Celebrating the Risen Savior with His people!

A few pics of our gathering this morning, we had four different house churches in attendance. We broke bread, passed the cup, prayed, read Scripture, sang hymns (Acts 2:42). We shared a breakfast meal together which was yummy, especially the fruit salad I painstakingly made! Best of all a new brother in Christ was baptized, just like the early church did it: in a stock tank in the back of a pick-up truck! My friend Kevin and others taught and shared and the church came away edified, uplifted and encouraged. What could be better?!

Here is good news

The resurrection of Christ is not an event on a calendar, something to be commemorated once a year like any other holiday. It is an ever present reality, the only hope of mankind and the living promise of God for His people. If you are His, take joy today in His conquest of death and the grave. Just be sure we take that same joy and that it impacts everything we do the rest of the year as well.


Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you." (Mat 28:1-7)

House Churches and Easter

USA Today has a large article on house church/simple churches and how they are celebrating Easter without the pageantry and performance: Christians celebrate 'simple' Easter. I love this part:

Sure, Easter is the big day when the church choirs are decked out, the banners are unfurled, the organ music rolls and the pastor delivers a powerhouse sermon.

"For us, it's Easter every day,"O'Hair counters. "We don't wait for once a year. We gather people of like mind who really believe they have gifts and callings. You don't have pastors and teachers who take over. The house church meeting is led by the Holy Spirit. Sing, teach, preach — you are free to do so."

Amen! Easter everyday!

More and more Christians are finding community outside of the confining walls of church buildings and that is not something to lament but to celebrate. I am looking forward to spending this Sunday with other believers, both from our small local group and a group from further south. We are going to break bread, see a new believer baptized and share songs, prayers and Scripture with one another. What a marvelous blessing that will be!

(I found it interesting that they quoted uber-institutional pastor Kevin DeYoung for this article)

Does a day make a difference?

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” (Matthew 28: 5-7, emp. added)

Are these words as precious to you today as they were yesterday? The tomb is still empty, he is still risen and His people still have the hope and the promise!

Why do you seek the living among the dead?

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words,and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles,but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened. (Luke 24: 1-12)

Easter

It's about both life and death

Great sermon from C.J. Mahaney at the 2008 Ligonier conference. He preaches on just one verse, 1 Corinthians 15:17, and one verse is all he needed:

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

That's the big if, if He is not risen, then all of this is in vain for those who really believe. If the story of the Resurrection is merely a social issue, Easter is a time to go to church and make a show, who cares if He is risen, or still dead or never lived at all. But for those of us who put out faith for the forgiveness of our sins in Him, it means EVERYTHING. A Christ who is not risen means a Gospel that is not true, and a Gospel that is not true cannot save anyone.



How many people will get sermons like C.J.'s tomorrow morning? How many people will get sermons tomorrow morning, sweet as a jelly bean and as nutritious as a Peep? Big crowds don't mean it is time for a watered down, palatable message. Big crowds are a big opportunity, to declare the life, death and resurrection of Christ, to tell people the bad news of our sins but also the Good News of Christ. No one, Christian or not, should walk out of church on Sunday morning unchanged from the way that they walked in.

It is, as Brother C.J. said, not about avoidance of death but about victory over death. When we sing Victory of Jesus, it means that we realize that He was dead, as dead as any man has ever been, but He rose again and in that we share in His victory.

He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. (Matthew 28:6)