Easter is everywhere

Dear friends,

Sometimes we think of Easter as an isolated incident, a day to rise early and celebrate well the news that the tomb is empty and eternal life is a reality. The truth is that Easter is just an obvious step in a progression made obvious in the events of Jesus' earthly life.

Nathan Nettleton preached an Easter sermon that included these lines: "Look at the stories of Jesus’ life. All the way through you can see that death is losing its grip. Every time somebody once crippled stands and walks, or blind eyes begin to see, or prisoners of fear break free, or the outcast dance in the temple, death is being pushed onto the back foot, and fullness of life is having its way over deathliness and despair. Every time Jesus is confronted with the finger prints of death, life breaks through. By the time we get to Easter, how could the tomb be anything but empty?...

"Easter Sunday is not an isolated event. It is unique in its climactic nature, but we had glimpses of it over and over again as God repeatedly responded to people faced with the power of death and led them forward to freedom and fullness of life. Easter is everywhere, wherever the Spirit of God comes back in the hearts of downtrodden people and they begin the dance of life, with futures resurrected as they follow the resurrected Lord of life and become part of God’s great movement of raising life from the midst of death when all hope seems gone."

May your week include many reminders that Christ is risen, the tomb is empty and He lives!

Blessings for your week,

Pastor Beth