Samantha Keller: Barbara Rainey wants to influence your thinking about how you commemorate and celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

Barbara Rainey: I want to give you four suggestions for ways that you might begin to make Easter a more important holiday for you and your family. I would hope and pray that perhaps you would influence others—maybe, even your church—to find ways to celebrate Easter in a more meaningful way—that properly exalts and magnifies Him for what He has done for us.

Samantha: Welcome to the Barbara Rainey Podcast from Ever Thine Home, dedicated to helping you experience God in your home. Thanks for listening!

You know, through the centuries, Easter’s been celebrated in a variety of ways.

If you’d been alive in medieval Europe, say in the 14th century, it’s very possible that an Easter service would have included a hymn similar to this one.

(Gregorian chant Easter hymn)

It was likely in a language you didn’t understand, and it sounded somber, transcendent — almost ominous.

(Gregorian chant Easter hymn)

In 1739 the prolific hymn writer and leader of the Methodist movement, Charles Wesley, wrote a hymn many churches are still singing today:

(“Christ the Lord is Risen Today”)

Fast forward to 1974, a vocal trio made up of two sisters and their brother, calling themselves The 2nd Chapter of Acts, recorded “The Easter Song.”

(“The Easter Song”)

And more recently, the Irish husband and wife Keith and Kristyn Getty, along with producer and songwriter Ed Cash, wrote this:

(“Christ Is Risen, He Is Risen Indeed”)

It’s safe to say, musical styles have changed through the years! And when it comes to celebrating Easter, different cultures do it in different ways.

Barbara Rainey wants us to do all we can to keep Easter from becoming a near-afterthought. This is Holy Week, and Sunday is Resurrection Sunday. What are you doing to prepare your heart for Easter?

We’re about to hear a portion of a message Barbara gave a few years back, on a special Caribbean cruise for couples, hosted by FamilyLife — the “Love Like You Mean It” cruise.

Here’s Barbara Rainey with some practical ways we can make this Easter more meaningful. Let’s listen together.

Barbara: Here’s my first suggestion on how to elevate Easter this year. Number one: “Forget the bunnies and the chicks.” They have absolutely nothing to do with Easter; and yet—I’ve been watching for the last few years—and that’s all there is in stores. That’s what I see on people’s front doors. It’s what I see in their yards. It’s what I see, everywhere, related to Easter.

Now, we Christians have found some really creative uses for eggs. FamilyLife has Resurrection Eggs® as a resource that we’ve created to help families or help churches communicate the gospel and the story of the resurrection to children—it is a dozen eggs. Each egg has a symbol of what happened in Jesus’ life—and it points to the resurrection—with the last egg being empty to illustrate the empty tomb.

But I’ve also thought through how interesting it is that Paul said in the Scripture, “And when I was a child I thought like a child, but when I became an adult I put away childish things.” Resurrection Eggs are for kids, and they’re great for kids; but I’m not going to decorate with bunnies and chicks anymore. I want my house to reflect the resurrection of Christ and what’s true about Him. I think part of the reason that we do focus on those things is because they’re cute, and they’re easy, and they’re nice. There are some facts about the resurrection that are not particularly attractive, and they’re not easy to know what to do with. So, my first suggestion is to get rid of those things that don’t have anything to do with Christ; and focus on Him.

My second suggestion is: “Don’t dismiss the difficult.” See, the resurrection is a real difficult concept; isn’t it?

It’s all about blood, it’s all about death, and it’s all about betrayal. It’s really hard—isn’t it?—for us to understand that. What’s Christmas about? It’s about a baby, it’s about presents, it’s about stars, and it’s about angels. Christmas is a feel-good holiday. Easter is not a feel-good holiday; but I think, as believers, we have to move into that which is difficult.

I don’t think we should run away from it. Jesus told us to commemorate His death. He told us to commemorate His resurrection. One of the things that He said—that I just can’t quite get over—He said in John 12:49, “I do nothing on my own initiative.” He said, “I always do the things that are pleasing to the Father.” Now, think about that for a minute. Jesus said, “I do nothing”— nothing—“nothing on my own initiative.”

Now, if you’re anything like me—and you are—I do lots of things on my own initiative. I’m always making decisions that are good for me. I’m always thinking about what I want to do / where I want to go. I do a lot on my own initiative. But Jesus never did one single thing on His own initiative—and because He did nothing on His own initiative, He rejected any whispers that He heard, in His ear, from the enemy, to walk away from the cross. He submitted His life to the evil plans of wicked priests, who had schemes that they were trying to work. He willingly shed His blood for you and for me.
So, I want to challenge you: “Don’t dismiss the difficult.” Walk into it. Think about it. Meditate on it.

Let your life go there because, if you do, Easter Sunday is going to mean so much more to you if you will let yourself focus on the difficult and think about those really hard concepts that are all wrapped up in Easter.

The third thing I want to challenge you to do is: “Focus on the Lamb.” If you want a softer symbol for Easter, the Lamb is it because, in the book of John—when John the Baptist saw Jesus—he called Him what?—the Lamb of God. He said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

When you focus on the Lamb, and you learn about what He did, and you learn about Passover, and you learn about the sacrifice that God required, then Easter Sunday is so much more meaningful because you understand why Jesus had to do what He had to do. To think that He did this because He loved us—it’s all the more stunning. It’s all the more shocking. So: “Focus on the Lamb”—learn about the Lamb.

