Junior High Worship Night

Tonight we spent some time on the crucifixion of Christ. Sometimes we move too quickly, I feel, to the empty tomb that assures us of the victory over death and sin. We need to pause at times and feel the depth of Christ’s passion.
As I read the passage from Mark 14:43-15:20 something struck me more this year than in other times when I have read this passage: rejection. Judas, insults him in an act of betrayal; Peter denies Jesus; the religious establishment fabricates charges that refuse to deal with his legitimate claims on truth; the soldiers taunt him; Pilate refuses to exercise the weight of legal justice on his behalf; and then they nail a slur over his head. One of the disciples cuts off someone’s ear in garden which totally dishonours and rejects the principles that Jesus taught. That’s what I got…
Anyways after reading this passage I asked the students to watch a video depicting the crucifixion of Christ. Then I asked them to write their own label for the cross as a way of making their own declaration of commitment and thank to Jesus for his sacrifice. And in their own way they honoured Jesus and then nailed those statements to the cross.
It was a pretty neat thing to see kids eager to come to the cross and then afterward to hear their heartfelt thanks as we entered a time of prayer. It holds no end of wonder that God often chooses to speak the loudest through the younger ones. Here are a few samples of what they wrote…