Question......

What is wrong with this picture?



The caption on the card that was sent out to the area (through the Post Office) by a local church says, "What stones do you need rolled away this Easter?"

Is this what Easter is about? (An emphatic) NO!

Could this possibly be (one reason anyway) why much of American Christianity is a train wreck at best?

I would highly suggest that everyone read through at least the following verses (in context) of the Scriptures explaining why Jesus came. Open your Bibles and follow along:

--- Begin by reading Matthew 26-28 (See post below April 9th) ---

A) 1 Timothy 1:15 - "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost."

B) Mark 2:17 - "And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.""

C) Luke 19:10 - "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

D) Matthew 20:28 - "...The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

E) John 18:37 - "Then Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world— to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.""

F) John 6:38 - "For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me."

G) John 12:46 - "I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness."

H) John 10:10 - "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (Careful, the 'life' here is not referring to having one's 'best life now'-but life eternal.)

I) John 9:39 - "Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind."

J) Mark 1:38 - "And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out."" (He came to preach the Good News)

K) John 12:27 - "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour." (He came to die on the cross)

L) Matthew 5:17 - "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

M) Matthew 10:34-35 - "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

N) John 20:21 - "Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you."

--- 1) 1 John 4:10 - "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (Atonement for sins)
--- 2) John 3:16-18 - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."
--- 3) Acts 3:26 - "God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness."
--- 4) Galatians 4:4-5 - "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons."
--- 5) Romans 8:3-4 - "For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."

O) 1 John 4:10 - "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (Jesus Christ came as a demonstration of God's love)

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All Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (ESV).