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Shelburne Free Press https://shelburnefreepress.ca/?p=7265 Export date: Tue Jul 23 13:34:57 2024 / +0000 GMT |
Crossroads Community Church We entered his presence praising God for a glorious sunny Spring day, worship was warm and encouraging. Pastor Don shared announcements and prayed for many needs in the community; we pray for adult youth to find summer jobs, we pray for those struggling with the flu and colds, we ask God for provision and healing, in Jesus name, Amen. Pastor Don continued his prayer and teaching from last week, “Thank You Father God for your Son Jesus, we humbly come for forgiveness and proclaim that He has Risen!” “We have just celebrated a wonderful Easter, but are we still cheering? In the last couple of weeks we observed Palm Sunday, the arrival of our King followed by Good Friday to remind us of the sacrifice Jesus made for us, and we often stop there. What happens next? This is a pivotal point in our Christian faith, many faiths have had martyrs and many have died in the name of their beliefs, but what sets Christianity apart is what God did through Jesus after his death. Yes he was crucified, he died and was laid in a borrowed tomb as scripture had predicted, but the miracle is this; ‘And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Luke 9:22. Many will argue that the third day is Sunday while others say it is Monday, but that is not the point, the fact remains that He is risen from the dead, (Matthew 28:5-6). The stone rolled away revealing the empty tomb is the fulfillment of God's Word. God promised forgiveness of sin just as he forgave many while he walked the earth, He promised eternal life through our messiah and the Resurrection gives us all that same hope. Jesus did not come to condemn he came to give hope and forgive many with love and kindness, not with harsh words as we sometimes use. Jesus once said let He who is without sin cast the first stone, this means we ought to examine our own shortcomings and failures instead of criticizing, for we all deserve punishment and rebuke but we should put our hope in Jesus to help us and others be better, (John 8:4-10). The same power that rolled the stone raised Jesus from the dead and Jesus has that power to remove any stone in our lives, He gives the power to forgive and to change. The proof that He is risen was witnessed by over 500 people, (1 Corinthians 15:3-6). We owe it to ourselves to investigate the evidence the same way the women and the disciples did the day Jesus rose, (John 20:3-10). Jesus is more than a Human ruler, He is the Son of God, and they hadn't understood the prophecies or believed completely until they saw for themselves that Jesus had Risen. His resurrection was controversial to say the least, the guards shook with fear, the priests tried to cover up that Jesus' body was missing saying that the disciples had stolen Him, but the fact that many had seen him was undeniable. Today the most effective way for people to believe in the Risen Christ is by watching changed lives of believers. Most of those who come to accept Jesus have done it because they were invited to church and have seen the undeniable joy and love that Jesus provides. That is what we are called to do, plant seeds of joy, hope and love of Jesus, God takes care of the rest, he uses who is at his disposal to help nurture each one's faith, (1 Corinthians 3:6). That is what we find in a church family, some teach, some sing, some greet, some encourage, some pray, but whatever is needed we do it together for His glory because we believe in Him. Beloved many of us are like Mary Magdalene, we are so grieved and don't expect to find Jesus, we still live in the Good Friday stage, we are in disbelief, we are sad, have lost all hope, our dreams are crushed, others are like Peter, shocked, scared, confused and discouraged in denial of a weakened faith, ashamed, but the resurrection of Jesus Christ restores all hope, reignites all faith, clears all confusion removes all shame and brings the fulfillment of forgiveness and joy. So shall we perpetuate the cheering? Yes! Let us continue to proclaim that the tomb is empty, He has conquered death for He is Risen! We owe it to ourselves and those who are hurting to tell them the good news of Jesus, “That God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” May the peace of God be with you all forevermore…Asherey Shalom! To learn more visit www.shelburnecrossroadschurch.ca |
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Post date: 2014-05-01 08:41:32 Post date GMT: 2014-05-01 12:41:32 Post modified date: 2014-05-07 11:07:36 Post modified date GMT: 2014-05-07 15:07:36 |
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