Video Bible Lesson - Easter Celebrates That Jesus Is Alive Today By Rick Warren

1/2 Hour of God’s Power with Scott Ralls

4/3/2020

Easter Celebrates That Jesus Is Alive Today
By Rick Warren

“The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:3-4 NLT, second edition).
Although we study the passion of Jesus, his death on the cross, Easter is a celebration of his Resurrection: God brought Jesus back from the dead, proving he’d broken the power of sin and death.
After Jesus died, they took his body down and put him in the tomb, and a giant millstone was set in front of the cave. The religious leaders, worried that Jesus’ body might be stolen, asked for Roman guards to be posted in front of the tomb. They didn’t want him coming out!
But of course, he did.
You know the story. But it’s important to remember that Easter is not some memorial to a nice, good religious teacher who lived 2,000 years ago. It’s a celebration of the fact that he is alive today!
I’m living proof — and so are the approximately 1 billion Christians who celebrate Easter. Jesus “was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:4 NLT, second edition).
Easter is the Good News about God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who came to Earth as a human baby, born into King David’s royal family line. Four historical records say that after his Resurrection he showed himself to 500 people at one gathering.
Can you imagine witnessing his death and then seeing him walking around Jerusalem three days later? What an amazing thing!
When Jesus was hanging on the cross, the skeptics and critics mocked him and said, “If you’re the Son of God, why don’t you just pull yourself down from that cross? Why don’t you just come down and show that you’re really God?”
Jesus had something more spectacular planned. He said, “I’m going to let you bury me for three days, and then I’ll come back to life to prove that I am who I say I am.”
Talk It Over
Why is it important to remember Jesus’ death and his Resurrection at Easter?
What did Jesus’ death accomplish? What did his Resurrection accomplish?
How do you think it felt for the people who knew that Jesus had been killed but saw him in the flesh a few days later?

#Jesus, #Christian, #Bible, #Salvation, #Heaven, #God, #HolySpirit

Streams in the Desert

Streams in the Desert

Glorify ye the Lord in the fires" (Isa. 24:15).

Mark the little word "in"! We are to honor Him in the trial--in that which is an affliction indeed and though there have been cases where God did not let His saints feel the fire, yet, ordinarily, fire hurts.

But just here we are to glorify Him by our perfect faith in His goodness and love that has permitted all this to come upon us.

And more than that, we are to believe that out of this is coming something more for His praise than could have come but for this fiery trial.

We can only go through some fires with a large faith; little faith will fail. We must have the victory in the furnace.  --Margaret Bottome

A man has as much religion as he can show in times of trouble. The men who were cast into the fiery furnace came out as they went in--except their bonds.

How often in some furnace of affliction God strikes them off! Their bodies were unhurt--their skin not even blistered. Their hair was unsinged, their garments not scorched, and even the smell of fire had not passed upon them. And that is the way Christians should come out of furnace trials--liberated from their bonds, but untouched by the flames.

"Triumphing over them in it" (Col. 2:15).

That is the real triumph--triumphing over sickness, in it; triumphing over death, dying; triumphing over adverse circumstances, in them. Oh, believe me, there is a power that can make us victors in the strife. There are heights to be reached where we can look down and over the way we have come, and sing our song of triumph on this side of Heaven. We can make others regard us as rich, while we are poor, and make many rich in our poverty. Our triumph is to be in it. Christ's triumph was in His humiliation. Possibly our triumph, also, is to be made manifest in what seems to others humiliation.
--Margaret Bottome

Is there not something captivating in the sight of a man or a woman burdened with many tribulations and yet carrying a heart as sound as a bell? Is there not something contagiously valorous in the vision of one who is greatly tempted, but is more than conqueror? Is it not heartening to see some pilgrim who is broken in body, but who retains the splendor of an unbroken patience? What a witness all this offers to the enduement of His grace!  --J. H. Jowett

"When each earthly prop gives under,
And life seems a restless sea,
Are you then a God-kept wonder,
Satisfied and calm and free?"

Where the Wrath and Love of God Meet.....Dr. Charles Stanley

Where the Wrath and Love of God Meet

Dr. Charles Stanley

Romans 3:23-26

In our culture, sin is no longer considered an issue. Although some people might admit to making mistakes or being wrong, few will actually say, "I have sinned." The Lord, however, takes sin very seriously. Until we learn to see transgression as He does, we will never understand what happened at Christ's crucifixion.

The cross was God's perfect answer to a terrible dilemma. Because the Lord is holy and just, He hates sin and must respond to it with punishment and wrath. Yet He also loves sinners and wants to be reconciled with them. The cross of Christ was the place where God's wrath and love collided.

The only way to rescue fallen mankind from eternal punishment was to devise a plan whereby the Lord could forgive sins without compromising His holiness. There was no way to overlook transgressions; His wrath had to be poured out--either on us or a substitute. But there was only one possible substitute: the perfect Son of God.

So Jesus came to earth as a man and suffered the Lord's wrath for us as He hung on the cross. Sin was punished, divine justice was satisfied, and now God could forgive mankind without compromising His character. His wrath was poured out on His Son so that His love and forgiveness could be lavished upon us.

