Easter is only a few weeks away ...

As we begin our journey to remember the cross this Easter we will see the normal things that take place every year. People that have not been to church since Christmas and/or Easter of last year will come through the church doors. Church people will put their signs out in their yards inviting people to the Sunday Easter Service. Others will verbally invite someone to church because for some unknown reason it is ok to invite people to church on Easter Sunday and/or Christmas without feeling uncomfortable about doing so. Children, along with many adults, will be dressed up in the colors of spring. A sense of celebration will be in the air. Grills will be fired up with hamburgers and hotdogs accompanied by Easter Egg hunts in many parks and back yards.

However, Monday following Easter life will go back to usual for most and the celebration will be over till next Easter. Why? Why is this so true for so many in the body of Christ! Because, we lose sight of what the power of the cross and the resurrection means to our daily lives! 

Just to remind us... Here are just a few of the basics: Eternal life, a new heart, a new identity, a new foundation to build our lives on, a bank account of forgiveness, and the list is endless! Please consider, for a believer Easter should be a climax celebration of living out these truths that proclaim the victory and hope that are ours daily from year to year.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

 John 3:16 (ESV)  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 

John 1:12-13 (ESV) But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,   who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

1 Corinthians 3:11 (ESV) For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

John 1:9 (ESV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Thank you to those that I have talked with about where God would lead us in the fall. We will be meeting as a staff the second week of April to talk more about the opportunities and to seek His will.

Have a Great Week!

His,

Vickie