Easter Message & Original Poem

The Greatest Event of All Times!

What is it?  It’s the first Easter!  What is Easter?  It isn’t Easter bunnies or Easter eggs.  Springtime and eggs were used as fertility celebrations throughout history.  We Christians do have Easter eggs hunts and give Easter baskets to our children on Easter morning, but view the Easter egg as a symbol of joy and celebration of new life and resurrection.  

Easter is about Jesus’ resurrection on the third day after his crucifixion.   It is the single most important event of the Christian faith.  We celebrate this glorious day each year remembering the suffering he went through and his willingness to die on the cross to pay the debt of all those who would believe and trust in Him.  Just as Jesus rose from the dead to new life and ascended into Heaven, we Christians believe we too will rise from the dead to receive new life after death and ascend into Heaven. 

Jesus’ resurrection has changed the world. 

There are at least 12 different appearances of Christ in the resurrection accounts in scripture.  They were physical, tangible experiences with Christ eating, speaking and allowing himself to be touched.  Jesus' resurrected body was no longer subject to the same laws of nature.  He could transcend locked doors, and yet he could still be touched and he could eat.

The tomb was sealed with a large stone so Jesus could not get out.  On the third day the stone was rolled away miracleously so that everyone could see that he was risen.  He was able to walk through walls in his resurrected body.  John 20:19 – “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be eith you!’ ”

Before Jesus ascended into heaven he gave the Great Commission, telling his followers to go and make disciples of all nations.  Matthew 28:19  -“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
 

John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.  

1 Peter 1:3
”Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... “

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He Is Risen

 (Taken from 1 Corinthians 15)

If we hold firm to the word

   By the gospel we are saved.

Jesus died on the cross for us,

        And with His blood for us He paid.

He was buried. On the third day was raised.

He appeared to many, some have fallen asleep.

He sent His Holy Spirit to be with us

   To comfort, guide, and for us to keep,

Till He comes again in clouds with power

   That we might see His great glory.

We must continue to tell others

Of the wonderful story.

How He loved us so much

          And paid the ultimate price for our sins.

Someday He’ll come back to get us.

   In heaven together we will enter in.

So stand firm. Let nothing move you.

Do His work and your labor will not be in vain.

He will always stand by you

And in you, He will remain.

For by His love He has set us free

From life’s worldly prisons.

For HE IS RISEN, INDEED!

       INDEED, HE IS RISEN!

                                 -- by Linda Vittitow