April
15am, 2001 “Do you have a Nail?/Have you seen the light?” Luke 23:33-47
By Ronald E. George Jr. at the Fayetteville
Baptist Church.
Easter
Service: This sermon is preceded
by a drama, which was presented by our youth.
Please see the drama in short form at the end of this sermon.
The main scripture reading will be substituted by the drama itself.
Scripture
Text: Luke 23: 33- 47 Now when
the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this
was a righteous man.
1.
Where you there? Where
you there when Jesus died? Today
you have seen the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord.
We may not have been there, but we are here and today we have seen a
small reproduction of what he did for us.
Did Jesus know your name when he died?
Did the creator of the universe remember who you were to be?
When He died you were there in his heart.
He knows you. He died for
you.
2.
Did you have a nail? The
nails are there because of the sin of the world.
If you have sinned and if you are a sinner then you should have a nail.
“ For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” It was because of our sin the nails were there in his hands
and feet. No sin, no nails.
But, wait a minute, if Jesus was without sin why did he have the nails?
He took ours. He died so
that we may live.
3.
What did you do with your nail? The soldiers there that day could have run out of nails
or forgotten them. If they would
have asked you for a nail would you give them one?
Why should you? If you
gave them your nail then you have recognized why they are necessary.
We are sorry that Jesus was crucified.
But, are we sorry for our sin? We
don’t want to see them hurt him any more, but will we?
Give or keep your nail it is your choice.
But if you don’t give your nail to Jesus then you will have to
keep it. If you give your nail
then you are recognizing his sacrifice for you.
Then you will not have to die without him.
Giving your nail to the soldiers says that you believe that He was
nailed for you and in your place. What
did you do with your nail? What
will you do with your nail? The
second reason you should give the soldiers your nail is because you can.
He made it possible to give your nail away.
The nail represents your death. He
died in your place. Will you let
Jesus be your sacrifice?
4.
Did you see Jesus in resurrection glory?
After he died for you his arose from the dead on the third day.
God had said that the sign of Jonah would be given to those who wanted
to see a miraculous wonder. Jesus
was dead and buried, but on the third day the Father said enough is enough. “Come out there, my Son, Jesus. My only Son, you have paid
enough for the sin of the world. Come
on home my boy. I can’t stand
it any longer. “ Then the Son
arose from the dead. To
all who believe on him and follow him in this life he gives the right to
become the children of God.
Have
you believed and have you acknowledged him as your Savior.
Today we saw 7 people acknowledge before you that they are
following Jesus. They were baptized and now they are trying to follow him.
Are you? Would you give
the soldiers your nail? Would you
follow Him? Would you let the
Lord save you? Would you let him
baptize you with the presence of his Holy Spirit? Receive him today and be saved.
Feel the Nails.
A play by Lynn
George
Soldiers
will be stationed at each door into the sanctuary handing out nails to each
older child and adult.
Cast
of Characters:
Jesus
4 Roman Soldiers
3 Marys
Crowd
Everyone will be in vestibule at back of sanctuary.
Jesus and soldiers enter and proceed up center aisle.
Jesus stumbles and appears very weak.
Soldiers are stern and taunting. (Soldiers
need to be in front and behind Jesus so the side view is not blocked from the
congregation.)
The 3 Marys follow at a moderate distance behind
the rear soldiers. They are
crying and visibly upset. They
should be clinging to each other.
The crowd follows at a short distance behind the
Marys. They are rowdy and loud.
They shout phrases such as, “Crucify Him”, “You don’t look so
powerful now”, “This is God’s Son?” etc.
Jesus and soldiers go to the stage.
They make Jesus lie down. Two
soldiers should be on the stage facing the congregation while the other two
are on the floor in front of the stage. They
get their hammers to begin the nailing. One
of the soldiers asks who brought the nails.
The others question each other. The
soldiers then run into the congregation asking for their nails. They must go all over the congregation, even if they get
several immediately. They then
return to the stage and appear to nail Jesus to the crossbeam. Actually hit the wood with the hammers. The sound is very effective.
The soldiers will then carry/drag Jesus to the side
and attach the crossbeam to the rope. Jesus
will not be pulled off the ground, just to a standing position.
Song “Feel the Nails” by Ray Boltz.
During the song, the lights will be turned off.
The soldiers will then remove Jesus and carry Him into the back
vestibule.
After the song is finished, the lights will come
one and the 3 Marys will come up the aisle from the rear, carrying their
spices and talking among themselves. They
will say things such as, “That stone is very large”, I hope to soldiers
are still there to roll the stone away” etc.
They will walk to the door to the vestibule.
Jesus will meet them there saying who are you looking for; He is risen
and no longer here. The Marys
will run to the front of the congregation saying He’s alive; He’s not
there. They will then run back
down the aisle and out.
Song “I’ve Just Seen Jesus.”