HE IS RISEN!!!

Two years ago when Shelly and I had the privilege of traveling to the Holy Land, there were a few things that really stood out to me about the trip. The Sea of Galilee was absolutely amazing and to see the land forms around the body of water and hear the explanation of how storms form quickly has allowed the scripture to jump off the pages for me. The Garden of Gethsemane was perhaps the most emotional place we visited. I remember very clearly looking up the hill towards the city gates and gazing over my shoulder into the wilderness and realizing the sacrifice Jesus made. In the moment when the soldiers were coming to get Jesus all he had to do was take off the other way and they probably never would have found him. Then there was the Garden Tomb. I really was looking forward to the tomb before and during the trip, but I must admit it really was not impressive to me. The main reason is no one is really for sure that is the tomb where Jesus was laid. The significant part of the tomb for me was that it was empty. It really doesn’t matter if that is Jesus’ tomb or not. The important thing is that it was empty!!! HE IS RISEN!

As the calendar rolls over to Easter, we move on from the “L’s” vision series into Holy Week activities. I have been so encouraged by your response to LOVE, LEAD, LIBERATE, and LAUNCH. I hope you continue to pray about what part of the vision God would have you to invest in. Remember vision is “‘what is’ compared to ‘what could be’”. We must do what God called us to so that can be accomplished. We move on from the sermon series, but we must not move on from the vision and purpose to which God has called us.

Love: We are called to LOVE the unbeliever into the Kingdom of God by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ because God LOVED us first.

Liberate: We are called to LIBERATE the believer and unbeliever from worldly bondage by the power of the Word of God and with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Lead: We are called to LEAD the believer and unbeliever into a dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ through training and discipleship of the truths found in God's Word.

Launch: We are called to LAUNCH discipled believers into the world to continue bringing the message of the Gospel to unbelievers.

I hope many of you have taken the 1:1:1 challenge. It is almost time to see what God will do with your efforts. Remember I challenged you to pray for 1 person, 1 time a day, at 1 pm and then invite them to Resurrection Sunday services! I can’t wait. How about you?

On that note let me remind you about the first two Sundays of April. April 1st is Palm Sunday. We will have lots of “new” things to enjoy that day as well as a great time of worship leading up to Easter Sunday. Then on the 8th we will celebrate the risen Savior on Easter morning. We will have the 8:30 worship, brunch at 9:00, Easter Egg Hunt at 10:00, followed by WORSHIP at 10:30!! NOTICE THE TIME CHANGE! In years past there was a lag between the brunch/Easter Egg hunt and the contemporary worship, so as a staff we decided to move worship up 30 minutes and also allow families to get out of church a bit earlier to enjoy the day together! Make sure to take full advantage of all the Holy Week activities as we celebrate the fact that HE IS RISEN!!!