A Note from Pastor

 “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!  The strife is o’er, the battle done; now is the victor’s triumph won; Now be song of praise begun. Alleluia!” (LSB 464, v. 1) Yet, before the battle was done, and the alleluia’s of Easter sung, the suffering and the cross is the path our Lord had to follow to save us.  
    As the prophet Isaiah foretold, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”
    So, thanks be to God; the suffering crucifixion, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus is what we need more than all the health, wealth and pleasures of this world.  
    Because as St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”  Therefore, as we prepare to celebrate our Lord’s resurrection and great victory over death this Easter, remember our victory is through Him and let us praise Him and sing our alleluias with great joy and thankfulness for all Jesus has done!  May the Lord grant you a blessed Holy Week and Easter.