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A Blessed Easter to all of you
Amen, Mary JL! Thanks, and I hope Easter was special for you too this year!
I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone in our group a blessed Easter! Hopefully during our fun with our kids and grandkids, amidst the Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies, we'll all take time to give thanks for Christ's resurrection, and what it means for us and for our world.
Thanks, Werner! A blessed Easter to you and to all reading this post!
I hope everyone has a safe and joyous Easter weekend! =)
Happy Resurrection Sunday to everyone.
Happy Easter to everyone! May the blessings of the risen Savior be with us all, and may the meaning of his life, death and resurrection guide our lives --not just today, but all through the year.
Happy Easter to all! May God bless and guide you!
I just got here, folks, but Happy Belated Easter to everyone, because Easter is EVERY DAY for a Christian! :D
We're once again approaching Good Friday and Easter, the time of year when, as Christians, we're particularly reminded of the central truths of our faith: the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, and his triumph over sin and death. Again, I wish everyone in our group a blessed Easter, and a year lived out in the power of the Easter message!
Thank you Werner and God bless all our members :)
Blessings to you all during the Easter season. :-)
Werner wrote: "We're once again approaching Good Friday and Easter, the time of year when, as Christians, we're particularly reminded of the central truths of our faith: the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, and ..."and a year lived out in the power of the Easter message! That's a wonderful blessing for us all! Thank you. :) Happy Blessed Easter to you, too!
Louisa wrote: "God bless you all this Easter xxx"Thank you! Easter blessings to you, too!
Banner wrote: "Thank you Werner and God bless all our members :)"Thank you, Banner! Easter blessings to you, too!
Lynne wrote: "Blessings to you all during the Easter season. :-)"Thank you! Happy Blessed Easter to you, too!
It's Easter season again! The world thinks of the day in terms of Easter bunnies, new suits or dresses, and candy for the kids. I hope all of us will truly remember the real significance of the day and why we celebrate it --a powerful reminder of the significance of Christ's resurrection for us, that we may walk in newness of life both here and in eternity; and a sobering reminder of the depth of the sacrifice that was necessary before resurrection could happen. A truly blessed Easter to everyone --and when we know him as Lord and Savior, we ARE truly blessed!
Blessed Easter to you all! He is risen! May you find peace and joy this wonderful Sunday.
Werner wrote: "It's Easter season again! The world thinks of the day in terms of Easter bunnies, new suits or dresses, and candy for the kids. I hope all of us will truly remember the real significance of the day..."Amen! Thank you, Brother! A most blessed and happy Easter to you and your family, too! ♥
Gloria wrote: "Blessed Easter to you all! He is risen! May you find peace and joy this wonderful Sunday."Thank you! Happy blessed Easter to you, too! Amen, we serve a risen Savior! :D
Thank you Werner. Happy Easter too all.If you haven't seen the new movie Risen, I highly recommend it for the Easter season.
Banner wrote: "Thank you Werner. Happy Easter too all.If you haven't seen the new movie Risen, I highly recommend it for the Easter season."
Happy blessed Easter, Banner! I actually do want to see that movie. Thanks for the recommend. :)
I have a question I need some help with. I'm hoping I'm posting this on the right post since I saw it talked about Easter, one of the major holidays. Where did the holidays come from and is it true that the holidays were pagan before they came to Christians? I still haven't found a clear answer to this question. Some people say that the holidays were originally pagan first, but I don't know if that's true or not.
Rachel, good question! Generally speaking, other than purely secular holidays like July 4th in the U.S., the major religious holidays (except for the Jewish ones) tend to be of pagan origin. The Western world was pagan for a long time before it was nominally "Christian," and most of its cultural practices were shaped in that time. Another example would be our names for the days of the week, which are all named after pagan gods or goddesses.Historically, the Christian church appropriated pagan culture selectively, keeping practices that were felt to be morally neutral, but rejecting things (like human sacrifice, slavery and loose sex) which were recognized as morally wrong in the light of Christian truth. A minority of believers have taken a more "root and branch" stance, attempting to reject anything and everything in their culture that can be traced to a pagan, pre-Christian origin. (Quakers, for instance, number the weekdays --"First Day," "Second Day," etc.-- rather than name them, for this reason.)
Personally, I take a position that's more similar to the historic majority stance. But I think this is a case where the Apostle Paul's counsel about not passing judgment on each other in disputable matters applies: each person should be guided by his/her own conscience, and we should respect each other's scruples without any of us claiming a moral superiority which none of us truly have.
Werner wrote: "Rachel, good question! Generally speaking, other than purely secular holidays like July 4th in the U.S., the major religious holidays (except for the Jewish ones) tend to be of pagan origin. The We..."That's very interesting :) Thanks for your answer. And I know that birthdays are of pagan origin too. Blowing out candles on a birthday cake means that the birthday person is taking in wishes for good health and for good luck. Now I have a question, I grew up liking the holidays as a child, so I still enjoy them (Halloween is just ok to me) is that ok for me to do as a Christian? I put God first and I don't celebrate them for the wrong reason. In fact I think it can be great if Christians can put a fun Biblical twist on a holiday.
Rachel wrote: "I grew up liking the holidays as a child, so I still enjoy them.... I put God first and I don't celebrate them for the wrong reason. In fact I think it can be great if Christians can put a fun Biblical twist on a holiday."Rachel, that's my philosophy on the subject, too!
