HeppnerGazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon
Wednesday, A pril4,2012
-F IV E
...from area churches
The real you
The Resurrection of
Christ has given every be
liever the destiny to be a new
creature hidden in Christ! It
is more than just knowing
that through the completed
work of the cross. Christ’s
death, burial, and resurrec
tion and our faith in that
work, we have forgive
ness of sin and life eternal.
There is the here and now
and the understanding we
can have life and that more
abundantly.
The Apostle Paul gives
us the understanding:
“Therefore if any man be
in Christ, he is a new crea
ture: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are
become new.” II Cor. 5:17
(K J V )
Understanding what it
means to be a “new crea
ture in Christ" is essential
for enjoying the abundant
life of freedom that Jesus
Christ has provided for
every believer. We learn
how to avoid the common
traps of poor self-image
and self-condemnation as
we begin to view ourselves
from God’s perspective-
rather than from man’s
perspective. Assurance,
confidence and consisten
cy will characterize our
daily lives as we grow in
an understanding of what
God has provided for us in
Christ. We need to begin at
the beginning: What does it
mean to be a new creature
and what impact does this
have on our lives?
“For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall
all be made alive.” (1 Cor.
15:22)
In the age of grace,
when we trust the Lord Je
sus Christ as our Savior, the
Holy Spirit instantly bap
tizes us “into Christ” and
thus into His body. Being
“in Christ” is often referred
to as positional truth. The
baptism of I Corinthians
12:13 rightly viewed as the
mechanics of positional
truth: “For by one spirit
are we all baptized into one
body, whether we be Jews
or Gentiles, whether we be
bond or free; and have been
all made to drink into one
Spirit.”
Much religious confu
sion surrounds the topic of
baptism, but in Scripture the
main issue behind baptism
is total identification. This
is something that happens
to every individual believer
the moment we trust Christ:
we are totally identified
with Jesus Christ. It is in
Christ that we are “blessed
with all spiritual blessings”
(Eph. 1:3). It is in Christ
that we are made complete
(Colossians 2:10). It is in
Christ that “in everything
ye are enriched by Him” (I
Cor. 1:5). Thus it is in Christ
that we are made "new crea
tures." We are no longer
“in Adam.” Now we are
“in Christ.” When we step
out of Adam into Christ,
He steps out of heaven into
us and makes us into new
creatures.. .members of the
“one new man,” the body
of Christ.
In order to understand
our new identity as new
creatures in Christ, perhaps
we should start with Adam
and the “old things” of
which we once were a part.
Paul sets forth the story of
the old creation in Romans
5 by beginning where the
Bible begins, with the first
man. Adam:
“Wherefore, as by one
man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin;
and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have
sinned: For until the law
sin was in the world: but sin
is not imputed when there
is no law. Nevertheless
death reigned from Adam
to Moses, even over them
that had not sinned after the
similitude of Adam’s trans
gression, who is the figure
A cause to die for
of him that was to come.”
(Rom. 5:12-14)
“ C o n d e m n a tio n ,”
“death," “made sinners”...
that’s what we receive from
Adam. We are bom with
the same nature and destiny
that Adam possessed after
his fall. Every grave marker
in every cemetery is a tes
timony that God’s Word is
true. Because all of us have
sinned, death works in us
all. “Death reigns” as king
over the old creation. And
this is more than simply
physical death, for Revela
tion 21:8 declares: “But the
fearful, and unbelieving,
and the abominable, and
murders, and whoremon
gers, and sorcerers, and
idolaters, and all liars, shall
have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire
and brimstone: which is the
second death.”
Adam’s legacy is that
in our very nature we are
sinners. We sin because we
are sinners.. .it’s our nature
to do so. Sin reigns...it
is our master; we are its
slave. The testimony of
Scripture is clear: We are
“the servants of sin” (Rom.
6:17, 21). In John 8:34
Jesus Christ declares: “...
Verily, verily, I say unto
you, whosoever committeth
sin is the servant of sin.”
Sin has come and gripped
us so tightly that it runs
all of the old creation. The
old creation characterized
by selfishness, anger, ly
ing, self-centeredness, lust,
stealing, malice, bitterness,
greed, evil thoughts, and
pride...m ake your own
list. The Bible calls it sin
and it so dominates the old
creation that these things
are thought of as normal
human behavior. People do
them all the time. We don’t
think anything of it because
“that’s the way people are.”
