Podcasts about at easter

Welcome to my room, my friend! I've lots of things to talk to you! Episode 11 is #foreignlife #foereignexperience At Easter holidays went to find Germany more. German teacher recommended one interesting plance.Let's dive in!

The resurrection changed everything… forever! At Easter we looked at the significance of the earthquakes that happened at Jesus' death and resurrection. Now let's explore how the aftershocks  of the resurrection have been changing lives for centuries!

What if the sorrow and brokenness we've come to accept as reality are actually being undone? At Easter, we find the ultimate pivot point in human history. The cross—once a symbol of defeat and shame—has been transformed into a beacon of hope. The empty tomb whispers a revolutionary truth: death itself has been overcome. In Jesus's sacrifice and resurrection, we discover not just a spiritual concept but an invitation to experience a new kind of reality where everything sad is becoming untrue. This Easter story isn't merely about a historical event; it's about God reaching across the divide to restore relationship with us, offering authentic freedom and purpose that transforms our everyday lives. It's an accessible, tangible hope—unbelievably good news that speaks to our deepest longings for meaning and wholeness.

At Easter, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. What is the big deal? How does Jesus' resurrection from the dead change everyday life? Join us to find out the answer.

At Easter, we consider the cross and the resurrection, of course—but this consideration ultimately demands a response from us. It demands that a choice be made. In this Easter message, Pastor J.D. explains how Luke 23 is the dividing line of history, and the most important decision we will ever make is whether we are on the side of Jesus or not. For those who choose to put their faith in Jesus, we can say with confidence and joy, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!”

At Easter time, bakery windows across Catalonia are filled with the most spectacular chocolate sculptures. These “Mones de Pasqua” are traditionally given to children by their godparents on Easter Monday, a festive day known as "Dilluns de Pasqua" in Catalonia. Originally simple sweet breads topped with hard-boiled eggs, modern versions have evolved into elaborate chocolate creations, often shaped like animals, cartoon characters, or famous landmarks. The tradition symbolizes the end of Lent and is a joyful family celebration. To find out more about mones, reporters Gigi Giulia and Lorcan Doherty visit Natcha patisserie in Barcelona. Manager Marta Massagué explains the culinary history of mones and reveals this year's Easter chocolate trends, including Spiderman, Goku and Barça-themed football mones. Host Beth Cohen explores the history of chocolate and analyzes the recent rise in cocoa prices. Plus, world chocolate master Lluc Crusellas gives us a tour of Eukarya, his workshop and chocolate brand based in Vic, and we indulge in a tasting session of some of the best Easter eggs in Catalonia. This week our Catalan phrase is “Pensar en la mona de Pasqua”, which means to think about your Easter cake and is used to describe someone who's distracted, absent-minded, or daydreaming.

At Easter, we often celebrate with joyful traditions—colorful eggs, chocolate bunnies, and family dinners. But at the heart of it all is a deeper truth: Easter is also a time for planting.Not just tulips or gardens, but seeds of eternal life. In John 12:23-24, Jesus speaks of His death as a seed falling to the ground. Through His sacrifice, a harvest of souls is made possible. He models what it means to lay down your life so that others may live—and calls us to do the same. This Easter, we encourage you to pray:“Lord, help me be willing to plant seeds of faith—even when it costs me something. Use my life to lead others to Yours.” Whether it's through daily sacrifice, loss, or even stories of loved ones who’ve gone before us in faith, God uses these “planted seeds” to bring about new life in others. And while we may never see the full harvest, we can trust Him with the growth. Join the Conversation:Have you ever seen God bring spiritual growth through the life or passing of someone you loved? How has a seed of faith in your own life impacted others? Share your story @LifeaudioNetwork or send us an email. Let’s encourage one another to plant with purpose.

At Easter, the Son of God took on the world's sin and defeated the devil, death, and grave. How is it, then, that history's most glorious moment is surrounded by fearful fishermen, despised tax collectors, marginalized women, feeble politicians, and traitorous friends? On Tuesday's Mornings with Eric and Brigitte, Daniel Darling will share about some of those characters. The Characters of EasterDonate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshow/wrmbSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At Easter, things were bleak. On ANZAC Day, things felt catastrophic. And midway through the third quarter in the semi-final, things looked over. And yet, somehow, the Lions have made their way back to another grand final. In this emergency podcast, we break last week's record podcast length to talk through every detail of a night none of us will ever forget at the MCG, and the opportunity for Grand Final redemption suddenly in front of us.  Also this week: -Our response to David King's SEN challenge -What the Roar Deal Grand Final week will look like -Lachie's Brownlow chances And much more!

Full Text of ReadingsMemorial of Saint Monica Lectionary: 426The Saint of the day is Saint MonicaSaint Monica’s Story The circumstances of St. Monica's life could have made her a nagging wife, a bitter daughter-in-law, and a despairing parent, yet she did not give way to any of these temptations. Although she was a Christian, her parents gave her in marriage to a pagan, Patricius, who lived in her hometown of Tagaste in North Africa. Patricius had some redeeming features, but he had a violent temper and was licentious. Monica also had to bear with a cantankerous mother-in-law who lived in her home. Patricius criticized his wife because of her charity and piety, but always respected her. Monica's prayers and example finally won her husband and mother-in-law to Christianity. Her husband died in 371, one year after his baptism. Monica had at least three children who survived infancy. The oldest, Augustine, is the most famous. At the time of his father's death, Augustine was 17 and a rhetoric student in Carthage. Monica was distressed to learn that her son had accepted the Manichean heresy—”all flesh is evil”—and was living an immoral life. For a while, she refused to let him eat or sleep in her house. Then one night she had a vision that assured her Augustine would return to the faith. From that time on, she stayed close to her son, praying and fasting for him. In fact she often stayed much closer than Augustine wanted. When he was 29, Augustine decided to go to Rome to teach rhetoric. Monica was determined to go along. One night he told his mother that he was going to the dock to say goodbye to a friend. Instead he set sail for Rome. Monica was heartbroken when she learned of Augustine's trick, but she still followed him. She arrived in Rome only to find that he had left for Milan. Although travel was difficult, Monica pursued him to Milan. In Milan, Augustine came under the influence of the bishop, St. Ambrose, who also became Monica's spiritual director. She accepted his advice in everything and had the humility to give up some practices that had become second nature to her. Monica became a leader of the devout women in Milan as she had been in Tagaste. She continued her prayers for Augustine during his years of instruction. At Easter 387, St. Ambrose baptized Augustine and several of his friends. Soon after, his party left for Africa. Although no one else was aware of it, Monica knew her life was near the end. She told Augustine, “Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not know what there is now left for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled.” She became ill shortly after and suffered severely for nine days before her death. Almost all we know about St. Monica is in the writings of St. Augustine, especially his Confessions. Reflection Today, with Google searches, online shopping, text messages, tweets, and instant credit, we have little patience for things that take time. Likewise, we want instant answers to our prayers. Monica is a model of patience. Her long years of prayer, coupled with a strong, well-disciplined character, finally led to the conversion of her hot-tempered husband, her cantankerous mother-in-law and her brilliant but wayward son, Augustine. Saint Monica is the Patron Saint of: AlcoholicsConversionMothersWives Learn more about Saint Monica! Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

