From the minister...
Easter is a time when the
Christian Church all over the world celebrates the resurrection of
our Lord. It is the high point of the Christian calendar because as
St.
Paul says, “if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless
and so is your faith”.
1 Corinthians
15:14 (NIV)
Many of the
faithful people of God may look at the condition of the world today
and be tempted to say “what good is my faith” Twenty seven thousand
children will die tonight from starvation (Christian Children Fund
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We pray but it
seems that our prayers are not heard. Why? I reflected on the story
of Lazarus’ resurrection recently (St.
John 11:30-45),
and discovered a revolutionary thought,
Jesus doesn’t always respond
to us in the way we expect!
Jesus delayed
his response to the family of Lazarus who by all accounts are devout
people in who home Jesus often resided, but when confronted with a
grieving sister with an accusatory “if you had been here my brother
would not have died…” Jesus responds by saying that he was GLAD he
was not there! For their sakes. Wow!
This is so that their faith may be strengthened that they may
know that Jesus heals the sick but he also raises the dead. And that
is the power of our faith. That death is not the end of the matter.
We have hope beyond the grave and this is the hope we celebrate at
Easter. Jesus’ final instruction to the family after the
resurrection of their brother is
"Take off the grave clothes
and let him go."
When I look around me there
are so many persons struggling to be free of the grave clothes of
depression, guilt, HIV, poverty,
fear, and anxiety. So many who need to hear Jesus say take
off the grave clothes, be free to experience life in its fullness.
This is our calling to free our brothers and sisters who today are
shackled by the evils of the day. Jesus rose from the grave and
defeated the ultimate enemy of life, believe that draw strength and
Faith from that and LIVE!
Rev. Dave Spence
