Haaaaa!! Ah, lighten up!It was a play on words because April is the month in which we celebrate Easter, and YES, I know that bunnies and colored eggs have nothing to do with Easter. Laugh a little. It won’t break your face, I promise. . .
The reality is that there is much to be done, and WE the people who claim the name of Jesus are, above all people, obligated to LIVE what we believe. People should actually see the joy, by the way . . .
Can you imagine the hopelessness of the dawn of the third-day? As we read in Matthew 28 and other gospel accounts, Mary Magdalene and others find themselves in the perplexing circumstance of having to go to Jesus’ tomb and finish the job. The Sabbath had fallen as Jesus is taken down off the cross, so hurriedly he’s placed in a borrowed tomb. Now, these women are coming back to the tomb to anoint His body with spices, wrap Jesus body in burial cloth, and complete preparations for His permanent entombment. A friend, one they thought was truly their savior is now dead, and they are burdened with the task of final burial preparations.
We love to paint the picture of a gloriously beautiful sunrise, and the splendor of the same, and the weather condition on that day may well have been just that. However, for them, regardless of the weather, it was a dark, dreary, dreadful day. Until . . .
Praise God Almighty, they did not find a dead savior, He was no longer in the grave – having conquered sin, death, and Hell for all eternity! Jesus reintroduces Himself, and the word quickly spreads. OH, THE OVERWHELMING JOY!
The Hope these women and countless others had counted on was real, He was true to His word, and now, “He’s back – back from the dead!” Friends, imagine. Just imagine the desperation of that morning, and then the joy.
Now, let your mind take hold of the reality that the same dark and overwhelming hopelessness which filled the hearts of these women and others, before they knew the truth, exists in the hearts of so many in Yazoo County. It’s True!! There are so many in our county who are bound to darkness which is as desperate and hopeless, in feeling, as these women must have felt on that morning. Just as they discovered the truth and began to grasp the depth of the eternal Hope – all that Christ promised, and delivered, this same Hope exists for the broken among us. WE, we who know Him must share Him.
I know the folks over at First Baptist do a version of this, but we are about to ALL get on board, as many as will, and from August to December, “The Church has Left the Building,” an accelerated version of FBC’s outreach is going to be exacted by believers all across the county. Pastor Taylor has already identified work which needs to be done in our city parks, and others among us are working on identifying needs. The Back to School Yazoo event slated for year-two at Parkview will kick off a fall of community unity like we’ve never witnessed.
We have more students from the county attending a summer camp (Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters) in 2019, and another group already in the works for 2020! Youth pastors from around the county held their first round-table in March – determining ways to work together and enhance ministry which is already ongoing. OH! Then, there is Revive Yazoo – A WEEK LONG revival at McCoy School. ARE YOU PLANNING AT LEAST ONE NIGHT OF PARTICIPATION in this event – it is about our county, you know!
The list could go on and on, but The Body of Christ is awakening to the reality that WE are to be the catalyst for sharing the One True Hope – Christ, our Risen Savior. Isn’t it about time YOUR CHURCH gets on board? (If they are not already connected with the ministerial association and unified efforts by the same)
I will always remember when my “Easter Sunday” paradigm shifted personally, spiritually, permanently. I was reading a John Eldredge book and, all-of-a-sudden, he shares about this glorious Easter Sunrise with his son in an Arizona dessert. “What!?,” I thought! “How can this great man of God not be “in church” on Easter Sunday?” I soon got it. John Eldredge had enjoyed a more overwhelming Easter experience than I had ever known – with the Creator, in His presence, basking in the glory of His creation. Every tradition of “Easter Sunday” with which I had grown up in a traditional church environment just washed away. I too began to experience the absolute joy which Mary Magdalene and the others had found on that amazing Resurrection Day, no longer bound to the “Easter Parade” traditions of my youth. . .
So, what about you, what about us as a county? WHAT IF, everyone who reads this article took the money they planned to spend on Easter Clothes and gave that money to an organization like My Brother’s Keeper or The Master’s Table?
What if YOU chose to spend Easter Sunday out camping with another family, and in plain ole everyday clothes, enjoyed a sunrise worship in an intimate setting with friends, soaking in God’s creation? What if you skipped the Easter Sunday country club buffet, and donated that money to help feed students at the next 252 Yazoo gathering?
Be assured, there were no expensive Easter frocks or well-rehearsed pageants on that Resurrection Day! Instead, the true joy of the person of Jesus Christ, with audible cries of, “HE’S ALIVE!” filled the street for both the saint and the sinner. Hopelessness, in an instant, became eternal Hope.
What if? What if we as a county, we who KNOW the Risen Savior, start making Easter and the celebration of King Jesus, DAILY, more about Him, and His fame, glory, and renown? I’m thinking that many who are bound in darkness are going to find the eternal hope which Christ alone can bring, when, as they are searching, those in darkness see Him, and not us. . .
For the King,
Brother Royce - Revelation 1: 17 & 18
