easter

Thursday April 5th, 2007

Sunday Speaker

Turner - American Legion Chaplain, Paul R. Bernard will be the quest speaker at the 10:30am Easter, family worship service, Sunday, April 8th at the Turner Village Church, Main Street. In memory of the 90^th anniversary of the US entry to WWI, April 6^th, 1917, the chaplains message will be, “Was Jesus a Veteran”

A Sunrise Service will also be held at 6:00AM. when Pastor Richard E. Wrentzel will speak on “A Living Message from the Cemetery”. Greeters will be Helen Millett and Lee Moody. Special Music will be provided by the children at the 10:30am service along with a music special by Margaret Sjostrom and the choir. All are welcomed to attend.

The chaplain opened with Prayer:

"Heavenly Father, on this day we are dramatically reminded of your rich blessings and of the debt of gratitude that we owe. You have revealed the extent of your love for us in the sufferings and death of your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. In his resurrection you have revealed your purpose in giving us victory over death and the grave and you have provided for us an eternity of fellowship with the redeemed in our eternal home.

Bless us today as we feast upon your word and touch my lips that I do no harm to your word. Amen"

Easter!

Could this be the message of Christianity?

“Good news from the cemetery or graveyard”

Pastor Wrentzel’s sunrise service message this morning was

“A Living message from the Cemetery”

Such Irony, graveyards are always melancholy (unhappy) places because they are associated with grief, sadness and separation from loved ones.

Pastor Wrentzel commented on the sorrow and despair the believers were experiencing on that first Easter morning.

But the angelic announcement in Mark 16:1-8 or Luke 24:1-12 or John 20:1-13 or Matthew 28:1-8

"He is not here: for he is risen as he said,

Come; see the place where the Lord lay.

And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is raised from the dead;"

This is the basic truth to Christianity.

Pastor Wrentzel brought out another interesting point this morning that is only found in Marks account in verse 3;

“And they were saying to one another, “who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?”

Because in Matthew 27: 66 Pilate had ordered the soldiers to “make the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.”

It was Christ who opened the tomb so we could come and see and it is Christ who empowers us to go and tell!

Brethren, the Easter message is not an argument or debate.

It is a divine proclamation. The heavenly angels declared that Jesus Christ had conquered death and risen to life. The empty tomb spoke with a shout declaring that he was no longer dead.

The very present strength of Christianity today is a dramatic testimony to the presence of the living Christ who has walked the corridors of time.

Out of the 19 major world religions which are subdivided into a total of 270 large religious groups, Christianity is the largest. 75% of all adults in both the United States and Canada are Christians.

Looking back at the last six months of Jesus earthly ministry, we see how he sought repeatedly to instruct his disciples concerning his forthcoming death upon the cross.

But they found these teachings impossible to understand and they tried to prevent his going to the cross.

This was yet another point Pastor Wrentzel brought out this morning,

Considering how many times Jesus told his disciples that he would be crucified and resurrected, why weren’t the men at the tomb with the women?

Christ shameful and horrible death upon the cross was, for them, a great personal tragedy.

Upon him they had placed their hopes for the future of their nation.

His death was a great political tragedy because they expected him to be a nationalistic Messiah who would deliver Israel from the domineering power of Rome.

His death upon the cross, for them, was a public disgrace.

There was no more shameful manner in which a man could die.

This was a fate so horrible that Roman law forbade the crucifixion of a Roman citizen even for the most heinous crime.

It wasn’t until the miracle of the first Easter morning that they began to understand what the Savior had been trying to communicate to their minds and hearts.

The empty tomb declared to their minds and hearts that Jesus Christ was really the divine Son of God. Romans 1:4

Then they remembered those special events when

He gave sight to the blind

He made the deaf to hear

He made the lame to walk

He brought the dead back to life

He commanded the winds to cease their blowing and they obeyed.

He ordered the waves of the sea to be calm and without hesitation they carried out His orders.

He claimed to be the Son of God

He publicly forgave sin

He even claimed to have the power to lay down His life and also to take it up again which was the boldest of His claims.

It was this, the fulfillment of this claim that authenticated the truth of all of His teachings and declared Him once and for all to be the God-Man.

He was the Eternal God with a human body.

The empty tomb declares that His death upon the cross in fact made atonement for our sins.

Romans 4:25

"Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification."

It's no wonder the hymn writer sang;

"Jesus paid it all.

All to him I owe.

Sin had left a crimson stain.

He washed it white as snow."

God was pleased with what had been accomplished by Christ on Calvary that the souls of men might be saved from the penalty of their sin.

Remember, the message was; “Go quickly and tell his disciples”

Why go quickly?

Why? Because the empty tomb was for the apostles, and for us is a promise of victory over death and over the grave.

Jesus had said to Martha before his death upon the cross,

“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he was dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” John 11:25-26

He also said, “Because I live, ye shall live also” John 14:19

By his resurrection from the dead, Jesus was giving a dramatic demonstration of the reality of immortality.

Eternal life is real. Bank on it!

Jesus is a living Savior!

Rev. 1:18 “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore”

Christianity is then defined in terms of a relationship to a living Lord. His living presence is a fact more solid than the mountains I see from my front porch on lower street, and more firmly established than the stars I marvel at in the night on the back deck.

This truth should revitalize our worship, for we come together, not in memory of a dead Christ but in fellowship with a living Lord who said;

Matt.18:20, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them”

Because Christ lives, our prayer life should be more meaningful. Why? Because when you pray you actually reach into the treasure chest of heaven for the needed resources you need to live day by day.

