The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a cornerstone of our Faith.  The apostle Paul said if Christ is not risen from the dead, then our faith is vain and we are still in our sins.

Jesus showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs – proofs of His resurrection!  There is not sufficient space in this short blog to discuss the enormous amount of evidence of Christ’s resurrection.  If you’re interested in a thorough discussion of the subject, I recommend Josh McDowell’s book, “The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict.” http://www.josh.org/.  I would, however, like to discuss just one fact that points to the Risen Savior: His enemies never found a body!

The Jewish religious leaders viciously opposed Jesus throughout His ministry.  After His death they reminded Pilate that Jesus had spoken of a resurrection. They asked Pilate to place a guard at the tomb and seal the entrance so His disciples couldn’t come and steal His body then say He had resurrected.  Pilate agreed to their request.

The Jewish leaders knew where the tomb was.  Their watchful temple guard knew exactly where Jesus was laid.  They were prepared to go to any lengths to suppress Christianity.  All they had to do was produce a body!  All they had to do to put an end to the Jesus movement was produce His body.  All they had to do was put Jesus’ corpse on a cart and parade it through the streets of Jerusalem and Christianity would have died with its Christ.

But there was no body.  The tomb was empty. He arose on the third day!

The Romans persecuted the Christians.  They tried to rid them from their society.  All the Romans had to do was show Jesus’ body in a tomb and that would have ended it.  Are you telling me that the Emperors of Rome did not have the means to produce the corpse of Jesus if there was a corpse?  Augustus? Tiberius? Claudius? Nero? The only thing these Caesars had to do to expunge Christianity was produce a body.  Find His resting place.  Find His body.  Display His corpse in the public square with this inscription:

“Here lies Jesus of Nazareth – impostor who claimed to be God – who said He would RISE again.  Here lies His body!”

That would have sealed the fate of Christianity.

But the Jews and Romans – enemies of the Church –  are throughout all history strangely silent!  They never claim a body.  Why is that? There was no body. He got up!  Jesus resurrected on the third day just as He had said.

Some skeptics say, “The disciples stole His body!”  But what of the Roman guard?  What of the watchful Jewish leaders and the temple guard?  History makes it plain – an official Roman guard would number between ten and thirty trained soldiers.  Due to the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ death, the number of the guard assigned to this tomb was undoubtedly larger!

The tomb was sealed with the imperial seal of Rome, which would have been a high crime to deface.  Roman history is clear that the punishment for quitting a post was death!  Fear of punishment produced faultless attention to duty – especially in the night watches.

And what about the stone?  The stone was so enormous that it would require up to twenty men to move it.  How could the disciples have stolen His body?

The greatest proof of the Resurrection is that the greatest enemies of Christ could never find His body.  If Jesus had not risen, the Jews or the Romans would have found His body, paraded it through the streets and sealed the fate of Christianity.  But they never found a body.  The reason is simple.  On the third day Jesus came out of the grave, victorious over death and hell, and is alive forevermore!

-Pastor Ball

Matthew 19:13 – Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray…

Years in a carpenter’s shop had taken its toll on Jesus’ hands.  They were likely calloused and rough. They had felt the pain of a splinter.  Did the Son of God ever miss the nail and smash His finger? I’m not sure, but I do know His hands were the hands of a carpenter.

But, they were unlike the hands of any other carpenter.  How could hands so calloused and rough also be so gentle and tender?  How could the touch of hands so accustomed to wood, be able to reach into the spirit of a man?  When His disciples were sore afraid, He simply touched them and said, “Be not afraid” and the fear melted away.

They were no ordinary hands.  With His hands, He broke and blessed a boy’s lunch, multiplying a few loaves and fish until it was enough to satisfy a multitude. When Peter was sinking in the darkness of Galilee’s sea, it was Jesus’ hands of grace and compassion that lifted him up.  Jesus reached down and scooped up a handful of soil, mixed it with spittle, then daubed the earthy paste on a blind man’s eyes bringing him the miracle of sight.

