Happy Easter Everyone!

[Mr.Bassmaster29]

Hope everyone has a good Easter!

[keithdog]

Back at ya Bassmaster! Have a wonderful Easter.

[bassboogieman]

HAPPY EASTER, everyone.

[bamabassman]

HE IS RISEN!!! happy easter to everyone!

[IUbass]

Happy Easter! Mark 16: 1-7

[woody]

Death has lost and love has won...I am so thankful that Jesus died for my sins, but I'm even more thankful that he rose again. I hope you are filled with hope today. He is alive! Happy Easter friends!

http://youtu.be/I3kZ4cE-akw


-Mark

[Bassboss]

Thanks, a happy Easter to you too!

[joedog]

Woody, you really surprised me! Not with your faith but with really a very very good video!
Had my Grandkids yesterday and the young lady (9) really liked it and had questions on the story. The boy (6) could care less as long as there was candy to be found out in the back 1/2 acre.
Kids mom is a nonbeliever....no a devote nonbeliever.
Talk of God is forbidden by me, to them, by her.

As you see.....she can say what she wants cause I'm going do what I'm going do, regardless. Even took them to Church yesterday....meant nothing....but the Video really made her understand the real STORY.
Thanks alot because I enjoyed the vid too and I'm alittle more Maiden and Tesla than belief music but I listened to it twice. My boy helped me sneak a version of the song on grandaughters I-pod.
Lord works in mysterious ways.

Thanks again and hope everyone has a great week!

[Bubba_Bruiser]

Same to all of you! The power of a witness comes in many different forms!

[IUbass]

Originally Posted by woody

Death has lost and love has won...I am so thankful that Jesus died for my sins, but I'm even more thankful that he rose again. I hope you are filled with hope today. He is alive! Happy Easter friends!

http://youtu.be/I3kZ4cE-akw


-Mark

Mark, that is an amazing video. When I need encouragement or just smile at a hard time I listen to Meredith Andrews - You're Not Alone (youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FXLo3aCkuQ )

Easter is my favorite holiday, Christmas is close, but Easter has a certain sentimental value that I love. I love the Easter service, it is by far my favorite service the whole year. As sad as it sounds, I love the story of Jesus dieing, then resurrecting to forgive our sins. I find it fascinating.

I like to start at Luke 22, when Judas betrays Jesus, while reading, you feel mad, sad, heartbroken, but then in a way smile because you know he will be forgiven. The punishment Jesus went through excruciating pain and torture as he made his way to the crucifixion. What really makes me mad, is the place they put it. It has been suggested it is just north of Mt. Zion, and is now the viable place researchers believed it happened, but Pilate wanted it outside city walls, but accessible to people to get to, and observable to others in the city. This really urgs me the wrong way. As if torture wasnt enough, he was positioned where his followers, and other could see him.

While on the cross, comes another passage I love, Luke 23: 39-43. In short one of the criminals being crucified next to Jesus said, "arent you the Messiah? Save yourself and us" Then, my favorite part, the other criminal said, " dont fear God, we are punished justly, we are getting what we deserve, this man has done nothing wrong." then he says, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus' reply "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." It touches me, I cant describe it, I just love it.

Then you read of his resurrection, and how he shows himself to Mary and the disciples. I cant really describe it, other than its awesome.

But back to Easter, I love the whole story, and even though my church is small, on Easter it is packed. I wish it would be packed every Sunday, but it is warming to see such a following. Another thing about the service is the singing we do of "Hallelujah" I have always loved that song, and when we do it in service, it just ties everything together.

Following service, my family gets together for a cook out, and it gives us time to catch up. Family is important to me, and when you have a day filled with Jesus and Family, it is the best.

I hope all of ya'll had a wonderful day. It truly is amazing the love Jesus has for us.

[woody]

For God so loved the world

that he gave his one and only Son,

that whoever believes in him

shall not perish

but have eternal life.

John 3:16

[bamabassman]

amen brother mark.............

[IUbass]

I just wanted to insert a little excerpt of the sermon from Easter Sunday, I know many of you are not Colts fans, but this is the part of the sermon that stuck to me.

