The "Must" of Jesus' Cross

Matthew
Written By Steve Estes

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Matthew 16:21-23
February 5, 2023

Sermon Outline

1. The most important thing about Jesus Christ is his atoning death and resurrection

  • Jesus explained that he must die

  • How much of his statement did his disciples understand?

2. The most important thing to Satan is to frustrate/oppose the atonement of Christ

  • That day, Satan used the leader of the apostles to oppose Christ's atonement

  • Today, Satan uses a popular strand of supposed "Christianity" to oppose Christ's atonement

3. Jesus opposes those who oppose his atoning death

4. Applications

  • Even our believing friends can unwittingly harm us spiritually

  • Under their own understanding, humans are offended by the cross

  • The cross of Christ goes against our self-righteousness

  • Mourn for your sins, repent of your sins, confess your sins, but stop trying to pay for your sins

Steve Estes

Steve Estes has been senior pastor at Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, Pennsylvania, for over thirty-five years. 

Steve’s books and other writings began with his longtime friendship with Joni Eareckson Tada. As teenagers, they grappled with why God allowed Joni’s paralysis in a swimming accident in the Chesapeake Bay. Steve left for college . . . they kept in touch . . . she liked the style of his letters. When her 1976 autobiography Joni spawned thousands of reader responses, she asked Steve to join her in crafting a follow-up. The result was A Step Further in 1978.

Later, Wycliffe Bible Translators commissioned Steve to write the biography of former college friend Chet Bitterman, a Wycliffe linguist who was kidnapped and murdered by political terrorists in Colombia in 1981. Other books and articles followed, including When God Weeps (with Joni) and A Better December (a giveaway book for non-Christian friends at Christmas.)

Steve was educated at Westminster Theological Seminary, Columbia Bible College and Jerusalem University College in Israel. He has taught homiletics at Westminster and is a board member of the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation.

But Steve would say his most significant life achievement was persuading college classmate Verna Stoltzfus to marry him in 1974.  They now have eight children and more grandchildren than can fit in a van.

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Living By Dying
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Sanctity of Human Life