Beloved, today Easter Sunday, we celebrate our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s Resurrection. It is a glorious day. It is also a day we reflect on where Jesus defeated death. Nothing had been able to handle death. People, plants, wildlife, mountains- absolutely nothing has been able to handle death. People die, plants die, wildlife dies and even mountains surrender to death. Everyone and everything has succumbed to death.
 
But today, we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15:54–57 says, “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’’​

When Jesus resurrected, He defeated death. Romans 6:9 says, “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.’’ Therefore, as we study todays Scripture and look as a Father begs, a woman touches and a child arises, we believe that Jesus has conquered death. This is the best news ever!
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May you have a blessed Easter Sunday!
 
Blessings-
Pastor Joe  

​Beloved, written approximately in 500BC the Prophet Zechariah predicted Jesus Christ as entering Jerusalem on a donkey. Zechariah  9:9 says, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
We can imagine the joy and excitement that filled Jerusalem at that time. Not only was it Passover but Jesus Christ was coming into Jerusalem as the King of Kings! Jesus was initiating a public, kingly act openly revealing that he is the King. In a sense He was saying, “King Me!” The crowd was overjoyed at His entrance and yet only a week later the same crowd would shout “Crucify Him.”
Even as Jesus received the crowd’s worship His heart was breaking in half. Luke 19:41 says, “And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it.” Why would Jesus weep during such a triumphal entry? Because there were many who would not receive Him but who would ultimately reject Him as their Messiah. Luke 19:44b says, “And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Dear friends Jesus desires to be our King! Is He your King?!

Beloved, there is a natural progression for every believer. It begins with our conversion when we give our hearts and our lives to Jesus Christ. Conversion is when we say, “yes” to Jesus and “no” to ourselves. It continues with our commission, which comes from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Christ has gifted each believer with spiritual gifts and natural abilities, which are to be used for the glory of God. Each of us has been commissioned to be ambassadors of Jesus and commissioned to serve Him, His church, and the world. Beloved, we have been commissioned or “saved to serve,” so to speak.

Thirdly, as a believer we need to learn to “finish the play”. When we live with commitment, it will help us to persevere under duress and to continue to follow Christ at all costs, we will “finish the play”.
Therefore beloved, it begins with conversion, which is followed with our commission and is completed with a commitment to Christs’ call. May each of us move forward in our call from the Lord with the conviction to persevere!
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Blessings-
Pastor Joe

Beloved, would you stand alone for Christ, even if it meant your life? It was CT Studd, an English missionary to China, India and Africa who said: “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”

In fact, when his critics told him to go home, that he had done enough, he replied, "God has called me to go, and I will go. I will blaze the trail though my grave may only become a steppingstone that younger men may follow."
As we consider today’s study, we must understand that the Apostle Paul, like CT Studd considered no sacrifice too great for his loving Savior. Paul understood that people’s eternal destiny was in danger if they did not receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Therefore, Paul was always ready to share the Gospel as 1 Peter 3:15-16 tells us, “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”
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Paul would stand alone if need to. May the same be true of us!

Beloved, as Christians we are called to live in two places at the same time. We are called to live in the world though we are not part of this world. Jesus mentioned this when He prayed to our Father saying in John 17:14-18, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”

Beloved, since we are not of this world, yet since we still live in this world, there are many times when one world collides with another. I call this, “When Kingdoms Collide.”

When kingdoms collide is a battle, which all Christians face. Whether it is dealing ethically, honestly, and faithfully with the finances God has given us or whether it is submitting to authority or obeying the Law, as believers the Kingdom which we belong to, the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of this world are at odds. 
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My prayer for us is that we would be sanctified by His truth and that His truth would set us free to live a life honorable for Him! May we always seek His kingdom first as Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Beloved, seemingly everywhere Paul went he faced hostility, opposition and outright persecution. Most of the opposition came from unbelieving Jews—a fact that deeply grieved him. At other times it came from Gentile followers of false religions. In this latest episode, Paul is standing before Festus, the new Roman governor of the area, who was a member of Roman nobility.

The Jews who had accused him over two years ago of sectarianism (against the law of the Jews), sacrilege (against the temple) and sedition (against Caesar) were demanding a new trial in Jerusalem. It was all part of their plot to assassinate Paul. In the midst of all this chaos was God’s will that Paul be taken to Rome.
Remembering and focusing on the will of God allowed Paul to appeal his case to Caesar. By doing so, Paul’s case would be brought before the Emperor Nero in Rome and the fulfillment of God’s will in Paul’s life.
Like his ancestor Abraham, Paul “considered him faithful who had promised” (Hebrews 11:11b). Paul’s job was merely to walk in faith what the Lord had promised to him.
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Beloved, remember that we walk by faith and not by sight!

​Beloved, it was the CEO of Digital Corporation who, when presented with a personal home computer said, “no one would ever want one of those things in their home.” Digital could have been…well you know what I mean.
We have all missed opportunities, which we could now kick ourselves. I remember standing on an open lot in Rio Rancho, New Mexico and contemplating buying a few. They were at the time $300.00 a lot. $300.00! I figured, why would anyone want to live up here. I mean, why would any New Yorker want to live in a place where the sun shines 300+ days a year, with little humidity and seasonal temperatures. I could have made a killing on those lots just by sitting on them for a few years; easily 100 times my initial investment.
Missed opportunities!
But the biggest missed opportunity hasn’t been financial or physical; it has been personal with eternal consequences. The biggest missed opportunity is an opportunity, which every human being gets; the opportunity to receive, Jesus Christ. Don’t miss out on this opportunity!