PASTOR MARTIN'S
MESSAGE for
Jesus said to (Mary) "Do not
hold on to me, because I have not
yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers
and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father to my God
and your God."' Mary Magdalene went
and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and
she told them that he has said these things to her. John 20: 17-18
Whether I have written a check or not, I breathe a huge
sigh of relief whenever April 15 comes
along. What is most likely is I have written a couple of checks on April 15;
that is why the sigh of relief, because all of the tax preparation is done and
is on it's way, along with the checks. What
was a part of this year's sigh of relief of April 15 was also the completion of the 2010 Census. As I
filled out the 2010 Census, I was aware
that the information that I was about to share about the number of people
living at my house and the make up of
those people would affect the demographics for the next 10 years until
another census would be taken. As I filled out the 2010 Census, I wondered how the demographics had changed since
the last census was taken in the year 2000. What I became aware of was
that the one person who lives at my house has considerable power in what will
be happening in the years to come, as the 2010 Census will help guide what programs will be funded, along with how many
representatives will be in the U. S. Congress, and that is
only on the governmental level. What the 2010 Census will also provide is the change of demographics of where
people are moving to and what is their
make up in age, gender and ethnic background. The change of demographics
will affect what businesses and services will come and go and greatly affect
where the church comes and goes. For
Early
one morning on the first day of the week there was also the power of one, or a
few people. They had come early that morning to finish all of the preparations
for the burial of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When they arrived to the tomb, they found that the stone had been rolled away
and that the body of Jesus was not there. When they entered into the tomb,
angels met them with the good news that Jesus had been raised from the dead and
to go and tell his disciples of Jesus' resurrection. Then the power of one, or
a few people, would drastically change all of humankind, as they quickly left
the empty tomb and went to tell the disciples of Jesus' resurrection. The power
these few people would change the world as
we would know it, that with Jesus' resurrection we too would be
resurrected when we die and with that good news we can live in the new life and hope that comes from Jesus rising from the
dead. Much like our filling out the 2010 Census, and the power we have sharing
where we live and who we are, is the power
of one or a few of us, with the blessing of the Holy Spirit, who need to
continue to share what these women shared with the disciples about Jesus'
resurrection and how we can live in
the new life and hope of Jesus rising from the dead every day of our lives. When looking to the power of one or a few of us, we
need to ask, when was the last time we shared with someone the good news
of Jesus' resurrection and the new life and hope we are able to live each day
of our lives? When was the last time we shared with someone what we are doing
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