Articles for tag: Easter

March 1, 2023

Kent E. Fillinger

The Resurrection and the Afterlife: What Do We Believe?

The Resurrection and the Afterlife: What Do We Believe?

By Kent E. Fillinger  In Bible college, I encountered this simple but powerful two-question outline to discuss the resurrection of Jesus: What proves the resurrection? And what does the resurrection prove?  I don’t have the space to unpack the answers to these questions, but I do want to explore what people believe about the resurrection of Jesus to help you consider the array of beliefs you might encounter in your church (and with your family) this Easter. I also want to examine current beliefs regarding the afterlife—heaven, hell, and reincarnation.  Views on the Resurrection  The 2020 Lifeway Research State of

November 1, 2021

Wes Beavis

Holidays and the Broken Promise Effect: What Every Leader Should Know

By Wes Beavis A time-zone change hijacked our Thanksgiving last year. My wife and I needed a getaway, and when we stumbled across an extraordinary holiday package, we decided to go for it. We flew east across the country enticed by thoughts of long days relaxing in the sunshine. After a few days, however, we noticed the days going by quicker than anticipated. We finally figured out why. Our holiday destination was three hours ahead of our body clocks. We were waking up at about 10 a.m. and the sun was setting at 5 p.m. Our jet lag made the

April 1, 2021

Kendra Dunahugh

The Roman Centurion:
Caught Between Kingdoms

The Words of the Roman Centurion When He Came Face-to-Face with the True Son of God Still Resonate His retirement drew near. He’d been serving Rome faithfully for 23 years. Now 43, he was ready to hang up his helmet. His decision to enlist with the Roman military had been a practical one. As a poor man’s son, he knew he needed a stable source of food and shelter. He often wondered what life might have been like had he chosen a different profession.* Had he been a farmer or fisherman, perhaps his closest friends would still be alive. Perhaps

April 1, 2021

Dan Hamel

Pilate’s Guide on How to Miss the Truth

Most of us think we are unbiased in our quest for truth. We like to think of ourselves as impartial evaluators of data who seek to arrive at the best decision. But the truth is, most of the time, we desire a specific conclusion, and we search the data in such a way that helps us end up there. We overlook red flags and yellow lights. We come up with excuses and unreasonable explanations. And we usually don’t even realize we are doing it. We think we are looking for the best answer, when in reality we are looking for

April 1, 2021

Chris Hankins

The Repentant Thief’s Story:
A Beautiful Reminder of God’s Amazing Grace

The repentant thief on the cross who put his faith in Jesus is one of my favorite people in the Easter narrative. Possibly more than any other Bible character, this man shows that no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace and it is truly never too late to trust in Jesus. The repentant thief shows us today can be the day of salvation! While this crucified criminal is mentioned in all four Gospels (Matthew 27:38; Mark 15:27, 32; Luke 23:32-33, 39-43; John 19:18, 31-33), it may seem we know little about him. But Matthew and Mark used the

April 1, 2021

Renee Little

Open

I had always assumed suicide rates were higher in the winter months. Cold winds, icy streets, gray skies, and more time alone indoors were all things I equated with sadness and depression. This most recent winter brought an even colder chill—a storm in the form of a pandemic that shut down activities, closed stores, and stopped people from gathering. And with this storm came the gusty wind of political tension. People bundled themselves up with fear, worry, and a deep sadness in what had been lost over the past 12 months. Save.org—a website operated by Suicide Awareness Voices of Education—shares

May 1, 2020

Christian Standard

SPOTLIGHT: South Union Christian Church, Bloomington, Indiana

Prayer as a Way of Life . . . and Ministry By Melissa Wuske From the outside, it seems South Union Christian Church caught a lucky break—but minister Jim Cain and his church know different. The church was outgrowing its building, unsure what to do next, when it received a donation of 83 acres right off the highway in December 2018. Location has always been a challenge for the church, which is still waiting to move to its new site. “We are currently four miles off the highway, out in the country next to a stone quarry,” said Cain, who

April 6, 2020

Christian Standard

The Science of Memory

By Jon Wren As modern science learns more and more about the human brain, some of the biggest findings have centered on memory. New research is helping us understand not only how we remember things, but also why we remember some things more than others. Interestingly, new findings show that nothing creates a stronger memory than experience and repetition. For example, when we meet someone and learn their name, that information goes to a specific part of the brain called the hippocampus. That’s where the brain stores facts and figures. But the circumstances about where, why, and how we met

April 6, 2020

Mark Scott

Lesson for April 12, 2020: Power Over Death (John 11:17-27, 32-44)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the April 2020 issue of Christian Standard + The Lookout. (Subscribe to our print edition.) ________ Lesson Aim: Triumph with Jesus, who has broken the power of death. ________ By Mark Scott Easter is all about life swallowing death (1 Corinthians 15:54; Isaiah 25:8). Both Old and New Testaments gave us some “warm-up resurrections” so people could anticipate and appreciate the resurrection of Jesus. Some of those are Isaac’s (in

March 28, 2020

Christian Standard

Churches Make Easter Plans in Age of Social Distancing

By Chris Moon As worship life continues to change because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Restoration Movement churches now are faced with putting together one of the most significant worship services of the year—Easter Sunday, April 12. Some churches are letting the online-only worship experience drive their creativity. Others are carefully modifying their long-held Easter traditions to accommodate this time of social distancing (a relatively new but suddenly pervasive term for encouraging people to deliberately increase the space between one another to avoid spreading the virus). Journey Christian Church in Greeley, Colo., is planning a 30-minute Easter video production that

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