Easter Message from the Presbyterian Church

By Marlys Evans

First Presbyterian Church

Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the most important Christian festival, and the one celebrated with the greatest joy. Without Easter there would be no Christianity. Without Jesus’ suffering, His execution and subsequent resurrection there would be no Christianity, for however terrible the suffering was, it was part of God’s plan for the salvation of mankind. 

Jesus, Emmanuel, came down from heaven above and pulled us to safety. He did this by taking the punishment for all our wrongdoing as He died on the cross (1 Peter 2:24) to pay what we owed. 

When Jesus died, He shared in what all of us must experience, but far beyond that, He did what none of us can do. He paid the price for our sins that we may be forgiven and on the third day was resurrected so we might have eternal life through faith in Him (John 3: 16). 

“It is finished”, was our Lord’s final words from the cross as He gave up his spirit (John 19:30). These words were not a cry of painful defeat but a shout of triumph because he had accomplished all that the Father had sent Him to do. Now, through Him, we can escape the power of sin; we can live and be free! 

“He is not here; for He has risen, as He said,” the angel told the women at the empty tomb (Matthew 28:6). When Jesus met them he said, “Rejoice!” (Matthew 28:9). Now all of us, His faithful followers have reason for rejoicing! 

Today, consider the connection between Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice and his love for us; He died and rose again so we can have assurance that one day we’ll be with Him in a place of no more death or tears (Revelation 21 :4 ). 

If Jesus had not come back to life, our faith as Christians would be pointless. However, the Bible, tells us that Jesus “was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25). 

Easter is a day to celebrate with great joy; we can be right with God, because Jesus is alive! He is risen! He has risen indeed! Thanks be to God! 

The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus gives us Victory

The victory we can have in Jesus and the Cross where He died! There are Christians around the world that understand the Victory God has allowed us to have in a personal relationship with Him. Those who do not understand Christianity and its principals will not understand what it all means! Most off the world where we live doesn't understand what it means to hold to the doctrine of the Holy Bible and believe it truly is a Holy Book of the spoken word of God preserved for our study to see and understand God and how He works. 

All then the old testament is full the word of God spoken threw His prophets and by God expressly! Then we have the New testament where Jesus the son of God came in the flesh. Jesus speaks to His followers in express words for our growth and understanding in Him. Then we have all the letters written by believers who the Holy Spirit spoke threw for the growth of His Church. This also tells use the purpose of the church of Jesus and how it reacts to the world where it exist! The New Testament also has a book that tells us the future called Revelation! This book revels what God's plan for the future of the world and the end of His creation! This is a book of future prophecy that will come true! All the Holy Bible old and new testaments as well as Revelation give us a picture of the complete will of God and tells us what to expect from a world that is rapidly truing away from God and the ideas it tells us are true. This is exactly what it tells us will occur. 

We celebrate the resurrection of Christ Jesus every year at an opponent time in the calender year according to history. This is based on the Jewish calender and the events in past history. This event is not just history it is the future also it has truth that can not be changed and what we expect to happen. We can come to a place in life when we start to believe that these things happened and we can chose to believe in them. Then there will be a change in our personal lives because we believe and that will change every thing. This comes when we understand what Jesus did for us on the Cross and He chose to do that for us. That He died for our sins, not His own but ours, He had none. 

We see Jesus as our Atonement for sin. We see Jesus as our Deliverer from the sin nature that is in us , to a life serving Him to Glorify God not our selves. This requires complete surrender to Him (JESUS) to live through us by the Holy Spirit. 

This is the Victory we have over the world and sin. We have this by His Resurrection on the first day of the week. This is why we celebrate His Resurrection coming back to life! The Old testament tells us the offering had to be killed and the blood put on the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies Jesus put His blood on the Holy of Holies in Heaven and acts as our priest in heaven before God. That is how we have Victory through His Word and Holy Spirit. 

What you believe in will make a difference in whether you will have Victory or not. There is no other name given under heaven by where you can be saved than Jesus the Christ . Jesus is the way , the truth , and the life and no one goes to the Father except through Him. 

My prayer is that you come to Know Jesus as Lord and Savior. 

Victory Baptist Church

Pastor Jack Harwell 

Easter Message—Malad Stake

Ever since I was a child I have looked forward to springtime following the long winter season. It seems that after the dormant season of winter, the earth just comes to life each spring. Birds return to the valley, new animals are born, and the “lilies of the field” blossom on the hill sides. Crops and gardens are planted each spring in faith with the hope of a bountiful harvest in the fall. But with this newness of life also comes the realization that death is a very real part of life. Each of us have been heartbroken at some time in our life by the death of a loved one. It takes away those that are most dear to us.

Springtime brings with it Easter for those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere. On Easter Sunday we celebrate the empty tomb and Christ’s victory over death. Because our Savior lives we all will live again and our broken hearts can be made whole. The message of the resurrection is the most glorious of all messages. It brings hope to all of us. Because Christ rose from the tomb on that Easter morning, we too will all be resurrected.

