Today’s choir song is the real heart of next weekend’s Easter celebration: “Resurrection Power.” Some would object to having any celebration, because we celebrate the resurrection every Sunday as we gather on the Lord’s Day—the day that Jesus rose from the dead—the first day of the week—the day that the first disciples met. We’re not seventh-day Adventists or seventh-day Baptists or any of these other groups that assemble on Saturdays because the most biblical day to meet is on a Sunday. I think any megachurch that’s too big to meet on Sundays shouldn’t overflow into Saturdays as if “it’s the same thing,” but should do what the Jerusalem church did when tens of thousands of people were being saved… they broke into smaller churches that met in smaller meeting places, namely homes. (Note: These were biblically ordained churches, not just home meeting groups. Don’t confuse any group of believers with an authorized church.)
Others might object to Easter as though it has pagan roots, but the timing of Easter is linked to the timing of the Passover and then standardized on a slightly different calendar. Following the dates from this standardization is no different than following the standardization of the names of our days (e.g. Thursday/Thor’s-day), and Romans 14 gives us clear biblical liberty to celebrate each day on the calendar as a gift from God.
Thank the Lord for Christianized holidays like Easter and Christmas! I am glad for any opportunity to present the Gospel on any occasion, and I pray that God uses these next few days to see people gloriously saved from their sin! Missionaries in the Philippines are seeing fruit from their evangelistic efforts in the month of the Bible—a cultural (read: secular) celebration of God’s Word. Even if the culture is largely unsaved, the month of focus on the Bible across their society is a tool that God is using to bring in the harvest of souls. Pagan? Oh, no. It is sovereignly designed by God to harvest fruit to His glory!
May we use this week toward that same goal of God’s glory.
—Pastor Ryan