 Hi, this is Pastor David Rosales of Calvary Chapel of the Chino Valley, California. This last Sunday was Easter Sunday, and churches throughout the world had the blessed opportunity of celebrating and proclaiming the greatest message mankind has ever been gifted with, the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is a message that has, over the many years, been in many ways neglected and in some places entirely lost, being hidden behind Easter egg hunts and church extravaganzas that actually obscure the message. A message that specifically calls for repentance from sins, faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior, obedience that demonstrates salvation and a holy life that is now set apart for the service of the Lord. By our carnal efforts, plans, and strategies, we can actually succeed in having filled pews but we end up with spiritually empty people, attendees that were never altered, congregants that were never converted, goats that were entertained and sheep that were starved. This often is the result of fearing to offend sensitive hearers with a complete gospel message. We know that the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, so to make the message more appealing, we water it down and reduce it to sentimental sains and nostalgic Easter memories, and as a result we fail to call sinners to repentance and believers to holiness and obedience. Even my saying such a thing is sure to get a response from immature Christians who sporadically attend church services throughout the year and hardly, if ever, open their Bibles to read what God's Word very directly teaches us concerning the Christian life. This is the state of the church today and very few are actually concerned enough to say something openly about it. In one way, I'm blessed to see our church is filled to capacity on such days as Easter Sunday. It reveals that the nation is still open to hearing of Jesus and for me that is a great cause of celebration. Still it breaks my heart to know that when given the opportunity of sharing with passion the great story of death being swallowed up in victory, many pastors chose to use Easter as an opportunity of exposing their church and all that it has to offer to visitors instead of revealing the Savior to the lost and encouraging the backslider to return to the Lord. Throughout our nation and throughout our local area churches that are often ministering to less than capacity attendees were filled with Easter celebrants. Of course we pastors are blessed to see our church is so filled and truly love having the opportunity of sharing the good news of the gospel to so many who for whatever reasons do not regularly attend our services and still when given the opportunity of declaring God's love and grace we fear offending sensitive visitors and fall into the trap of making the gospel acceptable to men instead of preaching a message that makes men acceptable to God. In the New Testament epistle of 2 Corinthians the apostle Paul defended himself against a variety of accusations that had been lodged against him by infiltrators who were undermining the power of the gospel through their deceptive teachings. It was common then as it is also today to attack the person if you wanted to undermine their teachings and this is what was occurring in the Corinthian church. When you look at the book closely you'll see that Paul no less than 24 times answered accusations that were lodged against him by the false teachers. They obviously opposed the message of the gospel and because because they did they attempted to call into question Paul's motives in preaching and his message. In chapter 2 verse 17 Paul answered their accusations by declaring for we are not as so many peddling the word of God but as of sincerity but as from God we speak in the sight of God in Christ. He was saying we're not altering the gospel for personal gain our hearts are pure and we know that we are accountable to Jesus for what we say in his name. This is something that we the church need to remember in these last days. We're to remember to share the timeless message of God's holiness, hatred for sin and ultimate judgment balanced by his loving grace that has reached into this world to rescue the lost and to transform their lives by his powerful spirit and his living and eternal word. This is the message that should be woven within every Bible teaching that we give or receive. It is a message that undergirds all else that is being taught in that it is the foundation of all gospel truth. If we do not understand that God hates sin and yet has made a way for sinners to know him then we may be guilty of giving an incomplete message and leaving people in the same state they were in when they entered the church building. Again this last Sunday was Easter Sunday and many came to church for the one time of the year that they make an effort to be there. If you're able to be in church services the week after Easter Sunday then by all means make every effort to be there. If you attend services regularly at your home fellowship then determine to be more than a pew warmer in the church and begin to find ways to be involved in the life of your church. Determine to be more than an occasional attendee and stop bouncing from church to church. Determine that for you Easter will be an everyday event and not a once in a year memorial. If you invited your friends to church for Easter services follow up contact them once again invite them to this upcoming Sunday service. Some were moved by what the Lord did and in countless churches throughout our nation the gospel was faithfully and passionately given out. Follow up invite your friends to attend once again and continue faithfully praying for them and inviting them. To you my fellow pastors faithful servants and comrades in arms keep your hand to the plow keep looking up keep faithfully proclaiming the timeless message of the gospel. Do not grow weary while doing good and remember that in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. The struggle is real the work is exhausting the labor continuous and the responses so very often can appear almost invisible but also remember that the kingdom of God is like a seed that sprouts and grows but the one scattering seed often does not realize that the seed scattered actually will produce a crop so often we think our labor is in vain but in fact God is doing a work that we simply cannot see at the time remain faithful keep serving him and for the rest of you please hold fast to what you have in the Lord serve him daily resist the temptation of being a lukewarm Christian and rely on the power of the Spirit in God's word daily may we take the joy and energy that we experienced on Easter Sunday and renew it every day may God bless you and for those who are with us this last Sunday I look forward to seeing you this next Sunday I love you this is David Rosales pastor Calvary Chapel of the Chino Valley California