If we believe we are living in the last days, we need the same Holy Spirit desperately! The reason I first received the Holy Spirit was because I knew I had to preach the Gospel – with lives changed, souls saved into the Kingdom! I found Christ when I was 8, was baptised in water aged 12. The first time I spoke in my church I was only 13. I advertised, the people came; I preached, but nobody repented! I was shocked because I had grown up with some of the greatest evangelists. I went home and asked my father, who was a great preacher, one of the founders of the Pentecostal movement in Great Britain, what was wrong? I had preached the same Gospel – from the Bible like my father – but nobody repented. My father said, “Because you have not yet received the Holy Spirit!” That night he laid his hands on me and prayed that I would receive the Holy Spirit – but I did not receive – no fire, no power! But from that moment I had only one desire, to meet with God and to receive His power in my life. For 3 months I prayed without receiving. But I knew that without the power, the fire, the anointing of God, I could never see men's lives converted. At Easter we used to have three Pentecostal Conventions in London. I determined to go and not leave until I had received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit! The preaching was so long in the morning, there was no time to pray for people to receive the Holy Spirit! As a 13-year old I went up to those great men of God on the platform and said, “I only came to receive the fire, pray for me!” They took me to a small room, laid their hands on me, but their minds were on their lunch! I did not receive the Holy Spirit. I was searching for something which does not come from men, the real power of God. One of those pastors saw my heart, opened the Scripture to me, then when he prayed and laid hands on me, it was as if the roof came off the building, I saw the Glory of God and felt the fire! The fire of the Holy Ghost, the power of God and the Glory of God came into my life! Now I had to become an evangelist! I had to preach Christ, and see the Power! That baptism was only the beginning!  If you want to be effective in ministry, you MUST be filled with the Holy Spirit! There is a danger today that we do not understand the reality of what the baptism in the Holy Spirit means. In Acts 1:5 Jesus said to His disciples, “You have been baptised in water, but you're about to be baptised in the Holy Ghost!” – It was to be the power to change their lives, yet immediately the disciples got their minds on prophecy: “When this happens, will You then restore the Kingdom to Israel? Get rid of the Romans?” Jesus said, “Hold on, before that happens, you've got a job to do, and that's why I'm telling you, when the Holy Spirit comes, you will receive power, fire, miracles – and you will be My witnesses!” This only confirmed the earlier words of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:11 that Jesus would baptise them with the Holy Spirit and fire. – If we are truly living in the days before Christ's return, we have to be His witnesses, that's what our job is! And we NEED this baptism of fire to spread the power of this miraculous Gospel! I was dedicated to the Lord in infancy by George Jeffreys, the greatest healing evangelist the UK had ever seen. In his old age, he prayed for the Fire and Power to come down on the future evangelist Reinhard Bonnke as a Bible student. But when I was dedicated to the Lord as a baby, Jeffreys was at the peak of his ministry, and my father had the honour of establishing the Pentecostal Elim Churches in Britain together with him. I was told that Jeffreys, who never married, wanted to adopt me – my mother was 40 and was not expecting two of us! I often wonder about what exactly Jeffreys prayed over me, and whether it precipitated God's calling in my life. I accepted Christ as my Saviour at the age of 7 years and 11 months because I knew that if I did not accept Him in my life I could not enter Heaven. I took this decision alone in my bed, because the conviction of the Holy Spirit was so strong I could not sleep. I knew that if Jesus were to come back that night, my parents and my twin brother would go to be with the Lord, but I would be left. I knew Jesus was coming back, but only for those who have found personal salvation through faith in Him. That night I had to obey Him. Without Him, life at the age of 7 years and 11 months was meaningless!  Not much more than a year later, to get some relief from the war time bombing in London where we lived, my parents took me and my twin brother to Scotland, to Kilsyth, where my father had been a pastor before I was born. We stayed in the house of one of the church members. We boys went up to bed early. But hearing the sound of music coming from downstairs, I got up and stood at the top of the stairs to listen. I heard the most wonderful music and someone singing: ‘Hear the Lord of Harvest sweetly calling, Who will go and work for Me today? Who will bring to Me the lost and dying? Who will point them to the narrow way? – Speak, my Lord, speak, my Lord, speak, and I'll be quick to answer Thee; speak, my Lord, speak, my Lord, speak, and I will answer, Lord, send me.' I was just 9 years old, but I knew at that moment that He was speaking to me. I heard, and young as I was, I literally answered Him and said, “Lord send me!”! Only three years later, I began to preach the Gospel in the streets as a young teenager. When you know that Heaven is real but hell is real also, and that there is no place in between, then you must preach the Gospel.”

Bible Study: (2:26) Acts 25:13b-21 How did we become Roman & Catholic?  Jn 21:15-19 We hear the first confession of the first Pope Letters:  (19:13) - Biblical languages program (20:49) - Why do we say the Gloria at Mass? Third Luminous mystery - what does it refer to?  (23:48) - Private property in the Bible?  (26:49) - Consecrating Matza? (31:02) - Eucharistic procession; in what order should everything go?  Word of the Day: The emperor (35:29)Callers:  (37:47) - Is there a document that tells me everything I should believe as a Catholic? AND After St. peter died - is it true that there were 5 patriarchs that shared power and not just one? (42:1) - At Easter morning service - when the priest is doing the Holy water a lay person was helping him. Are they allowed to do this? (44:37) - Question about Gluten Free hosts - how do they fit in with what Father was saying? (46:17) - I became an usher and now I can't focus on the Mass. Any advice? (48:10) - Two people are trying to get divorced. They don't go to church and weren't married in the church. Do they need anything from the priest when they divorce?

Fr. Roger J. Landry Columbia Catholic Ministry, Notre Dame Church, Manhattan Easter Thursday April 4, 2024 Acts 3:11-26, Ps 8, Lk 24:35-48   To listen to an audio recording of today's homily, please click below: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/4.4.24_Homily_1.mp3   The following points were attempted in the homily:  At Easter, Jesus wants to work a transformation in us […] The post Witnesses of the Risen One, Easter Thursday, April 4, 2024 appeared first on Catholic Preaching.

At Easter, you may have shared a familiar greeting on Sunday morning.  It's called the “Paschal Greeting.” It goes like this:  One person exclaims, “He is risen!”  And it's followed by the joyful response, “He is risen, indeed!” But, you know, the angel who announced our Savior's resurrection also included four more words that are easily overlooked, but which are wonderful, reassuring and too good to miss.

Pope Benedict XVI wrote, "At Easter we rejoice because Christ did not remain in the tomb, his body did not see corruption; he belongs to the world of the living, not to the world of the dead; we rejoice because he is the Alpha and also the Omega, as we proclaim in the rite of the Paschal Candle; he lives not only yesterday, but today and for eternity." Theologian Dr. Jeremy Holmes shares his insights about the risen Christ as we celebrate the Octave of Easter.

We loved celebrating our risen savior here at Northeast with you! At Easter, we remember the core of our faith and why we have hope. Because He rose, we have forgiveness of sins, a clear purpose for our lives, and freedom from the fear of death. “He is risen - and so shall we be!”

At Easter, we talk a lot about Jesus' death and resurrection. But what does that really mean? In this message, we explore the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead and what we learn about new life from it.

A life without hope is a life that, frankly, isn’t much worth living. If you’ve ever been there, you’ll know what I mean. At Easter, we focus on that bloody Cross, as well we should but often forget that empty tomb. That empty tomb is all about hope. Hope for you and hope for me. Real hope. The sort of hope that never fails. So why don’t you join Berni Dymet, on Christianityworks as He opens God’s Word to discover the powerful hope that Easter brings.Support the show: https://christianityworks.com/channels/cw/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a sustainability focus this week as we look at the new Eurostar Snow Train, find out what Les Arcs is doing that sets them apart, plus Chemmy Alcott tells us about her experience of driving an electric car 5000 miles across the Alps. Iain was joined by Helen Coffey, Travel Editor at The Independent. Intersport Ski Hire Discount Code Save money on your ski hire by using the code ‘SKIPODCAST' at intersportrent.com, or simply take this link for your discount to be automatically applied at the checkout. SHOW NOTES Watch Iain's snow report from Les Arcs (2:00) Elena reported from Tirol in Austria (3:30) Vanessa Fisher was in Les Menuires in France (5:00) Dave Burrows from Snow Pros Ski School was skiing in Villars (6:00) Was last weekend the best ever in British snowsport history? (8:30) Mia Brookes won the  Snowboard Big Air Crystal Globe and was voted BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Jasmin Taylor took first place at the Telemark Sprint in Pinzolo Andrew Musgrave was second in the Cross Country in Trondheim – a career-best result Listen to Iain's interviews with Andrew, Jasmin and also Kirsty Muir and Zoe Atkin Read more about the ski slope in the desert in Saudi Arabia (10:30) Read Iain's review of the new Eurostar Snow Train on The Telegraph (11:30) Iain has also written up a review on Ski Flight Free Seats had been set aside on Eurostar for baggage (14:00) Buy tickets on the Eurostar Snow Train here (16:00) The funicular to Les Arcs connects directly from the station in Bourg St Maurice (17:00) Flying represents 50-80% of the carbon cost of a ski holiday (23:00) Listen to Iain's interview with Helen Coffey in this special episode (23:30) Iain is taking the Flight Free Challenge in 2024 (24:00) Anna Hughes founded Flight Free UK (24:30) Helen is author of the book “Zero Altitude: How I Learned to Fly Less and Travel More” (27:00) Les Arcs have recently been accredited as a B Corp company (28:00) Les Arcs was one of the first resorts in France to be given ‘Flocon Vert' accreditation (29:20) Find out about the Mountain Animal Museum in Les Arcs (31:45) Marie Clemence Vallier is Head of Quality, Safety & Environment at ADS (32:30) Chemmy Alcott travelled 5000 miles last winter in her Skoda Enyaq EV (37:30) At Easter, Iain will be travelling to the Alps in a van from ‘Vans for Bands' (45:00) Feedback I enjoy all feedback about the show, I like to know what you think, especially about our features so please contact on social @theskipodcast or by email theskipodcast@gmail.com  Neil Howlett: "Thanks for the pod, really enjoying the content and we have a shared passion for trains" APNorthfields: "Loving the frequent podcast drops as we enter the new season! Keep up the great work" wiigman: "Loved 192. You don't get quality chat regarding coach chassis lengths, and the best Italian rifugios anywhere else!" Peter S: "Great interview with Lou about the Dolomites (in 192). She certainly knows her stuff." Mike Greenland: "Always a good show" Peter Til: "Thank you for the podcast. It has gotten me more and more excited for my first trip" Martin Walliman: "I only recently discovered The Ski Podcast and really love it! I've been working my way slowly through the older 180+ episodes in the last few weeks and it's such a pleasure on my daily commutes." If you like the podcast, there are three things you can do to help:   1) Review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify – it genuinely helps listeners find us 2) Subscribe, so you never miss an episode 3) Book your ski hire with Intersport Rent using the code ‘SKIPODCAST' or taking this link You can follow me @skipedia and the podcast @theskipodcast. 

