Happy Easter - He is Risen!

Easter Sunday...what a day of celebration! My husband makes fun of me because here in the south, all of the girls make a big deal about buying a new Easter dress and eating with family. Those things are fun, but it's not just about getting a new dress and eating with family. It's a day to remember that Christ Jesus died on the cross for my sins...and yours! Then, He was risen from the grave...what amazing love! Mike and I went to celebrate at Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock this morning, and it was such a moving service. The music was incredible...of course we sang the Chris Tomlin song, "I will Rise"....amazing song. Our pastor focused on the passage John 20: 1-10 and the difference in how John and Peter saw the empty tomb...something I've never really thought of. That got me thinking what I would've done/thought if I had been there to see the empty tomb of my Savior??? Of course, that is a question that is hard to answer. What an amazing realization it was for John when he realized that Jesus (who he had just seen crucified on a cross) had been risen from the grave. Our pastor made a comment about how when Mary Magdalene came upon the empty tomb, the stone had been rolled away. Why did He not just move the entire tomb....with His word it would've easily obeyed! Well, our pastor said, the stone wasn't rolled away so that He could get out, but so that we could go in! We are able to experience Christ's love for us because He died on the cross and was risen from the grave.

"Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!' So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed." ~John 20:1-10