Centuries ago, Portuguese settlers built an enormous cathedral on the south coast of China, with a massive bronze cross on its front wall. A few years later, a typhoon destroyed the structure, leaving only the wall and the huge cross standing. Centuries later, there was a tragic shipwreck. Many perished, but one man, clinging to a piece of wreckage survived. Although disoriented, he was guided to land by keeping the cross in view. His name was Sir John Bowring and later, remembering that cross that helped save his life, he wrote the much loved old hymn, “In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o’er the wrecks of time.” On this sea of life, it is easy to become disoriented and despair. But the cross of Christ still points the way, for on that cross, Jesus died for all mankind. Peter wrote, “Christ suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” The way of the cross leads home.

Pastor Alex Rockwell