Exactly: Sin runs the old
Anyone who reads the
Gospel of Jesus Christ has
to ask himself if he really
believes in the resurrection
of Jesus. As a notion, it
is completely contrary to
our experience. We have
all seen people die, but we
have not seen anyone rise
from the dead.
Many have no diffi
culty in believing that Jesus
died.
The details are given in
the Gospels: he was cruci
fied, nailed to the cross, his
side pierced with a lance,
and he himself exclaimed,
“It is finished.”
However, there is a
strange realism in the Gos
pel accounts of the resurrec
tion of Jesus. The apostles
did not expect him to rise
from the dead; they were
God's love and the resurrection
Although the Christian
message is one of sharing
God’s love with all people,
it would not have become
such a unique religion with
out the Easter event.
The Holy Scriptures
of the Christian faith, (the
Holy Bible) relate that Jesus
of Nazareth was crucified
on the day of preparation
for the Passover Feast, be
cause his ministry of inclu
sion of all people into God’s
Kingdom was a threat to the
established Jewish religion
of exclusion of those who
did not follow its purity
code. His body was taken
from the cross on the eve
ning of that day because the
Jewish leaders did not want
it displayed on the Sabbath,
which began at sunset. Prior
to the body being taken
from the cross, death was
pronounced. Thereafter, a
couple of Jesus’ disciples
(Joseph of Arimathea and
Nicodemus) asked the gov
ernor of Jerusalem, Pilate,
if they could take the body
-See THE REAL YOU/PAGE and place it in a tomb.
EIGHT Pilate consented. These
two disciples then took the
body, wrapped in it a burial
L es S ch w ab co ng ratulates H eppner
cloth with myrrh and aloes,
and placed it in the tomb.
E lementary a n d H eppner H igh S c h o o l ' s
Joseph then placed a stone
in front of the tomb. At the
STUDENTS OF THE MONTH
request of the Jewish priests
and Pharisees, Pilate placed
a Roman army detail to
stand guard over the tomb
for three days, to make sure
that none of Jesus’ disciples
could steal the body and
claim that he had been res
S'MARCH S CHARACTER TRAIT
INTEGRITY
of them be so foolish as
to die for a truth in which
they did not believe? Mar
tyrdom speaks louder than
words. And what about St.
Paul? He was initially a
persecutor of the Church.
He was able to write to the
Corinthians (1 Cor. 15:3-8),
“Christ died for our sins...
on the third day he was
raised to life.”
He goes on to tell that
Jesus appeared to Cephas,
to 500 brothers, to all the
apostles, and last of all to
himself.
May you and 1 be im
bued in that same faith so
that Easter is the joyous
occasion to celebrate the
resurrection of Jesus.
Father Gerry Condon
St. Patrick 's/St. William s
Catholic parishes
astonished. They were not
even the first ones to go to
the tomb; the women did.
They also did not go to the
tomb expecting the resur
rection. They w ent bringing
spices to anoint the body.
Mary Magdalene thought
the body was stolen.
Thomas, one o f the
twelve, was totally incredu
lous. “1 will never believe
it w ithout probing the nail-
prints in his hands, without
putting my finger in the
nailmarks and my hand into
his side.” (Jn. 20:25) What
a wonderful transformation
a week later, when he was
able to say, “My Lord and
my God.” (Jn. 20, 28)
Yet, greater than that,
those apostles not only went
and preached Jesus, almost
all died martyrs. Would any
y
urrected.
While it was still dark
on the first day of the week,
the third day after Jesus’
crucifixion, death and
burial, Mary came to the
tomb to re-apply the spices.
When she arrived at the
tomb, she saw that the stone
had been rolled away and
that the body of Jesus was
not in the tomb. Jesus then
appeared to her and told her
to go tell His disciples that
he had risen. She did so.
Peter and the disciple whom
Jesus loved came to the
tomb to see for themselves
that it was empty. Later in
the day, Jesus appeared to
the disciples. He continued
to teach His message of
inclusion and shalom—an
evening-up of the play
ing field— that God loves
everyone, and that we are
to love others as He loves
us, for 40 days prior to His
ascension.
