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!”

The deepest question in the heart of every human – the deepest question in each of us – is, "Am I loved?" At Easter, we get to look to Jesus for the answer to that question. In this special Easter experience, Pastor John Stickl reminds us that, when we were lost in sin and shame, Jesus came to show us our worth and invite us to live a life of love. When we know we're loved, it changes everything.

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. 

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)