St Paul Church

Pastor’s Message

April 2012

Dear St. Paul Family,

Earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, poverty, sickness, personal tragedy. He Arose! Unemployment, government borrowing, national debt, credit cards maxed, foreclosure. He Arose! Divorce, abandonment, abuse, alimony, childcare payments, separation, broken relationships, loneliness, depression. Am I worthy? Does anyone love me? He Arose! Achieve, be your best, strive, get a good education, get a good job, I’m average. They are all smarter. I’m a failure. He Arose! Murder, suicide, wars, violent crime, rape, bullying, verbal abuse, physical abuse. He Arose!

Autism, SIDS, birth defects, miscarriages, downs syndrome, infertility. He Arose! Pollution, over population, global warming, nuclear meltdown, gas prices. He Arose! Death — death of a parent, death of a spouse, death of a child, death of a friend, death of a pet, death of our Savior. He Arose!

When the movie The Passion of the Christ came out, it had a powerful impact on the audience … a major complaint about the movie is that it spent too little time on the resurrection … that Jesus did rise from the dead.

We come to this season of Easter and isn’t it easier to think about all the problems we face? All the hurts we experience? All the concerns that burden us? Christians are called “Easter People” because of the hope we have in the resurrection … but too often we are “tomb people” … frustrated that we can’t get the stone rolled away.

Mark 16: 1-3 ~ “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices so they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

In essence they were asking, “Who will remove the burden for us? Who will take away the stone so we can serve and honor Jesus? The stone is too great for us.” Why do we think we have to have our burdens taken away before we can serve Jesus?

God rolled the stone away and Jesus’ resurrection defeated death … and every other burden, concern, stress, pain, sickness, doubt, disaster, depression, helplessness and the list goes on, we have ever had or ever will have.

He Arose! … He Arose! … Hallelujah Christ arose!

Who will you tell? Who will you invite to join you for Easter? Who will you bring hope to?

Happy Easter!

Pastor Scott

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