Today is Easter Sunday; the day believers celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. It is also the one day of the year when non-believers and those who don’t normally attend are most likely to accept an invitation to attend a church service. CLC added additional services this weekend to accommodate our guests.
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a message of hope that calls unbelievers to seek and serve the risen Savior. Many people prayed to accept Christ into their hearts and lives this weekend. I share in their joy and praise God for each of them. Ironically, it is usually in a service during the year when a single person answers the call to receive eternal life that I shed the most tears of joy. I think it is because I can almost hear the angels rejoicing just as Jesus described.
In Luke chapter 15, Jesus tells three stories about seeking out and finding that which was lost to illustrate why He was associating with and sharing His message with sinners. We are most familiar with the stories of the lost sheep and the prodigal son. The second of the three stories is found in verses 8-10, “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” I praise God every day that when I was the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son God found me and then called for a joyful celebration in heaven.
It has been 53 years since I visited Jerusalem. I remember vividly the Garden Tomb. I can still relive that experience in my mind; feeling the strong presence of God as I peer into that empty tomb carved from stone in that garden setting. Let us rejoice at the entrance of the empty tomb of our risen Savior every day, not just on Easter Sunday.