A Most Blessed Easter.

Christ is risen . . . He has risen indeed!   Did you say that at church yesterday?  This year, my Easter celebration was uniquely punctuated by sunset at the beach.  I’ll get back to that, but for now, how blessed are we to go to church two thousand years after the resurrection and celebrate what took place on that Sunday so long ago?!

Remember?  “On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they [the women] went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. 'Remember how he told you, while he was in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day arise." And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.” Luke 24

As the women arrived at the tomb at first morning's light, they brought along burial spices to finish caring for Jesus' body. Amazingly, though, the gigantic stone had been rolled away from the entrance of the tomb, and even more amazingly, Jesus was not there. They were shocked. They were worried and frightened. They turned in haste to go and told the disciples that the Lord had done what he had said he was going to do--he rose from the dead. Miraculously, he defeated the grave and triumphed over sin in doing so.

Before we go on, I would like to interview you about the Resurrection - Do you believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead? Why, why not?

Why is it so vital to the Christian faith?

What do you say to skeptics who don't believe it?  These are questions for which you should have answers.

Paul said, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." 1 Corinthians 15.17 - What did Paul mean by that, and why is it true?

"In a profound sense, Christianity without the resurrection is not simply Christianity without its final chapter. It is not Christianity at all." Gerald O'Collins, theologian

You see, Christianity is a faith that is defensible. Tomorrow, I will systematically build the case for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth; we'll look at the evidence, as well as some analysis by the premier apologists of our day. In addition, I will show you why the resurrection is critical to your faith in God, and why, if you really believe it, each day should be affected by your knowledge of a risen Lord.

Like every Easter Sunday I can remember, I went to church yesterday filled with anticipation, and ready to worship a risen Savior through thought, song and unified devotion.  Then, I enjoyed a sweet family lunch, mindful of the joy-filled attitudes of those closest in the whole world to me.  But then … late afternoon I drove south to one of the Locals’ favorite San Clemente* beaches, Riviera.  Unlike the day before it, Easter was really cold and windy and the Pacific Ocean was rough!  No matter, though----I was meeting a young man and his family, and a circle of his closest friends, to baptize him.  Think of it . . . here it was Easter Sunday, when we celebrate Jesus’ triumph over the grave as he arose from the dead, while Bret’s baptism symbolized his decision to make Jesus the leader of his life—realizing water baptism captures the same ‘from death to life’ picture!  We dodged a couple big ‘sets’ and Dad and I managed to lower him, and then draw him back out of the water, and dash to the shore, feeling quite triumphant, I might add!  Oh of course, I prayed for him, Dad cried, we all hugged, and his friends on the beach---well, they cheered!  I know that God was cheering as well.

From death to life . . . our Redeemer lives.  Nothing matters more than that.

Grace and Peace,

Christine

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