Pastor Andy Kort -

We are thinking about the women, but what about Peter? Remember him? He denied Christ three times in the garden. Someone came up to him and said, “Hey, are you with that guy Jesus over there?” “Nope, I don’t know him. I’ve got nothing to do with that guy,” he said moments before the cock crowed. Judas couldn’t take the guilt of his betrayal so he killed himself—never ever a good option. But Peter was still with us. And it’s easy, isn’t it; to imagine the guilt he was carrying around after his little garden scene. It’s easy to imagine because we’ve done it too. We’ve denied Christ. We’ve walked by the hungry, we’ve overlooked the poor, we’ve taken the easy way instead up picking up our cross, we’ve said bad things and gossiped about our neighbor, we’ve said or behaved in a way that said for us, “Nope, don’t know him. I’m not with that guy.” We’ve made the rooster crow time and time again. And we know it. And I’d bet all the goodies in my Easter basket, that there is at least one person here today, who like Peter, still carries the weight of that around.

And so if we go seeking Christ at all, we go carrying some things with us, expecting that the worst is here to stay. And with all of the feelings and emotions swirling around in our heads and in our hearts, the emotional ups and downs and the stress and the burdens of life, it can all seem, well, like a circus at times.

As you good and faithful folks know, before Tony Dungy would win a Super Bowl in 2007 with the Colts, he coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996-2001.

Towards the end of the season in 2001 as Tampa Bay was on their way to a third place finish in their division, Nathan Whitaker, the staff attorney for the team, was confidentially assigned to put together biographical sketches of other coaches around the league as the Buccaneer management planned their strategy of firing Dungy and bringing in a new coach.

Despite all the grumbling in Tampa Bay and the frustrated expectations of going far in the playoffs and even to the Super Bowl, Whitaker noticed that Dungy went about his life and work with a steady resolve.

Dungy many of you know, is a man of strong faith and belief in Jesus Christ.
So amidst the turmoil in Tampa Bay, Dungy still drove his children to school everyday; had them doing their homework in his office in the afternoons; still participated in regular bible study with the other coaches and he still left work each evening at 8pm. All of this in a profession that expected a 24hr a day/7 days a week commitment-especially for a coach in trouble.

One afternoon, late in that disappointing season amid rumors that Dungy would be fired at the end of the season, Mr. Whitaker, himself a Christian, was on his way to a workout in the team’s fitness center and he bumped into Coach Dungy. After an awkward exchange of “Hello’s”, Mr. Whitaker said to the coach, “I just want to tell you how much I appreciate your witness in the middle of this circus”.

Coach Dungy replied, “Sometimes I think God wants there to be a circus so we can show that there’s another way to respond.”

Another way to respond.

That is exactly what God does that very first Easter morning. The whole world, not to mention the women and Peter, had expected Jesus to be dead in the tomb. But God had another response. As the two Marys and Salome finally reached the tomb, they stepped inside and they saw a young man dressed in white, we assume him to be an angel, and he said, “Do not be afraid. You are seeking Jesus of Nazareth…He has been raised. He is not here.” And the world was forever changed. The gates to eternity were opened.

On Friday the worst of us got the best of us, but on Sunday morning God had another response. Instead of death there is life. Instead of despair there is joy. Instead of fear there is hope. Instead of a grudge there is grace. Instead of a body there is an empty tomb.

I love what the angel told the women as they stood inside that empty tomb with their unused spices in hand. He told them, “Go and tell the disciples…and Peter.” Peter is mentioned by name. It’s as if this divine messenger knew that there was someone who needed to hear that God had another response for them. And that he was forgiven, still loved, known, and claimed by God. God had not given up on Peter. Go and tell the disciples, and Peter.

And God has not given up on you either. Go and tell the disciples and tell (insertyournamehere). Tell them that the tomb is empty, he has been raised, grace wins, love wins, God wins, forgiveness wins, peace wins, hope wins. He is not here. He has been raised. If you are looking for, if you are seeking Christ in the tomb, well then you will be sorely disappointed because he is not here. God had another way to respond.

The life giving way has overtaken the life taking way.