Easter 2020: The Great Reset

April 8, 2020, marks the first day of the Jewish Passover. Passover is a celebration of the exodus of God’s people from Egypt and their years of slavery. 

This Sunday is Easter. Christians will remember the day that is the foundational moment of our faith. Easter is the day when God “reset” his covenant relationship with his people. 

Easter 2020 could mark another “reset” in our faith, if we are called to God’s purpose for the day. 

Are we praying for a Passover or joyfully confident in God’s plan to redeem? 

Praying for a Passover 

I wish I knew what to place on the doorframe so that this virus would pass over my home and every person’s home during these days. I’ve prayed for the Lord to allow us that kind of Passover. 

But, I have a quiet answer for those prayers. Jesus reminds me, “This world is not your home.” 

We have been praying that God would allow the COVID-19 virus to pass over our homes. But is there a more dangerous but less noticed virus that has been infecting our lives? 

A lot of people will open their eyes on Sunday morning, and, because they don’t have a church building to visit or a group of people to join, they will not experience Easter. Another group will feel like they missed Easter because they couldn’t wear a new dress or tie or go to a buffet and egg hunt. 

Could it be that Easter 2020 is about that virus? 

Not the virus that is costing people their earthly lives, but the virus that is costing people their eternity? 

Praying for Easter at home 

In Egypt, the final plague of death passed over every home that had placed the blood of the lamb on the doorframe. Each year, Jewish families turn their homes into a place of worship. They shop for and carefully prepare a Seder meal. The family members gather, and the head of the family is the rabbi for the evening. They remember when God saved his people from the plague of death and gave them freedom. The Jewish people bring the worship of God into their homes. 

Could it be that Christians this Easter need to learn from that example? 

How will you prepare for Easter 2020? 

How will you bring Easter worship into your homes? 

Parents can step up and lead the family in remembering the first Easter. Scripture can be read by all who are able. Prayers can be prayed. Questions can be answered. Songs can be sung. The rich truth of the resurrection of Christ can be brought into your homes. 

Could it be that Easter 2020 is a reset for every Easter to come? 

As you bring worship home, you can create family time that is a holy time. Easter 2020 might become one of the most important spiritual “resets” in your family’s memory. 

Don’t just think about it: make plans to accomplish Easter 2020 as a family. 

Praying for an eternal reset

The first verse I ever memorized was Romans 8:28, and it has been a part of my entire life: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” 

The Passover meal Jesus shared with his disciples was filled with trauma. Scripture says, “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” (Matthew 26:26–27). 

The days that followed were desperate days for the disciples. Jesus was arrested, tried, and sentenced to die. Jesus was tortured and then hung on a cross. Jesus died and was buried in a borrowed tomb. 

“Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5). That psalm of praise was ultimately fulfilled by the first Easter. Jesus was resurrected. His life had conquered death and his sacrifice provided salvation for all those who would believe. That first Easter would usher in the reset of God’s covenant relationship with his people. 

Remember: “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). 

How does the Lord want you to spend your Easter Sunday worship time this year? 

Could it be that the Lord has planned Easter 2020 to be a reset for his people? 

We know God plans to work things for our good. We just need to be called to “his purpose” for this year’s Easter celebration. 

Praying for your Easter “reset” 

Romans 8:28 means we can “know” that God is going to use this unique time in our lives for our greater good. It is likely we will look back on these days, grateful for all that we learned about the Lord and about one another. 

It’s Easter week. We are reminded that the resurrected Christ is the promise and guarantee of our resurrection, if our faith is in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. 

God took the traumatic moments of that Passover celebration and worked them together for the good of everyone at the table. The only exception was Judas, who refused to be called to God’s purpose. Jesus was born so that he could die. Easter was God’s good purpose and plan. Easter is our Passover. 

This year, I am praying that the viruses will pass over our homes. One can take an earthly life. However, the great virus is the one that can rob a person of life eternal. 

Easter was God’s reset of the Passover meal. We now know that meal is about the body and blood of Jesus. 

Easter was God’s reset of the covenant relationship. We know that those who believe on the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved. 

Easter 2020 can be a reset of your family’s celebration. God knew that Sunday, April 12, 2020, would come. He has promised to work all things together for our good. 

Will you be called to “his purpose” this Sunday? 

May your Easter 2020 be a great blessing to you and your family. 

“He is risen.” 

“He is risen, indeed.” 

Give generously

These days, are you wishing you could do something more?

Especially for those who are serving the rest of us?

I wanted to provide something you could easily print at home and use when picking up groceries, meals, etc. to say thanks and bless those who are practically helping all of us during these challenging times.

P.S. This download works best on Chrome. If using Safari, Firefox or any other browser make sure to check your print settings to make sure you are viewing it at 100% before printing!

