Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts

Hallelujah!  

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Good Friday, Everyone!  

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He paid a debt He did not owe,
I owed a debt I could not pay,
I needed Someone to wash my sins away.
And now I sing a brand new song, "Amazing Grace."
Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay.

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An Easter Carol  

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[Today, for Resurrection Day, I thought I'd share a poem from one of the masters of the art.]


Spring bursts to-day,
For Christ is risen and all the earth’s at play.

        Flash forth, thou Sun,
The rain is over and gone, its work is done.

        Winter is past,
Sweet Spring is come at last, is come at last.

        Bud, Fig and Vine,
Bud, Olive, fat with fruit and oil and wine.

        Break forth this morn
In roses, thou but yesterday a Thorn.

        Uplift thy head,
O pure white Lily through the Winter dead.

        Beside your dams
Leap and rejoice, you merry-making Lambs.

        All Herds and Flocks
Rejoice, all Beasts of thickets and of rocks.

        Sing, Creatures, sing,
Angels and Men and Birds and everything.

        All notes of Doves
Fill all our world: this is the time of loves.
Online text © 1998-2012 Poetry X. All rights reserved.
From Poems | Little, Brown, and Company, 1906
--Christina Rossetti

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My Thank You Song  

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Many years ago you walked upon our ground.
You brought us a new love and life we found.
Some would not accept you, you were profound.
They hung you one a cross, you made not a sound.

Thy put you in a tomb, thought you were dead,
But soon you rose again, just like you said.
You you live in heaven, the triple head
Those of us who believe, our souls you've fed.

Many people shudder at the sound of your name.
They run, they fly, they flutter, thinking life is a game.
They never get away though, it's always the same.
Why don't they accept your love, instead of put you to shame?

Jesus, you have been good to me.
You have made me part of your family.
Thank you for being so good to me.
Thank you for making me your own.

(1979)

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For Your Easter Weekend  

Posted by Benjie in ,

Here's an old spiritual -- I don't know the source, but the sentiment is Resurrection Day!


I looked up and saw my Lord a-coming,
I looked up and saw my Lord a-coming,
I looked up and saw my Lord a-coming down the road


I looked up and saw my Lord a-dying,
I looked up and saw my Lord a-dying,
I looked up and saw my Lord a-dying on the tree


I looked up and saw my Lord a-rising,
I looked up and saw my Lord a-rising,
I looked up and saw my Lord a-rising from the grave!

(chorus)
Hallelujah! He is coming!
Hallelujah! He is here!
Hallelujah! He is coming!
Hallelujah! He is here!

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Christ Is Risen!  

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He is risen indeed!

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My Easter Celebration  

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Here's a video of one of the things that made my Easter Great!



Puddin' n' Pie was one of five we baptized that day, inaugurating our new baptistry pool.

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Hallelujah! He Is Risen!  

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And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” (Luke 24:5-7, ESV)

In an old spiritual we find these words:

Hallelujah! He is coming!
Hallelujah! He is here!
Hallelujah! He is coming!
Hallelujah! He is here!

This song about the birth, death and resurrection of Christ speaks volumes to those of us who follow Him. He is here. He is here because He is not there—in the tomb that is. He has risen and this gives us reason to rejoice.

Say it with me, say it out loud, “Hallelujah! He is risen!”

Father, make us bold to shout your rising to the world around us.

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Good Friday  

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When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:30, ESV)

It’s Good Friday—the day that Jesus was Crucified.

How? You ask. How can it be “good” if it is the day commemorating such a heinous death penalty? As a matter of fact, how can any death be looked upon and seen as good? The answer to this important question is in what happened on that first Good Friday. I’ll not go into detail about how awful the practice of Roman crucifixion was. Plenty of preachers have done that in the past. If you really want to know the cruelty of this form of punishment find a copy of The Passion of the Christ and watch it.

It isn’t that Jesus was crucified that makes today such a good day, but why He died and what He accomplished by going to the cross. Simply put, people are sinners. We are born that way. We can’t avoid it any more than I can avoid having blue eyes and curly hair. It is part of who we are. We defy and disobey God every opportunity that we get. The price of that sin is death, our death. Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross (because He was sinless) paid the price of our sin for us.

Why “Good Friday”? Because on the Good Friday Jesus made the escape from sin punishment possible. So celebrate! Sin is conquered through the crucifixion of Christ. It is Good Friday!

Father, Thank you for sending Jesus to make my sin payment and conquering my sin when He died.

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Passover Night  

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Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it." (Luke 22:7-8, ESV)


Today is the day that Jesus met in an upper room with the disciples. The room prepared for the observance of the Passover feast. In that room, Jesus made the Passover come to life. In that room He explained that to the Twelve that He would die. Not only would He die, but He would be sent to His death by the betrayal of one of them there.

They did not understand all that happened as Jesus taught them lessons. Lessons about serving one another, lessons about the payment for sin, lessons that would become real to them in a few short days.

The Passover meal was one that was to remind the Israelites how God rescued them from their bondage to slavery in Egypt. What we call “the Lord’s Supper” is a reminder to us that through the death of Jesus (the perfect Passover Lamb) God would rescue us from our bondage to slavery in Sin. During this most holy of remembrances, think about what Jesus did on that night—giving a visual representation of the breaking of His body not one day later.

Toward the end of the meal, Jesus sent His betrayer away to make the final arrangements. Afterwards the rest of the disciples accompanied Jesus to a garden to pray—a time of dedication in preparation for the miracle that was to come. It was here that Jesus was arrested.

Today is a day of remembrance, a day to consider what this season’s payment is for us all.
Father, teach us again what you did on the first Easter weekend.

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Another Easter Miracle  

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My father called yesterday to say that it was snowing in Palestine, Texas (in April). Bill Crider reported snow in central Texas with a proof-picture from his brother.

Today is a day of miracles. Easter is the day we celebrate the greatest of all miracles.

Hallelujah! Christ is Risen!

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Easter Morning  

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Christ is Risen!

He is Risen, Indeed!

Our hope now springs eternal because death and sin have been defeated!

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Christ Is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!  

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Христос воскрес! Воистино воскрес!
Христос воскрес! Воистино воскрес!
Христос воскрес! Воистино воскрес!

Three times they proclaim it. Three times they answer.

In celebration of Easter—the Resurrection of Christ—Russian speakers announce the proclamation of the season throughout their country. It matters not whether they are Orthodox or Evangelical, Baptist or Catholic, the greeting is the same. I recall climbing the stairs to my third-floor apartment during Easter week, and one of the old babushkas flashed her gold-toothed smile as she said, “Christ is Risen!” I had only just learned to respond, and did it wrong—instead of “He is risen, indeed!” I replied with, “Yes, Christ is risen!” The thought was right even if the words were not.

With all the trappings of the holiday, let us never forget:

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!

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