Because of human limitations, we'll never grasp all that happened while Jesus hung on the cross. We can begin to comprehend only the physical suffering He endured, but in the spiritual realm, Christ bore so much more--the very wrath of God. This costly redemption plan proves God's great love.

Beauty in the Unseen

Beauty in the Unseen
LAURA BAILEY

“Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, ‘Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.’” Mark 9:35 (NIV)

Startled by an unexpected noise, my party-decorating in the church gym abruptly came to a halt.

Thinking I was alone, I cautiously tiptoed toward the doors of the gym. Peering through the window, I saw the familiar face of our retired, former pastor. What is he doing here so early in the morning? Is that a paintbrush? Is he painting the doorframes? Why is he spending his time on something people probably wouldn’t even notice?

The image of my pastor painting that day made an indelible impression on me. Not only was he doing a job most would deem unworthy of their time, but he purposely tried to avoid anyone seeing him do it.

In contrast, I am guilty of taking on more “noteworthy” tasks that bring praise from others; I pass off the less “important” ones to people who are not as “capable.” We like recognition and want our work to count. If we are really honest, we secretly believe our role in the Kingdom is more important than that of everyone else.

The Gospels reveal numerous accounts of the disciples arguing about who was the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. They were God’s few, specially selected. Out of all the people in the world at that time, Jesus chose these 12 to follow Him. One would think this alone would make them feel extraordinarily special, but these were ordinary men who, even in their close proximity to Jesus, still lived in the flesh.

Jesus clearly told them, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35).

Well, that settles it.

Except, it didn’t.

In the very next chapter of Mark, brothers James and John made a bold request of Jesus — to sit at the right and left hand of Jesus in His glory (or in His Kingdom). In response, Jesus echoed the same words from before, reminding them that “… whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all” (Mark 10:43b-44, NIV).

So desirous to make sure this point resonated with His spiritually obtuse disciples, during His last supper with them, Jesus wrapped a towel around His waist and began to wash their feet. (John 13:4-5) The significance of this act in the upper room is profound.

First, feet-washing was reserved for servants. Dust-saturated roads, open sandals and general inaccessibility to regular bathing meant feet were smelly, filthy and gross. Second, Jesus was their teacher and master, and yet He bowed before them in an act of humble service. And third, He performed this act of service in private, out of view of onlookers.

Jesus wanted the disciples to realize it is not the boasting of our capabilities that makes us great in God's eyes. Grandiose gestures of service or generous monetary donations do not place us on the Forbes 500 list of “Most Successful Jesus Followers.”

Jesus was the perfect model of servanthood. As the Son of God, He had every right to demand praise, honor and glory. Yet, He set aside His own reputation and considered others, thus putting the Kingdom of God first. This was the message portrayed by Jesus before His disciples in that upper room — esteeming others above ourselves not just in word but also in deed. The act of foot-washing was a precursor to the ultimate act of service, humility and obedience. Just hours later, He would lay down His life on the cross for the sins of the world.

When I saw the familiar face of my pastor that morning, paintbrush in hand and apologizing for disturbing me, I felt convicted.

How many times had I walked past an overfilled wastebasket, left a blank line on a volunteer list, or grumbled about putting chairs away after a social because I thought those tasks were beneath me? Before me stood a man with numerous degrees who spent his personal free time painting a doorframe in a dark hallway in a church that few, if any, would ever thank him for or even notice.

Like my pastor, let us emulate Christ’s example of quiet, humble service by surrendering a self-serving spirit in exchange for a God-honoring heart.

Lord, replace my prideful spirit with a heart of genuine love for others. Thank You for Your example of humble service, and help me to be more like You today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Philippians 2:8-9, “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name …” (NIV)

Finding Our Significance in Jesus

Finding Our Significance in Jesus
By Abiding Above

“If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” - 1 Corinthians 13:2

Heavenly Father, you created our innermost being and know the number of hairs on our head. Nothing else in this world compares to your love.  

According to the Bible, man's biggest problem is his separation from God. This problem is solved when we repent of our sins and receive Christ as our Savior. This brings us into right relationship with God, but we soon discover that we have other problems. We have inner problems, such as anger, jealousy, resentment, worry, feelings of worthlessness, and other similar problems. The reason we have these problems is that we have deep needs which have not been met. So, what is MAN’S DEEPEST INNER NEED?

The deepest inner need of every person is to regard himself as a worthwhile human being. Man tries many things in his effort to meet his need for significance. Some people work hard to accumulate money because they feel that money gives them a sense of importance. But money cannot satisfy our deep inner needs.

My friend, God's way of meeting our need for significance is this:

He puts us IN CHRIST. He makes every believer a vital member of Christ's body. God gives believers spiritual gifts and opportunities to use those gifts. In this way every believer is significant because he becomes part of God's great eternal plan. He placed me in Christ and He put His Holy Spirit in me.  That’s our significance. That is our eternal satisfaction that we can never lose.

Heavenly Lord, instead of chasing worldly praise, help us to find our significance in you. Amen.