But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Jude 20-21

 

We’ve spent the past month reflecting on living with the joy, power, and freedom that Easter brings us as Christians.

 

Though the effects of sin still harm and damage our world, we can live each day in the confidence and hope of knowing that God loves us and will never leave us. His love is perfect, true, and good. We continue to persevere through struggles and trials, leaning into God, growing in our relationship with him through the Holy Spirit, wrestling with the difficult tensions in the world, and letting God lead us by his love and his grace.

 

And even as we wait with expectancy and cry out for Christ to come again soon, we seek to live in all the joy, power, and freedom that the resurrection offers. The instructions Christ gave to those first witnesses remain the same for all who claim the resurrection today: “Go and tell the good news that Jesus is alive!” (see Matthew 28:7,19).

 

Remembering with joy that “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” let us give thanks and praise the Lord for all he has done: “To the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

 

Prayer: Glorious, almighty God, we praise you for your victory over sin and death, and we thank you for your love. May we live each day in the joy, the power, and the freedom of Jesus’ resurrection. In his name, Amen