Spring…I know it’s a bit premature, but what a great season of the year! Coats are traded for jackets, sweaters are packed away and short-sleeves are unfolded, boots become sandals, blankets thin to sheets, red noses tan, shivers become sighs, curtains are pulled back and windows lifted as the dormant heart of nature beats once again. Cold winds are replaced with warm breezes, snow and ice turn to gentle rains, long hours of darkness are hidden by the light of the sun, grey skies turn blue, trees don their finest attire, flowers show off their splendor, birds return to their singing ways, and the contagious enthusiasm of spring cannot be contained!   Martin Luther once wrote, “God has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf of springtime.” 

And what a time to turn over a new leaf in life, to start over, to trade the old in for the new, to walk away from the bitterness of winter into the warmth of God’s embrace. And that is my prayer for you at Southland this season. That your heart would be refreshed by authentic community, people genuinely loving and serving one another; that your mind would be satisfied with in-depth Bible study; and that your soul would be filled by a family of believers who are committed to expressing their gratitude to God through worship. 

The Dutch painter Rembrandt painted a picture of the cross. In his rendering of it, there was a hill, dark, ominous skies, three crosses, two criminals, and Jesus. A Jewish crowd and Roman soldiers stood nearby mocking while friends and family mourned. It wasn’t considerably different than most paintings of that scene. It accurately portrayed what is found in the pages of the Bible. But there was one exception, one odd addition that separated it from others. In the midst of the crowds staring at Jesus, stood a man dressed in seventeenth-century clothing. Rembrandt knew enough about the event to paint himself into the picture of the cross.

The cross isn’t something we merely hang in churches or wear around our necks, it is an event we participate in because we are part of the reason it happened. And this season at Southland we will investigate that story. As you’ve probably heard a thousand times from pulpits, movie screens, stages, and pages of countless novels, this “old story” is ever new. This irresistible tale of terror and torture has brought inexpressible comfort, hope, and joy to people for centuries. It has a mysterious, even mesmerizing mystique, which draws us in and captures our imaginations, hearts, and allegiance. What is it about this story that is so powerful? Perhaps it is the fact that isn’t simply a story but a biography…the very biography of God lived out through the person of Jesus Christ! This living biography transforms lives, and cultures, and even the contours of human history. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus force us to evaluate the goals we are pursuing, the values we live by, the path we are taking in our search for significance, and the haunting burden of guilt we so foolishly carry. The cross and the empty tomb stand as monuments, as lighthouses, as agents of change, whose message is simply, “Jesus loves you!” And I/we love you too! We are a cross-centered community of love!

As winter fades and spring arrives my prayer is that you will find reason to paint yourself into the picture of the cross, that you will find reason to enjoy a new spiritual season of life. If you wandered away from the cross, then I say, “Welcome home!” If you’ve never been to the cross, then I say, “Welcome home!”

The thought of spring has put me in the mood for a little James Taylor today…