6,;+HSSQHU*D]HWWH7LPHV+HSSQHU2UHJRQWednesday, March 27, 2024
Messages of Easter hope from local pastors
Moment
of Crisis
Krisis is the Greek term
for “decision” or “judg-
ment.” It is where we get
our English word crisis.
But before coming over
into the English language,
Hippocrates used a Lati-
nized version to describe
that “turning point in a
disease, that change which
indicates recovery or death
… It is that decisive point in
the progress of a disease …
point at which change must
come, for better or worse.”
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that “crisis moment” in
that sick person’s life, as
their well-being hung in the
balance at that particular
moment in time.
There is almost a di-
rect parallel with respect
to the way Hippocrates
understood the word krisis,
and that of how the Bible
speaks about the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Mankind is
sick with the disease of sin
leading to death and hell.
The gospel comes as the
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in time that a person is met
with the gospel, becomes a
crisis moment. There is an
urgency about the matter.
That person’s eternal des-
tiny hangs in the balance.
Will the person get better
or worse? Will his afterlife
consist of eternal torment
under the wrath of God or
eternal bliss in the presence
of God? That all hinges on
how that person responds
at that decisive moment in
time.
What is that message
that can save a man from
hell? The gospel of Jesus
Christ! The good news
of God becoming man in
the person of Jesus Christ
– being born of a virgin,
living a sinless life, and
then dying on the cross. It
is the powerful message
which heralds the news that
He did not stay dead. He
rose from the grave on the
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the Scriptures. Jesus con-
quered sin and death. He
crushed the head of Satan.
Then He triumphantly rose
from the dead giving proof
of His victory.
The Lord Jesus Christ
ascended to heaven where
He now rules as King. He
holds all authority in heav-
en and earth and commands
all men everywhere to turn
from their sins and put their
faith in Him. All mankind
is now commanded to bow
the knee to the Lord Jesus
Christ. To those who do,
forgiveness of sins and
eternal life is promised. To
those who do not, eternal
damnation.
Friends, today is a mo-
ment of crisis for you. You
have been confronted with
the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He commands you to re-
pent of your sins and put
your faith in what He has
done on behalf of sinners.
The pope (nor his priests)
cannot forgive you. Mary
cannot intercede for you.
Purgatory cannot cleanse
you. Joseph Smith and
Ellen G. White cannot help
you. Buddha cannot assist
you. Your good works and
prayers do nothing for you.
No one and nothing, but the
Lord Jesus Christ, can save
you from the wrath of God.
Faith alone in Christ alone
saves. Come to Him and
be healed of your sickness.
If you will not yield to Him
at this krisis, understand
another is coming. He is
coming to judge the living
and the dead. None will
escape that day of judg-
ment. Come to Christ and
live. “Behold, now is the
acceptable time, behold,
now is the day of salvation”
(2 Cor. 6:2).
Eric Schonbachler
Pastor, Lexington Re-
formed Baptist Church
www.lexrefbc.org
Breathes
through you
The Easter season starts
with dwelling on the resur-
rection appearances, and
then moves back in the
gospels to Jesus’ farewell
speeches while simulta-
neously moving forward
in the book of Acts as the
gospel spreads throughout
the lands. Each day we
are called not only to look
for the risen Christ’s pres-
ence deeper and deeper in
our own lives, but also to
ponder where the Spirit of
the risen Christ might be
calling us deeper into the
world.
Easter Sunday, we
gather with the disciples
on that first Easter, and
Jesus breathes the Spirit on
us. With Thomas, we ask
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us his wounded self in the
broken bread. From fright-
ened individuals, we are
transformed into a commu-
nity of open doors, peace,
forgiveness, and material
sharing such that no one
among us is in need. Part
of the church’s ministry,
then and now, is the praise
of God. The psalms we read
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the praise and exaltation at
what God has done. While
we start this Resurrection
Day at the empty tomb
wondering with Mary, we
end it with full-throated
ALLELUAIS in wonder-
ment for what God is still
doing among us and for
God’s promised presence
with us forever.