In this week's episode, I look back at some of my favorite classic video games, and also discuss my book advertising results from October 2023. This week's coupon is for the audiobook of CLOAK OF BLADES as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy. You can get the audiobook of CLOAK OF BLADES for 75% off at my Payhip store with this coupon code: NOVBLADES The coupon code is valid through November 28th, 2023, so if you find yourself wanting to get caught up with Nadia's adventures before CLOAK OF EMBERS comes out, why not start with an audiobook? TRANSCRIPT Hey, everyone. Welcome to Episode 174 of the Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is November the 3rd, 2023, and today we're going to talk about classic video games. We'll also discuss October 2023's ad results and made up words that turn out to be not made up after all. Before we get into all that and then an update about my current writing project, it is time for Coupon of the Week. This week's coupon is for the audiobook of Cloak of Blades as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy. You can get the audiobook of Cloak of Blades for 75% off in my Payhip store with this coupon code NOVBLADES and that is spelled NOVBLADES and you get that in the show notes. The coupon code is valid through November 28th, 2023, so if you find yourself wanting to get caught up with Nadia's adventures before Cloak of Embers comes out, why not start with an audiobook? You can get the coupon code and the links in the show notes for this episode. Now let's have an update on my current writing projects. I am 107,000 words into Cloak of Embers, which puts me on Chapter 21 of 22 so I'm almost done and I'm hoping to get that wrapped up next week if all goes well. At 107,000 words, I'm not sure how long it will be once I'm done editing and by the time the rough draft is done, but it will almost certainly be either the longest or second longest book that had Nadia as a main character. So that will be something to look forward to. I'm also 9,500 words into the book I'm going to write after Cloak of Embers and I will discuss that a bit more and what I intend to do with that after Cloak of Embers is published, hopefully in November. But we'll see. In audiobook news, Dragon Skull: Wrath of the Warlock is almost done in audiobook, as excellently narrated by Brad Wills and we just have to finish proof listening to it and hopefully we should have that come out before the end of November if all goes well. Brad is also going to start work on Dragonskull: Doom of the Sorceress before much longer, and that will probably (given how the holidays are falling this year) come out in either late December or January, with January being the more likely outcome. In other audiobook news, Hollis McCarthy will soon start the recording of Ghost in the Serpent, so hopefully we'll have more updates on that soon.   00:02:30 Reader Questions/Comments Before we get to our topics today, let's have a few questions from readers. Our first question is from Lisa, who writes to ask: Hello, I just started reading your book series with your character Ridmark Arban and I am wondering what is the very first book to start with. Is it the one called the First Quest or is it a different one to start with? Also I have been looking all over the Internet trying to figure out what the book order is for your character Ridmark Arban and I'm having no luck. In answer to your question Lisa, the very first book with Ridmark Arban would be Frostborn: The Gray Knight. That is the first book in the Frostborn series, and Ridmark is also the main character in Sevenfold Sword and then Dragontiarna, though I would recommend starting with Frostborn: The Gray Knight. And you can find the series reading order on either my website or it should be in the metadata on all the different retailers. And I think we have that set up properly now. Frostborn: The First Quest is a prequel to the main Frostborn series that I put out for free to people to read and enjoy as a bit of back story, but it's a prequel and the actual official starting point of the Frostborn series would be Frostborn: The Gray Knight. Our next question…well, it's more of a comment really is from Juana who writes about the upcoming Cloak of Embers and her opinion of the character of Victoria Carrow. And this is what she thinks Victoria will be A: she's the head of Singularity B: She is a criminal elf. C: She killed Tarlia and took her place or D: She is an anthrophage elder with really good impulse control. In any case, she is bad news and I just don't like her. Ah, as you might guess from that comment, Juana is a longtime reader who has read many of my books. Thanks for that, Juana. She has been very suspicious of Victoria Carrow from the beginning, when she first appeared, way back in Cloak of Ashes back in 2020. Well, Victoria does have a secret and we are going to find out what it is in Cloak of Embers. And during the process of writing this book, I realized that talking about Victoria's secret had an additional meaning that I did not intend but in this sense we are talking about the secret held by Victoria Carrow and not the apparel company. And now for a question a couple of different readers have had over the past few months since Silent Order: Pulse Hand came out. A reader emailed to ask of the word materiel, spelled MATERIEL in Silent Order: Pulse Hand was a mistake and asked if it should have been spelled material, MATERIAL. No, that spelling is correct. Materiel is a real word when spelled with an E. It refers to weaponry, supplies and equipment used for war in the military or to quote the Wikipedia definition: “Materiel are supplies, equipment and weapons in a military supply chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context. In a military context, the term materiel refers to either the specific needs, excluding manpower of a force to complete a specific mission, or the general sense of the needs, excluding manpower of a functioning army. An important category of materiel is commonly referred to as ordnance, especially concerning mounted guns, artillery and the shells they consume, along with fuel and munitions in general the steady supply of ordnance is an ongoing logistical challenge in active combat zones.” Or to put it another way, not only is materiel a real word, it is in fact a topic to which many serious minded military officers have devoted much serious minded thought since a failure to address your military's materiel needs means you're going to lose the war before the first shot is fired. To be fair, as a science fiction and fantasy writer, I make up a lot of words. Grammarly is always so impressed that I use so many unique words but it really isn't fair because I do make a lot of them up. That said, I was a history major, which was not helpful to finding a real job, but turned out to be useful for concept and terms for fantasy novels. Like in Frostborn, I use the terms dux and comes for noblemen instead of duke and count because Latin was the primary language of Andomhaim and the terms duke and count were derived from the Latin words dux and comes. However, given how confused some people were by the terms dux and comes, if I had to do it all over again, I would probably default to duke and count, just to reduce reader confusion. Though urvaalg was one of my better made-up words. No one ever gets confused about what an urvaalg is. So those are the comments and questions for the week. If you have a comment or question you'd like addressed on the show, leave it as a comment on one of my websites and we will see if we can get to it.   00:07:09 Ad Results for October 2023 Our next topic for today is ad results from October 2023. Since it's past the 1st of November, it's good time to look back and see how my ads did for October 2023. I have to admit that October was a pretty weak month for sales for a variety of reasons beyond my control or honestly anyone's control. For one thing, the economy remains bad and inflation is high, especially in the US. For another, the international news in October was very bad, which always puts a damper on discretionary entertainment spending like books. Amazon US was consistently glitchy throughout all of October and still isn't working right as of the time of this recording. I can't prove this, but I think the books category faced strong competition from video games in October, especially Spiderman 2 for PlayStation and Super Mario Wonder for the Switch. Full disclosure, I did buy Super Mario Wonder and I'm playing it and it's excellent. On the plus side, Ghost in the Serpent had a strong start and Silent Order did very well in October on the strength of the Bookbub feature deal back in the first week of September and the lingering halo effect from Pulse Hand coming out soon afterwards. People are generally more willing to start a finished series than an unfinished one, especially in the science fiction and fantasy space. All my ads for October turned a profit, which I am very grateful for. So here's how the Facebook ads did. For Frostborn, I got back $5.44 for every dollar I spent, with 44% of my profit coming from the audiobooks. For the Ghosts. I got back $7.46 for every dollar spent, with 8% of the profit coming from audiobooks. If you take out Ghost in the Serpent, my profit comes to $2.95 with 20% of the profit coming from the audiobooks. For Cloak Games and Cloak Mage, I got back $3.19 for every dollar spent and for Silent Order, I got back $4.45 for every dollar spent. For Amazon ads, the only thing I advertised myself was Dragonskull: Sword of the Squire, which did pretty well. For every dollar spent, I got back $3.41, with 27% of the profit coming from the audiobook. So we see once again, that audiobooks, once you have them, are usually a good additional profit for a long series. For some reason I could never really get the Cloak Games or Cloak Mage audiobooks to sell, which is why I said usually instead of certainly. I think in November I'm going to do things a little bit differently. I'm going to try advertising Frostborn entirely on Bookbub ads, which I haven't used in a while. Facebook has been making some changes to the way targeting works on its ad platform, and I can see those changes making it less useful to advertise books there. Additionally, Facebook has also begun testing a subscription service for an ad free experience, which obviously would make Facebook way less useful for book advertising. The advantage for Bookbub ads is that some of the targeting has already been done for you. Like with Facebook ads, one of the keys to success is to make sure you've targeted your audience correctly. With Bookbub ads, everyone looking at the Bookbub e-mail is already looking for discount books anyway, so some of the targeting work has been done for you already. Anyway, if Facebook is considering pivoting away from ads in favor of paid subscriptions, it will be good to have backup options ready. And as always, thanks for reading. There would be no point in advertising these books if people didn't read them.   00:10:29 Main Topic of the Week: Classic Video Games   So, let's go on to our main topic this week: something fun because it's my podcast and I wanted to talk about something fun. That topic is classic video games. The main way I have played classic video games for the last four years is the Nintendo Switch, which I bought in September 2019. I've mentioned before that I didn't play any console games from about 1998 to 2019. There were several good reasons for this. First, I was really busy. Second, consoles are expensive and I definitely didn't have the money to drop on many games for the 2000s and most of the 2010s. Third, while I did play games, I played on the PC. I remember in 2007 not going out to eat for a while to save up to buy a better video card so I could play Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion on something other than the very lowest video settings. But 2019 marked a major personal milestone, my 100th book. Dragontiarna: Knights was about to come out and a few people asked what I wanted to do to mark this milestone. Maybe take a trip, go on vacation, that kind of thing. Instead, I decided that I wanted a Nintendo Switch. But why a Nintendo Switch? At Easter 2018, my younger brother unexpectedly gave me a Super Nintendo Classic as a present. For a while, at the end of the 2010s, Nintendo intermittently sold two mini consoles, the Nintendo Classic and the Super Nintendo Classic, each one accompanied with recreations of the old style controllers and some of the greatest hits for the respective console. Playing around with the Super Nintendo Classic got me interested in the Switch since the Switch online subscription service also came with emulators for the NES and the Super Nintendo. I have played a lot of NES and Super Nintendo games back in the 1990s, but I only rarely had the chance to finish them. Partly it was because I was busy and partly because the technology to save games back then really didn't exist for either the Nintendo or the Super Nintendo, with a few exceptions. If you ran out of lives and died, or you had to go do something and turn off the console, that was it. Your game was gone and you had to start over from scratch. But after Dragontiarna: Knights was published, I made up my mind about what I wanted to do to celebrate, and I got a Switch. As it turned out, getting the Nintendo Switch 8 months before the great COVID freak out turned out to be a really, really good idea. It gave me the opportunity to beat several games, actually numerous games that I had run out of time to play. The first one was The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, which I had gotten for the PC back in 2011 and played intermittently ever since, but never found the time to finish. I beat it for the first time on Switch and then I finished Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, which was a spiritual successor to the various Castlevania games of the 1990s. With a combination of Switch Online, save states, and some of the anthology collections available for the console, I managed to finish some of the classic games from the ‘80s and early ‘90s that I never had the chance to finish earlier, like the original Super Mario Games, Super Mario Brothers, Super Mario 3 for the NES, and Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo. I never really got into Super Mario 2 for the NES and never really tried to play it. The Castlevania series: the three Castlevania games for NES, Castlevania 2 for the Game Boy (the first Castlevania for Game Boy really isn't worth playing) and Castlevania 4 and Castlevania Dracula X for the Super Nintendo and I finally got to beat all those. The Zelda series: the original Legend of Zelda for NES (which I never finished) and Link to the Past for Super Nintendo, which is in fact one of the few Super Nintendo games I actually finished back when it originally came out, but I enjoyed being able to play it on the Switch with saved states. Super Metroid, which I never got a chance to play at all in the ‘90s and is deservedly a classic. You frequently see its mechanics turn up in many other modern games. Lest you think I spent all my time replaying the classics, I did finish some newer games as well. The remake of Link's Awakening was excellent, a good updating of the Gameboy Classic. Metroid Dread was absolutely superb, even though it took me a while to finish some of the boss fights. I also finished Elder Scrolls Blades, which I'm not going to say was a great game, but I still enjoyed it and I am proud to say I beat the final boss without paying for a single micro transaction, though I did buy the soundtrack, which makes for good background listening while writing epic fantasy. I keep meaning to play the remake of Metroid Prime, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. The multiplayer games also turned out to be great fun. I started bringing Mario Kart 8 and some controllers to family gatherings. Turns out nearly everyone likes Mario Kart. They say alcohol is a social lubricant, but Mario Kart is almost as effective and results in a lot fewer hangovers, though I do lose at Mario Kart a lot. Additionally, playing the old multiplayer classics like the original Super Mario with someone who appreciates them is always fun. So I think it's safe to say that I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of that Nintendo Switch I bought back in 2019. What's interesting is that the Switch is about 7 years old now as of this recording, which is the eternity in technology terms, yet it's still going strong. Microsoft, Sony, and the PC game market have been locked in an arms race for even more powerful hardware and more detailed graphics. By contrast, the Switch was fairly underpowered even for 2017, when it came out. And while it's been updated a few times in the year since, it's still essentially the same device. Pretty much every phone manufactured in the 2020s is more powerful than the Switch, but Nintendo doesn't seem super interested in rushing into their next console, though the rumor mill has been talking about the Switch Two or the Switch Pro for years. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago they released a Super Mario Wonder for the Nintendo Switch, and it was a huge hit and received universal acclaim on Metacritic. This approach makes sense once you know of Nintendo's philosophy of withered technology. This was a strategy articulated by Nintendo game designer Gunpei Yokoi (and I apologize if I pronounce his name wrong), who called it lateral thinking of withered technology. This philosophy described using mature technology that was well understood and cheaply obtained rather than cutting edge stuff to create unique game experiences different than anything else available. I suspect this is a variant of a philosophy you see among successful people in every field. They rely on the boring but practical methods and combine them in ways to create something unique. Or if you dig into the many successes, you will find that the people behind them stuck to the well established fundamentals but did them really well, and that's what the Switch does, isn't it? It's a unique experience. You can plug it into the dock and play it on your TV or unplug it and use it like a handhole console like a super powered Game Boy. I can play on my couch or take it with me to those family gatherings and plug into the TV for Mario Kart 8. It's an idea that seems incredibly obvious in hindsight, but it really wasn't at the time. Dragontiarna: Knights was my hundredth book in 2019, and my most recent book, Ghost in the Serpent, was 145. Maybe when I hit 150 I should get a Switch OLED model, or the mythical Switch 2, if it is come out by then. So that is it for this week. Thanks for listening to the Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show enjoyable. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes on thepulpwritershow.com. And if you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.

