The commanding theme of the gospel is Jesus Christ crucified, resurrected and glorified. God so loved the world that He gave His Son to die for the redemption of sinful humanity. The Son so loved the world that He laid down His life for all sinners (Romans 5:7-8).

The Lord's life was not an ordinary life and His sufferings were not, ordinary sufferings. In His deepest agony He tasted death for every man (Hebrews 2:9). Words are incapable of describing the horror of that awful and atrocious day. The Son of God died in unbearable pain, while brutish men, looking on, mocked Him and reviled Him.

The sun was darkened as God refused to let the light shine upon such a scene. The foundations of the earth were shaken with a mighty earthquake. The rocks rent asunder and the graves of the saints were emptied. On that day in the long ago there was a fountain opened for cleansing and millions could be delivered from dismal darkness to marvelous light.

In Matthew 27:36, we read, "And sitting down they watched Him there." What do we see at Calvary? We see three things of eternal importance.

We first see: Sin At Its Blackest. Down through the ages, sin has left a dark and slimy trail. Sin made havoc with the world's first home (Genesis 3). Sin made a murderer of the world's first baby (Genesis 4). By Noah's day the octopus of iniquity had stretched its poisonous tentacles into every imagination and thought of the heart of man.

The book of Genesis is a microcosm of the human race. In Genesis 1: 1 we read, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." But sin became part of earth's picture. And now read the last verse in Genesis, "...in a coffin in Egypt" (Genesis 50:26). That's a perfect picture of the result of sin's black work. Truly, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:20). When we see Calvary we see sin at its worst.

Next, we also see: Compassion At Its Best. No love can compare with heaven's love. The love of God is heightless, depthless, breathless, limitless, endless and ageless. If no one else in the whole wide world loved you but God, you still would possess a vast treasure.

The Bible from cover.. to cover shouts of God's care and compassion. Romans 5:8 says, "But God commendeth His love to us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for US." (Also see Jeremiah 31:3; Ephesians, 2:4-5; 1 John 4:8-10,16). The compassion of Christ is higher than the heaven; deeper than the ocean; sweeter than the honeycomb; fresher than the dew and greater than the universe.

But, at Calvary, we lastly see: Salvation In Its Completion. Jesus cried out, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him: and with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

Calvary was God's final solution to man's problems. Man's sin problem could never have been solved apart from the interposing of the blood of the dying Lamb of God. Today, the cross of Christ at Calvary cries out to a world deafened by empty echoes of pleasure. Calvary screams out, "Look unto me and live!"

Jesus Christ saw our sins; realized our guilt; knew our despair; weighed our burdens; witnesses our dejection and observed our hopelessness and died that we might live. Will you live for him? Jesus said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved,- but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:16).

Let the things pictured and portrayed at Calvary draw you to Jesus in all His greatness. ?

Volunteers Needed
We are still in need of a few volunteers to man the Orange Street booth at “Market World”. There is a sign-up sheet in the foyer for those willing to help out. See one of the elders or Bob Bauer for more information.

Youth Devo Tonight
The teen group is scheduled to meet this evening after the PM worship service. See Matt Faneuf for details.

with guest speaker Charles Burch. Brother Burch is currently the preacher at Bellingrath Road church of Christ, in Theodore, Alabama (just outside of Mobile) and was the preacher here at Orange Street during the mid-seventies.

SCHEDULE FOR HOMECOMING
9:30 am.....Bible Classes for all ages
10:30 am...AM Worship Service
12 Noon.....Fellowship Meal in the Annex
1:15 pm.....Singing
2:00 pm.....PM Worship Service

-- CLICK HERE FOR LESSON TOPICS

NOTE: There will be NO 6:00 PM service on March 28th.

Directory Photos
If you have not done so already, be sure to see Nancy or Carl Chambers about getting your photo taken for the new membership directory.

Did you ever notice just how quickly a banana gets skinned after it leaves the bunch? So remember:
“ Forsaking not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is....” (Hebrews 10:25).