Good morning!  I hope you are still rejoicing in the victory of the empty tomb this morning.  I personally cannot remember a better Easter!  The weather was perfect and all of you looked great (I love the little girls in their frilly dresses.  Even the Snead boys had on ties!  They couldn’t keep those shirttails tucked in, but they looked sharp!)  Most importantly, our worship services were first class celebrations [“The Good Friday service really set the stage for Easter Sunday]  If you didn’t sense God’s presence and rejoice over the good news of the empty tomb, then something is wrong with you.  A special thanks to our choir, musicians and to Pastor Dale for all of his planning.

Not only did we experience great worship, but our ladies outdid themselves on the Easter breakfast.  Marcia told me those were “healthy waffles” so I had two servings. (I’m not sure how healthy the eight ounces of syrup was that I drowned them in, but they were sure good!)  Also, a special thanks to Michelle for lining up the Easter Egg Hunt at the close of Sunday School along with the special resurrection lesson in Children’s Church.  Hopefully, our children got the message that Easter is about so much more than just candy.  I am very proud to be the Pastor of Parkway Wesleyan this morning.  It was great to see everyone working together to move chairs, set up tables, serve a meal, carry sound equipment, etc.   

All total we ministered to well over 140 on Easter Sunday. [ Sunrise Service = 95, Sunday School = 91; AM Worship = 118]  Hopefully, many of those new faces will be back to worship with us again.

This morning the question came to my mind, what now?  Now that we’ve reminded ourselves that Jesus is alive, where do we go from here?  The disciples went back to Galilee, spent 40 days with Jesus, received the gift of the Holy Spirit and then launched a movement that took the “good news” of the gospel to the four corners of the earth.  It’s our challenge to continue that mission in our generation.  I like the way Jesus says it in Mark’s Gospel “Go into all the world and preach the Good news to everyone, everywhere.” (Mark 16: 15 NLT).  Let’s never forget why we are here.  It’s not really “good news” if we keep it to ourselves.  Everything we do needs to be focused on ministering to needs, touching lives and sharing the life-changing truths of God’s Word.

Have a great week!
Pastor Barry