Full Text of ReadingsTwenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 121The Saint of the day is Saint MonicaSaint Monica’s Story The circumstances of St. Monica's life could have made her a nagging wife, a bitter daughter-in-law, and a despairing parent, yet she did not give way to any of these temptations. Although she was a Christian, her parents gave her in marriage to a pagan, Patricius, who lived in her hometown of Tagaste in North Africa. Patricius had some redeeming features, but he had a violent temper and was licentious. Monica also had to bear with a cantankerous mother-in-law who lived in her home. Patricius criticized his wife because of her charity and piety, but always respected her. Monica's prayers and example finally won her husband and mother-in-law to Christianity. Her husband died in 371, one year after his baptism. Monica had at least three children who survived infancy. The oldest, Augustine, is the most famous. At the time of his father's death, Augustine was 17 and a rhetoric student in Carthage. Monica was distressed to learn that her son had accepted the Manichean heresy—”all flesh is evil”—and was living an immoral life. For a while, she refused to let him eat or sleep in her house. Then one night she had a vision that assured her Augustine would return to the faith. From that time on, she stayed close to her son, praying and fasting for him. In fact she often stayed much closer than Augustine wanted. When he was 29, Augustine decided to go to Rome to teach rhetoric. Monica was determined to go along. One night he told his mother that he was going to the dock to say goodbye to a friend. Instead he set sail for Rome. Monica was heartbroken when she learned of Augustine's trick, but she still followed him. She arrived in Rome only to find that he had left for Milan. Although travel was difficult, Monica pursued him to Milan. In Milan, Augustine came under the influence of the bishop, St. Ambrose, who also became Monica's spiritual director. She accepted his advice in everything and had the humility to give up some practices that had become second nature to her. Monica became a leader of the devout women in Milan as she had been in Tagaste. She continued her prayers for Augustine during his years of instruction. At Easter 387, St. Ambrose baptized Augustine and several of his friends. Soon after, his party left for Africa. Although no one else was aware of it, Monica knew her life was near the end. She told Augustine, “Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not know what there is now left for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled.” She became ill shortly after and suffered severely for nine days before her death. Almost all we know about St. Monica is in the writings of St. Augustine, especially his Confessions. Reflection Today, with Google searches, online shopping, text messages, tweets, and instant credit, we have little patience for things that take time. Likewise, we want instant answers to our prayers. Monica is a model of patience. Her long years of prayer, coupled with a strong, well-disciplined character, finally led to the conversion of her hot-tempered husband, her cantankerous mother-in-law and her brilliant but wayward son, Augustine. Saint Monica is the Patron Saint of: AlcoholicsConversionMothersWives Learn more about Saint Monica! Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

Max Pearson presents a collection of Witness History stories from the BBC World Service, this week we are focusing on Irish history. In 2006, Ireland's economic boom, known as the Celtic Tiger, ended. It meant thousands of people, like Michele Burke, were left devastated as house construction stopped. In 1959, Tralee, in Ireland, hosted a festival to promote the town and build Irish connections around the world. The Rose of Tralee is now one of Ireland's oldest and largest festivals. Veteran RTE broadcaster and author, Joe Duffy, walks us through the significance of the Celtic Tiger. At Easter 1916, a small army of Irish rebels attempted to start a revolution against British rule. They held out for more than a week against a massive British military response, but the insurrection ultimately failed. Also, how electrification lit up rural Ireland for the first time, despite concerns about its potential dangers. And how a group of women fought against a sexist tradition, that prevented them from taking a dip in a popular swimming spot. Contributors: Michelle Burke - lived through the Celtic Tiger boom and bust. Alice O'Sullivan - first Rose of Tralee winner. Joe Duffy - broadcaster and author. Mary Dorcey - poet, writer and women's rights activist. (Photo: Deserted 'ghost estate' in Ireland. Credit: Tim Graham/Getty Images)

At Easter 1916, a small army of Irish rebels attempted to start a revolution against British rule. They held out for more than a week against a massive British military response. Simon Watts brings together eye-witness accounts of the Easter Rising. (Photo: Irish rebels lying in wait on a roof getting ready to fire during the Easter Rising. Credit: Mondadori via Getty Images)

Fr. Roger J. Landry Columbia Catholic Ministry, Notre Dame Church, Manhattan Easter Thursday April 13, 2023 Acts 3:11-26, Ps 8, Lk 24:35-48   To listen to an audio recording of today's homily, please click below: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/4.13.23_Homily_1.mp3   The following points were attempted in the homily:  At Easter, Jesus wants to work a transformation in us […] The post Witnesses of the Risen Jesus and the Things of the Lord, Easter Thursday, April 13, 2023 appeared first on Catholic Preaching.

