"Why Easter Matters"

“Why Easter Matters”  

John Stott says, “Grace is God loving, God stooping, God coming to the rescue.” And Anne Lamott says, “I do not at all understand the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.” One of the great Bible passages on God’s grace is found in Ephesians 2:1-10. Paul’s description of salvation by grace shows us “Why Easter Matters.” When the stone was rolled away and Jesus rose from the dead, everything changed!

This Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, March 27^th, we will consider this great passage, Ephesians 2:1-10 in two parts: what we might call I. Life Before Easter (2:1-3), our condition on our own apart from Christ, and II. Life Because of Easter (2:4-10), what God has done for us, why Easter really does matter. Below is a copy of this Sunday’s Scripture passage.

If you don’t have a church home, we invite you to join us for one of our Easter Sunday worship services at Carrollwood Baptist Church where all are welcomed! Easter Sunday we will offer two morning worship services, 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. And we will have a free pancake breakfast between the two services from 9:30-10:15 a.m.

Other Easter Events and Opportunities

Join us on Good Friday, March 25^th at 6:00 p.m. for a special time of Praise and Communion led by our “Thrive” worship band and College and Career group.

Easter Egg Hunt, Saturday, March 26^th, 10:00-11:30 a.m. Babies-5^th Grade are invited. Bring your Easter baskets and be ready to hunt eggs, enjoy snacks, make crafts and participate in story time.

I look forward to celebrating the resurrection of Christ, the most pivotal event in history by worshiping the living Lord Jesus with the family of God this weekend! The work on the cross has been completed, the tomb is empty, and Jesus is alive! And because that is true, everything has truly changed. All praise to God “because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved” (Eph. 2:4-5).

For His Glory, By His Grace!

Pastor Joe

 

Ephesians 2:1-10, New International Version (NIV)
Made Alive in Christ
¹ As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.