Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. – Matthew 28:1-3

There is a lot I could say about Easter Sunday and I believe it is all worth saying! But I am going to trim this down to one manageable post that you won’t mind reading!

First, what a great day! A lovely early morning, then breakfast at church (thanks to the guys), a beautiful worship service full with beautiful people, a relaxing afternoon walk, and then much needed rains leading to a cool down in the evening.

Betty Connette shared a powerful and timely message, built around Matthew’s reference to the earthquake that – in his telling – announced the resurrection. The impact of the Good News on our lives is likewise earthshaking. Our mandate as disciples is to live in such a way that the earth continues to shake in response to God’s seismic love.

The message challenged us, essentially, to live what I would call “Resurrection Lives.” Given the enormity of what we claim to believe about Jesus, surely such faith should make more of an impact in day to day life?

It reminds me of something I said during a men’s conference in Florida several years ago. “Think about all that Jesus went through during The Passion,” I said. “Can we see him saying, ‘You know, Derek (Steve… Jim… Billy…), the way you live is exactly what I had in mind. Your witness makes this all worthwhile…’?”

Taking it to the next level:

Being Easter, our church was almost full. It’s always a beautiful sight. What’s super-interesting to me is the way people respond to being there. They enjoy everything about the short hour spent in worship, and they leave feeling full in so many ways.

It would be the simplest thing in the world to burn “attend church” into the calendar as a regular, recurring, inviolable commitment. Then, rather than simply experiencing a great Easter Sunday, feeling filled up in ways we forget is even possible, the positives would begin to multiply in ways that lead to depths that are both surprising and life-shaping.

Who knows, maybe that earth-shaking thing will begin to actually take, and bring the kind of change that is really needed – change that’s not political… but fundamental.

Peace – and I mean that in so many ways – DEREK

Our challenge is not just to sing
Christ is risen, Hallelujah but to
live Resurrection Lives!