May the Spirit of the
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faith and trust, burn in you
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en your life to live out the
gospels as you are called by
God, and breathe through
you so others may see Jesus
alive in you. The God of
life, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, bless your journey
today and always. Amen.
Come discover and
walk with us; Sunday Ser-
vice 10 am; Sunday School
during worship, for children
3-12. All are welcome.
Hopeful Saints Min-
istry
“Are You
Alive?”
Are you alive? To an-
swer that you might reach
for your wrist to check for
a pulse. Hmm, yes, I feel
a heartbeat, so I must be
alive. Perhaps you would
blink a few times, look
around, feel the spring
breeze on your face, squint
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yes, I am alive.
We feel, we see, we
hear, we believe we are
alive. But is that really
what it means to be alive?
Is there more to being alive
than just physiological
processing taking place in
our body? And what about
when all those processes
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of neurons, and even the
beating of your heart ceas-
es? Are you dead? Or does
your existence still contin-
ue?
In just a few short
days, millions of people
around the world will cel-
ebrate the life of one man,
Jesus Christ. It is believed
by those who celebrate that
this man was executed by
the Roman Empire 2,000
years ago and died. That
would be a minor footnote
in history, no one would
probably even care, except
that three days later this
man rose from the dead.
He came back to life again.
Phenomenal!
Stunning!
Fantastic! So fantastic that
many more cannot believe
that this is actually true.
But by believing you will
be alive.
In a world plagued
by hurt and pain, we are
pressed to look to many
things to help us feel alive.
We might feel alive when
we are in love, so we seek
romance or romantic sto-
ries. We might feel alive
when we don’t have to
think about our troubles,
so we use substances that
numb us and help us forget
(at least for a little while)
those things that bother us.
We might feel alive when
we are productive and use-
ful, so we get up and go to
work. Achieving more, do-
ing more, feeling more so
that we might be alive.
The problem with ro-
mance and work or anoth-
er other thing we might use
to help us feel alive is that
those things are temporary
and limited. Romances
cool. Careers end in retire-
ment. Time runs out. There
is really only one lasting
solution to our dilemma.
We need a life source that
last, even beyond death.
The good news is there
is such a solution. When
Jesus rose from the dead,
he proved that he has pow-
er over death. Because
of Jesus death is dead.
Through Jesus you have
an opportunity to be alive
forever. For those who be-
lieve and follow him, life
changes. There’s no lon-
ger any need to worry be-
cause you will live forever.
There’s no reason to chase
a high or thrill because you
already have everything
in Jesus. Because of Jesus
you are alive!
Have you ever experi-
enced life in Jesus? Truly,
it is a lifelong pursuit. You
need other people who
love Jesus to help you and
encourage you and con-
stantly remind you, you are
alive in Jesus. Those peo-
ple are the church. Would
you consider this season
either believing Jesus for
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in your heart to reengage
and become involved with
a group of people who are
alive in Jesus. Your life
will never be the same.
You will be alive!
Come worship with us
on Easter morning at 10am
March 31 st !
560 Minor Street Hep-
pner, OR 97836
Willow Creek Baptist
Church
Tripp Finch
The Heart
of Easter
With Easter quickly
coming up, I felt it was
important to draw us back
into what the heart of Eas-
ter is truly about. In which
in order to do that I would
like to share this short story
from Dr. Paul Chappell.
Dr. Chappell once told
how, “A pastor in California
was giving an invitation
at the end of his Sunday
morning message when a
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the invitation of the Holy
Spirit came down the aisle.
Not knowing if the boy
was old enough to under-
stand salvation, the pastor
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began to ask some theo-
logical questions. The more
he questioned, the more
confused the boy became.
Finally, in exasperation,
the little fellow stopped and
innocently pleaded, “Pastor
Patterson, in your message
this morning you said that if
I would come and ask Jesus
to save me—He would!
Now, did you really mean
that or not?” The pastor
said, “I didn’t ask him any
more questions after that.”
