brown: I'll never forget that. That blew me away. First I was thinking, I'm not doing that. Somebody's going to check after this is over. And I'm going to tell them I told a white lie back when I was 14 years old. I'm not going to tell them my real sins. And then I thought, no, this is real.

Matthew: Oh.

Steve Brown: And we did it and I've thought about it ever since.

Matthew: Yeah. And it's so powerful. And as Paul says in Colossian passage, he talks about how our sins have been nailed to the cross. Yeah. And and that means that's where they they rest. And so Good Friday is is so important for us to remember in a solemn way. And I, I, I, I do think it's one of the solemn services of the church.

Steve Brown: Yeah, it is.

Matthew: And and Monday, Thursday as well, you know, leaving with that deep sense that our sins offend the Holy God of the universe. But but Jesus was willing to come and willing to to take on himself my sins, the sins of the world.

Steve Brown: I think sometimes we forget the power of that message.

Matthew: Yeah.

Steve Brown: People say, yeah, but he doesn't know how bad I am.

Matthew: That's right.

Steve Brown: He doesn't know how evil I am. Yes, he does. And not only that, your neighbors, they may clean up better, but they're just as bad as you are.

Matthew: That's right. That's right. And and and and why that is so important to recognize is as we think of how awful earlier in the week we talked about the the crucifixion, the scourging and how horrible it was.

Steve Brown: Yeah.

Matthew: Well, a horrible price had to be paid for our horrible sin.

Steve Brown: Oh, it really was. You know, I had a student once who told me that his pastor, they were building a new church building.

Steve Brown: You ever want to do that again?

Matthew: In in the new heavens and new earth.

Steve Brown: No, man, I'd never, any pastor who goes through two building programs, go to another church because there's something bent about him. But anyway, and you and I both have been there and done that, and I won't don't want to go there. Anyway, he was building this church. And he realized he hadn't witnessed to any of the the people, the construction people that were putting it up. And he climbed up on the roof of the guy that was working on the roof. And he said, let me talk to you about Jesus. And the guy said, you don't want me to talk to me about Jesus. And the pastor said, why? And he said, because I'm I'm evil. Jesus won't have anything to do with me. And the student said that that guy had the F word tattooed on his right.

Matthew: Oh my goodness.

Steve Brown: Uh arm and he had the S word tattooed on his right arm. Said he really was a pretty bad guy.

Matthew: That dude. Yeah.

Steve Brown: Yeah. And the pastor said to him, I'm more evil than you are. And the guy said, are you crazy? You don't know, that's not true. He said, let me tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to tell you about Jesus. And you're going to hell. That means you're going to be lost for all eternity. And as soon as I finish talking to you, do you see that Burger King across the way? I'm going over there and I'm going to get a hamburger and I'm never again going to think about you again.

Matthew: The guy said, Man, that really is evil. That's really bad. Oh my goodness.

Steve Brown: And he came to Christ.

Matthew: Isn't that something? What a story. What a story.

Steve Brown: It's a great story.

Matthew: And so Good Friday is a time for us to pause, to slow down, to just reflect on how good God has been to us. Think of all the the blessings that we have in Christ. Like the Corinthians, we're enriched in every way, in all knowledge and wisdom and and and and how our lives have changed. And our lives have changed positively. I mean, you and I both, our family trajectories have changed. Had we continued what we inherited, it would not have turned out well.

Steve Brown: That's true.

Matthew: But by the grace of God. Look at your your your family, your kids, your grandchildren, your marriage. You know, and the blessings that our family has. All because the gospel has changed us.

Steve Brown: Oh, it really wants. You know, going back to the communion and you read the words of institution and how it was done. Some churches have it on Monday, Thursday, and some do on Good Friday. But what should go through our minds when we receive the elements? What is the gospel that's embedded in there?

Matthew: Yeah. Yeah, if we think of the the body and the blood of Jesus shed as the sacrificial lamb for our sins. What stands out for me is is to remember, and I want you to address this too, but but is that for me, baptism is the sacrament of entrance into the body of Christ. And then communion, the Lord's supper, the Eucharist, is is the sacrament of continuation, is is the renewal. When whenever we celebrate it, it ought to renew us, to take us back to the foundation of our our true forgiveness of sins and incorporation in the body of Christ forever.

Steve Brown: That is. Remember where he found you.

Matthew: That's right.

Steve Brown: When you go forward or they serve the elements in the pews, stop and do what Pete said. Be still. Think about it. Remember where he found you and how empty you were and how lonely and how guilty.

Matthew: That's right.

Steve Brown: It's a time of remembrance, not just of Jesus, but where Jesus found us.

Matthew: Oh man. We we had yesterday we got to do a podcast, uh forge guys with a a a MMA fighter from the Gracie family. Uh Hollis is his name, and he's the grandson of the one who really brought Brazilian Jiu Jitsu into its prominence.

Steve Brown: Really?

Matthew: He's 6'4", 6'5" his hands. He could take one hand and choke me out.

Steve Brown: I hope he's a Christian. I don't want pagans looking like that.

Matthew: He is now.

Steve Brown: Okay. And what a remarkable man who teaches not only Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but has done it and fought worldwide, but is a is now a gentle man of Christ, following Christ, and so thankful for his salvation and how he's been transformed. He said, I have this Gracie name, I fought all over the world, I've won, and then I go back to my room and I'd say, what's next? He was empty. But Christ filled him. And now he's a deeply beloved redeemed son of the Most High God. That is so good. And I would say if you're listening to this and you're not a Christian, first, I have no idea why you're listening. I wouldn't. But if you were flipping through the dial and you came on this broadcast and you're intrigued, let us know. It's really simple and it's profound, and it has to do with this week, Easter week. And it has to do with Good Friday when Jesus died on the cross in our place. And he did that for you.

Matthew: Bless you. We're so thankful for all of our listeners at Key Life.

Steve Brown: We really are.

Matthew: And and we pray for you and we want you to experience the power and the joy of the resurrection of Jesus.

Steve Brown: Right on. And Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.