Beautiful Message of Easter

“…Jesus turned and looked right at Peter.  Then Peter left and wept bitterly”  (Luke 22:61)

For three days Peter had sat in the dark, reliving that moment over and over again.  Jesus had called him “The Rock”, and yet during Jesus’ time of greatest pain, Peter denied him to His face.   Regret, pain, failure washed over Peter leaving him no relief from the overwhelming guilt he felt.

Then the door flew open, and two women burst into the room and with tears of joy announced- “Jesus is alive!  An angel told us He has risen, and Mary saw it for herself!”  Hope sprung anew inside Peter, and he ran to the tomb to see the empty grave clothes lying there.  The proof that Jesus was alive gave him a new hope that filled his empty soul to believe again.

That is the beautiful message of Easter- all of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s expectations.  As fallen and imperfect creations, we cannot measure up to God’s standards.  Because God loved us so much, He became human, lived the perfect life we could not possibly live, and died the death we deserved for our sins.  Only by believing and following Jesus can we too experience the new life that He has for us.

Just like Peter, you may be living in regret of past actions.  Your failures may be such a heavy load on your soul that you think or feel that you will never again experience peace or joy again.
However, just like Peter, you too can be set free from that regret and guilt to be born again into a new life- one that is full of purpose, hope, and joy.

If have questions or would you’d like help with that, please contact me at pastorjohnoscar@gmail.com

Persecution

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”

Jesus- John 15:18 NIV

Most of the world was horrified this week watching twenty-one Egyptian Christians beheaded by ISIS terrorists.  We were shocked that in this day and age, the barbaric practices of the past were thrust into our present.

None of this caught God by surprise.  Some may ask “Why didn’t God stop this?”  I would respond, “For the same reason He doesn’t stop you when you go against His Word and will”.  Free will carries with it a huge burden and responsibility, and as fallen human beings, we mess it up more than we get it right.

We also have to understand that as Christians, at the moment we believed in Jesus as Lord and Savior we ceased being part of this world and it’s system.  Hostility toward Christians will continue to grow in these last days before Jesus returns.  It will help to remember that the hatred that we may experience is not because of us, but because we represent HIM.  We are caught in a spiritual conflict that is thousands of years old, but the good news is that God has promised to right all wrongs, heal all injuries, and bring us into a glorious eternity IF we will follow Jesus.

Jesus is coming soon.  The question is, are you ready?  Will you stand in these last days for God, or fall to the world and it’s doomed system?

If you want to begin a new lift in Jesus- Admit you are a sinner, Believe that Jesus paid the price for your sins in His death and resurrection, and Confess Him as your Lord and Savior.

If you’d like help with that, please contact me at pastorjohnoscar@gmail.com

Be blessed my friends.