He has risen!

Happy Resurrection Sunday to you all!

  We are at the time of year in which we celebrate the anniversary of Jesus' death and Resurrection. This event is so important, so life changing if you allow it to be. I hope that it is something you think about far more than this time of the year.

  It is so hard to believe, so amazing, almost more than we can comprehend, that God was willing to send His Son, Jesus, to come to earth for us. He is called Immanuel, which means "God with us". He came to earth to live a normal life and then not only be the greatest example ever but to become the needed sacrifice for our sins! He took the burden of our sins to the cross- suffering all the way and then He was put to death for us.

 "For you have been called for this purpose,

since Christ also suffered for you,

leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,

"who committed no sin,

nor was any deceit found in His mouth:"

and while being reviled, did not revile in return;

while suffering, He uttered no threats,

but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;

and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross,

that we might die to sin and live to righteousness;

for by His wounds you were healed,

For you were continually straying like sheep,

but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls."

1 Peter 2:21-25

   But that wasn't the end of the story. He was taken down from the cross and buried in a tomb but He didn't stay dead. He came to life again! That makes all the difference in the world. We do not serve and worship a God who is dead, He is alive! Death has no power over Him!

"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received,

that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

and that He was buried,

and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures."

1 Corinthians 15:3 & 4

Jesus did this for us because he wants us to die to sin and live to righteousness. He did this so that we could get rid of our burden of sin and have a new life with the promise of eternal life with Him in heaven.

Last week was a pretty exciting week for us because Jonathan and Aaron after several months of thinking and visiting decided that they were totally ready to make the decision to follow Christ and make the full commitment to having a changed life. Both boys are fairly young (7 & 9) and so I was hesitant in them making this decision but they were fully convinced that they were ready to do so and so I am rejoicing in that. They were uniting with Christ in His resurrection and death as it speaks of in Romans 6.

"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus

have been baptized into His death?

Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death,

in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,

so we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death,

certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection,

knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him,

that our body of sin might be done away with,

that we should no longer be slaves to sin;

for he who has died is freed from sin."

Romans 6:3-7

May you have blessed day remembering what Christ has done for you!