Why Are You Weeping? (John 20:13)
Dear Members of the Our Savior Lutheran Church Email Prayer Chain,

Why Are You Weeping?

They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"  "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." --John 20:13

Mary Magdalene could vividly remember the day Jesus delivered her from her demonic . She became His devoted follower that day (Luke 8:2). She watched Him heal the sick and teach people about God’s love. Her life was transformed as she experienced the joy of being with Jesus. 

Then her world seemed to fall apart! Her Lord was arrested and brutally murdered. The crowds that had shouted “Hosanna!” at the beginning of the week cried “Crucify him!” by week’s end. A final blow came when she went to anoint Jesus’ body at the tomb. She saw that His tomb was empty. Someone had apparently stolen His body. As she sobbed in despair, angels asked the poignant question, “Why are you weeping?” She was standing before an empty tomb! Jesus had risen, just as He had promised! Knowing that Jesus was alive put everything back into perspective, and Mary joyfully raced to share the good news with others. 

The Christian life is not always easy. There are joyful moments of walking with Jesus, but there are also times when nothing makes sense and when your world seems to be crumbling. The world will mock your Lord, and you may grow discouraged. At those times, you need to peer into the empty tomb. It is the abandoned tomb that gives you hope, for it symbolizes the life that is yours from your risen Lord. The empty tomb promises that nothing, not even death itself, can defeat the purposes of your Lord. Are you weeping beside an empty tomb?

CHRIST HAS RISEN! HE HAS RISEN, INDEED!

REFLECTIONS

What in your life has caused you to need to look into the empty tomb?
What purposes does the risen Lord have for you?

PRAYER REQUESTS -- Week of March 23, 2008

FOR THOSE WHO LOOK TO THE LORD FOR HEALING

Leon Van Sant   Hospitalized with health concerns
Mary Rose Crask           Hospitalized with infection in broken foot from a fall

FOR THOSE WHO SUFFER FROM CANCER OR CHRONIC ILLNESS

Brock Douglas   [Brother of Tom Douglas] advanced stage of cancer and serious staff infection, poor prognosis

FOR THOSE WHO MOURN

The family of DJ Thomas, friends of Melanie Douglas, who was called home on Wednesday

FOR THE WORK OF THE CHURCH

Please give thanks for the service of Heidi Schulz and Leanne Hardin who have faithful serviced as Co-Sunday School Superintendents for the past 3+ years. Pray that the Lord will reveal how He is working through our Sunday School ministry and will lead that person(s) to join Him in working with Him through the Sunday School as Superintendent(s). 

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. --1 Corinthians 15:54-58

In Christ,
Paul Nickel
Director of Christian Education
Our Savior Lutheran Church
 

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