Easter Sunday

Have you ever wondered why non-practicing Christians usually go to Church on Christmas and Easter? Why the Church is so busy these two weeks? The answer is they are some of the most significant days of Christianity. This post will talk about the importance of Easter since it just happen. This message is from Calvary Chapel of Delaware County.

Easter is not just about getting together with your family or eating candy, but celebrating the most important day of Christianity that happen 2,000 years ago in the city of Jerusalem. Jesus' resurrection is so important that the dates of the world were based on him( B.C./A.D.), philopatry started, and the world was forever changed for the better good! Jesus' disciples who witness him after his death were so impacted by His power that they and future generations would risk their lives for His name. Critics will say the disciples just saw an allusion when Jesus descended. As Christians today, we know this is not true because countless times in the Bible, including the Old Testament, there are exact prophecies that Jesus is known to complete exactly as they were written thousands of years before.

This day of resurrection changed people's lives forever. People did not need to live in fear of being in the constant state of anxiety by obeying the law. All they needed and still need now is to have faith in Him who gave us his life for us all.

Sermon Link (3/27).-http://www.ccdelco.com/message-library/

Blogs I Recommend

" Only atoms," and "Philly Fire News," on top of my blog are my two favorite blogs. They are not at all related to this blog, but they are two some of my most favorite interests. "Only Atoms," is runners blog mostly related to the urban northeast of the U.S. I can relate to this blog a lot because of living outside Philadelphia and from loving to run. This blog gives great tips and motivation to how to enjoy running in an urban and cold environment. It also talks about big marathons and personal testimonies of how running changed people's lives. My other favorite blog, "Philly Fire News," is a local newsfeed blog about all the current events going on in the fire-service on the Philadelphia-Metero region. As a local volunteer firefighter, this gives me all the news to I need to know, while staying up-to-date on major calls at school. I believe blogs are great because they allow you to find great current information on your passions.

Palm Sunday

This week I visited my friend's church, Hope, in King of Prussia, Pa. Since the day I went there was Palm Sunday, the Pastor talked about the historical importance of Palm Sunday. A lot of the behind the story stuff that was going on was very interesting, and I want to share it with you guys. The main theological message was we should not live our daily lives, especially this week, with out remembering the significance of Jesus. Jesus's passion was to accomplish God's mission, which was partly Palm Sunday.

2-3 million jews were in Jerusalem about to celebrate Passover. The significance of Jesus coming at that time was he symbolized the lambs that were slain to acknowledge God not to kill the Jews in Egypt.  Jesus knew his blood would save all of human kind. Jesus only cries 3 times in the Bible with the one being Palm Sunday. He cries because he knows the people of Jerusalem do not have peace with God. They praised Jesus because they thought he was going to save them for Rome, when he reality, he came to saved them for something bigger, their forgiveness of all their sins. The humbleness of Jesus is painted perfectly on this day with him deciding to ride the donkey into the city. His disciples wanted him to ride a grand horse to show he is the king, but Jesus wanted to send the Christian message of peace and humbleness instead. Finally, his disciples were obedient to whatever Jesus told them to do, which the way we should live our lives as Christians. As these interesting facts show, we can not live our lives with just celebrated days like this, but thinking about the significance behind Jesus' ways while praising him with all your heart.

Community

I am a current student at Eastern University which is a liberal arts Christian university. We had a chapel sermon based on our community, but I think it can apply to anybody's community they are surround with including work and your town.  The message was, " Mercy is the opposite off indifference." We can not have a lacking interest when it comes to obeying and worshiping God. Take for example the concept of lent. It is not a duty we should just perform just because the church is telling us to. It is a duty we should follow because it allows us to be more conform to God by giving up something in our lives for God. There is going to be costs as a Christian, but we have to do it to realize the reward is everlasting.

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1st Corinthians 12:26- "We all belong to each other". This is how you should view your community. You are all children of God united in God's love for us all. You should not view others in your community as not part of the group, but you should include them. Also do not be define by busyness or distractions  too not allow for you to share your mercy with the community. We have out of the blue things people want us to do pop up and we should see them more as a God calling to conform the community instead of an unessceary haste. Finally, when there is pain in a community allow for this this to be an opportunity top spread the word of Jesus. Show his love to others in this time of pain and confusion. Just like the concept of lent we should not have indifferent to our community, but mercy. Matthew 5:7-" Blesses are the merciful they will receive mercy."

One Way

 I always wondered in my life if God accepted other religions, especially the Jews who were labeled his "chosen people."Is there multiple ways to get into Heaven? The answer from this week's sermon was no. God is the only way to eternal life and peace with him. Every individual being has a special relationship with God if they know it or not. Jesus Christ is the only god who came down to Earth to give his live to cover all of mankind's sins. Everybody has barriers to God, some big, or some small. For example, the perfect young ruler came to Jesus with no sins, but would not voluntary sell all of his riches to follow God. It does not matter if your barrier deals with your culture idolizing a non-Christian religion , or the attachment to materialsim, because God works in everybody's life to give them the option of choosing eternal life. Our glory and life is because of his sufferings.

In Ephesians 3: 12-13 Paul declares, "In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory (NIV).

If you are a Christian stop making those barriers to get others into the Kingdom of God. Just like the Jews who made a physical wall to stop the Gentiles from coming into the pure part of the temple, we should not make it be hard for others to learn of God's love.

The Equality of Christianity

 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God"(Ephesians 2:8 NIV).

My church, Calvary Chapel of Delaware County, again dove into the scripture of Ephesians. Like it says above in Ephesians 2:8, anybody in the world can be saved through having a strong faith. My pastor looked at a lot of the world religions recently, and most of them had duties you had to perform to get into heaven or be close to their god. The good news with Christianity is it is black and white. Just like the apostle Paul said, we do not get into Heaven based on good works, but through our faith in Christ. 

Based on this ideology, there is 3 things my pastor wants the World to hear.

1. Only 1 good person has lived on Earth. 

This person is Jesus Christ. We are all sinners and there is no rank of people based on their goodness. Billy Graham and Mother Theresa even admitted of being a broken person. God loves us all the same and he knows that we are all broken. It is just a natural part of being a human being. That is why Jesus sacrifice himself for all of us to cover all our sins.

2. God can give you new nature and life.

All God wants is for us to come to him. It does not matter if your dad is Billy Graham, or if you go to church every week. The only thing that matters is being transform by God by being born again. Ephesians 2:4 says, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us"(NIV). God is always involved in our lives, even if we are the biggest sinners.

3. Were saved to do good works.

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). If we accomplish these good works we can get others to be saved by God's grace through their faith. It is not our free will to do these good works, but it is by God working through us.

Full Speech

      

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