Optimist’s Roundtable

By Martha Sykes

Seems like we just celebrated Christmas and here we are in the midst of Holy Week leading up to Easter.
This Sunday as we gather in our churches, as people of the risen King, we will worship and praise Him and we will remember what Jesus did for us. We will remember the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem from Palm Sunday, and what He actually went through that week as He was mocked, betrayed, and beaten…. all for us so that our sins would be forgiven. He stretches out His arms in love to die on a cross for us.

And then we will shout Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! as we are blessed with the hope of the resurrection on Sunday morning. We will share the scripture from the gospel about the women visiting the tomb and finding it empty because Jesus was not there. But the empty tomb is only one part of the story; the risen Christ is the other part.

During Lent, we have been reflecting on the journey of Jesus. Because Jesus suffered , we know that He identifies with our sufferings. We, too, can go through times of trial, where we try to endure as we wait for hope to come, where we wait for healing from an illness, or for situations to change or improve.

We are invited to this time of hope as we celebrate our risen Lord. Easter is an opportunity to share that light of hope in our dark world. My prayer is that more people will find a place to worship this Easter and will come to know Christ and experience the resurrection in a fresh way.

May we all know that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead will be the same power that gives us new life!!