Hear the bells ringing, they’re singing
That we can be born again
Hear the bells ringing, they’re singing
Christ is risen from the dead

– Easter Song by Keith Green

Those are the words that always swirl around in my mind on Easter Sunday!  I sing along with the angels, Joy to the world!  He has risen, hallelujah!  I grew up listening to Keith Green and the Easter Song is one of my favorites.  I invite you to listen here.

There is something about Easter morning worship that is like no other.  Our Easter worship was truly a beautiful celebration of the Resurrection of Jesu Christ!  It was such a joy to see new friends, visiting family, and old friends as we gathered for worship.  The gift of music was amazing as our Brass+ played, our choir sang, and we all lifted our voices in praise!

Throughout Lent we have been on a journey of discovery as Jesus’ encounters changed lives.  We witnessed miracle after miracle as Jesus healed a leper, cast demons out of another, healed a woman with only a touch of his cloak, gave another the ability to stand tall, and healed a blind man with only a word.  Luke’s Gospel is filled with these amazing stories of how Jesus changed everything.

But the one story that truly changed everything…for everyone…is the power of the Empty Tomb!  From the moment Jesus burst on the scene every moment led to that one.  At his birth the Angel’s sang about it.  At his baptism, the beginning of his ministry, God’s spoke and the Holy Spirit descended upon him anointing him for the change that was to come.  As he gathered his disciples, he changed their lives forever.  As Jesus shared the message of God’s love for the world, things began to change everyone.  And the climax of his story, his death on the cross was a turning point of this change and his resurrection was the moment where everything changed…forever! 

Love changed our trajectory.  Don’t you just love that truth?  Because of Jesus, life will never be the same again!  Death is no longer something we need to fear.  The Empty Tomb, the empty cross…point to the amazing love God has for each one of us. 

  “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.

(John 3:16-17, MSG)

Friends, may we let those words soak in.  May we let that truth speak deep into our hearts and invade our thoughts.  Love changed everything!  Christ is Risen!  He is Risen indeed!

Easter Blessings,
Pastor Jenni

“Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery?
He is not here, but raised up.“

Luke 24:5