Tag Archives: Easter

by Anthony Baker | April 5, 2015 · 6:00 am

He Lives!

We celebrate many holidays in this world, but one stands out among the rest: Easter.

Now, I know that some of the more legalistic among us will label all the celebrations “moot” because of certain “pagan” links, like that to Ishtar and fertility rites. The unbelievers will laugh off this day with arrogant disdain. But for the majority of Christians around the world, this day is a day to rejoice in the Son of God’s victory over the grave.

We are prone to celebrate many things, like who won a game, that new promotion, or a birthday. We throw parties when political candidates squeak out a win, or when that big contract gets signed. Some will even fire thousands of AK-47 rounds into the air while shouting “Allah Akbar!” at the top of their lungs. But nothing is more worth celebrating than Jesus keeping His word and rising from the dead to secure eternal life for those who trust in Him.

Today, as I stand before a congregation, I will attempt, in the power of the Spirit, to stir the imagination, to take us back in time, to recreate a fraction of the excitement that must have been felt when those who were convinced of defeat were shocked by the greatest come-from-below victory of all time.

Today, before all those present, whether in flesh or spirit, I will celebrate victory over sin, death, and hell. The Enemy has been defeated, his tools are obsolete, for Jesus died and rose again.

He Lives!

Click on the link to listen to my favorite Resurrection Day song, “Gone!” (sung by Teddy Huffam).

Resurection Day

Bunny Eggs

Today is the most holy day in Christendom. Today is the day we celebrate the coming of a large cotton-tailed bunny bearing colored eggs and lots of candy.

It’s not? Oh, my bad! Please excuse me if I misunderstood.

There are some who don’t celebrate any holidays. There are others who celebrate every holiday with festivities galore, including eggs that are used to represent new life and bunnies that represent…I don’t know what.

Oh! I do know! Bunnies have always been a symbol of fertility (among pagans). They are linked to eggs because pagans must like omelettes.

But still, it’s never really made sense. Why bunnies and eggs together? Do bunnies lay eggs? Do bunnies have a natural affinity for eggs? Chickens?

Here’s a thought. What would happen if children were told the following?

The Obama administration has mandated, along with other mandates, that all animals must unionize. The result will guarantee that chickens will no longer be forced out of delivery jobs by rabbits who have nothing to do with eggs.
Instead of Peter Cottontail, large, 200 lb. chickens will be delivering their own eggs. Of course, chickens have not mastered the ancient art of decorating eggs, so they will have to rely on natural decoration. Natural decorating will prove economically beneficial because brown coloring is free.
Because discrimination will not be allowed under the new Obama administration mandates, “cute and fluffy” will bill replaced by “any rabbit capable.” Therefore, along with 200 lb. chickens, there will be large, ugly rabbits with 4-incisors leaping carelessly through living rooms come Easter morning. But instead of colorful eggs, they will be delivering tiny, naked bunny babies – by the millions.

He is Risen!

Just forget all of the above nonsese! Easter, Resurrection Day, is about only one thing: the tomb is empty and Jesus is ALIVE!

The fact that we can find so many other things to distract us on this day is totally amazing. Why isn’t the story of the resurrection enough? Is the proof of Christianity and the hope of the ages so dull of a story that we have to suppliment it with candy? And rabbits?

OH! Praise God that we have hope! Death is defeated! He lives!

And if Christ be NOT risen, then [is] our preaching vain, and your faith [is] also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not…And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now IS Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the firstfruits of them that slept…O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory? The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law. But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 15:14-15, 17-20, 55-57 [emphasis mine]

(Originally Posted 4/08/12)

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Filed under Easter, God, Preaching, Theology, worship

Tagged as Christ, Christianity, Easter, God, Jesus, Obama administration, Peter Cottontail, Resurrection Day

by Anthony Baker | April 19, 2014 · 10:16 am

It’s Saturday

It’s Saturday.

That’s probably not a shock to most of you, I bet. If you can log on to a computer, check your email, or read a text, then you are most likely capable of knowing what day of the week it is.

It’s Saturday…just Saturday.

But sometime back in the 30’s – the 0030’s – there were some men and women waking up to a Saturday like no other. Their teacher, mentor, leader, Rabbi, and Master had suffered a most horrific death, and now he was in a tomb. This was not a day they expected.

It was Saturday, the Sabbath, and all their hopes and dreams lay cold and lifeless in a sealed grave.

What were they feeling? How does it feel to go from the top of the world with every expectation of glory, to utter despair and the expectation that at any moment the ones who ripped your leader to shreds could soon find you and do the same?

With despair comes shame, anger, blame, and fear. On what was supposed to be a “day of rest,” hearts must have been restless, tumultuous, and breaking, crumbling to dust.

It must have been a long day, that Saturday.

Have you ever lost someone close, like a parent, a spouse, or a child? Have you ever left the hospital or the morgue, gone home in shock, only to be jolted by the piercing pain of reality when you see your loved one’s possessions? The day after my father died my mother and sister experienced a moment like that (I wasn’t there, for I wouldn’t go home that night). My dad’s watch had an alarm set – it was the time he was supposed to get up – there was no getting up this time.

How did Jesus’ disciples feel that Saturday night? Their hopes seemed hopeless…their dreams had become a nightmare…the “Way, the Truth, and the Life” now seemed like nothing more than a dead-end road, a lie, and death.

It was Saturday…

But Sunday was coming.

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Filed under current events, Easter, Faith, Future, God, Theology, worship

Tagged as Christian, Easter, hope, Jesus, Resurrection, Resurrection Day, Saturday

by Anthony Baker | March 31, 2013 · 9:55 pm

Happy Easter

As I write this, the day is coming to a close. Therefore, you have probably heard it many times before now, but…

Happy Easter!

For the Christian, this is the day we remember the most important event in history – the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

There have always been those who don’t believe, of course. But ever since that first morning when the women showed up to an empty tomb (Matthew 24), untold numbers have staked their eternity on the testimony of those who “heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life” (1 John 1:1).

As a matter of fact, one cannot call himself a true Christian if this day means nothing, for unless one “believe in his heart that God hath raised him [Jesus] from the dead,” he cannot be saved (Roman 10:9). The resurrection is so important to the Christian faith, “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14 RSV).

Again, have a happy Easter.

And if you don’t believe, well, there’s always tomorrow, isn’t there? 😉