The celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord; 2009

My dear friends in the Risen Lord Jesus Christ:

 HOLY WEEK was the week that changed the world. Holy Week is the week that changed the world, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. Three of the Gospels devote a full third of their content reporting this week, while the fourth dedicates its entire last half.

And rippling across the rest of these records is a sense of inevitability about this life: Jesus of Nazareth was a man born to die – not merely in the normal sense, but with some special significance – an overtone, a leitmotiv that begins in the Christmas story and recurs throughout the three and one-half years of Jesus` public ministry.

Yes but, let’s not dwell on death and miss the significance of what Easter is about and for - - - that Jesus accomplished His mission of salvation for me and for you! He achieved the supreme act of humility in triumphing over the extreme enemy – death: Jesus rose; so will other human beings. No one expressed this better than someone who was not even around that morning. Paul wrote:  Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring to life with Him those who have fallen asleep (1 Thess. 4:14)

Christ is risen!  Is a clear statement by us that the defeat of death in renewed life is the message of Easter.

It has been said that Easter is the only festival that looks in two directions at the same time: back into history to fathom what happened in the week that changed the world. And forward into the future with the assurance that people who die will rise again. Small wonder that it was the earliest festival to be celebrated by the church, or that its message is as young as tomorrow.

Christ has risen! Let us greet one another with this real confession of our faith.

Christ has risen!  And I too will rise.

Christ has risen!  He is risen indeed!

Rejoicing in His days
Pastor Krestick