He Is Risen

I visited the tomb of Lenin on the Red Square in Moscow several times. Lenin is still there in a glass coffin. It was him who “demanded complete disestablishment of the Church so as to be able to combat the religious fog…” There is still a thick fog of hopelessness around the Red Square today. Like the women in Jerusalem, I want to hear the reassuring words of the angel: “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” Christ’s tomb is empty. He is my living Savior. I have His sure promise that He will come again and will give me life eternal. My message tomorrow morning is based on Romans 6:4: “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” As in the resurrection of Christ we see all the glorious attributes of God, so in every believer’s spiritual awakening a manifestation of the divine presence.

April 4th we’ll have both the 8:55 and 11:25 worship services. Come to celebrate Christ’s victory over death.

YARD SALE. We could not have dreamed about better weather for our church yard sale. Not even one cloud in the sky. Praise God for His goodness to us. My heart was rejoicing as I was watching church members’ participation in this community project. Lots of valuable items were donated by you, dear friends, to support our Nehemiah project. Some of you worked all through the night baking muffins, loaves of bread and other goodies for the yard sale. Some of you brought vans and pick up trucks filled with the items for sale. Thank you, deacons and deaconesses for coming early for the set up. Special words of appreciation to Jackie and Juanita Rose and their children. There guidance and coordination was superb. Their humble spirit was awesome. I wish I could mentioned every name here in this message, but I am sure that i’ll miss one. God knows your name and your hard work. That day you, church, raised over $2,200 towards our church renovation project! Praise God for each one of you.

OUR BEST TO GOD. God gave us His best. He gave us His Son to die on the cross for our salvation. Are we bringing our BEST to the Lord? His church is His body. I pray that we continue faithfully to support our local church budget. To operate the church and to support our school our weekly need is right at $5,500. ALL tithe donations will go to support the work of the church in this wonderful conference and worldwide, and ONLY the local church budget donations will be used for our Ooltewah church needs and ministries. God called us to be His stewards in this community. I trust that He is ready to tell us: “Well done, My faithful steward!”

OOLTEWAH EVANGELISM. Do you remember that on April 24 at 7 pm we start our series of evangelistic meetings? The meetings will continue nightly through May 2. Please, start planning your schedule for that week accordingly. I expect 150% participation. I mean y’all and your friends, neighbors, or family members. Every night of that week we’ll be studying one of the signs of Christ’s soon return from Matthew 24. “Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[e] is near, right at the door. (v. 33)

PRAYERS. This week our dear Barbara Kraner had a heart attack. Praise God she is doing better. This afternoon Barbara was discharged from the Memorial hospital and she is resting at home now. She is very thankful to all those who visited her or called her. We’ll continue praying for Barbara’s full recovery.

Wilma and Jerry Johnson are soliciting your prayers for their son Daniel, who had a stoke a few days ago. He is in steady recovery and his parents are thankful for your prayers. As you know Jerry himself needs our prayerful support as he is battling with prostate cancer.

Bradley Hyde is also in need of our prayers. His surgery is scheduled for this month at the Florida Hospital. We are praying for you daily, Bradley.