Pastoral Resource Ministries, Inc.
An Outreach Resource Ministry
A Ministry for the Millennium
Words of Inspiration for the Week of April 11, 2004
To contact
Pastor Thelma Gilbert

For more information write or call us at:
Pastoral Resource Ministries, Inc.
P.O. Box 7232, Bloomfield, CT 06002
Phone (860) 243-2168 - Fax: (860) 242-1838
email: prministrie@snet.net
"Good News From The Grave"
(Luke Chapter 24)
The night Jesus was born, the first gospel message was preached near Bethlehem by an angel educated in the
classroom setting of God's heaven.  They said to the shepherds abiding in the field, "I bring you good
tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people" (Luke 2:10).  Perhaps the same angel that told Mary and
the shepherds, "Fear not" was the same angel who proclaimed the first Easter message to three sorrowful
women.  These women with shattered and sorrowful hearts, came to the Holy Sepulcher to anoint the body
of Jesus at the end of three days, which encompassed earth's darkest night, and the removal of the presence
of the Word made flesh in the person of Jesus Christ from a world filled with despair, grief, and remorse.  
When storms arrive in our lives, we need to learn how to lean on the promises of God.  He always meets us
in time of need.  

God Promises Comfort for the Sorrowing: Here we have three women with shattered spirits and filled with
anxieties, discussing as they travel to the grave site of their Master, "Who shall roll us away the stone from
the door of the sepulcher?" (mark 16:3). They did not realize that they were going to encounter an
unexpected guest, telling them "Fear not! He is not here! He is risen! Come and see!  Now, Go and tell!  
They had seen the place where their Lord was laid, and "departed with great joy."

God Promises Hope for the Hopeless: After Jesus died, a sense of hopelessness filled the empty hearts of two
despondent pedestrians who were trudging wearily homeward to Emmaus, seven miles away from
Jerusalem, on that Sunday afternoon.  As they conversed concerning all that had transpired during that
week and the death and burial of Jesus Christ, suddenly a mysterious stranger (which was Jesus) falls in step
with them, begins to reason with them, dine with them, opens their blinded eyes, and then vanishes out of
their sight, leaving them exclaiming the words, "Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us
by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?" (Luke 24:32)

God Promises Grace for the Guilty:  "Go your way, tell his disciples and Peter…The Lord is risen indeed
and appeared to Simon."  At the trial of Jesus, Peter had shamefully denied his Lord.  After remembering
the words of his Master, "...Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father
which is in heaven" (Matthew 10:33).  Peter repented and wept bitterly for his actions.  God is faithful.  He
keeps all of His promises.  The record tells us, that later on the same day Christ personally appeared to
Peter by the Sea of Galilee, and by his grace removes Peter's guilty stain and restores him to his apostleship.

What is the Meaning of Easter to our Generation? A heavenly response to the fears and tears of mankind;
salvation for the sinner; comfort for the sorrowing; hope for the hopeless; grace for the guilty, a Hallelujah
in the hearts of the believer; and an invitation to others to make this a personal Easter by ACCEPTING
JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR PERSONAL SAVIOR.

Be Blessed!
Pastor Gilbert

"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God..." (I John 4:7)