He Is Risen!

He is risen, indeed!   And we celebrated that fact, despite the overcast skies that greeted us on this Easter morning! The Joy Ringers handbell group set the mood for us on this day of celebration as they played out in the mall before the service started. Then the choir, orchestra, and all our talented accompanists kicked things off with a beautiful song that was actually a combining of two other songs, entitled "Behold The Lamb" with some parts of the hymn "Jesus Paid It All" .  After the welcome by Pastor Wes, we were blessed to witness three baptisms---a mother and son and a young man who has been attending our church for several months.  The choir and orchestra then presented a new arrangement of "Because He Lives" .  The congregation joined us for a few more songs before Pastor Wes took us on a journey down the road to Emmaus which is found in Luke 24:13-35.  Two disheartened followers of Jesus were walking that road, when they were joined by another person, who asked them what they were talking about.  They were amazed that he didn't know all that had happened during the week regarding Jesus, His ministry, his very public crucifixion and now some of the women who had gone to the tomb were saying that the tomb was empty and an angel had told them that Jesus was alive.  They said that they had gone to the tomb and it was empty, just as the women had said, but they didn't see Jesus.  It was Jesus, who came alongside them as they walked and talked, but the language used means that God prevented them from recognizing Jesus.  Oh, they knew some facts about Jesus, but had no real understanding of His ultimate mission because they had not put their faith into all the prophecies that they had read in the scriptures.  Pastor Wes had much more to say about the rest of that walk to Emmaus and how it ended and what it means for us as we put our faith in Jesus on this side of His resurrection. Today we celebrate  our risen savior!