Today we celebrate Easter, Jesus rising from the dead. This was the event that fulfilled Jesus’ mission on earth. Jesus’ had to suffer, die and rise to fulfill the prophecies and pay the price for the sin of mankind.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16,17 NIV

How different this makes Christianity from all other religions, that God saves us, as His free gift. Other religions require the following of rules, rituals, or gaining special knowledge in order to be “saved”.

“Oh the sweet joy this sentence gives, I know that my redeemer lives.” Samuel Medley

Dear Lord, Thank you for the wonderful gift of salvation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

It is amazing to think about the history of Christianity. Through the years many have tried to stamp it out, from the Jewish leaders in the first century, Greek, Roman and Ottoman Empires, the Communists, and many others. Today Christianity is being attacked,from many directions, but from the original 12 disciples who followed Jesus, Christianity has grown to over 2 billion people; The largest religion in the world.

We know that those opposing Jesus will never succeed, as Isaiah prophesied and Peter repeated in 1 Peter 1:24,25, “..the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” Until the Lord returns, we know that God’s word will endure.

Dear Lord, Thank you for growing your church throughout the world. Help us be a part of spreading your good news. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

It is difficult for us to truly understand how Jesus’ disciples must have felt after his crucifixion. I am sure it was the epitome of despair. They had put their confidence in what they thought he was telling them, that he was the Messiah, but they did not understand what it would take for the Messiah to fulfill his role.

Their feeling is described in Luke when Jesus appeared to two men, though they didn’t know it was Him, the story known as “The Road to Emmaus.” In Luke 24:18-21, “Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.” “What things?” Jesus asked. “The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth,” they said. “He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people. But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel.”

But we know the rest of the story, and their hope was not misplaced.

Dear Lord, What joy it brings to know that there is no need to despair about ourselves on earth, or our future in heaven, because you are the hope of the world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Today is Maunday Thursday, the day we remember the “Last Supper.”

As Christians, we typically think about the Last Supper as when our modern day Holy Communion was first instituted. However, what Jesus and the disciples were doing, was celebrating Passover, which was the day the Jews remembered God saving them from the Angel of Death in Egypt; the last plague before Moses led them out of Egypt. That day in Egypt, the Jews painted the blood of a lamb on their door posts as a sign of the agreement with God that the angel of death would “pass over” their homes safely. The first born in houses without the blood on the door posts was killed.

Mark 14:23-24 writes, “And he [Jesus] took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And he said to them, “This is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many.”

At that passover meal, Jesus instituted a new tradition that we use today to remember how the blood of Jesus saves us also from death, eternal death.

Dear Lord, We thank you for the wonderful gift you gave us in Holy Communion, reminding us of the new agreement, “Salvation,” you give us if we accept Jesus Christ. What an amazing agreement. You save us, all we have to do is accept it. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

I think humans have an inherent desire to know how things work, and why things are the way they are; So much so that we guess, which in Science we call a “hypothesis.” Many people who want to rule out God’s design, and His creation as a reason, conveniently use the word “theory” for their guess.

As Christians, we accept that there are many mysteries we do not yet understand, and may never understand.

In John 3, Jesus says that we must be “born again” to enter the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus, a Jewish scholar or Pharasee, questioned what Jesus meant. Jesus replied in John 3:8, “The wind blows where ever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but cannot tell where in comes from, or where it is going, so you cannot explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus doesn’t understand, and Jesus tells him, like he tells us about our “theories,” in John 8:12, “But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?”

Dear Lord, You give us so much of your wisdom in the Bible, much remains a mystery, but some we just choose to question. Open our eyes and hearts to see your meaning and believe your message. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.