He Is Risen!  4/1/18

Jennings Ferry Campground, Akron, Alabama

 

Christ the Lord is risen today!  Alleluia! 

He is Risen! 

He is Risen indeed!

 

This.  This is the reason for our faith.  As the apostle Paul said in I Corinthians 15:12-19, But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?  If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.  More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead. . . . . . And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. . . .

And in I Corinthians 15:3-8, For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:  that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.  After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.  Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, He appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.  (‘abnormally born’ because Paul was originally a non-believer who never followed Jesus and in fact, persecuted the church, calling for the executions of any and all Christ-followers after Jesus’ death and resurrection.)

 

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!  He’s alive!  He’s Alive!  HE’S ALIVE!

And because Jesus lives forever . . . , He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.  ~ Hebrews 7:24-25

 

 

We chose to drive about 30 minutes to church today so we could celebrate with a large congregation.  The churches around us are very, very small, and while I know that doesn’t negate their fervor and faith and joy-filled spirits, we just felt that on Easter Sunday we needed the excitement that comes from a large congregation.  I can’t explain it.

 

So today, we worshiped with the congregants at Valley View Baptist Church.

We arrived just a couple of minutes early and found our seat in the middle section of the sanctuary about halfway back.  And then, within moments we were completely surrounded by high school kids!  It was pretty obvious that this section was theirs as no one else under 18 was sitting anywhere near us.  😊

Cynic that I am sometimes, I was pretty sure our worship would be distracted by chattering and giggling, but they worshiped right along with us and when the Pastor got up to begin his message, many of them took out various types of notebooks and took notes!  Never judge a book . . .

 

“The open tomb was not so Jesus could get out, but so that we could see in.”  This is how he began, and already he’s making me think.  See in to what?  See in to the fact that the tomb is empty.  See in to the fact of resurrection and eternal life.

Today’s message was focused on those who have had an encounter with Jesus, and yet because of a lack of faith don’t know Him.

He began in Genesis 28, where Jacob (as in “Jacob’s Ladder”) says after he wakes up in verse 16, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”

But most of his focus was on the “Road to Emmaus” story that took place shortly after Jesus’ crucifixion, death and resurrection.  (Luke 24:13-35)  Briefly, two men were walking from Jerusalem to a town named Emmaus – about 7 miles – when Jesus comes up to join them and they spend the rest of the journey conversing, but the men didn’t recognize Him.

How is that possible?

But even Peter saw the empty tomb and walked away wondering what happened.  How is that possible?

When Jesus catches up to the men, He asks them what they’re talking about.  They’re surprised He doesn’t know.  “Are you the only one who doesn’t know what’s happened here in Jerusalem?”  “What happened?”  So they give Him a brief synopsis of the events, including the report that Jesus was not in the tomb and the women said He was alive.

Jesus then calls them foolish for not believing it and as they walk together, He reminds them of all the scriptures (from the Old Testament) that talk about Himself.  To name just a very few – Psalm 78:1-2, Isaiah 58:3, Zechariah 9:9-11 and 11:12-13, Psalm 22:16, 18 and Isaiah 25:7-8.

These men were ready to believe that His body had been moved, rather than the truth of the resurrection, even though several people were actually resurrected during Jesus’ ministry.

So they reach their destination and Jesus starts to say goodbye and move on, but the men encourage Him to stay with them.  It was during dinner, that they finally realized who they had spent the day with!  As soon as they recognized Him, Jesus vanished.

It was then that they realized that all that time, they had felt His presence, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

And then they hurried back to Jerusalem to share the glorious news of what they knew.

 

Another point that was made – – Jesus never comes in unless invited.  He never forces Himself on anyone.  He must be invited.

 

So here’s the life application.  There is evidence in a person’s life that they’ve had an encounter with Jesus.

1. They’re on fire for Jesus. (“Didn’t our hearts burn….”)
2. They love the Word of God. How do you gage where your walk is?  When’s the last time you spent any time in the Bible?  It ought to be a big deal for you.  Jesus used the Word to teach the men about Himself.  You can’t learn about Him unless you’re in the Word.
3. You want to tell others. If you’re a believer, you have greater news than winning a $300 million-dollar lottery.  If that happened to you (winning), would you keep it to yourself?  Never telling anyone??

 

Go!  Share your good news with others!  And Happy Easter!

 

 

 

We visited Moundville today!  Who would have ever guessed that Alabama would have such sites???

 

 

APRIL FOOL’S!!!

 

Sort of.

 

We did visit Moundville, Alabama today, but it was certainly no joke!  We were on our way to church – in fact, about 5-10 minutes away.  It was approximately 8:20am, when I hear Blaine yell, “NOOOO!!!!”  And then . . . .

 

WHAM!

 

We were rear-ended!  Very hard!  By a large, white pickup truck.

Blaine saw it coming.  I knew the guy’d been giving Blaine fits for several miles, even causing Blaine to slow way down a couple of times when there was a passing area, but the guy didn’t go around us.  He’d just back off for a bit, before flying up behind us once again.  We have no idea what was up with him, but he hit us full-speed and hard.  Totaled his truck.  Bent our rear door (which still works), the hitch (fortunately, we no longer use a bike rack there), and our frame (we’re still drivable), dented and marred the bumper (doesn’t look bad) and tore up our tire cover.  Who knows what else.

 

But Praise God!  No one was injured, other than some mild whiplash for me. I think it was the spare tire on the back and the fact that we drive a Jeep that kept us from getting hurt.  And of course, Divine Intervention!

Blaine called 911 and when they asked where we were, we weren’t sure.  But we knew we’d recently passed a sign for Moundville.  And he knew what road we were on.  An officer showed up quickly and talked to the other driver first, before walking about 20 yards or so to us.

And we were shocked at how little information he wanted.  He never asked us what happened.  He didn’t care that the address on Blaine’s license was incorrect.  He didn’t want proof of insurance, just the name of our company.  He did ask if we needed medical attention.  And when Blaine asked if the other driver had insurance, he gave an abrupt, “Yes.”  without even looking up.  And the pie’ce de re’sistance?  We received the case number, his last name and the station phone number on a torn piece of paper.

 

And we still made it to church on time.  😊  Although, admittedly a bit shaken and out of sorts.  Those smaller churches were looking better by then . . . .

 

After speaking with our insurance claims department, we were relieved to learn that we could wait until we get home in May to have it fixed.  We had concerns about finding someone reputable out here since we don’t know anyone.

Now we just pray that the guy really does have insurance.

And yes, for those of you with a sharp memory, we were rear-ended last April, in our car.  I sure hope and pray this doesn’t become an annual event.

In addition to the accident, I was feeling a bit down anyway because we were away from family today.  Blaine was missing them, too.

 

We used our outdoor TV and watched the movie, “Risen” this afternoon – the Easter Story from the perspective of a Roman Centurion.  It was very good!

 

Afterwards we had a dinner of ham, au gratin potatoes and fresh garlic parmesan green beans.

We ended our Easter celebration by watching the live production of “Jesus Christ Superstar”.  We’d never seen it, but recognized most of the songs.  Not sure how we feel about it.  First, we didn’t realize it ended with his death, totally missing the point of Easter – His Resurrection! In addition, it painted Jesus as a harassed, overwhelmed and frustrated man.  But Judas’ part was spectacular.  He was really the star of the show – in every way.  And it seemed to present the story more from his perspective of things.

 

So that was our Easter.

 

We hope yours was absolutely wonderful!  Because He is Risen!!!

 

TOTAL HIKING MILES:  0

Year To Date:   246

Daily Average:  2.73