Because God first loved us, we are devoted to sharing that love by;
Building authentic relationships with our neighbors
Creating safe spaces for belonging and connection
Serving communities locally, regionally, and globally.
To become faithful and compassionate followers of Jesus Christ.
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The Garden Tomb in Jerusalem
Spring has a way of sneaking up on us. One day the world looks gray and dormant, and then almost without warning, green shoots push through the cold ground, blossoms appear on branches that looked lifeless just weeks before; and the air carries something it didn't before, possibility. Of course, if you have stepped outside at all this spring, you know it has not exactly been a smooth ride. We have had days that felt like summer already here, followed by a cold snap that sent us back inside for our jackets. Warm and hopeful one day, gray and raw the next. In a strange way, this unpredictable spring has felt a lot like life itself — the good days and the hard days do not always follow a logical pattern, and there is not always a clear reason why today feels easier or harder than yesterday. We simply wake up and meet whatever the day brings.
It is no accident that Easter arrives in this season. As you read this, we are either just days away from celebrating Easter Sunday or we have just come through it together. Either way, the message of resurrection is not a once-a-year event we observe and then pack away with the decorations. It is a living reality that speaks directly into the world we are navigating right now.
And let's be honest, the world feels heavy right now. Many of us are feeling the pinch at the gas pump and the grocery store. We watch the news and see conflict, tension, and a world that seems more divided by the day. We scroll through our phones and feel an undercurrent of anger and anxiety that is hard to shake. Even conversations that used to feel safe now carry an edge. It is okay to name that. It is real, and you are not imagining it.
In times like these, it can be tempting to reach for easy answers. Some voices will tell you that faith means everything will simply work out fine, just believe hard enough and the hard things will disappear. Others suggest that the chaos around us is a sign that God is wrapping things up and that rescue is just around the corner. While these perspectives come from a place of wanting comfort, they can unintentionally lead us away from the deeper, truer, more durable hope that the resurrection actually offers.
Because here is what Easter really tells us. Jesus did not come into a peaceful, orderly world. He came into a world of occupation and oppression, poverty and disease, political tension and religious corruption. The world that put him on trial was a world driven by fear, power, and division, not entirely unlike the world we recognize today. And in that world, the worst happened. Betrayal. Injustice. Crucifixion. The darkness felt total and final.
But God was not finished. The empty tomb is not just a promise about what happens after we die. It is a declaration about right now. It tells us that God does not abandon us in our darkest moments. It tells us that love is more powerful than fear, that life has the final word over death, and that no situation, no matter how hopeless it looks on a Friday, is beyond the reach of a Sunday morning.
Resurrection hope is not the hope that says nothing bad will happen. It is the hope that sustains us when the road is long and the answers are slow in coming. It is the hope that walks beside us through the cold snaps and the hard seasons, the job that didn't work out, the relationship that is strained, the diagnosis that changed everything, the grief that still shows up uninvited. In all of it, God is not watching from a distance. God is present, at work, and deeply, stubbornly committed to love. The resurrection is God's loudest, clearest statement that no darkness, personal or global, gets the final word. Jesus demonstrated his love on the cross but it is more deeply realized in the empty tomb.
Resurrection hope is not the hope that says nothing bad will happen. It is the hope that says God is present in the middle of the bad things. It is the hope that sustains us when the road is long and the answers are slow in coming. It is the hope that says we are not alone, we have never been alone, and we will not be alone in whatever comes next.
Look outside. Notice what is happening. The earth, which looked cold and finished not long ago, is alive again and it did not have to try hard or believe correctly or get its act together first. It simply responded to something that was already at work beneath the surface. That is grace. That is resurrection. That is the God we worship.
This Easter season, wherever you find yourself, whether you are full of joy or quietly struggling, whether your faith feels strong or stretched thin, know this: the tomb is still empty. God's love is still at work. And hope is still the most stubborn, resilient, unstoppable force in the universe. He is risen. And with Him, so is our hope.
Pastor Chris Smith
We are committed to keeping you updated on where we are as a church and what is to come through our Call Multiplier system, Weekly Email, Facebook, YouTube, the church website and newsletter (THE LINK). If you would like to be added to any of our information systems, please contact us at JordanMemorial@JordanMemorial.org.