April has begun. We celebrated Easter this past Sunday. I love Easter because it is the lynch-pin of the Christian faith. HE IS RISEN! CHRIST IS RISEN! We live in a time and culture where society is doubling it's efforts to remove Christ from everything and becoming incrasingly hostile towards any public display of Christ centered faith. Easter is all about the resurrection of Jesus! The apostle Paul writes of the importance of the doctrine of the ressurection when he was writing to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 15:13-14; "But if there is no ressurection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; then our preaching is vain, your faith is also vain."
But our faith is NOT in vain!
When I was a kid in Awana club I learned these verses:
1 Corinthians 15:3b-4 : "...that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the tird day according to the scriptures..." Then it goes on to list who Christ showed Himself to after He was raised.
My favorite desciption of Jesus is found in Revelation 1:17b-18 Jesus Himself says to John;
"Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades."
My faith is in the One who holds the keys of death! I do not need to be afraid!

Do you ever wonder why the date for Easter is so widely varied each year? The formula for determining the date each year was established by the Roman Emperor Constantine and the Great Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325. First, find the vernal equinox on a calandar. Second, look for the next full moon. The date for Easter will be on the Sunday following that full moon date! Now you know!

Have a beautiful April!
Blessings!