The greatest time of year is upon us! Not only are the birds singing and the grass is getting greener and each day seems to be warming up – it is Spring and I am sure it is safe to say we are all excited. Spring brings so much that we are excited about, but I hope nothing is more exciting than the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I invite you to come and celebrate the Risen Lord with us this Easter on April the 21st. Easter is a celebration of life and victory! Jesus came to earth and gave His life for ours, but death could not hold its grip on Him and HE AROSE victoriously! The grave was empty, and nothing can bring more joy to us than knowing He Lives and reigns forevermore. I want to share a story with you that I found many years ago that tells the message of the empty tomb in a powerful way.
There was a Sunday School teacher who taught class each week and she enjoyed it so much. In her class she had an eight year old boy named Stephen and Stephen had some learning disabilities and challenges that were becoming more and more severe. In early April, she gave her eight kids each an empty L'eggs container, remember those containers that looked like an egg except they were made to hold pantyhose. She asked her kids to bring them back the next week with something inside that represented new life in spring.
The kids brought them back the next week, and not sure what Stephen had done, and not wanting to embarrass him, she had all the kids bring the eggs to her desk so that she could open them in front of the class. The first had a teeny tiny little flower in it. "What a lovely sign of new life"...and the child that brought that one couldn't help but yell..."I brought that one"... The next one had a rock in it. The teacher assumed this one was Stephens, so she set it aside. The student that brought that one said that was his, and it had new moss on it, and the teacher agreed that it was a good example of new life. A small bug was alive in the next egg, and the student that brought that one said that hers was the best egg, yet! The fourth egg was empty. Knowing that this was probably Stephens, the teacher quickly set this one aside and reached for another. "Teacher, please don't skip mine", Stephen said. "But it's empty," she replied. "That's right, said Stephen, the tomb was empty and that represents new life for everyone". Later that summer, Stephen got very sick and died. At his funeral, mourners found eight plastic eggs on his casket, all of them empty.
This true story of Stephen reminds us of the hope that we all have, because of the resurrection. Because of that empty tomb, our lives are filled with hope and assurance of new life; life forever -because HE LIVES!
Pastor Michael Tunnell
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