When I was a kid, I loved Christmas and tolerated Easter. To this child, Christmas was about presents, good food, and most importantly, several days off school. Easter on the other hand was about getting dressed up in uncomfortable clothes and having to pose for lots of pictures with my family in those uncomfortable clothes. There wasn’t much comparison between these two major holidays, one was a dream come true for all my childhood indulgences and the other paled by comparison.
Growing up, and more importantly, growing in a relationship with Christ, has changed my perspective. I’m not sure that I’ve grown any fonder of itchy dress clothes, and I know that I still dislike posing for pictures intensely, but I now love Easter. I love Easter because of what it stands for. Jesus died for my sins. He took my guilt on the cross, and the punishment my sins deserved was poured out on Him. Then three days later, He rose from the grave, defeating Satan and death so that we can have life forevermore with Him.
I love it when we all come together in the weeks before Easter and remember the love of God poured out on us through the cross. I love when we gather on Easter Sunday, in itchy clothes and all, and declare to each other that “He is Risen.” I love the joy that I see on your faces as you celebrate the new life you have through Jesus’ resurrection.
As much as I love Easter these days, I pray that it will not be the high point of our spiritual journey in 2024. I pray that Easter will be a launching point for even greater celebration of Jesus and His transforming work in our lives. My hope is that each of us will experience the joy of pursuing God deeply in our individual lives and our families.
To help you pursue the joy of Jesus, our church staff has prayerfully planned activities to grow your relationship with Christ. I’m excited to jump into the book of Philippians after Easter and study how we can be a people of joy and rejoicing at all times by making Christ the focus of our lives. Ladies, I hope you will join us for a time of growing in relationship with the Lord and other women at Women’s Retreat. Gentlemen, I can’t wait to gather with you for the Men’s Advance and seek the Lord. And I would love to have you join us as we draw near to God in prayer at the Friendship Church Prayer meeting this Wednesday. You can get more information about all these opportunities to grow close to the Lord and more by going to friendshipmn.org.
Let Easter be the launching point in all of our lives and in our church to greater celebration of Jesus and closeness to God.