At Easter we celebrate a risen Savior—our Lord Jesus Christ has conquered death and is alive forevermore! But do you understand why the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the most important event in human history, and essential to your life today? On this episode of The Verdict, Pastor John Munro explains that because Jesus lives, our lives can be forever changed.

Walter Brueggemann posed the challenge of Easter as deciding to be “a part of the Easter movement of civil disobedience that contradicts the empire,” to “see if life is longer than death.” Each day, we face a litany of suffering born of oppression, mirroring the crucifixion, that we must match with the determination to keep going, mirroring the resurrection. In the face of injustice, we insist on creating just, joyful, equitable communities. At Easter, we repeat these stories in order to remember the choices we make between “empire death and Easter life,” to make our hells into healing, and rise again.

The story of Easter isn't a myth or an old wives' tale. It's the eyewitness account of the greatest comeback in history! When Jesus died, hope was lost. No one expected him to come back. But the resurrection of Jesus is the greatest comeback of all time – and it's the beginning of our comeback story as well! At Easter, we discover why his resurrection still matters for us today!

At Easter time we celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Whilst this reality has universal consequences for all, it is also a personal invitation to each one of us. As we look at the story of Mary and Jesus and the empty to tomb, what we are being invited to. Bible References

At Easter we celebrate because we know that Jesus is still with us, watching over us and helping us to be kind and loving, just like He was. It's also a time to remember that God loves us so much that he sent his only Son to save us and also the best surprise ever...Just risen from the tomb!    We can celebrate the surprise of Jesus coming back to life by spending time with our family and friends, being kind to others, and thanking God for his love and blessings.   Clever Cub is Produced by David C Cook © 2022.  Based on the Clever Cub series published by David C Cook, written by Bob Hartman and illustrated by Steve Brown. All rights reserved. Users are prohibited from redistributing or reselling content owned by David C Cook without express authorization.   Clever Cub is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. To find practical and spiritual guidance to help you grow into the perfectly imperfect parent you want to be visit www.ChristianParenting.org   David C Cook Full terms of End User License Agreement can be found at: https://davidccook.org/eula/

A life without hope is a life that, frankly, isn't much worth living. If you've ever been there, you'll know what I mean. At Easter, we focus on that bloody Cross, as well we should but often forget that empty tomb. That empty tomb is all about hope. Hope for you and hope for me. Real hope. The sort of hope that never fails.  So why don't you join Berni Dymet, on Christianityworks as He opens God's Word to discover the powerful hope that Easter brings.

At Easter, the Son of God took on the world’s sin and defeated the devil, death, and the grave itself. How is it, then, that history’s most glorious moment is surrounded by fearful fishermen, despised tax collectors, marginalized women, feeble politicians, and traitorous friends? This week on The Land and the Book, you’ll meet “The Characters of Easter.” Join us!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A life without hope is a life that, frankly, isn’t much worth living. If you’ve ever been there, you’ll know what I mean. At Easter, we focus on that bloody Cross, as well we should but often forget that empty tomb. That empty tomb is all about hope. Hope for you and hope for me. Real hope. The sort of hope that never fails. So why don’t you join Berni Dymet, on Christianityworks as He opens God’s Word to discover the powerful hope that Easter brings. Support the show: https://christianityworks.com/channels/cw/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Full Text of ReadingsMemorial of Saint Monica Lectionary: 430All podcast readings are produced by the USCCB and are from the Catholic Lectionary, based on the New American Bible and approved for use in the United States _______________________________________The Saint of the day is Saint MonicaThe circumstances of St. Monica's life could have made her a nagging wife, a bitter daughter-in-law, and a despairing parent, yet she did not give way to any of these temptations. Although she was a Christian, her parents gave her in marriage to a pagan, Patricius, who lived in her hometown of Tagaste in North Africa. Patricius had some redeeming features, but he had a violent temper and was licentious. Monica also had to bear with a cantankerous mother-in-law who lived in her home. Patricius criticized his wife because of her charity and piety, but always respected her. Monica's prayers and example finally won her husband and mother-in-law to Christianity. Her husband died in 371, one year after his baptism. Monica had at least three children who survived infancy. The oldest, Augustine, is the most famous. At the time of his father's death, Augustine was 17 and a rhetoric student in Carthage. Monica was distressed to learn that her son had accepted the Manichean heresy—"all flesh is evil"—and was living an immoral life. For a while, she refused to let him eat or sleep in her house. Then one night she had a vision that assured her Augustine would return to the faith. From that time on, she stayed close to her son, praying and fasting for him. In fact she often stayed much closer than Augustine wanted. When he was 29, Augustine decided to go to Rome to teach rhetoric. Monica was determined to go along. One night he told his mother that he was going to the dock to say goodbye to a friend. Instead he set sail for Rome. Monica was heartbroken when she learned of Augustine's trick, but she still followed him. She arrived in Rome only to find that he had left for Milan. Although travel was difficult, Monica pursued him to Milan. In Milan, Augustine came under the influence of the bishop, St. Ambrose, who also became Monica's spiritual director. She accepted his advice in everything and had the humility to give up some practices that had become second nature to her. Monica became a leader of the devout women in Milan as she had been in Tagaste. She continued her prayers for Augustine during his years of instruction. At Easter 387, St. Ambrose baptized Augustine and several of his friends. Soon after, his party left for Africa. Although no one else was aware of it, Monica knew her life was near the end. She told Augustine, “Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not know what there is now left for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled.” She became ill shortly after and suffered severely for nine days before her death. Almost all we know about St. Monica is in the writings of St. Augustine, especially his Confessions. Reflection Today, with Google searches, online shopping, text messages, tweets, and instant credit, we have little patience for things that take time. Likewise, we want instant answers to our prayers. Monica is a model of patience. Her long years of prayer, coupled with a strong, well-disciplined character, finally led to the conversion of her hot-tempered husband, her cantankerous mother-in-law and her brilliant but wayward son, Augustine. Saint Monica is the Patron Saint of: Alcoholics Conversion Mothers Wives Learn more about Saint Monica! Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

Fr. Roger J. Landry Church of the Holy Family, Manhattan, NY Easter Thursday Memorial of St. Anselm April 21, 2022 Acts 3:11-26, Ps 8, Lk 24:35-48   To listen to an audio recording of today's homily, please click below: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/4.21.22_Homily_1.mp3   The following points were attempted in the homily:  At Easter, Jesus wants to work […] The post The Easter Transformation of our Hearts, Thoughts, and Speech, Easter Thursday, April 21, 2022 appeared first on Catholic Preaching.

At Easter, Jesus intersects with our deepest places of death and offers us abundant life. He is the Gardener at the Tomb, turning graves into gardens. Pastor Len leads us to see the goodness and love of God in our places of brokenness.

At Easter we celebrate with billions around the globe the fact that something new has happened to the world. The best news that changes everything. The fact that no matter how messed up things seem or how uncertain the future feels, a new life and a new beginning is possible for all of us. No matter if you have been a believer for years or you are considering Jesus for the first time in your life, Jesus can bring new life, joy, and energy to your life today.

At Easter, we celebrate Jesus Christ. He has conquered sin and death and in Him we have everlasting life. This Easter we are reminded that if we “just believe” Jesus can take the areas we thought were dead and bring them back to life.

At Easter, we celebrate Jesus Christ. He has conquered sin and death and in Him we have everlasting life. This Easter we are reminded that if we “just believe” Jesus can take the areas we thought were dead and bring them back to life.

Action and superhero movies answer our plea for a hero. We need a rescue from our troubles, Hope for the future. A Savior. At Easter, we celebrate the greatest rescue of all. Join us for our Resurrection Celebration Sunday morning at 10:30 AM.

