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I need to paint the wooden steps and handrails to our home. The old paint is peeling away. But to repaint the wood, I must first prepare the steps and handrails. So, I used a hand-held sanding machine to remove old paint, smooth the wood, and prepare the steps and handrails.

As I stripped away the peeling paint, as I sanded the wood until it was bare and smooth, I thought about Jesus going to the cross. He was stripped and laid bare. John 19:23 says, “When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them…” On the cross, Jesus suffered the shame, agony, and pain of my sin – he was as the ancient prophecy of Isaiah foretold, “crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). He became my sin so that in him I might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). He died so I could have a new start – so I could be “repainted” in his righteousness.

We come to Palm Sunday, we come to Holy Week, we come to the cross, we come to the empty tomb. These are the centre of our faith – our Lord stripped, bearing our sin, dying in our place so we may have forgiveness and a new life; so we may be “born again”.

Let’s pray…

Our midweek devotions will take a break over Easter. We will be back on April 30. I invite you to our Good Friday service on April 18 at 7.00 pm where we will have a special service to focus on the cross and our Lord’s sacrifice; and I invite you to our Easter Sunday services on April 20 at 9.30 and 11.00 am, where we shall celebrate with several people who will be baptized and, most of all, celebrate the triumph of our Lord and his resurrection from the dead. And so, may the Lord draw you closer to himself this Easter. Thank you.

視頻大意翻譯 (video Chinese translation):

我需要粉刷我們家的木台階和扶手。舊油漆正在剝落。但要重新粉刷木材，我必須先準備台階和扶手。所以，我用手提式打磨機來除去舊油漆，磨平木材，並準備台階和扶手。

當我剝去剝落的油漆，把木頭打磨到光禿禿的光滑時，我想到了耶穌走向十字架的情景。他被剝光了衣服，赤裸裸地躺在地上。約翰福音 19：23 說：“兵丁既然將耶穌釘在十字架上、就拿他的衣服分為四分、每兵一分。”在十字架上，耶穌承受了我罪孽的羞辱和痛苦 ─ 正如以賽亞書的古老預言所預言的那樣， “為我們的罪孽受壓傷” （賽 53：5）。”他成了我的罪，使我在他裡面成為神的義”（哥林多後書 5：21）。他死了，這樣我就可以有新的開始 – 這樣我就可以在他的公義中被 “重新粉刷”。

我們來到棕梠主日，我們來到聖周，我們來到十字架，我們來到空墳墓。這些是我們信仰的中心—我們的主被剝奪了權利，背負了我們的罪惡，為我們死去，這樣我們就可以得到赦免和新的生命; 如此，我們可以 「重生」。

讓我們禱告。

我們的周三線上靈修將在復活節期間休息，並於 4 月 30 日恢復。我邀請您參加 4 月 18 日晚上 7：00 的耶穌受難日崇拜，屆時我們將有一個特別的崇拜，專注於十字架和我們主的犧牲。我邀請您參加我們 4 月 20 日上午 9：30 和 11：00 的復活節主日崇拜，屆時，我們將與幾位將受洗的人一起慶祝，最重要的是，慶祝我們主的勝利和他從死裡復活。因此，願主在這個復活節讓你更接近他。謝謝。

Grace and peace

Pastor Callum