Dear Friends,

“For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep.”

Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:1-6

With these words, Paul records the earliest creed of the Jesus movement, the bedrock of early Christianity, and the essence of the Christian faith. New Testament scholar James Dunn asserts total confidence this creed was formulated within months of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Almost 2100 years later, the resurrection remains the foundation of our faith in Jesus as the Son of God. This mysterious and beautiful historical event both proves and proclaims that life is greater than death, love is stronger than hate, and good will ultimately defeat evil.

Writer A.N. Wilson who left the Christian faith as a strident critic only to return to belief in the risen Christ writes recounts his re-conversion experience. His return to faith “surprised no one more than myself.” He asserts that the lives and examples of friends and relatives who lived and faced death in light of the Resurrection story led him back. He argues that the historical event of the Resurrection we celebrate at Easter answers our “questions about the spiritual aspects of humanity. It changes people’s lives because it helps us understand that we, like Jesus, are born spiritual beings. Every inner prompting of conscience, every glimmering sense of beauty, every response we make to music, every experience we have of love – whether physical love, sexual love, family love or the love of friends – every experience of bereavement reminds us of this fact about ourselves….Materialist atheism says we are just a collection of chemicals. It has no answer whatsoever to the question of how we should be capable of love or heroism or poetry if we are simply animated pieces of meat. The Resurrection, which proclaims that matter and spirit are mysteriously conjoined, is the ultimate key to who we are. It confronts us with an extraordinarily haunting story.”¹

More than that, the Resurrection proves Jesus is the demonstration of the Father’s love for us in defeating sin and death by sacrificing Himself in our place and giving us His Spirit to raise us to new life. We will celebrate the Truest Story – the life, death and resurrection of Jesus - over the next four days at Westminster. I invite you to come and be a part of our remembrance and celebration.

Services & Activities

• Maundy Thursday – 6:00-6:45pm in the Sanctuary – a solemn observance of the Lord’s Supper.
• Good Friday – 6:00-7:15 – Emory Road House backyard – worship and the Lord’s Supper.  Bring something to sit on.
• Easter Egg Hunt – 10:30am – A day of joy and celebration for our little ones.
• Easter Sunday Morning
  - 8:00am - Outdoor Sunrise Service in the backyard of the Emory Road House.   Bring something to sit on
  - 9:30 – Sanctuary with livestream and overflow options
  - 11:00 – Sanctuary with livestream and overflow options.

Your friend,

Steve Wise

¹ (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1169145/Religion-hatred-Why-longer-cowed-secular-zealots.html