A few suggestions for use:

  • Include a generosity flyer in an envelope with your (ample!) tip.
  • Leave a card with your cashier at the grocery store.
  • Place a card outside your door for those who may be dropping off groceries.

I’m sure you’ll come up with your own ideas as well.

Just remember: The Lord has blessed you to be a blessing to others.

Turn Your Eyes to Jesus

I grew up singing hymns in church, and I often use those familiar words to focus my thoughts on the Lord. 

I wasn’t sure what to write about this week, so I prayed and asked the Lord what he wanted to say. I’ve learned to remain in prayer and quiet my thoughts so I can hear his. 

During those quiet moments, I remembered these words to a favorite hymn: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.”

I ended my prayer time with a smile on my face and reached for my computer. 

Turn your eyes away 

It’s important to stay up with all that is going on in our world, but it’s easy to be consumed by the news and our need to know. Sometimes we need to turn our eyes away from news and focus on the One who transcends all news. 

We have often heard it said that information is power. There is no doubt that knowing the facts about COVID-19 will keep us safer. We all have smart choices to make and wrong choices to avoid. 

That said, one thing we have all noticed lately is that the facts we hear on the news may or may not be facts tomorrow or next week. There is still a lot to learn about this virus. 

We should allow the television news to guide our choices. We should also trust God’s Spirit to guide our thoughts and calm our fears. Jesus said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13). 

We should turn our eyes away from what might be facts so that we can seek God’s voice. It comforts me to remember that if I read his words in Scripture, they are certain. God’s word has been truth for every generation and remains truth today. 

If we turn our eyes away from the news to God’s word, we learn: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33). 

Turn your eyes toward the past

What does God’s word give us that the news cannot? 

We are all trying to understand what is not understandable. I find comfort in the fact that we have a lot in common with every generation that has lived before us.  

It has been a long time since preachers focused their sermons on things like hell, plagues, judgment, and fears. The popular sermons today focus on topics that make people feel better about themselves. The subject of most sermons are often about forgiveness, understanding, and comfort. The truth of God is in the totality of his word.  

I’ve wondered if our younger generations have been strengthened by their faith during these days—or if they have felt confused and “let down” by what God has allowed to happen. Did we prepare them with the whole truth of Scripture or just part of God’s story? 

God promised Isaiah, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). Isaiah’s peers were taken captive by Babylon for seventy years. 

Jesus told his disciples, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Jesus didn’t promise that believers wouldn’t have times of crisis; he promised we would. 

Every generation experiences a crisis in the world. In light of the past, the COVID crisis of our generation is just one of many. Previous generations were running for shelters, afraid of the bombs. Our great-grandparents and grandparents sent their children to other countries, to carry guns and fight wars. This virus has been described as a “war,” but I’m glad that my war isn’t like the one my great-grandparents feared. 

When we look at history, we find people of great faith in every generation. All of those people endured “tribulation” of some kind. Every generation of God’s people have been “dismayed” and in need of God’s “help” because every generation has experienced “tribulation.” 

When we look to the past, we realize we are only part of a much larger story. The provision of God for this crisis has already been promised. If we look toward the past, we can understand our present and find hope for our future. 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus 

Our ministry has been fielding a lot of questions about COVID-19 these days: 

  • Is this God’s judgment on our world? 
  • Could this be a sign of the end times? 
  • Should we shelter in fear, or live in faith? 
  • What is God saying to us in these days?  

People want answers today for questions that history will answer one day

In this “age of information,” we need to remember that the truth God gave Isaiah thousands of years ago is still truth today. God said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9). 

We want answers for our world that only God can give. Until God provides those answers, we have a more important goal. I often think of the fact that I am “sheltered” during the Lenten season. Why now? Could it be that God has provided me an abundance of quiet for an important reason? 

For the next two weeks, I would ask all of us to make a daily journey through the streets of Jerusalem to the hillside of Calvary. 

I want to walk with Jesus this week and see him as he struggles to carry his cross. 

I want to witness all that Jesus endured for my sake. 

I want to see Jesus “high and lifted up” for my salvation. 

I want to remember what happened so I can understand what matters. 

I want to “turn my eyes upon Jesus and look full in his wonderful face.”  

Turn your eyes upward 

There is a lot that I do not know about the days ahead. But I know God knows, and that is enough.  

Let’s join our praise with King David’s this week, saying, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3).  

Let’s turn our eyes toward Calvary and focus on Jesus. 

Then let’s turn our eyes to heaven and realize that Jesus granted every believer the opportunity to enter the presence of God one day.  Thank you, Lord, for a season that calls us to let “the things of this earth grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.”