Sunday, April 4, 2010

Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

What a glorious day of worship and praise to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We celebrated our first contemporary Easter Service at Advent this morning. The orchestra began with a wonderful instrumental piece called Come Celebrate Jesus and the Celebration Choir (praise team) followed with Make His Praise Glorious. I went over and spoke to a friend before the service and she introduced me to her daughter and husband who were visiting for Easter. I told them to be prepared because the house was about to rock! They were not disappointed.

Pastor told a wonderful story this morning. It went something like this…there was a wedding and just as the pronouncement was made a man in the back of the sanctuary yelled “Yes!” “Yes!” and punched his fist in the air. After yelling this, he looked around and realized where he was and slid back down in the seat where he took off his headphones. It seems instead of paying attention to the wedding he was listening the University of Texas play Texas A & M in football and whoever he was pulling for had just done something in their favor.

Last night we talked about the empty tomb and the Marys who went to pay their respects. Upon their arrival they discovered an empty tomb and Jesus standing before them. Do you suppose when they discovered they were talking with the One they had followed for all this time, had watched Him crucified and laid in a tomb, then to walk out of the tomb completely healed of all beatings, blood loss due to the crown of thorns and hands and feet healed from the nails driven into bones and torn flesh, that they said, “Yes, Lord!”?

These women witnessed an act of God. Pastor Joel talked about what Easter is. One of the things he shared was that Easter is an act of God. Resurrection is an act of God. It was not the disciples, not the women or the followers in Jerusalem and not us who caused the resurrection. It was by God’s power and His authority that Jesus was raised from the dead.

Then Pastor told one more story that explained act of God in our time. Terry McVeigh was one of the ones who helped bomb the building in Oklahoma City in 1995 that killed so many people including children in the day care center there. When the trial came about, the grandmother of one of the children who was killed was at the trial. She saw the mother and sister of Terry McVeigh sitting alone on the other side of the courtroom bearing the weight of Terry’s crime by taking the insults being hurled by others in the courtroom. This grandmother went over and sat with McVeigh’s mother and sister trying to comfort them. During the trial the grandmother invited McVeigh’s family to stay at her home. The women became friends.

Pastor shared that we often talk about acts of God when there is a tornado or a hurricane. But those seem to be acts of nature. The compassion of the one who lost her grandchild through her loss and pain reached out to one suffering just as she, performed an act of God.

Can we open our hearts and let the love of God flow through us and act on His behalf? Can we show others what Easter is by performing an act of God? God watched His Son suffer and die a ghastly, horrible and humiliating death. And yet, Jesus walked out of that tomb made anew and is prepared to make each of us new also by forgiving us our sins out of His love for us. This act of God happens everyday.
Lent is behind us and Holy Week is over. Let us show others that we are Easter people. Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

PS I have a paper due on Thursday. My research material did not come in until late last week. I have begun my research tonight. So you might hear from Bruce some this week. Please pray for me. Just letting you know.

Prayer alert! Our niece’s grandmother Noelle who was gravely ill and near death a couple of weeks ago has rallied and the doctors have given her about a year. So please give thanks and continue to pray for Noelle, Lani (daughter) and Bianca (granddaughter and our niece.) Peace, gc

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