What comes to mind when you think of Easter? Colored eggs, chocolate bunnies, kids dressed in pastels? But this holiday is more than candy and delicious food and pastel colors. It’s a victory celebration. The Enemy did everything to try to wipe out the the bloodline of David and to stop any chance of a messiah gaining a foothold in the world. But Jesus surprised everybody by not fighting. Instead of trying to gain political and military might, he surrendered his life to death. And then he surprised everyone even more by coming back from the dead three days later.

It’s an amazing story, and these events shoo up the whole world. So how does it impact you?

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Say you’re sorry.

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How would you like to find a priceless treasure?

How would you like to beat death?

How would you like to find victory over every challenge?

Well, all that is made possible because of the sacrifice Jesus made on a cross in order to save your eternal life.  So if you’d like to know how to find victory and new life and the most valuable treasure there is, listen to this message and say “Yes” to Christ’s offer of forgiveness and grace and transformation of your heart and mind.

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Get your pencils out, it’s test time!

How do you think you stand up to God’s Top 10?

Have a listen and see how you come out.

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There is no greater gift than forgiveness.  The fact that God is even willing to pardon our past and wipe the slate clean is amazing–especially considering the fact that there’s no way we could ever make up for rebelling against the good life he has called us to live.

So in turn the greatest gift that we could share is to pass on the same kind of forgiveness that we receive.  It can be a life changer.

Of course that’s hard to do is you’ve never received the grace of God in your own life.  So if you want to know just how good it is, there’s no time like the present to find out what having a new life is all about!

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Can God really love everybody?  There are some pretty rotten people in this world.  Would God really be willing to reach out to the worst of the worst.

Like many people, maybe you’ve even wondered if God cares about you.

Have a listen to this week’s message and hear how God dealt with one of the most wicked sinners in the Bible.

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The miracle of human development is staggeringly complex.  The changes and growth that take place even in the first day following conception are simply amazing–much less the developmental changes that occur in the following weeks and months.  To be able to see what is taking place on a microscopic level reveals Darwinian evolution as a biological absurdity.  Of course the Bible reveals the truth of God’s amazing creation even without the ability we now have to see the intricate mechanics of early development.  But the more capabilities we develop for scientific understanding of what happens in a mother’s womb, the more clear it should become that abortion at any stage is so obviously the destruction of a human being, and that all members of the human race have the same God given rights regardless of their level of development or ability.

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Romans 12:17-21 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. ¹⁸Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

¹⁹Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the LORD.

²⁰Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them.   If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”

²¹Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

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I think it’s funny how people portray Heaven as a white cloudy kind of place where people dress in robes and have halos and play harps.  And then people look at that made up idea and say it’s boring, so they’re not all that interested in going.

Of course the reality of Heaven is beyond our imagination.  The Bible says it’s massive and full of color and lights and trees and flowing water.  But it’s also a place of worship.  It will be like church 24/7.  And people will be singing praises to God and worshiping him non-stop.  Of course that idea doesn’t appeal to anyone who doesn’t believe in or like God.  So they probably wouldn’t be interested in Heaven anyway.

of course everybody who admits the truth, understands how great God is and how worthy he is of our worship and obedience, and how limitless the blessings of a relationship with God is.  But they like to hold on to the idea that Heaven is like winning the lottery and doing whatever you want without interaction with God.  Many people think they can con God into letting them into Heaven in spite of their sinful hearts and lives and that somehow their hearts and minds will magically change when they die.  But the scary truth is, your heart and mind are judged for what they are and if you’re not purified before you kick the bucket, you’ll be pitched out and burned with all the other impurities that aren’t worthy of entering God’s presence.

What do you think of that thought?

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We all know that Jesus was brutally flogged and then nailed to a cross to die a terrible and painful death.  But the kind of suffering and death he went through was not that uncommon in his day.  Lots of people were flogged, and crucifixion was a normal tool for Roman capital punishment.

What makes Jesus death way different (besides the fact of his innocence) is that Jesus died voluntarily.  If a bunch of trained soldiers tie you up to a post and proceed to whip the flesh from your back, there’s probably not much you could do about it.  And if your limbs are connected to wooden beams by iron spikes driven through your hands and feet, what are you going to do?  But at any point, Jesus could have snapped his fingers and stopped it all.  I doubt you or I would have the strength and commitment to endure that kind of torture for more than a few minutes if we had the power to end it.  But Jesus held strong for hours of gruesome pain and suffering until his body couldn’t take any more and finally died.

Praise the Lord for his dedication, because otherwise none of us would have any hope.

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