Some people go to Shaw’s everyday for nourishment, I go to prayer.

Sacrificial service is more meaningful and worthwhile because the resurrection proves that God will bring every good work to fruition. 1Cor.15:58

Because He lives, we are encouraged and strengthened every day.

And we should be bolder in attempting what is difficult.

Because of the resurrection Larry Sirois had the boldness to run for State Legislature. And because of the resurrection he will pass a bill to end all taxation. (just kidding)

Matthew 28:16 says;

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo; I am with you always, to the close of the age."

Pastor Wrentzel mentioned two of the shortest phrases that summarize today’s message;

“Come and See” and “Go and Tell”

That means that

'A King has ascended to His Throne!'

And that the Kingdom that He came to inaugurate in His own person is now established.

And the resurrection means that nothing can stop it now not even death!

Now for those of you who saw the small newspaper article in the Sun Journal on Thursday April 5^th that said

In memory of the 90^th anniversary of the US entry to WWI, April 6^th, 1917, the chaplains message will be, “Was Jesus a Veteran”?

Let me close by saying this, the death of Jesus Christ was not purely circumstantial; it was providential.

Jesus did not merely die as a victim, He died as a volunteer!

What this means is; He volunteered Himself to save you!

Jesus the first veteran who served his Father and fought to save his creation.

John 10:15,

“As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

17, therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it up again.

18, No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”

Or in military verbiage; these orders have I received of my Father.

After the first great war over 6 thousand years ago against Lucifer and the Almighty, Lucifer’s earth was flooded.

The Almighty then moved upon the earth and in the darkness which covered the waters restored the earth to a habitable state and created all things new.

Lucifer then re-entered the restored earth in the garden and tempted Adam and Eve causing their fall, thus regaining dominion of the earth which brought again the curse of sin and bondage and corruption.

It was left to Jesus Christ our first commander and chief to volunteer to come to earth to give of himself, to lay down his life for our redemption, freedom, and our liberties that we now enjoy.

My daughter went to see a movie called “Happy Feet”

She said it made her feel like dancing.

I’ll tell you something; this message makes me feel like dancing.

And that very spirit that Christ said he would send to us provides us with the inner strength to lay down our lives to preserve the liberty and freedoms we now enjoy in this great nation.

It’s no surprise that approximately 66 million gave their lives during WWI

And 62 million in WWII

And 3 and a half million during Korea

And over 3 million 800 thousand during Vietnam

And today over 3,257 of our young men and women have laid down their lives in the Middle East.

They come from all across America, from small towns and cities, and from various backgrounds.

They volunteered and answered their Nation’s Call to Duty.

And because of the resurrection our veterans crouched in the muddy trenches of Europe, confronted the enemy from the rocky crags of the Italian Alps and struggled up the sandy beaches of Normandy.
They froze through the bitter winters in the mountains of South Korea and steamed in the sodden jungles of Vietnam.
They’ve chased terrorists over the 10,000-foot mountain tops of Eastern Afghanistan and squinted against the dusty wind on the bleak, empty landscapes of Iraq.

But that’s not all our service members have done.

Even beyond fighting in wars, our troops are engaged in humanitarian and peace keeping missions.
Troops have gone to faraway places in countries torn apart by conflict to stand in the middle and maintain peace.

Now they’re building roads and bridges, schools and hospitals and providing water and electricity to the people of Iraq.

They are following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and they are following the great commission, going into all the earth fighting for peace and laying their lives down for their fellowman.

Easter to the Veteran means we can lay down our life as volunteers knowing that Christ will raise us up again and give us the promise of eternal life.

Easter to the missionary is what empowers them to lay down their lives for Christ work.

It is no surprise then that Stephen was stoned, Andrew was crucified on an X shaped cross, Bartholomew was flayed alive with knives, James the elder was martyred, James the lesser was sawed in pieces, Jude was killed with arrows, Matthew laid down his life for the faith, Peter died on the cross upside down, Philip was hung, Simon was martyred, Thomas was killed with a spear.

Colossians 3:1-4 we read;

"If ye then be raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."

In the light of all this, the Easter question is simple, what will you do with the rest of your life?

Let us stand as the Turner Village Choir leads us in “Go Tell the World”.

Commander Warren Clark, left, of Turner Post 111, 3rd District, receives the original American Legion Charter known as the Turner Post No.111 from Commander Richard Pope of the John D. Long, Buckfield Post 58, 5^th District at the March 5th, Turner Memorial Post 111 meeting.

Turner Legion post regains original charter
The article ran in the Friday, April 13th, and the Thursday, April 26th 2007, editions.

TURNER - The original Turner Post 111, American Legion, charter has been returned to the newly formed Turner Memorial Post.
The charter was preserved by the John D. Long Post 58, Buckfield, since 1976, when Bernard Trask was commander.
The original charter was given under the hand and seal of National Commander Franklin D'olier and Adjutant Lemuel L. Bolles at headquarters in Indianapolis, the first day of August 1920.
It was countersigned by Commander Albert L. Greenlaw and Adjutant James L. Boyle of the Department of Maine in Waterville on Aug. 10, 1920.
D'olier was the first national commander of the American Legion. He was among the delegates who assembled in the "Cirque de Paris" in March 1919 to form the American Legion and was elected the first commander at the Minneapolis convention. In private life D'Olier was the head of the Prudential Insurance Co. of America.
Greenlaw was instrumental in forming the Legion in Maine. Greenlaw also participated in conventions held in France and in Washington, D.C.
The history of Turner Post 111 is being researched, restored and published by Paul R. Bernard, Public Relations Historian.