| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Steadfast and immovable” Our Bible verse for today: “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and grace was upon them all.” Acts 4:33 (NIV) Our thought for today: “He is risen!” One of the most remarkable aspects of the early Christian church is not just that it somehow managed to survive, against all odds in a world that was strongly opposed to the teachings of Christ, but that it thrived. Yes, the church didn’t just survive, it thrived. It spread like wildfire across the known world and it has continued to do so for almost two thousand years. They were in a Jewish culture that believed Christianity was a gross and offensive perversion of Judaism. They were also in a brutal Roman world that was harsh and cruel – a society that accepted and worshiped dozens of gods from multiple cultures and which therefore had little tolerance for a faith that claimed there is only one true God. Into that setting the apostles preached Jesus with power and effectiveness. So much so, that neither the Jewish nor the Roman authorities could stop it, despite their best efforts to do so. The reason, as Luke says in Luke 4:33 (above) was the resurrection. Those early believers had personal encounters with the resurrected Christ and that provided them with the courage, boldness, and determination to preach the Good News at all costs and in the face of any persecution. They were steadfast and immovable in their resolve to tell others about Jesus. Us too. We want everyone to hear about the resurrected Christ. We want others to have their sins forgiven and to receive the promise of eternal life too. We also read that “great grace was upon them all.” They were together; they were celebrating the resurrection of Jesus; and the grace of God was heavy upon them all. Again, that’s true for us too. That’s what corporate worship is all about. It’s about giving glory to God in the name of the resurrected Christ, and it’s about His people experiencing an overwhelming sense of His grace. This Sunday – Easter Sunday – we at Oak Hill Baptist will gather together to worship and celebrate the resurrected Jesus. We will have a brunch and Easter egg hunt beginning at 9:00, and our resurrection celebration will begin at 10:00. Please join us in-person if you can. If you can’t, then I encourage you to watch the livestream of the service on our Facebook page. And also, please be sure to invite your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. It’s really true. He is risen! It’s the greatest news the world has ever known and we want everyone to hear about it. God bless, Pastor Jim |
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