It was Easter Sunday and the pastor gathered the children at the front of the church to ask them about the meaning of Easter. The pastor was disappointed as he listened to the first response: “Easter is the day the Easter Bunny comes and kids look for hidden eggs and eat chocolate.”

The second response was more encouraging as a young girl said, “Easter is the time we remember Jesus died and later rose from the dead.”

Trying to relate that event to the present, the pastor asked, “What happens when those who believe in Jesus die?”

The children thought for a moment before one cried out, “They go to heaven.”

Pressing further he asked, “What happens to those who don’t believe in Jesus when they die?”

After a long pause, one boy blurted out, “They have a bad day.”
(Craig A. Smith, Sermon Illustrations for an Asian Audience, Manila: OMF Publishing, 2004)


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Journalist Robert MacNeil once wrote, “I associate different emotions with traveling toward the different points of the compass. Going east is going back to where we all came from, toward the dawn; to the west is escape, adventure, the pull of the sunset. Going south brings an anticipation of languor, of being enfolded in limpid air. When I head north, my blood quickens—it takes a special people to live where nature makes it so hard.”

Spiritually, we all can agree that going east is returning to the place of origin. Our spiritual fountainhead is Easter Sunday; our spiritual source is the resurrection of Jesus. All of the Christian religion flows from this place.


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When Julius Caesar came to Alexandria, he was show the coffin of Alexander the Great. He then was asked if he would like to see Ptolemy’s coffin. He said, “I came to see a king, not a corpse.”

When we come to church, we come to see a King, not a corpse! When we come to church, particularly at Easter, we come to see a living King.


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There is much to be learned from reading epitaphs. There is a wonderful epitaph on the grave of a Patience Holmes. It is so popular that it has been used on many other gravestones in New England. Patience died in 1845, age 24, in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The epitaph says:

“Shed not for her the bitter tear
“Nor give the heart to vain regret
“‘Tis but the casket that lies here
“The gem that filled it sparkles yet.”

The resurrection of Jesus is encouragement to us to believe that even at the end of mortal life, we still will shine.


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Years ago when Bishop Brown of the Episcopal Church came to speak in Virginia’s historic St. Luke’s Church, Isle of Wight County, he said, “It has been said that Bishop Brown wants to be buried in St. Luke’s graveyard. That’s nonsense. I’m here to tell you that Bishop Brown doesn’t want to be buried anywhere.”

While we understandably hold on to the life we know, as Christians we know our final destiny is not in the graveyard.


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