Conversations Before the Cross: An Introduction

Conversations Before the Cross: Introduction

A Series by Rev. James Eaton, Pastor

First Congregational Church of Albany, NY

In the beginning was the Word, the Bible says.

God speaks—everything else results.

God speaks: chaos is tamed, light and dark separated, places appear, creation happens.

God speaks: we are here, we are there, we are together in wonder and worship. Conversations are fundamental to God’s dealing with us.

God speaks: people go free, learn their purpose, pursue their destiny, write the Word they read on their hearts onto tablets and scrolls and into history.

People hope, rulers ask, God sends prophets and God speaks and kingdoms crumble and new communities come to be. God speaks: there is a baby, and a light, and a call to follow Christ.

In this season of Lent, our hope is to hear God’s Word and measure our walk by Christ’s way. That way leads to the cross but before the cross, we hear Christ speaking, we see him in conversation with his disciples, with Satan, with a ruler, with a woman at the well, with friends, with the crowds. In these conversations before he comes to the cross, we learn to know him and that too is our hope in this time—to know the savior who means to deliver us.

So in this season, all season long, each Sunday, we will imagine the conversations before the cross, the conversations with the characters of the gospel stories. My hope is that these conversations before the cross will lead you to your own conversation before the cross, your own conversation with Christ. For when we hear Christ speak, when we share his conversation, we will surely hear his call.