April 8, 2007 Easter

ALL I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LIFE I LEARNED FROM THE EASTER BUNNY
Don't put all of your eggs in one basket
Walk softly and carry a big carrot
Everyone needs a friend who is all ears
There's no such thing as too much candy
All work and no play can make you a basket case
A cute little tail attracts a lot of attention
Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day
Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits !
Some body parts should be floppy
Keep your paws off other people's jellybeans
Good things come in small sugarcoated packages
The grass is always greener in someone else's basket
An Easter bonnet can tame even the wildest hare
To show your true colors you have to come out of your shell
The best things in life are still sweet and gooey !!!


As you leave the fellowship, recall that there is
Life after death.
Love your neighbor and your self —
Exclaiming often that the source of life is God who
Loves all Creation!
Utilize your talents to make the world an “Easter place,”
Integrating “resurrection newness” into your thinking and your decisions.
Align yourself with the living Christ who invites you and me to spiritual adventure.

The Cross is a wondrous magnet, drawing to Jesus everyone of the true metal. It is as a banner lifted on high to which all who are loyal must rally. This fiery Cross, carried through all lands, will rouse the valiant and speed them to the field. Can you see your Lord suffering to the death for you-and then turn your back? If the Cross does not bring a person out, what will? If the spectacle of dying love does not quicken us into courageous affection for him, what can? --Charles Spurgeon

"A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror."

A new survey released by The Barna Group, which has been tracking America's religious behavior and beliefs since 1984, reveals that one out of every three adults (33%) is classified as unchurched--meaning they have not attended a religious service of any type during the past six months.
An estimated 73 million adults are presently unchurched. When teens and children are added, the total swells to roughly 100 million Americans.

Imagine that God and Satan have been playing a cosmic chess game with the fate of mankind at stake. Satan appeared to have the upper hand ... that is, until God made a surprising move -- He put Christ on the cross, declaring, "Checkmate."

• Millions of Chocolate Easter Bunnies Sold About 90 million chocolate bunnies are produced for Easter. Solid chocolate bunnies are favored by 42 percent with hollow chocolate bunnies coming in second with 21 percent. If you enjoy marshmallow-filled bunnies, you are among 10 percent of the chocolate bunny eaters.

THE FOG WILL LIFT Today I am one day nearer home than before. One day nearer the dawning when the fog will lift, mysteries clear, and all question marks straighten up into exclamation points! --Vance Havner

IT MAY BE TIME TO GET STARTED Having the world's best idea will do you no good unless you act on it. People who want milk shouldn't sit on a stool in the middle of a field in
hopes that a cow will back up to them. --Curtis Grant in "Nation's Business"

SIT QUIETLY IN HIS PRESENCE To sit in the oval office in the presence of the President of the United States is a great honor, even if one says not a word. How much greater to sit quietly in the presence of the King of Kings. --Bill Patterson

HOW ENDURING THE LEAST WORD GOD HAS SPOKEN The empire of Caesar is gone; the legions of Rome are smoldering in the dust; the avalanches that Napoleon hurled upon Europe have melted away; the prince of the Pharaohs is fallen; the pyramids they raised to be their tombs are sinking every day in the desert sands; Tyre is a rock for bleaching fisherman's nets; Sidon has scarcely left a wreck behind; but the Word of God still survives. All things that threatened to extinguish it have only aided it; and it proves every day how transient is the noblest monument that men can build, how enduring is the least word that God has spoken. --Albert Baird Cummins

I have always dreaded old age. I cannot imagine anything worse than being old. How awful it must be to have nothing to do all day long but stare at the walls or watch TV. So last week, when the mayor suggested we all celebrate Senior Citizen Week by cheering up a senior citizen, I determined to do just that. I would call on my new neighbor, an elderly retired gentleman, recently widowed, who, I presumed, had moved in with his married daughter because he was too old to take care of himself. I baked a batch of brownies and without bothering to call (some old people cannot hear the phone), I went off to brighten this old guy's day.
When I rang the doorbell, this "old guy" came to the door dressed in tennis shorts and a polo shirt, looking about as ancient and decrepit as Donny Osmond. "I'm sorry I can't invite you in," he said when I introduced myself, "but I'm due at the Racquet Club at two. I'm playing in the semifinals today." "Oh, that's all right," I said. "I baked you some brownies..."
"Great!", he interrupted, snatching the box, "Just what I need for bridge club tomorrow!
Thanks so much!" "...and just thought we'd visit a while, but that's okay, I'll just trot across the street and call on Granny Grady..." "Don't bother," he said, "Gran's not home. I know,
I just called to remind her of our date to go dancing tonight. She may be at the beauty shop. She mentioned at breakfast that she had an appointment for a tint job." I called my Mother's cousin (age 83), she was in the hospital... working in the gift shop. I called my aunt (age 74); she was on vacation in China. I called my husband's uncle (age 79). I forgot, he was on his honeymoon. I still dread old age, now more than ever. I just don't think I'm up to it.....
Author Unknown

Our Greatest Need
"If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator.
If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.
If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.
If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.
But our greatest need was forgiveness, So God sent us a Savior!"

**Joy is distinctly a Christian word and a Christian thing. It is the reverse of happiness. Happiness is the result of what happens of an agreeable sort. Joy has its springs deep down inside. And that spring never runs dry, no matter what happens. Only Jesus gives that joy. He had joy, singing its music within, even under the shadow of the cross. --Samuel Dickey Gordon (1859-1936)

**Easter can be described in many ways, but joy is one adjective that is it full of. Understand this: the Stoic bears, the Epicurean seeks to enjoy, the Buddhist and Hindu stand apart disillusioned, the Muslim submits, but only the Christian exults in joy. And that is the message of Easter!

A Reflection about the “open tomb” (From Max Lucado, shared by permission.)
“Why did the angel move the stone? Was the death conqueror so weak that he couldn’t push away a rock? Listen to what the angel says: “Come and see the place where his body was.”
The stone was moved--not for Jesus--but for the women; not so Jesus could come out, but so the women could see in! Mary looks at Mary and Mary is grinning the same grin she had when the bread and fish kept coming out of the basket.
“Go quickly and tell his followers, ‘Jesus has risen from the dead. He is going into Galilee ahead of you, and you will see him there.’” Yet one surprise awaits them....
“Suddenly, Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings.’ The women came up to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘don’t be afraid.’
Never let an open tomb scare you. As a Christian you can look right in for nothing will be there--nothing of importance. The soul is with God and the glory of Easter is now come full circle!