He helped the boy to re-
spond to God’s invitation
by inviting Jesus Christ to
be his Savior.”
Now isn’t that exactly
what Easter should be fo-
cused on? Jesus our beloved
Lord and Savior went to
the cross, took all our sins
upon Himself, and died in
our place and three days
later He rose from the grave
so that we could have life.
He did this for two simple
reasons. Firs, because He
loves each and every one
of us so much that He was
unwilling to leave us to
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sin and death. Secondly, so
that we could turn to Him in
faith, be saved, and have a
renewed and restored rela-
tionship with our Heavenly
Father.
The boy in this short
story saw that simple truth
and so he responded in faith
to Jesus. As we come to
Easter let us not forget what
Jesus has done for us all. As
we come to Easter let us all
set aside some time from all
our fun family festivities in
order to praise and remem-
ber Jesus’ death, burial, and
resurrection. Let us all be
like the boy in this story and
chooses to respond to Jesus
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vation. For as Peter says in
1 Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ! According
to his great mercy, he has
caused us to be born again
to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead.”
Quentin Byers
Heppner Christian
Church
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Summer Job Opportunities for
Local Youth
PENDLETON, Ore.
(March 21, 2024)— The
Heppner Ranger District
is recruiting four to five
students between 15 to 18
years of age for summer
employment in the Youth
Conservation Corps (YCC).
Work can include removal
of noxious weeds, fence
removal, and construction,
trail maintenance, meadow
restoration, campground
maintenance, slash piling,
marking timber, removal of
tubing from tree seedlings,
DQG ¿UH OLQH FRQVWUXFWLRQ
around logged units on the
Heppner Ranger District.
The program will last
six to eight weeks starting
June 24, 2024. Youth will
be paid 15 dollars per hour.
No previous experience is
required. No housing or
transportation is provided.
Applicants must live in the
local area.
To apply, all interested
candidates must complete
and submit a signed appli-
cation. Hardcopy applica-
tions can be picked up at the
Heppner Ranger District
and at local high schools.
Additionally, the appli-
cation is available online
at https://tinyurl.com/5fvw-
fj85. Applications will be
accepted until 4:30 p.m. on
April 15, 2024.
Completed applications
can be emailed to marcia.
kemp@usda.gov or turned
in to the Heppner Ranger
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hand delivery at 117 S Main
St., Heppner, OR 97836,
Monday thru Friday be-
tween 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Applicants must:
Be at least 15 years
of age and not reach
the age of 19 during the
term of employment in
the program.
Be a United States cit-
izen, national, or lawful
permanent resident.
Have a valid social se-
curity number or proof of
application.
Obtain parental or legal
guardian consent to enroll
in the program.
$EOH WR IXO¿OO WKH HV-
sential function of assigned
work with or without a
reasonable accommodation.
Selections will be made
based on a review of appli-
cations. All applicants will
EHQRWL¿HGE\PDLORIWKHLU
selection status no later than
April 22, 2024.
For more information
about the YCC program,
please contact the Heppner
Ranger District at 541-676-
9187, extension 2100.
For more information
about the Umatilla National
Forest please visit www.
fs.usda.gov/umatilla/.
Women’s Golf play
day April 2 nd
Attention willow creek
women golfer; fun play
day!! Please come join us
IRU RXU ¿UVW ZRPHQ¶V JROI
play on April 2 nd at 9am.
Breakfast provided and
scramble golf to follow.
Welcome new golfers and
current members. A fun day
is planned on the Heppner
Willow Creek Golf Course.
Current members will be
meeting at 8:30 am prior
to breakfast. Also, mem-
bers please come and help
spruce up the club house
April 1 st , Monday at 9am.
For questions, please call
Sharon at 541-980-2363 or
7L൵DQ\DW
$275,000
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This single family home, spanning 1641 square feet,
boasts a spacious dining room and living room along
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P.O. Box 337
Heppner, OR 97836
Chris@sykesrealestate.net
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541-215-2274
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A beautifully remodeled 2-story home in Heppner.
This spacious residence boasts approx 2,400 square
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