They were not just any hands.   A heartbroken woman, with a tearful parade of grieving loved ones, was following the casket of her only son.  Jesus stopped the procession and touched the bier.  Death could not resist the life in those hands – the dead boy sat up and began to speak!  Jesus’ hands were unafraid of the dreaded disease – they touched the leper and brought healing and hope. They were the hands that touched Peter’s mother-in-law and healed her of a fever.

They were no ordinary hands.  Those hands reconnected a severed ear from a bewildered priest.  Those hands took water and towel and washed the disciple’s feet.  Those hands took up a whip and drove out the money changers who were defiling the House of God.  They were hands like none other.  They were the hands that Roman soldiers would stretch on a wooden cross and drive nails through.

It’s no wonder parents brought their children to Jesus and asked Him to put His hands upon them.  They were hands of healing and restoration.  Power and authority flowed from His hands.  Life and hope were in His hands.  Lay your hands on my children and bless them, they asked.

We’ve all commented of someone that “the hand of God is on them!”  We’ve all prayed ourselves and said, “God, put your hand on my life.”  May we never pray that prayer lightly!  It’s more than a figure of speech.  I truly believe the Carpenter of Nazareth can put His hand upon us.  If I know His hand is upon me, then I know I’ll be alright.  If just a measure of the anointing and power that flowed from His hands would be upon us, we would fear no assignment or any devil that opposed it.  In Acts 11:21, the Bible says, “And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.”  If the hand of the Lord is with us, no task would be too great and no barriers could hold us back.

If He would put His hand upon us, it would surely transform every facet of our lives – our spirit, our speech, our smile, our compassion for others, our thinking, our prayer, our worship and our calling.  I want His hand on me!  I want His fingerprints all over my life, ministry and family.  Like a master potter who shapes the clay with skillful hand, I want His hand to mold me into His image. Like wood in the hands of a carpenter, I want Him to take my life and make something glorious out of it.

Ask Him today, “Jesus, put your hand on me!”  When the disciples sent the parents away, Jesus rebuked the disciples and said bring the children to Me.  I will put My hands on their lives.  If you will ask, He will not send you away.  He is not too busy to lay His nail-scarred hands upon your life today.

~Pastor Ball

“Ashes to ashes…dust to dust….” I watched them. I watched the parents as we lowered the body of a young Marine into a freshly dug grave on the side of that Virginia mountain. You aren’t supposed to bury your children – your children are supposed to bury you. We had all prayed so earnestly for healing. But in God’s sovereign plan, it was not to be. The cancer had viciously stolen their son.

I watched them that day. In the face of grief I cannot fathom, they worshiped God. “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the Name of the Lord.” They lifted their hands up through the dark shroud of sorrow and confusion and praised the Lord.

Now, I know that we should praise God even for the little things – for helping us find our keys when we lose them or for that bigger-than-expected tax refund check we got in the mail. But there is something different about the worship of a person who is in affliction. When a person is walking through a dark trial that life has dealt, yet continues to bless the Lord – that is worship of a deeper sort. Sometimes God doesn’t answer prayers like we think He should or allows things to happen that we don’t understand. The worship we offer during those times is worship that is deep and rich. When the answer hasn’t come or the miracle is nowhere to be found yet praise still rises from our lips – that is worship with a fragrance unlike any other.

The incense offered to God behind the veil was unique. Into a censor filled with burning coals from the Altar, the high priest would place “incense beaten small” (Lev. 16:13). The smoke and fragrance from that burning incense would fill the Holies of Holies like a cloud and cover the Mercy Seat. This special incense produced by a crushing, beating and pressure was what was most glorious to God. Incense beaten small produced a fragrance reserved for the Holiest of All.

