As I drove from Valley back home last Saturday, my eye was draw to the abundance of yellow flowers growing on the hillside to the east of Black Sage Road and my mind went back to a conversation I shared with Corrie Zandee during our first Spring here in the valley. Corrie shared with me how a fire had destroyed most of the hillside and only recently had these flowers come to bloom again. We talked about the sense of renewal we experience each spring and the wonder of the changing seasons.
As I looked on the hillside, alive with new growth, I began to think about the newness of life we find in Christ; especially as we move toward Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Our National Pastor, David Schrader wrote about this in his Easter Greetings. With his permission, I have copied his letter below.
The Easter lily and the tomb have much in common. They both speak of hope, a hope that paradoxically springs from the haunts and throes of death. This Friday, Christians around the world will commemorate the death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; but they will also celebrate the hope that His death brought to all who follow Him.
It must have looked very dismal and hopeless the day Jesus died; much like it looks every fall when flowers die and their beauty disappears. In spring and summer, flowers grace our lives with their poignant smells and stunning beauty, just like the life of Jesus must have graced his disciples’ lives with hope, in the “spring and summer” of His ministry. But then “Fall” came and the Saviour died.
The onset of the Fall season can be quite dreary. It reminds us that winter is not far behind. It had to be de-pressing and disappointing to the disciples to see their Master laid in a tomb. Their summer of hope had turned to a winter of despair as death’s cold wind delivered a terrible and chilling blow to their hopes and ambitions of a Messianic kingdom.
But like the lily, whose beauty fades and dies every year, spring brings the promise of a lily’s bloom. When Christ died, his resurrection brought the hope of an eternal spring. His resurrection separated us from all other religions, only Christianity has an eternal hope. We have a Saviour that is alive! At this special time of the year t is my prayer for all of you that as spring begins and flowers bloom, you will be reminded that Christ is alive in you. This is what Paul meant, when he said, “Christ in you is the hope of glory”.
May you all be blessed this weekend as you remember, his death and burial and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour.
I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. (Revelation 1:8)
I join with Pastor Schrader in expressing my desire for each of us to be lost in the wonder and awe of God’s love for us; a love boldly proclaimed in the cross. And as we remember and reflect on Good Friday, may it lead to even greater wonder and joy as we celebrate Easter morning, for He is Risen!
As I looked on the hillside, alive with new growth, I began to think about the newness of life we find in Christ; especially as we move toward Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Our National Pastor, David Schrader wrote about this in his Easter Greetings. With his permission, I have copied his letter below.
The Easter lily and the tomb have much in common. They both speak of hope, a hope that paradoxically springs from the haunts and throes of death. This Friday, Christians around the world will commemorate the death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; but they will also celebrate the hope that His death brought to all who follow Him.
It must have looked very dismal and hopeless the day Jesus died; much like it looks every fall when flowers die and their beauty disappears. In spring and summer, flowers grace our lives with their poignant smells and stunning beauty, just like the life of Jesus must have graced his disciples’ lives with hope, in the “spring and summer” of His ministry. But then “Fall” came and the Saviour died.
The onset of the Fall season can be quite dreary. It reminds us that winter is not far behind. It had to be de-pressing and disappointing to the disciples to see their Master laid in a tomb. Their summer of hope had turned to a winter of despair as death’s cold wind delivered a terrible and chilling blow to their hopes and ambitions of a Messianic kingdom.
But like the lily, whose beauty fades and dies every year, spring brings the promise of a lily’s bloom. When Christ died, his resurrection brought the hope of an eternal spring. His resurrection separated us from all other religions, only Christianity has an eternal hope. We have a Saviour that is alive! At this special time of the year t is my prayer for all of you that as spring begins and flowers bloom, you will be reminded that Christ is alive in you. This is what Paul meant, when he said, “Christ in you is the hope of glory”.
May you all be blessed this weekend as you remember, his death and burial and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour.
I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. (Revelation 1:8)
I join with Pastor Schrader in expressing my desire for each of us to be lost in the wonder and awe of God’s love for us; a love boldly proclaimed in the cross. And as we remember and reflect on Good Friday, may it lead to even greater wonder and joy as we celebrate Easter morning, for He is Risen!
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