Good Friday and Easter is Coming

Today is Good Friday? The Friday immediatley preceding Easter, each year, is called Good Friday. This is the day that we remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. However, if "Good Friday" is the day of the crucifixion, why do we call it "good"? It obvious that what they/we did to Jesus on that day is not good, but the results of his crucifixion, death, and resurrection are more than good! Here is what the Bible says: Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” First Peter 3:18 tells us, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.”

When we see the whole picture of the works of Christ, or hear the entire story of Jesus' life we then understand how we can call today, Good Friday! Did you know that God demonstrated His love toward you by dying for you? The reason Jesus came to suffer death, and to be raised to life was to restore the perfect God with us, imperfect/sinful people. Jesus came to make was was willingfully chosen-sin, to make us part of His chosen, children of God. Take some time today to pause and thank Jesus for the hope and life that we now have in Him! *Don't forget that the Rejoice South campus launches two new services times beginning this Sunday-9:30 am and 11:00 am. -casey

holy week from passover to the resurrection of Jesus

The week following passover to the day that we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is typcially called Passion Week. So you ask, What is Passion Week? See www.gotquestions.org for this and more info...

Answer: Passion Week (also known as Holy Week) is the time from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday (Resurrection Sunday). Passion Week is so named because of the passion with which Jesus willingly went to the cross in order to pay for the sins of His people. Passion Week is described in Matthew chapters 21-27; Mark chapters 11-15; Luke chapters 19-23; and John chapters 12-19. Passion Week begins with the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday on the back of a colt as prophesied in Zechariah 9:9.

Passion Week includes events such as:
Jesus cleansed the Temple for the second time (Luke 19:45-46)
His Olivet Discourse on the end times and other things. (Matt. 24-25)
Jesus ate His Last Supper with His disciples in the upper room (Luke 22:7-38)
In the Garden of Gethsemane, that Jesus, having been betrayed by Judas, was arrested and taken to several sham trials before the chief priests, Pontius Pilate, and Herod (Luke 22:54-23:25).

Following the trials, Jesus was scourged at the hands of the Roman soldiers, then was forced to carry His own instrument of execution (the Cross) through the streets of Jerusalem along what is known as the Via Dolorosa (way of sorrows). Jesus was then crucified at Golgotha on the day before the Sabbath, was buried and remained in the tomb until Sunday, the day after the Sabbath, and then gloriously resurrected.

Jesus' overwhelming, all consuming Passion is the example for our lives and the answer for our eternity. How can you pause this week to thank God for sending His Son, Jesus Christ to earth? In what ways can you and your spouse or family remember Passion Week? How do you plan on praying with your kids about good Friday and Easter? -casey

the guy on the plus sign?

In a recent article by James Emery White, entitled In the Land of Swedes, he discussed the alarming stat from a recent Time Magazine study that suggests that the fastest growing "faith" group are the NONES. Have you heard of them? The NONES, are actually a fast rising group that declare themselves as people who have no faith at all. In other words, when given a box to check on a list of "faith" beliefs or doctrine they check the NONE box. Even more alarming, is the group of people in America (in the shadows of Sweden) who say that "belief" or "eternity" or "faith" doesn't even cross their mind during a typical year. In fact, one story tells of an Episcopalian priest from South Carolina who recently told of “a couple came in to my office once with a yellow pad of their teenage son’s questions. One of them was: ‘What is that guy doing hanging up there on the plus sign?’”
What would you say if someone asked you that? Could you give them a clear and concise answer? As we head toward Easter have you taken time to explain the death and resurrection of God's perfect Son? How do you and your friends or family plan on celebrating Easter? Who could you tell that doesn't know?