The angels: He is not here. He is risen. Go tell.

Mary: Tell me, Mr. Gardener, where have you hidden his Body.
Jesus: Mary! (It’s ME! I am alive!). Go tell my disciples to meet me.

Paul: I want to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified.
Paul: I am on trial because of the resurrection of the dead.

Cut to the chase? Well, here it is.
God sent His Son to this earth to fix our broken hearts. He punished His Son with our sentence of death and wrath.

Forget trying to “date” God by being nice once in a while. Forget dropping by for a “tip” from time to time. Hear His call to gather as a family, to love and fall in love with others here and in your circle of acquaintances and contacts. COME HOME if you have run away. Be eager as members of this body. Eternal Life is proclaimed. God’s perfect love for you is proclaimed. You sins are claimed by Him and removed. You count before the throne of the almighty God, when you come clothed in Christ’s righteousness and claiming His glory.

The church’s task is to proclaim salvation in Christ’s death and resurrection.
The church’s task is to proclaim new life lived now and forever in His name.
The church’s task is to proclaim what we are and are empowered to be, not what we ought to be.

The members of the church are being moved by the Holy Spirit to gather together to hear the Good News that we are settled eternally with God through Christ. Hear the invite from the Creator and Lord of the whole universe. The members of the church are being moved to go forth to love others with Christ’s forgiving love.

You have been baptized into Christ. Stand, sit, and kneel with your fellow believers, every week. Gather to be fed and strengthened. Gather to have Him remove the power of your sin against Him, yourself, and others. Gather to praise. Gather to rejoice. Then, go tell and pour the Good News out on others.

Be an angel. Be Mary. Be Paul. Be Christ! Be (what) YOU (are in HIM)! Be hungry to hear and to tell.

In Christ our Lord and Savior,
Pastor Thomas Trapp