FROM YOUR PASTOR
Think back. What is the best gift you ever received…a bike, a car, jewelry? What is the best thing anyone ever did for you? We once had a group of friends pay our house payments for months until that house finally sold. What is your favorite holiday… Christmas with all the decorations and celebrations, July 4 with fireworks, Thanksgiving with food and family?
I think the greatest holiday ever is this month. Easter. The greatest gift ever is eternal life. The best thing anyone ever did for any of us is Jesus giving His life as payment for our sins.
God gave us this most precious gift. John 3:16 (NASB) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.
We were all sinners. Romans 3:23 (NASB) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, …
And the wages of sin is death! BUT the gift of God is eternal life! Romans 6:23 (NASB) For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God loved us so much that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (NASB) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
It’s nothing we did. It is the gift of God! Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB) 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
All we have to do is believe! Romans 10:9-13 (NASB) 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.”… 13 for “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
And we will have peace with God. Romans 5:1 (NASB) Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
There is no condemnation for believers. Romans 8:1(NASB) Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Nothing will ever separate believers from God. Romans 8:38-39 (NASB) 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Praise Him for His awesome gift! 1 Peter 1:3 (NASB) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, …
Jesus is alive! It’s what we celebrate at Easter. Luke 24:6-7 (NASB) 6 “He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, 7 saying that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise from the dead.”
Believers have eternal life! John 6:40 (NASB) “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”
This month, read the true Easter story in the Bible: Matthew, Chapters 27 & 28, Mark, Chapters 15 & 16, Luke, Chapters 23 &24, & John, Chapters 19 & 20 & be reminded of all Jesus did for YOU. Thank Him! Share the Good News & the reason for Easter with others. Pray for the lost to come to know Jesus as Savior.