Message from LifePoint Church ©2022 What difference does Easter Sunday make on Monday? Easter Creed (based on 1 Corinthians 15) by Mark Riggins • History was split at the incarnation. • Our faith was born at the resurrection. • Jesus arose from the dead and was seen. • At Easter we shout, “O death where's your sting?” The resurrection gives you hope in your battle. https://lifepointplano.org/

Hope is sometimes harder to define, out here "on the other side of church land," but it's not hard to find. At Easter, in church services across the land, worshipers joyfully rise to sing "Jesus Christ is Risen Today! Alleluia!" as if that's all the hope we really need. Meanwhile, among those of us who feel less sure about what Jesus' resurrection has to do with the rest of us, we look instead, not to some eventual rising from the grave, but to the seeds of new life hidden deep within this mortal frame, even within death itself. In this episode I speak with poet Juleta Severson-Baker about the power of words to evoke such hope in us. Somehow, the intentional, well-chosen words of a poem can draw our gaze to the present moment, with all its dark challenges, where we find not despair, but a reason to live. "Alleluia" indeed!Credits:Poems read in this episode are either in the public domain, or credited as follows:"my daughter tells me her generation is buckling under the anxiety about climate change while we drive our car down a highway" by Juleta Severson-Baker (unpublished)"The Well of Grief" by David Whyte; published by Many Rivers Press, 1990"Oh Children" by Margaret Atwood in DEARLY; published by McClelland and Stewart, 2020 (permission pending)"July" by Juleta Severson-Baker in EVERY WORD SPOKEN; published by Leaf Press, 2013"Franz Marc Blue Horses" by Mary Oliver from BLUE HORSES; published by Penguin Press, 2014 (permission pending)

This episode offers a wonderful recipe for the Italian rice pie, famous during the Holy Week of Easter among the locals and across the various Italian colonies globally. At Easter time, Italian kitchens rediscover the connection between food and religion. Many recipes made during the Holy Week, symbolize the rituals and the flavors developed through history. Read the full transcript www.flavorsandknowledge.com for more info Podcasts are available on Anchor FM, Spotify, or preferred platforms. Podcast supported by Chef Walters Cooking School, Cranston, Rhode Island, the USA. All business website --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/walter-potenza/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/walter-potenza/support

Out of all the animals mentioned in the Bible (and there are over one hundred), sheep are the stars. They are found in the book of Genesis on through to Revelation. They are led by shepherds who go ahead of the sheep, calling them to follow. Their babies are lambs. In the Old Testament, God instructed the Israelites to sacrifice lambs for the sins of the people. A lamb, with its soft nose and fluffy wool coat, was a picture of purity and holiness. In John 1:29, Jesus is called the Lamb of God by His cousin, John the Baptist. John announced that Jesus is the One who “takes away the sin of the world!” But Jesus's connection to sheep doesn't stop there. Sheep were part of a herd and were under the constant care of a shepherd who ensured they were fed, watered, and kept safe from harm. They could be hunted by wolves, or become wounded, or fall into rushing water where their wool became so waterlogged, they could drown. In John 10:14, Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd. He knows each of His sheep by name. That's you and me. Jesus is both the Lamb of God and the Good Shepherd, all at once. He is both the perfect sacrifice and the perfect caretaker of His flock—the church. Sometimes, we call people sheep when we think they are blindly following a person or an idea we think is bad. But if we, as trusting sheep, follow only the Good Shepherd and accept the sacrifice of the Lamb of God for the forgiveness of our sins, we are the most blessed flock in the world. Jesus will always shepherd His people in all that is best for us. He calls us by name to follow Him, and He seeks us when we're lost. At Easter we celebrate the abundant life the Good Shepherd gives us. We rejoice in the ultimate sacrifice of the beloved Lamb of God, who died on a rugged wooden cross long ago for His precious sheep...and then rose again to lead us into new life. • Susan Sundwall • What do you like or dislike about being compared to a sheep? Why do you think God says that we are like sheep, and He is the shepherd? • Is it easier for you to picture Jesus as the Lamb of God or the Good Shepherd? Why is it important that He is both? “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11 (NIV)

(00:00-09:58): How do you react when you continue to see terrible news coming out of Ukraine? A seminary professor says it's time for all of us in the West to pray for Ukraine. (09:58-18:38): How would you answer someone in your life who asks why Easter is important to Christians? (18:38-27:19): What kind of men does the church need? Brian and Aubrey took a deep dive into what kind of masculinity the church should be encouraging. (27:19-36:09): At Easter, we remember that Jesus' broken body put an end to our brokenness. But before we honor the resurrection, it's important to look back at the events that led up to Jesus' ultimate sacrifice. (36:09-45:04): Tim Keller shared some important guidelines for engaging arguments you don't agree with online. (45:04-54:06): Brian and Aubrey wrapped up the show by sharing some positive news stories. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At Easter, we have the opportunity to focus on and think about...you guessed it...Jesus!

Easter is commonly known as the Super Bowl of the church world. Our entire faith rests on the death and resurrection of Jesus. At Easter, most of us celebrate by prioritizing our church attendance. However, busyness and distractions can cause us to miss the deep meaningful connection God wants to have with us at Easter. Let's have a genuine conversation about it.

Merry Christmas! At Easter, we declare “He is risen!” “He is risen, indeed!” And at Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus because he is the risen Lord. Tonight (at 5:00pm and 7:00pm) and on Sunday (at 11:00am) we will gather to worship our Lord, the Son of God, who was born so that we could be born again. As you have time, let me encourage you to read Matthew 1 and Revelation 12, the two passages we will consider this weekend. You can also find a Christmas devotional on Matthew 1 here and Isaiah 7:14 here. In our Christmas Eve service, we will see how Christ fulfills the promises to Abraham, David, and Israel. At the same time, take time to invite a friend to join us tonight. It's not too late, and the good news of Christ is too good not to share. Then, on Sunday, we will turn to Revelation to see how the seed of the woman has been born to defeat the devil. Thankfully, the message of Christmas does not end in Bethlehem (the house of bread), it ends in heaven (the house of God). And on Sunday, we will see how Christ's ascension to heaven gives his people hope and strength here on earth. To that end, let's pray that God would strengthen his saints. In a world of moral darkness and omicron doom, I look forward to singing Christmas Carols with you tonight and recounting the ways that God has brought his light and salvation into the world. For His Glory and your joy, Pastor David ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Discussion & Response Questions 1. As we come to the last sermon of the year, what book, truth, passage of Scripture has been (most) helpful for you in 2021? 2. How has seeing Genesis 3:15 run across salvation history helped you better understand the Bible? 3. When you read Revelation, what helps you understand it? How does recognizing its symbolism help you understand it? What about it's dependence on the Old Testament? 4. How does keeping Christ at the center of Revelation help you see what the book is about? 5. What does Revelation 12 teach you about Christ and the spiritual warfare in our world? 6. Why is it best to understand the mother in Revelation 12 as the messianic community more than Mary alone? How do the promises of a pregnant mother prepare us for Christ's birth? See Isaiah 7:10–14; 26:17–27:6; 52:1–10; 66:7–12. 7. What is the good news of Christ's ascension? What happens in heaven when Christ took his seat at God's right hand? 8. What happens on earth after Christ is raised to heaven? How does knowing what has happened in heaven give us strength? 9. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world.” As we conclude one year and anticipate another, take time to reflect on the promises of God. How do the promises of Christ's victory give you assurance to walk in faith today?

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our Lenten/Easter series "In His Steps."Easter is fast upon us and with it a day of great rejoicing.  At Easter we find ourselves heartened to no end.  Emerging from the despair of a horrible death, Jesus offers new life now and eternal life later on.  He conquers the grave offering a hope that never ends. We will be talking about those five great words shared by Mary Magdalene, “I have seen the Lord.”  Those words ring through the ages and offer the promise that Christ lives to this day.  It comes to us then to look for the resurrected Lord in our own lives.  As we see him with eyes of faith may we find ourselves growing closer to him. 

