“A Living Witnesses To The Resurrection”

Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.  After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

When I was serving as the pastor in my first church in Fontana in 1984, I was asked by the local school district to review the new curriculum that was going to be used to teach about religion in the middle school. When I came to the section where the Resurrection was mentioned, the textbook said: “Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead because some women went to His tomb on Easter Sunday and did not find His body.”

I remember my jaw dropping to the floor. I told the assistant superintendent who oversaw curriculum development that this was only partially true. She told me that she understood my concerns since she was a Christian and married to a Presbyterian pastor who was the Stated Clerk of the Riverside Presbytery. However, there was nothing she could do about the situation. I suggested that the school district not buy the curriculum. She told me that it had already been bought.

Since then, I have made it a point to tell the people in my congregation that Jesus showed Himself alive for forty days after His Resurrection to various people in a variety of situations. Some of these appearances are mentioned by the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the church in Corinth. The empty tomb of Jesus is not the only reason we believe that Jesus is alive. We believe that Jesus is alive because of the eye-witness testimony of people who actually saw Him alive. We also believe Jesus alive because we have had our own encounter with the Risen Lord. As the hymn “I Serve A Risen Savior” proclaims:

You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart.

Middle school students are longing to know the truth about the Resurrection. They won’t hear the truth in the public schools, but they can hear it from us. Please pray for our ministry with middle school and high school students. I also encourage you to speak with Megan Smith about how you can support her ministry at GMPC. You are living witnesses to the Resurrection who can help others to know that Jesus really is alive.

In Christ,

Pastor David