Had it not been for the
resurrection of Jesus of
Nazareth, which was con
firmed by His disciples—
both women and men—
recognition that Jesus is the
Son of God would not have
been as easily accepted.
Therefore, the Easter
message is that Jesus of
Nazareth, the Son of God,
is risen! He is risen, indeed!
We are all called to follow
His teachings of acceptance
of everyone. We are all
called to defend and care
for those less fortunate than
we are. We are all called to
love everyone in the same
way that God loves us...
unconditionally, unceas
ingly, universally.
As Christians, we be
lieve the message of Je
sus—that all who accept
the gift of faith that God
is our Creator, that Jesus
is the Son of God, and that
the Holy Spirit is the Divine
Presence within and among
us—all have eternal life
and are forgiven of their
deviations from God’s love
upon confession of these
miscues.
So on this Easter morn
ing, Sunday, April 8, 2012,
we proclaim with convic
tion that Jesus of Nazareth
is risen; He is risen indeed!
And we encourage every
one in greater Heppner to
attend a worship service
this day and join in prais
ing God, our Creator, for
giving us the Good News
of Jesus.
The celebration begins
with the Ecumenical Sun
rise Service at the football
grandstands at 7 a.m.
At Heppner United
Methodist Church we will
be serving our community
breakfast between 8 a.m.
and 10 a.m. This is a free
will donation meal. Come
and eat, without worrying
about how much it will
cost.
At 10:30 a.m. we will
have our celebration of
Easter worship service.
Pastor Jonathan En:
United Methodist Church
Death not the last word
Back (L-R): Queen Maggie Collins, Serenity Rodriguez, Jimmy Adams, Claire
Grieb, Reiah Waite, Shayna Osmin, Gibson McCurry, Justice Petzoldt, and Wyatt
Corwin. Front (L-R): Brian Lindsay, Jonathon Waddell, Jennie Adams, Bill Alldritt,
Ireland Martin, ZaBrena Masterson, Gracie Orem, Evan «oilman and Jazmin
Barrett. Not pictured Landon Mitchell.
Jesus died. Jesus lives.
Doesn’t that tell the story
in reverse? For every other
historical figure, we tell
about life, and then report a
death, both past tense, done
and over with. For Jesus,
the news is upside down
and backward, like every
thing else about him. He
was a king bom into pov
erty. He lived a sinless life
in the company of sinners
and outcasts. He was with
God at the creation of the
world but he let the world
beat him and betray him and
nail him to a cross. He died
too soon, but God’s love
was stronger than death.
He lives.
It’s a mystery we won’t
fully understand until the
day we see him face to
face...a day that might
take us by surprise. But for
those who believe in Jesus,
that surprise is filled with
joy...the kind of surpris
ing joy that greeted certain
women who came to care
for a dead body early one
Sunday morning and found
an empty tomb instead.
The story o f Jesus
doesn’t end with death,
because death doesn’t have
the last word. God does.
Love wins. Those who ac
cept the gift of God’s love,
revealed in the life, death
and resurrection of Jesus,
win too: life in God’s pres
ence forever, an abundant
life that begins now.
Jesus died. Jesus lives.
And that’s good news for
us.
Pastor Katy Anderson
All Saints Episcopal/Hope
Lutheran churches
USDA warns of fraud
USDA officials
learned recently that fraud
ulent letters and phone calls
are being sent to individuals
and businesses in several
states. The letters purport
edly come from a USDA
procurement officer and
seek personal information.
“These letters are
false and in no case should
Bottom (L-R): HHS students of the month Tim Gould, Kaden Clark, Joseph
Schmidt, Jaden Orr, Bryce Fowler and Ryan Bennett
ITm U S SCHWAB
a recipient respond with
personal and financial in
formation," states a USDA
release.
The fraudulent
letters bear USDA’s logo
and seal and are signed by
an individual identified as
“Frank Rutenberg” using
a title of “Senior Procure
ment Officer.”
Recipients should
not respond or supply any
information. USDA is in
vestigating this matter.
If you suspect you
have received such a letter
or have questions, contact
USDA at procurement.
policy@dm.usda.gov or
call 202-720-9448.