Salvation is like a combo meal

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. 

Joyful Resurrection Day!  We found ourselves not "feeling" Easter as a holiday this year. Instead, we felt slightly awkward at the thought that we aren't joyful in our worship everyday. Everyday is a celebration of Easter, right? So, why do we put on our finest and cook a big ham for this particular Sunday celebration? Maybe we are far removed from the traditions that we grew up with. Here in Korea Easter is not celebrated the same. We did have a boiled egg, but it wasn't died. There were no egg hunts. No Easter baskets. (Although, I find myself really missing my mom's Easter baskets.) We had Indian curry for lunch with friends. We had an hour of worship together just singing out about how awesome Christ is and then we took some more engagement photos.

What we have noticed lately is that Easter is more than a day. It's more than a holiday, a season, but it's life and death. We are so thankful that we serve an awesome God who made his mortal body die on a cross so that we might be his children.

Derek played in the worship band on Easter Sunday. Nothing out of the ordinary for us. We sand the usual songs and had a message. One of the praise leaders shared a short message before we began worship from the daily devotional at our church. Without her soft voice, I might not do it justice, but just to share...

Imagine one sin that you have committed...now imagine that sin combined with the sin of your family. Now, imagine your combined family's sin along with your neighborhood...add that sin to the sin of your community...to your city...to your nation...now the world. Now, I want you to try to imagine the sin of all the ages...that is sin that Jesus died for...that is the weight of the sin that pierced the hands of God's son.

Wow, right? Our pastor gave a pretty great illustration of salvation this Sunday. He said salvation is like a combo meal that you get at McDonald's. You don't just order a hamburger (crucifixion). You always get fries (resurrection) and a coke (ascension). He said that salvation is not complete on the cross, but on the ascension of Christ into Heaven to be seated at the right hand of God the Father. YUP!

Words from Us: When you are in the Word, you live the Word, the Word changes you and it grows you. As we read the Bible together and in our alone time, we really see the passion that Jesus loves us with. That begins to emanate into all of our other relationships and we begin to see the passion that Jesus has for all his children. This daily helping of humble pie is so good that we begin to crave it every day with every meal!

This marks our second and what we hope is our final Easter in South Korea.With much love from two crazy lovebirds in SK, D & A