Dear Saints of Valley Church,
After over five decades of sharing the gospel in turnip fields, ten-thousand-seat auditoriums, and churches around the world, the evangelist Gypsy Smith was asked, “Gypsy, I heard you preach over fifty years ago, and my how you blessed my heart then. I have never forgotten it, but again tonight, how my heart was warmed and thrilled! Gypsy, tell me, what’s the secret?” I love Smith’s answer: “I have never lost the wonder of it all.”
Can we say the same as we approach our remembrance of Christ’s death on Good Friday and our celebration of his resurrection on Sunday morning? Year after year (and Sunday after Sunday), we hear about the importance of Jesus’s death and resurrection, we sing songs about the cross and his victorious resurrection, we teach these truths to our children, we share these good-news-gospel truths with our friends and family, but do we still wonder at these truths ourselves? Have our hearts become calloused to the wonder of the cross and the empty tomb?
This Friday, come join us for our Good Friday Service at 7pm so that our calloused hearts will be revived as we behold our Savior’s sacrifice, listen to his final words from the cross, and consider his substitutionary payment for our sins. As pastor and theologian John Stott once wrote, “The cross is the blazing fire at which the flame of our love is kindled, but we have to get near enough for its sparks to fall on us.” I hope you will join us as we seek to draw close enough to the cross for our hearts to feel the heat from our Savior’s vicarious sacrifice.
Then, come celebrate Christ’s Resurrection on Sunday morning! Come early at 10am for a time of fellowship with food and coffee, children’s Easter activities, and opportunities to welcome our guests who will join us that morning. Then we will consider John’s eyewitness testimony from John 20:1-18 of that early Sunday morning when the first witnesses discover the empty tomb and the risen Lord. Through John’s Spirit-inspired testimony, we get to see what Peter saw, understand what John understood, and hear what Mary heard so that our hearts would once again overflow with wonder at the empty tomb and the Risen Savior!
“I have never lost the wonder of it all.” My prayer for our church family this week is that we will continue to marvel at the wonder of it all. I have also been so encouraged to hear of so many who have been inviting their lost friends and family to Easter, and I am praying that the Lord draws them to join us this Sunday and opens their hearts to behold and believe in the wonder of the risen Savior, Jesus Christ. Please help us prepare to welcome these guests by parking in the lot behind the Activities Center. You are also welcome to join our elders and staff in our overflow room in the Campus Center during the Sunday gathering to make space for our guests in the sanctuary.
By His strength and for His glory,
Craig Shigyo
