It’s amazing. No single event has affected so many individual lives over the course of so many centuries as the resurrection of Jesus from the dead nearly two thousand years ago. Continue »

Throughout the book of Acts, the message that persists is very simple: Whenever the Holy Spirit fell, people’s lives were changed. We see this in the apostles who, together with the Virgin Mary, gathered in the upper room on Pentecost. Continue »

Easter is a day of excitement, surprise, and happiness. Jesus of Nazareth, who was mocked, beaten, and crucified, has been raised from the dead. He has conquered sin and death. He has blazed a trail that we can all follow—a trail that leads right into the throne room of our heavenly Father. The meaning of the resurrection is grounded in these two realities: Jesus is Lord of the universe, and we have been raised up with him. Continue »

Christ is risen! He has burst open the gates of hell and let the dead go free; he has renewed the earth through the members of his church now born again in baptism, and has made it blossom afresh with men and women brought back to life. His Holy Spirit has unlocked the doors of heaven, which stand wide open to receive those who rise up from the earth. Continue »

The name Judas has become a synonym for treachery. According to the dictionary, a “judas” is “a person who betrays under the guise of friendship.” Continue »

From the very beginning of time, when God first created the universe, his intention was that we would all come to him to receive the grace, wisdom, and strength we needed. The Book of Genesis uses the image of the two trees in the Garden of Eden to convey this central truth: The tree of life held all the treasures of his divine plan, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil supported the philosophy that we could decide for ourselves what was right or wrong—we didn't need to be fed and sustained by God. Continue »