April 20, 2022
Leadership Notes
What a glorious morning of worship we had on Easter Sunday. From the music to placing flowers on the empty cross, we were engaged with joyous celebration. Plus, the light dusting of snow held off until Monday! How sweet was that?
R.C. Sproul once observed, "Why do bad things happen to good people? That only happened once, and He volunteered." The empty tomb on Easter morning was the seal of God's acceptance that Jesus' death on the cross paid the price for our sin. Jesus took God's wrath for our sin on himself. To paraphrase the Apostle Paul, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Easter at Covenant Church was a wonderful, worshipful day. It was fresh, simple, and honest. What more could we do?
Some churches incorporate Easter egg hunts into their holiday celebrations. It is so disconcerting. Some hold them offsite where children and parents search for eggs hidden throughout the community. Some churches have dropped eggs from hot air balloons, included fireworks, and one church even shot people out of cannons. I once read about a church that quit doing egg hunts because they had turned into such an avaricious
scramble for free stuff. Yikes.
One church leader says they are trying to "make fun Easter memories for families." Another one, in New Jersey, boasts that with over 100,000 eggs hidden, they held the largest Easter egg hunt in their state. Another church hands out admission tickets to their egg hunt during worship. After the worship service, they then go out for a ten-minute search for treats. They hope to create fun memories together and help people "find a forever friend in Jesus." Just typing that kind of makes my stomach hurt.
The only remedy for such nonsense is this from Charles Spurgeon:
"Christ was not guilty, and could not be made guilty; but He was
treated as if He were guilty, because He willed to stand in the
place of the guilty. Yea, He was not only treated as a sinner, but
He was treated as if He had been sin itself in the abstract."
Over Easter weekend, I read Easter statements by a former President and a current President. One was needlessly snarky to the point of being irreligious, while the other was Biblically/theologically obtuse. Then there was this from one of my favorite University of Michigan Law School graduates, Harold Ford, Jr.:
"Christ is Risen."
Fresh…simple…and honest. No bunnies or eggs or prizes or scores to settle or wishy-washy theology. Just the celebration of Biblical truth - Christ is Risen!
O, how I love worshiping with the people of Covenant Church.
And now a bonus Moment of Spurgeon:
They would have taken him and forced upon him a crown, while he sought
only for a cross. They imagined and desired for him the worldly splendour
of a terrestrial throne; but he foresaw the reality of glory in sweat of blood
and cruel death.
Followed by a final Spurgeon Affirmation:
Jesus does not love his own with a little of his love, nor regard them with
some small degree of affection, but he says, “As the Father hath loved me,
even so have I loved you,” and the Father’s love to the Son is
inconceivably great, since they are one in essence, ineffably one.
With Much Love and Affection,
Richard