[Spirit100]

"Lord, your cross is not simply ugly, it's beautiful! Not with the pseudo-prettiness of stained glass and neon, but beautiful, with the vibrancy of life as seen through the reflected light of the empty tomb!

Your crucifixion was not a disaster. It was a divine provision. You were not a helpless captive, but a willing sacrifice. You became obedient to death, to the death of the cross. You refused to be taunted into coming down because dying was the only way to destroy death; because coming back from the dead was the ultimate triumph.

Your cross is paradoxical: both an end and a beginning, both a tragedy and a triumph, both death and life.

Thank you, Lord, for using the ugly cross to forever disarm death. Thank you for coming out of the tomb and bringing all of us new and endless life. Amen."

- Pastor Terry Crigger