Christ died to give us hope, to give us dignity. When our lives are so crowded with frustration, anxiety and worry; when there seems to be no hope whatsoever; when the sky looks so black and dark and we can't see the light at the end of the way -- He died to give us hope, even when there seems to be no hope.

You've heard of the "Trail of Tears." For many years on the land upon which you sit today, the Cherokee Indians lived, tilled the soil, hunted the game, worshipped their god and lived according to "The Way." The "white man" came and said we want your land. We will ask you to sign these papers and if you sign these papers, everything will be fine. The "red man" signed the "white man's" papers, but over the years the words on the papers changed. They didn't mean what they meant when the "red man" first signed them especially after they found gold on the land. So the "white man" rounded up the "red man."

In 1838 and 1839, the Indians left this area led by a man by the name of John Ross. They were led away by the soldiers on all sides, front and back, to the land that the "white man" didn't want. They called it the Trail of Tears. The "red man" walked with his head up and with his eyes focused straight ahead. He looked not to the side as the people would line up along the trail and make fun and laugh at the "red man." But the "red man" did not laugh. The "red man" kept his eyes straight ahead. They brought wagons behind them, but the wagons were empty. The "red man" refused to ride in the wagons. No, he would walk.

As he walked and walked, he began to die. The sickly, the old, and the lame began to die. And for a while the soldiers let them bury their dead every-day. Then they said that's taking too much time. We can't piddle around with all of this. We will just bury the dead every three days. So when a child died he was carried by his mother for days, When a wife died she was carried by her husband for days. The people along the way stopped laughing. They people along the way started crying. But the Indian never cried. The "red man" never cried and he never rode in the "white man's" wagons. He kept his chin up and his eyes straight ahead.

You can take away a man's land, but you cannot take away his dignity. You cannot take away his hope, you cannot take away his soul, and you cannot take away his tears -- not by force you can't. That cannot be taken. That only comes through love. "But God commended His love toward us that in while we were yet sinners Christ died for us."