Each year, Christians across the world in various traditions set aside time during the Lenten Season, Holy Week and Easter Weekend to reflect on the life of Christ and to refocus our attention on His ultimate sacrifice for us.
This observance includes the darkness and heaviness of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. And, for just a brief time each year, we are invited to sit with that reality.
There’s no denying it: we live in a broken world. The business of everyday life easily fills our minds and calendars, and troubling headlines in the news can fill our hearts with fear. When Christ was on earth, He never promised that we would be free from the impact of sin on our world. In fact, that is the very reason for his coming to earth. We are in the world witnessing unnecessary loss, devastation from flooding and tornadoes, and depravity celebrated in our culture.
But, we are not of the world, as Jesus states in John 15, because we know the truth we will celebrate on Sunday—that Christ is alive and risen!
Christ conquered sin and death. He left glory to enter our sin-sick world, died the death we deserved, and then rose again in victory over death. And for those who trust in Christ, this is our hope. This is the truth that we celebrate not just on Easter, but every day.
No matter what distractions come our way or how many dark “Good Friday” or “Holy Saturday” moments occur, we can cling to the coming promise of Easter Sunday by daily choosing to refocus our attention on Christ and take heart!
“Take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
Though we sit with the darkness of Good Friday today, it will never out shadow the beauty of Easter Sunday! The team at Family Policy Alliance will be praying that each of you enjoy this Easter weekend with friends and family. We trust that this time of mourning Christ’s death and celebrating His resurrection will move you to live in the joy of Easter in the days to come.
God Bless,
Ruth Ward
Director, Government Affairs
His heart stops—not a beat detected! Life ends without a beat.
To be sure, they thrust a spear into our Savior’s side. It’s Friday.
In the early hours before dawn—undetectable to mankind—His heart beats once. And then again… continuing forever. His promise is eternally fulfilled. It’s Sunday.
From that single beat—death is forever destroyed. From that single beat, Christ-followers have assurance of eternity. From that single beat, Satan is forever defeated.
By that single beat, we are commanded to:
go and make disciples (Mt. 28:19)
teach all Scripture for training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16)
not be frightened in anything by our opponents (Phil. 1:28)
How are we doing in getting with the beat?
In recent weeks, heartbeat bills have been passed in several states such as Ohio, Mississippi and Georgia, joining North Dakota, Arkansas and Iowa in advancing life initiatives. Family Policy allies in over 40 states are protecting life to the fullest extent while also opposing attempts to cheapen life—including infanticide.
The movie Unplanned is surpassing all expectations proving that the pro-life issue resonates with the heartbeat of America. The beat for life will never die—despite our opponents’ attempts to intimidate us.
Imagine if on that Sunday morning, you could peer into the tomb at the very moment when our Lord’s heart beat anew? The joy and excitement would be overwhelming. Tears flowing with hopeful expectation. It would be like peering into an ultrasound and seeing for the first time, your own child’s heart beating. We can’t wait to show our family the photo of our child in the womb. Like Christ’s tomb, a mother’s womb should be a place where life is cherished!
Our Lord’s first beat established eternity. His eternal beat results in eternal possibilities for mankind. That’s why Family Policy Alliance stands for that first beat to the very last beat; for a nation where life is cherished and where the Gospel can be proclaimed freely.
Will you join us in keeping the beat across America? That deafening beat of “He is Risen” proclaimed from every believer’s beating heart will continue until the Lord’s triumphal return.
Happy Easter to all who keep the beat,
Paul Weber
President & CEO
“Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” -Mathew 26:26-30
Dear Friends:
Ordinarily, we do not refer to the day someone is unjustly convicted, severely tortured, and brutally murdered as a “good” day; but that is exactly what we, as Christians, do each and every year on Good Friday.
I have often considered the expression “Good Friday” to be somewhat disingenuous—a mere phrase we use to avoid the realities of that dark and somber day, including the role our sin played in its dramatic conclusion. I have even wondered if “Bad Friday” would be a better expression so that we might be stirred to acknowledge the weight of our sin and the price our Lord, Jesus Christ, had to pay in order to secure our verdict of innocence.
That was until I came across the following sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon that redirected my focus and, in short, reminded me that Good Friday is a festival, not a funeral—a day when our sins, past and present, were absorbed by the finished work of Jesus Christ upon the cross.
I hope this sermon excerpt blesses you, as it blessed me, during this Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
He is risen! He is risen, indeed!
Vince Torres
President and Executive Director
Delivered by Charles Haddon Spurgeon on September 7, 1890:
“The Lord of life and glory was nailed to the accursed tree. He died by the act of guilty men. We, by our sins, crucified the Son of God. We might have expected that, in remembrance of his death, we should have been called to a long, sad, rigorous fast. Do not many men think so even to-day? See how they observe Good Friday, a sad, sad day to many; yet our Lord has never enjoined our keeping such a day, or bidden us to look back upon his death under such a melancholy aspect.
Instead of that, having passed out from under the old covenant into the new, and resting in our risen Lord, who once was slain, we commemorate his death by a festival most joyous. It came over the Passover, which was a feast of the Jews; but unlike that feast, which was kept by unleavened bread, this feast is brimful of joy and gladness. It is composed of bread and of wine, without a trace of bitter herbs, or anything that suggests sorrow and grief. The bread and the cup most fitly set forth the death of our Lord and Saviour, and the mode of that death, even by the shedding of his blood; but as they stand before us now, they evoke no tears, they suggest no sighs.
The memorial of Christ’s death is a festival, not a funeral; and we are to come to the table with gladsome hearts, ay, and go away from it with praises, for ‘after supper they sang a hymn.’” (Sermon No. 2248)