He Is Risen!!!!

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.  1 Corinthians 15:16-17

The church celebrates the important dates of the church and the life of Christ.  From His birth (Christmas Day), to His death (Good Friday), to His departure into heaven (Ascension), and many more mark important reminders to us of those key events in the life of Jesus.  

The most important date is His Resurrection from the dead (Easter), where He conquered sin, death, and the devil once and for all: to complete the forgiveness of our sins (see the scripture above), and to give us the certain promise of the resurrection to eternal life through faith in Jesus.  

Without the resurrection of Jesus, His work is not complete.  Without the resurrection of Jesus, our resurrection is not possible.  Without the resurrection of Jesus, we have hope only in this life, and “if in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19).

“But in fact Christ HAS been raised from the dead” (emphasis mine, 1 Corinthians 15:20), and because we have been connected to Him in His death and resurrection through the water and the Word of baptism, we, too, will be raised from the dead!

But His resurrection is important to us as we live our lives in the here and now, not just in the life to come.  In His resurrection we have peace, hope, contentment, joy, a purpose, and so much more.  The resurrection is so important that the early church began worshiping on the day of the week of the resurrection (Sunday) instead of the Sabbath day (Saturday).  

This year during the season of Easter (Easter Sunday and the 6 weekends following), our weekend worship focus will be on the how the resurrection impacts our day to day lives as followers of Jesus.  I encourage you to make the resurrection of Jesus a year-long celebration, gathering with the church to celebrate the forgiveness of sins and promise of the resurrection Jesus gives to us every day through His resurrection.

Christ HAS been raised from the dead; we will be raised with Him on the last day.  Now that’s something to celebrate all year!  I'll see you in worship!

Pastor Cory​

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