Werner wrote: "Rachel wrote: "I grew up liking the holidays as a child, so I still enjoy them.... I put God first and I don't celebrate them for the wrong reason. In fact I think it can be great if Christians can..."Awesome :)
A blessed Easter to each and all of our members! May it be a very special day for reflection on what the cross and resurrection of Christ mean to each one of us personally; and may the blessings of the risen Savior abide with us all throughout the year..
Werner wrote: "A blessed Easter to each and all of our members! May it be a very special day for reflection on what the cross and resurrection of Christ mean to each one of us personally; and may the blessings of..."I hope you have a blessed Easter as well xx God bless xx
Blessing to you as well! Forgive me for my lack of recent activity. It's a busy season for me, but should be slowing down now. :)
Thanks, T. C.! No need to apologize; life keeps us all busy sometimes. :-)
Once again, we're about to celebrate the Easter season, the time when we particularly pause to remember the central reality of our faith (and indeed, the central reality of the created universe) --the sacrificial death and resurrection of Christ, our Lord. (Although it's important to remember and reflect on that reality, and what it means for us, every day of the year!) I wish everyone a happy and blessed Easter, infused with God's love.
Blessings to you all as well! He is risen indeed!
We're once again in the Easter season! I wish everyone in our group all the blessings of the risen Lord, as we take the days ahead to reflect on what his sacrifice means for us, and how inexpressibly much we owe him. May the miracle of Easter be with each of us, now and all through the year!
Amen, Werner! Blessings to all for a glorious Easter!
In a world in the midst of a pandemic, amid economic uncertainty, political and social polarization and concerns about societal breakdown, in which many people are gripped with great fear and paralyzing worry, we're approaching another Easter. The season reminds us that God is in control of all things, even death itself; that the power of the Kingdom of God and the Age to Come has already broken into this present world, and that our Lord and Savior has truly risen indeed. May that message be in our hearts and minds today and every day in the future. Happy Easter to all!
We are about to celebrate the resurrection power of God and may the word given to Martha by the Lord be foremost in our minds... He is the resurrection!
Given that this is an unusual Easter for virtually all of us, in that it can't be marked with the face-to-face celebrations together that we're accustomed to, I felt it would be particularly apposite to share the two reflections below. The first one is a poem posted on Facebook by Kristi Bothur; it was shared with me in an e-mail from a colleague at Bluefield College, and is reproduced here with his permission.How the Virus Stole Easter
By Kristi Bothur
With a nod to Dr. Seuss 😊
Twas late in ‘19 when the virus began
Bringing chaos and fear to all people, each land.
People were sick, hospitals full,
Doctors overwhelmed, no one in school.
As winter gave way to the promise of spring,
The virus raged on, touching peasant and king.
People hid in their homes from the enemy unseen.
They YouTubed and Zoomed, social-distanced, and cleaned.
April approached and churches were closed.
“There won’t be an Easter,” the world supposed.
“There won’t be church services, and egg hunts are out.
No reason for new dresses when we can’t go about.”
Holy Week started, as bleak as the rest.
The world was focused on masks and on tests.
“Easter can’t happen this year,” it proclaimed.
“Online and at home, it just won’t be the same.”
Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, the days came and went.
The virus pressed on; it just would not relent.
The world woke Sunday and nothing had changed.
The virus still menaced, the people, estranged.
“Pooh pooh to the saints,” the world was grumbling.
“They’re finding out now that no Easter is coming.
“They’re just waking up! We know just what they’ll do!
Their mouths will hang open a minute or two,
And then all the saints will all cry boo-hoo.
“That noise,” said the world, “will be something to hear.”
So it paused and the world put a hand to its ear.
And it did hear a sound coming through all the skies.
It started down low, then it started to rise.
But the sound wasn’t depressed.
Why, this sound was triumphant!
It couldn’t be so!
But it grew with abundance!
The world stared around, popping its eyes.
Then it shook! What it saw was a shocking surprise!
Every saint in every nation, the tall and the small,
Was celebrating Jesus in spite of it all!
It hadn’t stopped Easter from coming! It came!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the world with its life quite stuck in quarantine
Stood puzzling and puzzling.
“Just how can it be?”
“It came without bonnets, it came without bunnies,
It came without egg hunts, cantatas, or money.”
Then the world thought of something it hadn’t before.
“Maybe Easter,” it thought, “doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Easter, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
And what happened then?
Well....the story’s not done.
What will YOU do?
Will you share with that one
Or two or more people needing hope in this night?
Will you share the source of your life in this fight?
The churches are empty - but so is the tomb,
And Jesus is victor over death, doom, and gloom.
So this year at Easter, let this be our prayer,
As the virus still rages all around, everywhere.
May the world see hope when it looks at God’s people.
May the world see the church is not a building or steeple.
May the world find Faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection,
May the world find Joy in a time of dejection.
May 2020 be known as the year of survival,
But not only that -
Let it start a revival.
The second one is a blog post by Christian novelist Billy Coffey, who's a Goodreads author, and a member of this group:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
We're once again getting ready to celebrate the Easter season. Once again, we'll celebrate it in the midst of a pandemic, and in a time of great economic and political uncertainty. But Good Friday and Easter are wonderful reminders that we don't look for hope, comfort and stability to anything the world has to offer. Rather, we look to what Christ has done for us on the cross, and to the power of his resurrection, which has conquered sin and death. May we all find abiding joy in that reality, not only in the next few days but all through the year! A blessed Easter to everyone.
Werner wrote: "We're once again getting ready to celebrate the Easter season. Once again, we'll celebrate it in the midst of a pandemic, and in a time of great economic and political uncertainty. But Good Friday ..."Amen!
Rejoice, He is risen!