Matthew 28:6 "He is not here: for He is RISEN,"

This simply stated fact is the basis of our faith and the ground of our worship of the Lord our God. We rejoice on the empty tomb of our risen Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. As someone has aptly said, "The best news the world ever heard came from a graveyard." Sunday, April 20, will be a very special day as we focus on Jesus’ Resurrection. I pray that you will have a truly blessed Easter as you worship and experience all that God has for you in your life. I received the following article on the Resurrection from an Internet source and want to share it with you here.

Ten distinct resurrection appeareances of Christ prior to His Ascension can be documented in Scipture. The order of those appearances follows:

1. To Mary Magdalene near the tomb
   
   
2. To the women returning from the tomb
   
   
3. To Peter
   
   
4. To the disciples approaching Emmaeus in the evening
   
   
5. To all the disciples except Thomas, who was absent
   
   
6. To the disciples, including Thomas on Sunday night one week later
   
   
7. To seven disciples beside the Sea of Galilee
   
   
8. To more than 500 people possible on anappointed montain in Galilee
   
   
9. To James the half brother of Jesus; and
   
   
10. To the apostles at the ascension.

All four Gosples give an account of Jesus’ resurrection. Moreover the rest of the New Testament speaks with a tremendous sense of confidence about an empty tomb and the triumph of Christ over death. And no wonder. If true, the resurrection is the most amazing news the world has ever heard. It means there is a God after all. It means that Jesus really is God’s Son. It means that Christ is alive today and we can know Him and be touched by His life and power. It means that we need not fear death the way we once did; we are not destined to oblivion but to spend eternity with God. It also means that knowing God is of utmost importance right now. The resurrection is not somply a matter of intellectual curiosity or theological argument, but of personal experience. From the first century to today there have been innumerable people who have turned from being totally opposed or indifferent to the resurrection of Christ, to being utterly confinved that it is true and He is Lord! What changed them? They met the living Jesus. He has invited them to respond to Him in faith and challenged them to live according to His way. Jesus is alive now as He was that first Easter morning. He still invites people to know Him today.

I can’t help but think of the Scripture in Philippians 3:8-14 "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

Happy Easter!

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