Click Here to Listen to the other parts in the seriesReclaiming Easter (Part 1) - The Miracle of EasterReclaiming Easter (Part 2) - Regaining the High GroundReclaiming Easter (Part 3) - It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...EasterFamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript  References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. The Miracle of Easter Guest:                         Barbara Rainey                    From the series:       Reclaiming Easter (Day 1 of 4)Air date:                     March 16, 2015  Bob: This is the season of the year—the Easter season—when Barbara Rainey says we ought to be contemplating how, as forgiven people, we have a responsibility to forgive others. Barbara: It's essential for every marriage, it's essential for every family, it's essential for every working relationship because we're all broken and we're all going to make mistakes. We're going to all need to, not only give forgiveness, but to be granted forgiveness. The more families can talk about forgiveness, the more it becomes something that they understand / they can grasp—they know how to practice it / they know what it looks like. Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Monday, March 16th. Our host is the President of FamilyLife®, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine. We're going to focus today on how you can make the Easter season a more special and more meaningful season at your house. Stay tuned. 1:00 Bob: And welcome to FamilyLife Today. Thanks for joining us on the Monday edition. You know, if this was the couple of weeks leading up to Christmas, we would all be very aware that Christmas was just around the corner. You couldn't go anywhere without knowing that it's Christmas time. Dennis: The culture celebrates it—in fact, overdoes the giving aspect of Christmas. Bob: But here it is—we're a few weeks away from Easter, and there is pretty much nothing that indicates that to you if you're out in the shopping mall or if you're driving in your car. Easter just isn't talked about—it's ignored. Dennis: It, unfortunately, is—one of the most holy and profound weeks in any person who professes to follow Jesus Christ. Bob: Right. Dennis: It's because of what He did and what Easter represents that we have hope—not only of eternal life—but also a message to bring to our culture.  2:00 I'm going to tell you something, Bob—if I've ever sensed a need for us, as adults, and our children to have hope, it's today—because I think, in a lot of places, followers of Christ are being robbed of their hope. We have a special guest with us on today's broadcast. Bob: In fact, we could say this is your favorite guest; can't we? [Laughter] Dennis: I think she's been my favorite for 42 years and 43 Christmases. We laugh about this all the time. We had a big joke, early in our marriage, about how many Christmases we had celebrated. We always celebrate— Barbara: —one more Christmas than anniversary. Dennis: Yes, so it's kind of tricky—anyway, 43 Christmases / 42 years of marriage. Welcome to the broadcast, Sweetheart. Barbara: Thanks. Glad to be here. Bob: You need to be counting how many Easters you've celebrated because that's what we're talking about here; right? Barbara: That's what we're talking about—that's right. Yes, instead of Christmases—you're right. Bob: And you're very aware of the fact that this is a culturally-ignored holiday. As a result, a lot of Christians don't even think about Easter until it is like: “Oh, this Sunday, it's Easter!” 3:00 Barbara: Oh, yes—like “…tomorrow.”  Bob: Yes. Barbara: No, Christians are not thinking about it. Part of it is because we're so used to being surrounded by everything that reminds us of Christmas during the month of December and, sadly, months before the month of December; but Easter is not like that. We don't have music that's playing on the radio, we don't have decorations that are in every store, and we don't have lights strung from houses. We don't have anything that calls our attention to the fact that Easter is about to come and that Easter is the most important moment in all of history. Dennis: You believe that, today, we need to be preparing our homes and our hearts for Easter. Barbara: Exactly. We think a lot about advent when it comes to Christmas—and about preparing our hearts to worship and to rejoice at Christmas—but we don't do much of that for Easter.  4:00 Now, there are those who practice Lent—who do some preparing of their hearts for the celebration of Easter—but it's a much smaller proportion of the general population / it's a very small portion of the Christian population. As a whole, we don't do much to anticipate or prepare for the celebration of Easter. Easter should be much more joyous / much more almost rambunctious of a celebration than Christmas is because we have so much to rejoice over because of what Christ did for us on the cross. Bob: You didn't grow up in a church tradition where Lent was a part of your practice; did you? Barbara: That's correct—I did not. Dennis: Did you, Bob? Bob: I didn't either—although, in recent years, we've made it a part of our family's personal practice—just for the reason that you mentioned—so that we can begin orienting our thinking / something that reminds us, in the weeks leading up to Easter, what it is we're focusing on as we head toward the celebration of the resurrection. Have you started to engage in any of these Lenten practices yourself? 5:00 Barbara: Yes, we have. Dennis and I have talked about it. In fact, we created something for families to help families focus on preparing their hearts for Easter. We created a resource for families called The Messiah Mystery™, which helps families focus on all of the predictions in the Old Testament that foreshadow the coming of Christ and His death on the cross because so much of that is not common knowledge for believers today. It is just a great way to interact with your kids and help them understand why Christ had to come, why He had to suffer, why He had to die, and what all of that means. Dennis: Here's the thing I want our listeners to catch—we are all involved in a relay race—where one generation has been given the truth from God's Word and the experience of God in their lives—to know Christ, walk with Him, read their Bible—but we have to make a hand-off.  6:00 What FamilyLife hopefully does for you, in your marriage—your family / your grandchildren—is, hopefully, we're giving you some practical instruction of how you can take these seasons/the holidays—and this is Barbara's heart. Bob, you know it's her passion— Bob: Right. Dennis: —is to take these holidays that Christians really haven't seized. They haven't grabbed hold of them and said: “No, our family is really going to get into this. We're going to make the most of what is,” as you said, “some of the greatest days of the Christian calendar.”  I know that you, Barbara, have a strong conviction that—just as Christmas is around the theme of giving—we're missing an opportunity to really focus on and teach our children what something else is—that is all about Easter. Barbara: Well, when you think about Christmas, we all know that it's about giving. We can't get away from it. It's absolutely inescapable. It's in our faces for over a month—for weeks, and weeks, and weeks—but, when it comes to Easter, we're kind of confused about what it means. We understand that Jesus died on the cross, but we kind of don't know what to do with that.  7:00 As I was thinking about it, I thought, “The real theme for Easter is the theme of forgiveness.” Easter is all about forgiveness. It's all about Christ dying on our behalf so that we can have a right relationship with Him so that we can be reconciled to the Father.  As we celebrate, at Christmas, the gift—“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son”—we celebrate giving at Christmas. I think the counterpart for Easter is that we celebrate forgiveness—that we understand forgiveness, that we grow in forgiveness and that we talk about it, that we proclaim that we are a forgiven people. That's what makes us different / that's what sets us apart. It would just be wonderful to see families begin to focus on teaching forgiveness and practicing forgiveness at Easter like we focus on giving at Christmas. Dennis: One of the verses that is most oft repeated, here on FamilyLife Today, is Ephesians 4:32.  8:00 Paul writes, “Be kind to one another.” Am I speaking to any families here who need kindness in their family? You know, when you and I were raising kids, this was one of the big struggles we had— Barbara: Yes. Dennis: —was helping them know how to really relate to each other and be kind to one another. Paul goes on and says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another just as God in Christ forgave you.”  What is forgiveness? It is giving up the right to punish another person. Christ modeled it—what did He do? He went to the cross so that we don't have to bear the punishment that our sins/our law-breaking result in us deserving; right? But Christ went to the cross to offer forgiveness to us if we will receive Him as our Savior, Master, and Lord.  9:00 Bob: And when you think about Easter, you have to keep in mind that, in a real sense, God didn't give up the right to punish us but, instead, He redirected the punishment that we deserve. Barbara: Yes. Dennis: That's right. Bob: He did just wave it aside and say, “Well, I'll let bygones be bygones.” He took the punishment that we deserve—He poured it out on His Son—that's what Good Friday reminds us of. Then, Easter points to the fact that, as a result, we have hope—we have transformation, we have new life—we have hope. Barbara: Yes. And I think it's a great topic for families to talk about because forgiveness is essential—for every marriage, it's essential for every family, it's essential for every working relationship—because we're all broken and we're all going to make mistakes. We're going to all need to, not only give forgiveness, but to be granted forgiveness. The more families can talk about forgiveness, the more it becomes something that they understand / they can grasp—they know how to practice it / they know how to give it.  It's such a foreign concept to us, in our humanity, because we aren't naturally good forgivers.  10:00 We need what God has done for us so that we can then do what He did for us and forgive. Talking about it at Easter and learning stories of forgiveness is a great way to help children understand, as they grow up, what it looks like practically: “What does it mean? How does that even work?” Bob: During the Christmas season, we have the opportunity to focus on God's gift to us because everybody is thinking about giving:  Barbara: Yes. Bob: “What are you going to get for Christmas? What are you giving to somebody else?” At Easter, we don't have anything like that to bring the issue of forgiveness, front and center, for multiple weeks, leading up to the holiday. Barbara: Yes, it's not as tangible. It's not something that you can put your hands on. It's a choice of the heart. I think one of the best ways for moms and dads to help their kids learn about forgiveness—first of all, you have to talk about it and you have to model it. You have to demonstrate it to your kids.  I remember, when we were raising our kids, Dennis and I both made a real conscious effort to teach our kids what it meant to forgive.  11:00 We would model that to them—so, when I would make mistakes—which I did all the time every day—I remember making a conscious effort of sitting down and saying to them: "Mommy did this, and it was wrong. I need to ask you to forgive me. Will you forgive me?”—almost in a step-by-step manner. And then, when our kids would offend one another, we would say: “Now, you need to say what you did and name it—name what you did that was wrong to your sibling. Then, you need to say, ‘Will you forgive me?'” Then the sibling has to say, “Yes, I forgive you,” so that it really is that transaction that takes place. Another way that is really helpful to teach children forgiveness is to read them stories of other people who have exhibited forgiveness.  12:00 We have this book—Growing Together in Forgiveness—that has seven stories of people who have demonstrated remarkable forgiveness in situations that are hard for most of us to even comprehend how someone could ask for forgiveness, and how someone could grant forgiveness for really, really difficult things. When you read stories like that to your kids, it inspires them: “Oh, if that person can forgive that, then maybe I can forgive my brother,” or “Maybe I can forgive my friend at school that was bullying me.” Bob: And you wrote that book, with the seven stories in it, with the idea that parents could read aloud a story like this at the dinner table or— Barbara: —bedtime. Bob: Yes, whatever, as a way to make this subject front and center, whether it's during the Easter season or any time of the year—but this is the perfect time of year to be doing that; isn't it? Barbara: Yes, exactly. Obviously, our kids—we all need to be talking about forgiveness all the time—but with the focus of Easter being on the cross and on the forgiveness that Christ purchased for us, it's a great time to read stories of forgiveness with your kids so that it really does become a part of the Easter celebration. It makes our appreciation for what He did for us so much greater when we know what it means. 