Resurrection Connection

For the living know that th'); document.write('ey are to die, but the dead no longer know anything. There is no further recompense for them, because all memory of them'); document.write(' is lost. (Ecclesiastes 9:5)

Obviously, Christians have a great deal in common with people of the Jewish fai'); document.write('th. But one significant difference is that, up until the last couple hundred years before Christ, they did not believe '); document.write('in an afterlife. You lived out your time on earth, hopefully in a way that pleased God, and then you died.

Jesu'); document.write('s showed us something different. He taught us about the Kingdom of God, about heaven, and about the wonderful afterlife'); document.write(' that awaits those who follow him. Of course, sometimes it feels like we\'re never going to get there. For some people,'); document.write(' it may even feel as though it would be better if death were really the end. Have you ever felt like that? Do you know'); document.write(' what despair feels like?

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through '); document.write('the living and enduring word of God. (1 Peter 1:23)

"I just wish I could go to sleep and never wake up," she'); document.write(' said with tears in her eyes. If someone had walked up at that moment, not having heard any of her story, the anguish i'); document.write('n her voice would have made them understand the depth of her pain. She was a young high school student who had suffered'); document.write(' more than anyone should have to suffer, and she felt trapped there.

Through the course of many conversations, t'); document.write('hat young lady came to realize that one of the lessons Jesus had taught us is that "suffering" is not the end -- because'); document.write(' "death" brings about the end of suffering. And "death" is not the end, because it is followed by resurrection! Death '); document.write('always leads to new life!

And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from h'); document.write('eaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white'); document.write(' as snow. Then the angel said to the women in reply, "Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified.'); document.write(' He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said..." (Matthew 28:2-3, 5-6)

God can do whatever God '); document.write('wants to do. He can move boulders, make lightning, and send angels to do his bidding. He can bring floods and plagues '); document.write('or manna for His people to eat. And God can bring resurrection to you and me.

Especially when things seem the d'); document.write('arkest in our lives, it is important to remember that our pain is part of a cycle known as the Paschal Mystery -- suffer'); document.write('ing, death, and resurrection. Being a Christian doesn\'t mean we get to live pain-free. It means we live lives of hope.'); document.write(' The suffering will end. We\'ll let our hurts die and we\'ll bury them. And we know that the stone will be rolled away '); document.write('for us, too. Christ will bring us new life.

We are not a people of suffering and death. We are a people with a'); document.write(' connection to the resurrection. We are a people of life!

Life Applications:

What comes to mind w'); document.write('hen you think about heaven?
How do you deal with your own pain and suffering?
When was a time that something in yo'); document.write('ur life "died", only to make way for new life?

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