Acts 4:11-12 "This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
We celebrated Easter for several days, in several ways. Our church holds a Tenebrae service on Good Friday each year. We gather while it is still daylight and read and sing about the events leading up to His death. It is a somber truth and atmosphere as we try to imagine what the disciples must have felt as they saw their Master nailed to a cross and dying. What hope? What next? We leave in silence as we are asked not to speak on exiting the church. It is right for us to experience the seriousness of His death on a tree - made by God and fashioned into a means of death by man...all for God's glory alone.
So, when we as a body of believers come together again on Sunday, we rejoice, knowing that our Christ has risen from the grave just as He said He would. Our hearts are full as we sing loudly His praises.
Scripture tell us that the church elders told the soldiers to say that the disciples had stolen the body of Jesus from the tomb.
Matthew 28:12-15 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.' And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.
Little did they know that truth will not be silenced. Little did they know the magnitude of this act of pure love from God the Father to mankind. He sent His only Son Jesus to bear our sins so that we might come boldly before His throne - no priest needed, the sacrifice had been made once and forever more. Hallelujah.
We often have people over on Easter Sunday. There is a core that are invited each year - although we did not do it last year. It started a few years ago and we try to add to it each year. This year we hosted 35. I am not sure many more would have fit, as these did not fit at all, but ate anywhere they could find room...and did so happily. The kids outnumbered the adults.
Instead of a prayer of thanks for our meal, I had printed up the words to "At Calvary" and we sang it as a group. As we lifted our voices in a song about our Savior's death, I looked around the room at the children and their parents singing at the top of their lungs. What a wonderful memory is embedded in my heart.
"Mercy there was great and grace was free,
Pardon there was multiplied to me,
There my burdened soul found liberty -
At Calvary!"
Below is a picture of our egg hunters. My backyard is small, but they don't seem to mind at all.
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| These are the hunters and helpers. The older teens stayed inside in deep discussion around the table...wise to escape the momentary madness. |
I am always amazed and touched by the demonstration of love between believers. It is phenomenal and contagious and based on a shared love of our Lord Jesus. May we send it out with our hands and feet and voices to an unbelieving world.
