Writers Thoughts

• ... righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
• ... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
• a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

If you want to learn about ( or be reminded of ) what Easter really means, listen to this sermon!

• Two stories with different endings. One who believes in the Easter miracle, the other who doesn't.
• Resurrection - the Easter glorious reality.
• The clues to the truthfulness of the Resurrection.
• The Resurrection changes everything.
• The Resurrection is the foundation of the Gospel - freedom from Sin and Death.
• What is the way on from the empty tomb?
• Two principles of discipleship: Trust and Tell.

Many people know the message of Easter. But it's a message they don't want to know!  Simon Manchester explains why this attitude doesn't make any sense...

Here is my transcript of this excellent message...

Life turned upside down quickly. I wish someone had said to me, You are holding onto meaningless things, and you are believing in yourself for the wrong reasons. Stop judging your life by your achievements or “blessings,” whether material or relational or reputational, because none of them will last. What you now consider blessings will be taken away, and when they are, you will discover that being blessed is deeper and more lasting than you can imagine.

There is no way I could have prepared my thirty-year-old self for what lay ahead. How does one prepare for the unknown? I’m glad I didn’t know what was coming, but I wish I had known that while God was taking away my earthly treasures, he was giving me something that could never be taken away — he was giving me himself.

I wish I had known that trusting God would never be a mistake and that he would use every ounce of my pain for my good and his glory. And I wish I had known that life in Christ would continue to get better, because Jesus always saves the best wine for the end.

A friend came across a sermon which declared John the Baptist came to promote social justice. Oh dear, God wouldn't have been pleased that the arrival of his Son, the saviour of the world, was sidelined by the belief that good works were more important. Listen to this to hear John's true commission from God.

"Hebrews challenges Jesus followers to remain faithful to him as the one who is the ultimate revelation of God's love and mercy."

[Picture and caption from BibleProject.com]

...and chance the consequences."  Who'd have thought a fictional pirate king in a comic opera (Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance) would give such scripturally based advice! Perhaps "trust" would have been a better word - but otherwise, these are words God would approve.

• Talk to God
• Talk to God about your stress
• Trust God with your stress