Cross Shaped Space

This month to prepare us for Pentecost, the time and the season when Christian reflect on the power and the gift of the Holy Spirit; Sanctuary First brings us back to the cross of Christ. We have chosen as our theme “The Cross Shaped Space”. I’m indebted to Peter Gardner one of our contributors for giving us the stimulus to develop this theme. A few years ago I visited his church to find a huge square piece of material with a cross shaped space in its centre. It was this depiction that has inspired us to write the material for this month. We engage with the gifts and the graces of God the Holy Spirit when we centre our thoughts around the cross. There is much that we can learn from this cross shaped space. It is interesting that in John’s Gospel the death of Jesus is recorded in such a way that it involves Jesus ” giving up his spirit “. Take a moment to look up John 19.30. So as Christ breathed his last and gave up the spirit he breathed the Spirit out into the world. You might say into the hearts of believers. It is now from the cross and through the cross that we encounter the gifts and the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. At Sanctuary First everyone who moved through the cross were give a card with either a fruit of the Spirit written on it or a gift of the Spirit written on it with invisible ink. The card when passed through an ultra violet light reveals the word. Some wonderful experiences where encountered with these cards. In our Sanctuary First Worship Service this month we have built a two metre high cross using the space to create a cross shape. The space is there because we are reminded that Christ was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is no longer on a cross. The cross is now transparent. We should not see it as an empty cross. It is a gateway that allows us to peer from time into eternity. It invites us to bring the kingdom of heaven into our world through this cross shaped space. This image speaks of the temple curtain being torn in two. It speaks of God’s revelation and redemption. We are invited into the Holy Space with God. Indeed God comes to dwell within the believer by the power and presence of his Holy Spirit. The cross space invites us to also become crucified with Christ. The space invites us to fit ourselves on the cross. To walk through the cross. To make a daily cross shaped space in our lives. To experience the power of the resurrection through the suffering of the cross. This month we are inviting all of you to draw closer to God. To begin to seek a deeper relationship with God the Father. The cross shaped space we believe can be an important visual to draw us closer to God. During the next four weeks our weekly prayers will engage with the consequences of all of us living our lives in the cross shaped space. What does it mean to take our everyday walkabout working life and fit it into the cross shaped space? What does it mean to enter into life through the cross and receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to walk through the cross into the world and live out the fruit of the Spirit. What does it mean to understand and engage with the life of the Spirit that is at work in the world? 1. A Cross Shaped Space in our Working Lives 2. From the Cross Shaped Space - The gifts of the Spirit 3. From the Cross Shaped Space - The fruit of the Spirit 4. From a Cross Shaped Space - The Life of the Spirit at Work in the world