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By Joseph Perry

Acts 10:39-43; Luke 24:1-7

Do you still believe that Christ has been raised from the dead?

Steven Hawking, a well-known physicist who passed away two years ago, didn’t believe that Heaven existed. He, like others around the world, also was not sure that Christ was raised from the dead.

There are people who have tendencies to accept people’s theories at times even when they have been brought up believing and sharing with others that Jesus arose from the dead. We used to go to church and do Easter recitations, have Easter egg hunts. However, we are living in a time when there is so much that will throw us off. We are living in a time where we’re seeing things occurring such as COVID-19, along with other things, which will cause you to look at life from a different view. I know it’s been a long time since the Lord arose from the dead, but we must still believe.

Peter, in the book of Acts, stood up in the midst of all of those spiritual leaders and declared that Christ, who they crucified on a tree, was in fact raised from the dead. If we dismiss this awesome moment in the life of the church, we then have nothing to hold on to. The Christian faith is centered around what happened more than 2,000 years ago. We have to know for sure, regardless of what happens in our lives. We must know not only what He did, but we also must accept and believe that He did it for each of us.

It is so significant that each of the four gospel writers mentions the Resurrection. Because of what happened that great day, there ought to be a cause and effect such as continuing to walk uprightly, to worship a universal God, and to witness to the unchurched. It’s our responsibility to walk uprightly once we acknowledge what He has done for us personally.

Then, of course, we must worship Him with our whole heart. Why? Because He is the God who sent His Son to die for the whole world. It was not just for a certain group of people, but for every one of us who would accept Him as Lord and Savior.

Lastly, we have a responsibility to witness to a world who does not know the Lord. We must take time to share the old story about Jesus and His love. We should take this time as we are in our homes, and trying to remain safe, to get on our devices and on our phones telling those who we come in contact with about the God who loves us so much. It was His love that caught our falling soul.

You don’t have to deal with the theories. No, we have the facts, and because we have the facts, we still can believe. Go shout it on the mountain top, go tell the world, that Christ our Lord has risen. Through it all, trust Him during this season, that He will bring us through it all.

The Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Perry is pastor of St. Mark AMEZ Church. Contact him at josephp134@gmail.com.