C.S. Lewis famously (and correctly said) "Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important."  

Christianity rises and falls on the incredible claim: 'Jesus Christ rose from the dead.' If true, then we must believe everything Jesus said about Himself. If not true, then Jesus was a liar or a lunatic. There is no middle ground.

The apostle Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians 15: 13- 17 " But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. "

The idea that Jesus could die and not rise from the grave and still be a 'good moral teacher,' or an 'enlightened teacher,' or a good 'religious' leader, is nonsensical. It is nonsensical because He made incredible claims about Himself. He claimed, among many things:

* To be the only way to the Father

* To be able to forgive sins

* To be One with the Father

*To Be the Son of God

* To have authority over life and death

Jesus called people to give up the rights to their lives to encounter real life (found only in Him), eternal life, given by Him, and reconciliation to the Father (through Him). Jesus made astonishing claims.

He said He came to die for our sins. He said He came to give His life as a ransom for many.

Jesus was crucified. He died. If He did not rise from the dead as He said He would, as Scriptures say He did, as his followers claimed He did because they saw Him, touched him, ate with Him and so on, then Jesus was a charlatan.

If Jesus is still in a grave, Christians are worshipping a dead man and that is tragic.

But, if He rose from the grave, and there is ample evidence to believe He absolutely did, starting with the trustworthiness of Scriptures and the untold millions of changed lives through history, then Jesus changes everything.

He would be absolutely worthy of worship. Absolutely worthy of following. He would be who He claimed to be.

I hope you will worship with us Easter Sunday as we worship the Risen King. We believe there is every reason to worship Jesus, not just on Easter or Christmas, but every day.

Come worship with us and discover the One who is still changing lives today!

Easter Celebration begins Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Kevin