Up from the Grave He Arose!

Happy Easter!  I love Easter--celebrating the resurrection of Jesus after He died for our sins!  I woke up early on Sunday to go to church with some friends in Port-au-Prince.  We left the house at 5:50am to walk to church. We merged with a river of people who were dressed to celebrate at the church.  The church was already packed when we got there--even the balcony was FULL!  That means there were over 3,000 people in attendance!  We were fortunate to find 3 seats at the very back of the church, but the fourth one of us went back home to grab a chair so she could sit somewhere.  There were people everywhere!  The celebration was beginning!  

We were handed a bulletin and I looked at the words--it was in French--but I could kind of follow along.  We sang as a congregation, then sat down as choir after choir sang songs of celebrating Jesus and the life we have in Him!  It was beautiful.  We listened to the readings from Matthew 28 and then 1 Corinthians 15 talking about the TRUTH:  that Jesus did die and was resurrected so we have HOPE because we will also be resurrected!  We had a time of celebration and praise (one humorous side note:  I recognized some of the melodies of the songs, but couldn't sing along...but when they sang original Creole worship songs, I could sing along because I knew some of them...).  People were waving their hands in the air, some were weeping and thanking the Lord for thing things He has done, others were dancing.  It was time for the sermon and we sat down to listen to Pastor Samson passionately give a message that was obviously planted deep in his soul.  After the message he said that if you must go you may, but invited everyone to stay for the Lord's Supper.  We stayed.

While everyone was receiving the bread and the wine, the musicians and singers began playing and singing what I would call traditional Easter hymns.  They sang "Up From the Grave He Arose" and "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" and many others.  I chuckled to myself and thought about how different these songs sound with an organ and in English.  I thought about the words and was so grateful for the cross and the love and forgiveness we find there.  Praise the Lord!  Thank You, Jesus!

The service finished with a benediction and we headed home after greeting some friends.  We arrived back home around 10:00 am that morning--maybe that was when some of you were heading to your service...

I won't forget this Easter service or this day.  May each of you know the hope, love, and grace that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.  In His death and resurrection...we are free and we have life!