Happy Easter!

I am sure that this goes without saying, but there will be no discussion time on Sunday this week. That is because Sunday is the greatest day of the whole year. Sunday is Easter. I pray that for you it is a time of joy and celebration for you. I also pray that it is a time of hope.

One of the things that I love about Easter is that we basically get it to ourselves. It does not receive the same kind of hype that Christmas does and so you don't have that experience where you are sick of it before you even get to it. And yet what it means for us is that our God has defeated the powers of sin and death and the devil forever. This same God loves us and has made us his own through the waters of baptism. He also promises to be with us and will never leave us or abandon us. Therefore, there is nothing that we need to fear. There is nothing that is more powerful than our God. And because he lives, then we too can truly live and experience life. We can experience life as it was meant to be lived, life that is free from fear and bound to nothing other than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The wallpaper on my computer is five symbols. They are symbols that were found on an early Christian tomb. They act like a creed. There is a down arrow, followed by a cross, followed by an empty tomb, followed by an up arrow, and last is another down arrow. Christ came (down arrow). He died (cross). He rose (empty tomb). He ascended (up arrow). He will come back (down arrow). I love this because at the middle of it is the empty tomb. And that is what Easter is all about.

I pray that this Easter would be a joyful and hope filled celebration for you and your family. God's peace and Easter Joy be yours.

Sincerely,
Pastor CJ