Unique to the architecture of our new sanctuary is the unfinished Celtic cross. It stands above the chancel, letting the sun shine into the sanctuary in oblique, refracted rays. It makes a host of revealing statements:


-The unfinished cross is Celtic, reminding us of our history as Presbyterians, tracing out roots to Scotland.


-The unfinished cross stands at the front of the chancel and above our worship, always dominated by the one who died for us on the cross.


-As your mind fills in the design, the unfinished cross causes us to look afresh at the basic feature of our faith: the man of Calvary.


Our cross has been called the phantom cross, with its pattern hovering unseen but felt. It has been styled the spirit cross, because the Spirit of God is required to complete the work of the cross in our lives. Both descriptions fit.


The most fitting title, however, is unfinished cross. The work of the people of the cross is a work that is never really finished. We go about our lives doing the work of the man who died for us on a lonely, bleak hill outside Jerusalem. The meaning of our lives is tied firmly to that work.


When Jesus rose from the dead, he created a new hope, a new confidence and a new appreciation of God with us. Not just in the moments of spiritual delight, but day to day, as we go about the work of the cross: doing good rather than evil; caring for those who most need our love; telling others of the man of the cross and what he can do in their lives, as he has done in ours.


The work of the cross is far from finished. It is a lifetime obligation for each of us. Who else can complete the work of the people of the cross except the people themselves? The power to accomplish comes from the man of the cross. The ability for others to receive the word of the cross comes from God's Spirit But the work of the cross is ours and is a work in progress.


Let the unfinished cross remind you of your work, and empower you to respond to the call of God until our work together is fmished. An older hymn put this question: "Must Jesus bear tbe cross alone, and all the world go free? No, there's a cross for everyone, And there's a cross for me." The central cross in this new place of worship is a powerful reminder to us of the work yet to be done for Christ.