Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts

Sunday, April 12, 2026

Sunday’s Blessing – 04/12/2026 – 2nd Sunday of Easter – Divine Mercy

Sunday’s Blessing – 04/12/2026 – 2nd Sunday of Easter – Divine Mercy

I’m still learning about the liturgical calendar. I never knew the Easter theme continued for seven weeks until Pentecost Sunday. This year, the seven themes for the Sundays of Easter cover the full scope of the relationship between the Believer and the Creator.

Since this series started last week (and I missed it) let’s look at this year’s theme for Easter Sunday was the Focus of Hope, Victory Over Death, and New Beginnings. Jesus promised His disciples that He would rise from the dead on the third day. He wanted to give them something to hope for, something to believe in, something to replace the black hole the crucifixion of Jesus would create in their soul.

Through the victory over Death, Hell, and the Grave, He restored their belief that Jesus was, in fact, the Messiah. Life as they knew it would never be the same. It truly was a time of new beginnings.

This week, the 2nd Sunday of Easter, calls us to look at Divine Mercy. As humans, we have the ability to show a level of mercy to others. Things like compassion, pity, and empathy can lead us to things for others, but when you look back at all Christ endured in the week leading up to the crucifixion, you see something beyond human caring. You see Divine Mercy in action. Jesus, laying down every aspect of His human life to become the Supreme Sacrifice needed to save mankind, gave Himself up as the Passover Lamb without spot or blemish, providing the blood needed for the propitiation (see earlier post explaining this) to redeem all people, past, present, and future.

When Jesus presented Himself to the disciples and others in the days following His crucifixion, He restored hope in the promise of the Father to send the Second Adam, the Son of God, to once-for-all remove the penalty of sin brought on by the First Adam. Jesus fulfilled the promise made by the Creator in the Garden of Eden when He proclaimed, “The seed of Eve would crush the head of the serpent (satan).” This was accomplished by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Divine Mercy had intervened into human existence to make salvation possible. This was the purpose of Easter.

Today’s Blessing:

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16 (ESV)

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:4-6 (ESV)

Friday, April 18, 2025

Sunday’s Blessing – 04/20/2025 – Resurrection Sunday – I AM the Resurrection and the Life

Many liturgical churches who observe Lent redecorate their buildings to reflect the time of fasting. They replace the cross of gold with one of wood, the brass collection plates with wicker baskets, and the beautiful flowers normally adorning the pulpit with some leafless tree branches. All of this serves as a visual reminder that they are in a time fasting, awaiting the resurrection of the Savior.

Then, on Easter Sunday, also called Resurrection Sunday, all of the usual beautiful and ornate décor are returned to their rightful place. Everything is shouting, “He is alive!” Jesus declared to those who would listen that He would rise again. The final I AM we will consider is found in John 11:25:

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” (ESV)

This was spoken outside the tomb of Lazarus, the friend of Jesus who had died had been buried for days. Martha, the sister of Lazarus, was lamenting to Jesus, saying, “If only you had been here he would not have died.” She had faith to see her brother healed, but did not realize the power operating in Jesus was not only strong enough to heal the sick, but could also bring them back from the dead. That’s when He declared, “I AM the Resurrection.” It was something He did, but it was also part of who He was.

Jesus then demonstrated this by commanding Lazarus, who was dead, to come out of the tomb. And he did! I will not take time to cover all of it here, but this is when the religious leaders decided to kill Jesus; not with their hands, but with the blessing of Roman government who ruled over them. They could discount the healings, but who could argue with a dead man who came back to life?

This is still what Jesus does today. As Paul stated in Romans 5:8, “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (ESV). We were dead, not physically like Lazarus, but spiritually dead, separated from the Father. Jesus comes and gives us life, resurrecting our dead spirit so we can be born again, back into fellowship with our Creator.

Now for this week’s blessing:

May you experience a complete resurrection through Christ, the Risen Savior
So you can walk in the life He purchased for you with His own death
So in turn, you can lay down your life for others
Being poured out as a sacrifice of praise to the glory of God

May you comprehend the lengths God went through to bring you back to life
From the Garden when man sinned and became separated from God
Then passed on that spiritual death to everyone after Adam
But ended when Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice to redeem you from death

May you be refreshed by the depths of God’s love
Demonstrated by Christ who became an example for us
Lead by the Holy Spirit and empowered to do only what the Father commanded
You now live a life full of the blessings of God

May the resurrection of Jesus be evident in your life
By reflecting the glory of God in the earth
Speaking the good news of salvation, redemption, and restoration
Turning others back to the Father, full of grace and truth


Sunday, March 31, 2024

Sunday’s Blessing – 03/31/2024

As you walk through this Easter Sunday, among all the beauty of God’s creation
May you never cease to be amazed at the wonder around you
If you cannot see the wonder, I pray you will slow down a moment
So you can find the beautiful expression of God’s creativity
In the budding trees and plants, in the joyous laughter of children
As you greet your family or your neighbor
Or simply realize you are still breathing

May the reality of The Resurrection give you renewed hope
And awareness of God’s grace and mercy
To know that no tomb, real or imagined, can contain the life God has placed in you
And to experience the stone-moving power of God to release you
From any and all feelings of captivity
To allow the God-life in you to flourish
And affect your world for the Kingdom