Jesus said in Hebrews 10:5—He said, “A body Thou hast prepared for me.” The body Jesus had was destined, from the very beginning, to be slain for us because He was the Lamb of God. From the very beginning, Jesus was destined for sacrifice. He voluntarily gave His perfectly-lived life on the cross for me and for you. Good Friday is good because of the Lamb. So, I want to challenge you to: “Focus on the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

And then number four: “I want to challenge you to marvel at the miracle.” Have you ever witnessed a miraculous event happen or have you been to a really amazing geographical place—like the Grand Canyon, or Niagara Falls, or Victoria Falls?—something that just takes your breath away? When you go to a place like that, or you see something like that, we’re often speechless.

I want to read something that John Piper says in his book—it’s called The Passion of Jesus Christ. It’s 50 chapters—just two little short-page chapters each—about all the reasons why Jesus had to die. He said:

The most astonishing thing is that evil and suffering were Christ’s appointed way of victory over evil and suffering. Every act of treachery and brutality against Jesus was sinful and evil, but God was in it. The Bible says, “Jesus was delivered up to death, according to the plan and foreknowledge of God.”

The lash on His back, the thorns on His head, the spit on His cheek, the bruises on His face, the nails in His hand, the desertion by the disciples, the betrayal of a friend, and the scorn of the rulers—all designed, by God, to destroy the power of sin. Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, did “whatever Your hand and Your plan had predetermined to take place.”
And that last verse is out of Acts.

So, when you think about what Jesus did for us, we should be speechless. We should be in awe. We should fall on our faces. That’s the kind of experience / that’s the kind of emotion—that’s what I think we need in Easter. It shouldn’t be a holiday that we just kind of go, “Oh well.” We need to feel some of what Jesus felt. We need to be in awe, and we need to marvel over what He did for us.

So how do you marvel at Easter? Do you prepare for days, creating an all-day celebration like none other, all year long?—maybe. That might be a good idea. Or do you jump, and cheer, and even cry for joy, as so many of us do for our favorite sports teams?

When was the last time you were in a group of people—and you celebrated Christ’s resurrection—and everyone jumped, and cheered, and screamed, and hollered, and did like this—like we do for sports teams?

I watch these stadiums—full of people—who are just jumping, and cheering, and just screaming their lungs out—but what do we do in church? It’s okay. We don’t all have to do that; but on Easter Sunday—on the day that Christ rose from the dead and rescued us?—for us to sit there as if it’s just any old other Sunday—I don’t think so! I don’t think so.

Another question: “Do you dance with abandon like David did when the Ark of the Covenant was returned to Jerusalem?” He was so exultant. He was so excited that God’s presence was back that he danced for joy. And again, I think that’s a good example for us to consider, as we think about Easter.

How can we, as parishioners—how can we, as the people of the church / as believers in Christ—make Easter something that calls out that kind of celebration, that kind of worship, that kind of joy in us?—so that the world says: “Well, I wonder what’s going on over there? Why are they so excited? I want to know!”

I want to challenge you to: “Make a difference this year.” I am praying, regularly, that God would grant us the favor, and the ideas, and the creativity, and the stamina, to come up with some really cool ideas for celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I’m praying that many of you will be a part of that—that many of you will think of some ideas—that many of you will come up with something that your church can do—what can you do to celebrate, all day, on Resurrection Sunday?

I believe that you can make a difference, and I believe that God wants to use you to make a difference in this holiday.

I want to remind you of that verse: “Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring. For His grace and power are such, none can ever ask too much.” I want to challenge you to think about that in relation to your life, in relation to your church, in relation to Easter too. I want to close with a little prayer. It’s in the back of this book, by John Piper, that I think is really appropriate:
Father, I pray for us—I pray for all of us—that the fog of our indifference to eternal things would be lifted. I pray that the reality of heaven and hell would become clear to us. I pray that the centrality of Christ in the history of the world would become plain and that His passion, His sacrifice, His death would be seen as the most important event that ever happened.

I pray, Father, that You will grant me and many in this room ideas, and creativity, and motivation. Help us, Father, to elevate the celebration of Easter—the celebration of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection to a place that is worthy of what He did for us. I ask this that You might be honored and glorified. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Samantha: Amen! We’ve been listening to Barbara Rainey, with some helpful suggestions for ways to keep the importance of Easter in the forefront of our minds and in our families.

In just a moment we’ll hear from Barbara’s husband Dennis.

But I wanted to point you to the Easter-related resources available at EverThineHome.com. As Barbara said, you’re not going to find bunnies or chicks. But you are going to find the new I AM names of Jesus calendar, candle wraps and cards to help make your Easter celebration focused on the resurrected Christ. Even though you won’t get them in time for this Easter, you can go ahead and prepare for next year! Again, they’re available at EverThineHome.com.

Now, to close our podcast today, Barbara’s husband, Dennis, takes us to God’s Word.

Dennis Rainey: You know, if our listeners haven’t read 1 Corinthians 15 recently, they need to go read it. It’s a long chapter—but a great chapter because it talks about one of the most incredible events in all of human history.

It may be the most important event in all human history. It’s where the God-Man, Jesus, went to a cross; died on that cross for our sins; bore the weight / the punishment of God, the Father; and then was buried; and three days later defeated death; came back alive; appeared to Peter, and the disciples, and to a number of people; and then was transformed, 40 days later, to be seated at the right hand of God, the Father.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15 about how, “If Christ hasn’t been raised from the dead” then he says, “we are still in our sins.”

He makes this statement—he says, “If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

If Christ didn’t do that—we’re doomed in our sins—but He did do it. He did live a perfect life, He did go to the cross, and He did bear the penalty of our wrongdoing / our law-breaking before Almighty God. Then, He died and was buried; and then, on the third day, He defeated death and came back.

Because He’s alive, He offers eternal life to all.
Samantha: Thanks for listening to the Barbara Rainey Podcast from Ever Thine Home.