Easter is huge! Next to Christmas, Easter is the most celebrated holiday in the world. There is a good reason why so many people celebrate Easter. Historians and theologians have never come to a satisfactory conclusion for the reason the early church began celebrating Easter. Some evidence seems to suggest that Christians held the first Easter celebrations to differentiate their celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Jewish celebration of Passover. Other evidence suggests that Emperor Constantine, desiring to promote Christianity and marginalize pagan activity, Christianized a pagan festival celebrating the earth's transition into spring.
As I said at the beginning, there is a good reason why so many people celebrate Easter the answer is Jesus Christ. While the origin of Easter may be in doubt, the reason for Easter is apparent, Christians desired to proclaim from highest height and in the loudest possible way the good news that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead! Scripture does not command us to celebrate Easter as a religious obligation however; scripture does allow us to celebrate such holidays. Paul writes to the Roman Christians,
"Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone." (Romans 14:4-7)
From now until Easter Sunday, we have a unique evangelistic opportunity that will not be available again until Christmas. Your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, anyone with a background in Christianity will be thinking about Christ and most likely desire to go to church somewhere. I encourage you to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to help bring someone you love closer to and possibly into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
This Sunday we will begin a new sermon series at Waynesboro that will culminate on Easter, April 12th. This series, CSI: Easter will take us on a Crime Scene Investigation of the cross. Did Jesus really die on the cross? Did he really rise from the dead or was his body simply stolen to create the illusion? We will look at these question plus many more with a critical eye. We will weigh the evidence from history, from critics, and from the bible; we will place them side by side and see which ones stand and which ones fall. If you invite your friends and family, they will be engaged by this honest look into Jesus Christ and they will be moved by the conclusion. Pick up the phone right now and invite someone this Sunday!
Mitchell
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