Dear First
Methodist Family,
In the early days of the Christian church, as new believers became part of the Christian faith and the church spread across the Roman Empire, the early Christians had a greeting for one another. Just as I might say to you, “Good Morning,” and you would reply, “Good morning to you,” their greeting was “He is risen,” to which the other replied, “He is risen, indeed!”
“He is not here, but has risen!” Those seven words have changed the course of history in our world. We just celebrated an Easter weekend that absolutely hinged on the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Easter lilies, the music, the flowered cross, the reason we gathered and the message all centered on the amazing concept that Jesus came out of a tomb.
| But we have to go back to Good Friday to get a clear picture of the transformation power of the resurrection. As we read the Gospel stories of the crucifixion of Jesus, we see that almost all of the disciples deserted him when faced with the apparent disaster of the cross. They were feeling helpless and hopeless, discouraged and disillusioned, empty in heart and broken in spirit. What is more striking is the remark of one of the disappointed disciples who said, “We had hoped that He was the One to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21). And you can almost hear the next sentence, “But we guess we must have been wrong.” |
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Yet within a very short time these very
same disciples, became
transformed into triumphant and courageous persons proclaiming their faith.
What made the difference?
“He is not here, but has risen!” That made the difference. They began to sing and rejoice, they healed, they taught, they preached, they lived triumphantly. Why? Because “He is not here, but has risen.” But it took more than an event – it took a
personal experience with the risen Christ. The event had to become an experience in order for their lives to be changed.
This weekend was a celebration of an experience with the Risen Christ that still transforms lives. And
an experience with the risen Christ is what makes life work today. We’ll begin a new message series called “
Simple Machines – Making Life Work.” Each weekend for five weekends we’ll be talking about how God can work in our lives to “Make Life Work.”
I also hope you’ll take a moment to join our
“Time to Grow” team. Your only time commitment is to attend two meetings:
April 13, 2008 from
4:30 until 6:30 pm. A
meal will be provided and you’ll receive some
simple helps during this time
to better equip you to share your faith during 2008. Then you attend a
Celebration Banquet on
December 7, 2008 to share what was done during a year of outreach. Sign up today. We’re almost half-way to our goal of 500 team members and YOU are important.