13:00 Dennis: Those seven stories are—they are pretty remarkable—I mean, the people who forgave had pretty tough things done to them. Barbara: Yes, really tough things. Dennis: Do you want to share one of them? Barbara: Yes, one of my favorite stories comes from the country of New Zealand. Dennis and I were there doing a conference a number of years ago. While we were there, we heard this story that's a part of the New Zealand history.  The story goes that—in the 1800s sometime, some missionaries came; and they brought the gospel to the tribes of the land. There was a particular tribe who received the news, and responded to the gospel, and became believers. They each got a little copy of the Gospel of Luke, as a gift for receiving Christ, and they would read that.  One little girl in the tribe—she was like 11 or 12—and she had learned to read from the missionaries. She read this Gospel of Luke to everyone in her tribe.  14:00 Many of them came to know Christ. The story goes that this school that she was a part of—that was led by the missionaries—had to move locations. On the journey to a new location, the children and the teachers were attacked by another tribe, who were not friendly; and she was murdered. I think there were some others, too, but she was murdered.  When her father discovered that she was murdered, his response was: “I have come to know Christ, and Jesus does not want us to take revenge.” He said, “So I must learn how to forgive the one who killed my daughter.” He didn't even, at the time, know who it was. The story goes that the man who actually killed this little girl found the Gospel of Luke—she carried it with her wherever she went. He thought it was kind of cool—he didn't know what it was. He took it, and he found someone who could read it to him. This person read to him; and he realized, “Oh, I offended God,” and he became a Christian then.  15:00 He, after receiving Christ, understood that he needed to seek forgiveness. He walked to the other tribe and asked the father of the girl he killed to forgive him. They forgave one another.  Part of what is so remarkable to me about the story is, not just that it happened, but that it's taught in the schools of New Zealand to this day—to all the children in every school—it's a part of their history. These children are growing up, hearing the story about this little girl who became a Christian and whose father forgave the man who killed her.  I just think it's a wonderful illustration of how teaching our children these stories, as they're growing up—it's planting the seeds of truth in their hearts so it's a part of who they are / it's a part of their history—they know these stories. So, when they are in a situation that's difficult and they need to forgive, they'll remember this little girl, or they'll remember John Newton, or they'll remember some of these other people who demonstrated forgiveness. They'll go, “Oh, that's how you do it.”  16:00 God may use that to lead them, then, to grant forgiveness to someone else. Dennis: I think the question for every mom and dad is this: “How are you going to make Easter a special time? How are you going to focus on forgiveness? How are you going to model it? How are you going to teach about it? How are you going to train your children to know what it means to truly forgive another person?” This is at the heart of what Christianity is all about. It's why this season ought to be, as you said earlier, one of the most rambunctious times in our entire year. Bob: As we've said, the culture doesn't give us a lot of cues to try to have these kinds of conversations. Part of what you have been working on, as you've been designing resources in the Ever Thine Home® collection that you've created—you're trying to give families some of the visual cues to have around the home that just trigger for you the opportunity for this kind of discussion / this kind of conversation—to bring to mind, in a visible way, what we ought to be reminded of today. 17:00 Barbara: Exactly. We have lots of those at Christmas. We have trees, and we have wreaths, and we have lights. Everything says: “This is a special occasion.”  We have so little at our disposal—so little that's biblical at our disposal—that we can put up, that we can decorate with, that we can put on display. There is very little to put on your front door / to put in your yard—there is just not a whole lot available. I'm hopeful that God will grant us favor in helping me and my team to come up with ideas for ways that we can make a visual statement—not just for neighbors and friends / but for our own reminder—that we can see something in our house around Easter that reminds me: “Oh, yes. We're in the Easter season. We're talking about Christ, and the cross, and what He did for us,”—it's a visual reminder.  We need those cues—those visual cues.  18:00 We need auditory cues—we need reminders of what God did for us. Having these celebrations are annual reminders; and then, in that annual reminder, having visual things can help us stay tuned into what God's doing. Dennis: I hadn't thought about it until you said it a few moments ago. There really isn't the music, Bob, around the season that there is at Christmas time. Isn't that interesting? You would think— Barbara: There are some songs, but there aren't as many that are really specific to Easter. Bob: Yes, there's no Nat King Cole Easter album that you can go out and buy; right? Dennis: No, and you're not hearing it piped into malls and stores in the weeks leading up to the Easter holiday. Bob: Right. Dennis: I think there's probably a reason for that. Bob: Yes. Dennis: I mean—Easter is pretty counter-cultural. Bob: Yes. Dennis: I mean, Christ— Barbara: Well, everybody loves stories of angels and babies. A baby is pretty sweet, so it's easy to love Christmas and everything that it stands for.  19:00 But Easter is a little different—it's about a cross, which is a horrible form of execution. And it has blood, and— Dennis: —and it's about a Savior, who didn't come to mildly change people's lives. Barbara: —but radically. Dennis: He came to, yes, radically transform people's lives. In fact, I love a statement that was made by—I think it was John Stott. He said, “When Jesus shows up, change occurs.” When you encounter Him—and you meet the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and you develop a personal relationship—I can tell you, from personal experience—when I encountered Him in college, He transformed my life like no other encounter I've ever had in my lifetime.  Bob: Is your house as decked out for Easter as it is for Christmas? Barbara: No. Dennis: It's getting there. Oh yes, it is—it's getting there, Bob! Barbara: No, it's not as decked out; and I don't know that I really would want it to be as decked out. I think what I would like to see is—I'd like to see Christmas toned down somewhat— Bob: Right. 20:00 Barbara: —and then Easter elevated so they are a little bit more balanced in the way we treat them. Bob: Will you have pastel eggs that you dyed that you'll put out somewhere? Barbara: No. I would have—we did that when we had our kids at home—but we won't have the grandkids around. We will go see them, probably, but we won't do eggs at my house. Bob: So what do you have? Barbara: Well, I have a banner—an Easter banner—that we created a year ago, I believe it was. I did the first one to put on my door a couple of years ago, just to see if it would work. I got some paint and painted “I Am the Resurrection and the Life” on a piece of burlap. Then, on the flip side, I put the thing about “I am the Resurrection and the Life.”  Last year, we actually created a real one—so we've got that. You can put that on your front door or you can hang it on a wall in your house—but on the burlap side, it has a lamb and it says “I am the Resurrection and the Life,” which is one of Jesus' claims of deity. And then, you flip it over on Easter Sunday morning. It has a crown; and it says, “He Is Risen.”  21:00 It's a way to make a statement in your house—just for your own family or on your front door for anybody who drives by or comes by—that “In this house, we believe in Christ and what He did for us.” Bob: You have some of your cross-shaped Christmas ornaments, the Adorenaments® that you've made, that are now on display, at Easter, on stands around the home? Barbara: That's right—we have those too. Dennis: Well, actually, Bob—when she created these, she was thinking— Bob: She had Easter in mind? Dennis: She did. Barbara: Yes, we had this in mind. Dennis: So these are really not just Christmas-specific. These declare the names of Christ—His Savior names—each one on a different cross from a different period of history. Bob: Yes, if folks would like to see what we're talking about here, they can go to EverThineHome.com and see the collection of resources that Barbara Rainey has created as a part of what we're doing, here at FamilyLife. Again, it's EverThineHome.com. You can see the crosses, the Easter banner, some of the other resources that Barbara has been working on. The book about forgiveness is available on that website as well.  22:00 It's called Growing Together in Forgiveness.  Again, go to EverThineHome.com. You can see the resources that Barbara has designed that FamilyLife is making available for the Easter season. If it's easier to order some of these resources by calling us, you can do that as well. Our toll-free number: 1-800-FL-TODAY—that's 1-800-“F” as in family, “L” as in life, and then, the word, “TODAY.” Just ask about the Easter resources from FamilyLife. We can explain what we have, and you can order whatever you need over the phone. And speaking of resources for the Easter season, many of you are familiar with the Resurrection Eggs® that FamilyLife has been producing for more than 20 years now—it's a dozen plastic eggs. Each one has a symbol that signifies something related to Jesus' final week on earth. It's a great tool for helping your younger children better understand the Easter story and to make it memorable for them. 23:00 We would really like for every home to have a set of Resurrection Eggs to be able to use with children, or with grandchildren, or to pass on to neighbors. We are making Resurrection Eggs available this year to any of you who contact us and are able to help with a donation of any amount to help support the ministry of FamilyLife Today. We depend on those donations to sustain the work of this ministry, and we would be happy to send you a set of Resurrection Eggs as a thank-you gift when you support us. Go to FamilyLifeToday.com. Click the link in the upper right-hand corner of the screen that says, “I CARE.” Make an online donation, and we'll send a set of Resurrection Eggs out to you. Or you can make a donation over the phone and request a set of Resurrection Eggs when you call 1-800-FL-TODAY—1-800-358-6329—that's 1-800-“F” as in family, “L” as in life, and then, the word, “TODAY.” 24:00 You can also mail a donation to us and request Resurrection Eggs. Our mailing address is PO Box 7111, Little Rock, Arkansas—Arkansas is AR—and our zip code is 72223. Now, tomorrow, we're going to continue to talk about how we can prepare our hearts and our homes for a deeper, richer Easter celebration. Hope you can tune in for that. I want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, along with our entire broadcast production team. On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine. We will see you back next time for another edition of FamilyLife Today.  FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas. Help for today. Hope for tomorrow. Copyright © FamilyLife. All rights reserved. www.FamilyLife.com    

At Easter, we point to the cross and say, not even a blood-stained murder scene is beyond the love and power of God to turn evil to good. In this Easter sermon, Dr. Mark Foster shares about the hope Jesus' resurrection brings. Download the Sermon Notes (https://acts2umc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/April-12-2020-Sermon-Notes.pdf) Watch the Sermon (https://youtu.be/yFnfj2iPeuU?t=1589) Watch the Full Worship Service (https://youtu.be/yFnfj2iPeuU) Follow Acts 2: Website (https://acts2umc.org) Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/acts2umc) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/acts2umc) Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTjMQ3C5r50E8PGLwMvwuGQ) Twitter (https://www.twitter.com/acts2umc)