Our new year motto is taken from 1 Corinthians 1: 18 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” It is a well-known passage in Holy Scripture for believers.

We live in trying and changing times, a time of unbelief, hardness of heart, ignorance and a total lack of understanding for the saving power of the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. If the world at times fails to understand or experience the salvic power of the Cross of the Son of God, do we as believer’s experience, know and accept it in our lives?

Our father in Christ, St Paul tackles this question head on in 1 Corinthians 1: 14-end, when he was speaking to the Corinthian Church on unity and the Exaltation of the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. In a nutshell, the message of the Cross is ‘to preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and not with words of self-wisdom.’

1 Corinthian 1: 19 ‘For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate’. When we begin to elevate self and rely on our own wisdom and not the saving power of God, we begin to create a great divide between God, His Church our self. Foreign ideas, beliefs and doctrine soon follow and before we know it there is division and chaos. Such was the problem that arose with the Church in Corinth and is now being played out in the body of our Lord Jesus Christ today.

Before we can preach the gospel, we must know, believe and submit to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ourselves. Let us always remember that ‘the foolishness of god is wiser than men, and the weakness of god is stronger than men’. Until we ourselves become a bible reading, believing, praying and Christ like people we are nothing but poor witness and ambassadors Ephesians 6:20 of the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

We are all called to despise what God despises; love what God loves; follow the Ten Commandments; act in mutual charity and love towards each other. Until we begin to live the risen life of our Lord Jesus and glory in His Cross, we have missed the goal. If we are to boast of anything, let us not boast of ourselves or deeds, but ‘glory in the Lord’, who has saved us through His sacrifice on the Cross and is actively saving his creation and all those who believe and trust in Him.

When we meet with obstacles in sharing and preaching the message of the Cross, let us remember that it is foolishness to unbelievers. As St John Chrysostom said “It is a mark of them that perish not to recognise the things that lead to salvation” We who bear witness to our Lord Jesus Christ must not be discouraged when those outside or even inside the Church mock Him, let us remember that even St Paul Acts 8:1 himself once mocked Him. Let us remember that it is the Cross of the Son of God that changes and saves us through the power of God.

Let us remember that the message of the Cross is Salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ and no one else. Let us remember that the love John 3:16 God has for us is shown through the message of the Cross; let us always remember that it is the power God through the Cross that daily Renews, Sustains and Saves us.