Elder Paul V. Johnson has said, “The reality of the Resurrection of the Savior overwhelms our heartbreak with hope because with it comes the assurance that all the other promises of the gospel are just as real—promises that are no less miraculous than the Resurrection. We know that He has the power to cleanse us from all our sins. We know that He has taken upon Himself all our infirmities, pains, and the injustices we have suffered. We know that He has “rise[n] from the dead, with healing in his wings.” We know that He can make us whole no matter what is broken in us. We know that He “shall wipe away all tears from [our] eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.” We know that we can be “made perfect through Jesus … , who wrought out this perfect atonement,” if we will just have faith and follow Him.”( And There Shall Be No More Death Apr. 2016)

Elder James E. Faust stated “One can still go to the Garden of Gethsemane, but the Lord Jesus cannot be found there, nor is He in the Garden Tomb. He is not on the road to Emmaus, nor in Galilee, nor at Nazareth or Bethlehem. He must be found in one’s heart. But He left us the great Comforter forever (see John 14:16) and the everlasting power of the priesthood......” (The Supernal Gift of the Atonement Oct 1988). Through the ordinances of the priesthood families can be eternal. We will be able to be reunited with those who have gone before us.

How grateful I am for living prophets and apostles to help guide and navigate us through the days that lie ahead and for what they teach us about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson has stated “ Our Father knows that when we are surrounded by uncertainty and fear, what will help us the very most is to hear His Son.” President Nelson has invited us to “Hear Him”.

May we be like the disciples of old as they travelled on the Road to Emmaus. They invited the Savior to “Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.( Luke 24:29). Each of us can petition “O Savior, stay the night with me, Behold, tis eventide”(Abide with Me; ‘Tis Eventide Hymn 165).

From the song “Peace in Christ” (song by McKenna Hixson) come the words:

He gives us hope, When hope is gone

He gives us strength, When we can’t go on

He gives us shelter in the storms of life

When there’s no peace on earth

There is peace in Christ

I testify that there is peace to be found in the world today. We can find joy and happiness in Christ. May we Hear, Heed and Hearken to His words and to the words of his ordained apostles and prophets that walk the earth today, for they are true messengers sent to guide us in these last days.

May we find the peace and hope in Christ at this Easter time. May we ever be appreciative of the gift that was so freely given and may we express our love and devotion to the “Giver of the Gift.” Thanks be to God for the matchless gift of His divine Son.

May you know of my love and gratitude for each of you.

Sincerely David R. Jensen on behalf of the Malad Idaho Stake Presidency

David R. Jensen

Jason C. Sperry

K. Brandon Ward

He Is Risen/So Must We

 On the Sabbath of the third day following the crucifixion of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb to put spices on the body of Jesus as was Jewish custom.  The earth quaked and an angel from heaven sat on a stone in glistening white robes.  He spoke saying, “This Jesus that you look for is not here. He has been raised from the dead by the Father just as Jesus said that his Father would.”    Imagine that!  This Jesus that just two days earlier had been brutally beaten into total submission.   This Jesus who had been spat upon, whipped and crowned with thorns.  This Jesus who took upon himself the SINS of the world without so much as a complaint had just turned the world as was known totally upside down.  He had spoken often of carrying his cross and then he did that very thing.  Now just what did that mean then and what does that mean today?  Those three simple words, “He is Risen”.  

For those in Jesus’s day it meant that the Old Testament had been fulfilled.  Not in man’s way.  Not as a violent conquering soldier sent to destroy all enemies of Israel as had been previously thought.  But as a humble, self- sacrificing servant of his flock. One who preached this incredible theology of loving God first and loving our neighbor as ourselves.  By loving our neighbor, he said that we are showing God how much we love God.  Especially by loving those that we struggle with.  One who did his Father’s will in spite of the absolute horror that he knew that he would have to endure.

In today’s world with the incredible tension between who is right and who is wrong, what is right and what is wrong, we lose our own way to rising as we get so caught up in the worldly things. At least we did until recently.  We all have been given an incredible gift these past months.  Jesus has reminded each and every one of us that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  He has reminded us that only through him we have hope.  Jesus taught us all that only by following his truth which is the Father’s truth, do we have hope for heaven.  When we seemingly have lost our way,   he has given this world reason to have greater faith and belief in His Rising.  As Peter said to Jesus in the gospel, “To whom should we turn too, You have the words of eternal life.”  I would propose that now is the time to listen to  Peter.  We ought to turn to Jesus and rise as he did.

So again, you may ask yourself what did our Lord and Savior actually accomplished by rising from the dead?  Well lets take a good look at what his rising from the dead means to us.  Do we love God first and foremost? Do we love our neighbor as ourselves and thus showing God how much we love him?  Especially those that we struggle with.  In order for us to take full advantage of this incredible gift of eternal life offered by our Savior by his rising, we must follow him by following his example.  Is our example one that bashes someone else’s beliefs concerning an issue because it is not ours?  Boy am I guilty of that.  Or do we truly try to understand our fellow man and respect them regardless of what they believe.  Do we slam everyone that does not hold our political beliefs and treat the opposition as though they were some kind of cancer that must be destroyed, or do we try to understand where they come from and make an attempt to at least be civil when we discuss our viewpoints?  

The example that Jesus Christ gave us while dying on the cross when he looked to heaven and said “Father, forgive them for they no not what they do”, are the words that we must live by today.  Our joy in the resurrection must first come from our following Christ’s example.  We as leaders of our different faiths in this faith community have a responsibility to be the Christ example for others who do not know him.  In spite of all the horrific treatment that he received without deserving any of it , he took up his cross and gave his life for us.  Not just some of us, but all of us.  And then he did the most incredible thing of all  “HE ROSE.”  As he rose, so must we.   

Art Martinez

Saint Paul Roman 

Catholic Mission