Hi GBC,

This Holy Week, as we look ahead to Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, I want to encourage us as a church family to have our attention and affections fixed on the reality of the Cross and the Empty Tomb.

Have you taken time to meditate on the Cross of Jesus this week? On the wonder of the Empty Tomb and all the implications?

I Peter 1:3-4 says that through the resurrection of Jesus we have a living hope as Christians:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you . . . .

No resurrection = no living hope.
Jesus resurrected = a living hope to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
Kept in heaven for (insert your name).

Everything rises and falls on if Jesus really died and if Jesus really rose from the dead!

And, if Jesus died and rose again, ultimately for the Christian and the church, everything is going to be okay. More than okay. Savor the realness of that.

Take time this week to reflect, wonder, and worship at the glory of it all. Enjoy what the Cross and the Empty Tomb means. The greatest story ever told really is true! Reflect and rejoice on all the implications of this.... Jesus really is who He said He is. Jesus has proven that for all-time through the Cross and the Empty Tomb!

In order to help us worship through Holy Week, I wanted to share some quotes that point to the goodness, grace, greatness and glory of Jesus.... of the Cross and the Resurrection. Whether you’re flourishing or in the midst of suffering, let these quotes help fuel wonder and worship in your life as we anticipate Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.

• “There is no doctrine more excellent in itself or more necessary to be preached and studied, than the doctrine of Christ, and him crucified.” - John Flavel
  
  
• “Any faith that rests short of the Cross is a faith that will land you short of heaven.” - Charles Spurgeon
  
  
• “The wounds of Christ were the greatest outlets of his glory that ever were.” - Robert Murray M’Cheyne
  
  
• “On the cross divine mercy and justice were equally expressed and eternally reconciled.” - John Stott
  
  
• “The cross stands as a reminder that God, in grace, takes very bad things and turns them into very good things.” - Paul David Tripp
  
  
• “The tomb of Christ is famous because of what it does not contain.” - Sam Morris
  
  
• “The resurrection of Christ is the Amen of all His promises.” - John Boys
  
  
• “If Christ has risen the Bible is true from Genesis to Revelation. The kingdom of darkness has been overthrown. Satan has fallen like lightning from heaven; and the triumph of truth over error, of good over evil, of happiness over misery, is forever secured.” - Charles Hodge
  
  
• “Our bad things turn out for good. Our good things can never be lost. And the best things are yet to come.” - Jonathan Edwards

I can’t wait to gather and worship together on Good Friday and on Resurrection Sunday!

Because Jesus Lives,

Mike