Perhaps the worship that brings the most glory to God is the worship we give while in the crucible of affliction. There is a unique fragrance produced when we give praise to God even when we feel like tests and trials are crushing us. When you’re in tribulation or heated spiritual battle, yet rejoice and praise God, you are producing a fragrance of worship like none other. When you feel like the adversities and disappointments of life are beating you small – breaking you to a fine powder – yet you still trust and praise Him, you are giving an offering of worship that is a sweet incense to God. God doesn’t take pleasure in our suffering. But when we praise and worship Him during adversity, it must surely bring Him deep joy.

In Revelation 7, the elders asked, “Who are those people?” Who are those people worshiping before the throne with palm branches in their hands? The angel said those are people who have come through great tribulation! Adversity had not silenced their worship. Great tribulation had not dampened their praise. The elders took note! The angels remarked! Perhaps what captures the attention of the world more than the blessings of God on our lives is the praise we offer to God in the midst of life’s difficulties!

Can we still worship even when going through great tribulation? When the mortar and pestle of adversity seem to crush us to powder, can we still offer praise to God? When we feel beaten small by sorrow and disappointment, will we be faithful to God? When we don’t understand why God has not answered our prayer, will we still give glory to His Name? Worship that emanates from incense beaten small yields a fragrance unlike any other.

– Pastor Ball

I love to eat. One of my favorite pastimes is going out with friends on the weekend to try a new restaurant or to frequent an old regular like Cheesecake Factory or Mama Carollas. Living in Carmel, Indiana, doesn’t help. Our city is home to many great restaurants. Some, like Bub’s Burgers, have even garnered national attention through television shows like Man vs. Food. To further compound the problem, my travels around the world have created within me an insatiable craving for ethnic food. I could eat Indian, Thai, Mediterranean, Korean or Mandarin everyday!

But I’m not fat because I love food! I know why I’m fat. It’s not because I’m a connoisseur of fine cuisine. It’s very simple – I’m fat because I consume more than I expend! It’s true that calories from some foods are healthier than foods with “empty” calories. I’m sure genetics and metabolism play a role. I’m told the body can go into “ketosis” by cutting carbs which can result in weight loss. Complex chemistry and science have their place. But the bottom line remains – we are fat because we take in more than we burn up.

God never intended the human body to consistently consume more than it expends. When we do so consistently we become overweight which can lead to all sorts of health problems. The human body is more healthy and fit when, through exercise and activity, it burns up what it takes in. The Body of Christ is no different! God never intended on His church solely being recipients of His blessings. It was never His will that we consume more than we expend.

Too many Christians are chronic spiritual consumers who never give out. They just enjoy the blessings without ever passing them on. How many churches are full of spiritually obese Christians who, week after week, sit at the buffet of great worship and preaching? They gorge themselves on the Presence and Word of God. They fill themselves with all the rich blessings of Christianity, yet never expend what they consume. They don’t serve. They don’t pour out to others. They’ve forgotten what it means to be a servant.

Evangelist Bobbie Lewis preached Sunday at FAC a message untitled, “Will you take the towel?” At the Last Supper, while the disciples were arguing over who was greatest among them, Jesus took a towel and began to wash His disciple’s feet. He taught them that true greatness comes through serving others. He said, “You’ll be happy if you do what I’ve just taught you.” It’s been ingrained into us that happiness comes from being served. But Jesus taught just the opposite. He said true happiness comes from serving – from giving rather than receiving.

Are you fat, spiritually? Is your Christian experience centered more around what God and the Church does for you than what you do for God and His church? Being a Dead Sea with only inflows and no outflows will lead to stagnation and spiritual disease. Just like natural obesity contributes to heart disease, spiritual obesity leads to diseases of the heart – misguided affections, spiritual callousness, a lack of love for others, and on and on. What we receive from God and our church is given for the purpose of filling and empowering us to go out and serve our world.

It’s miserable being fat! Our clothes don’t fit right. Our energy levels run low! I’m currently exercising, cutting back my calories and feeling good as I’m losing some extra pounds. Some of the most miserable people in the world are Christians who don’t serve – Christians who take in more than they give out. If you’re looking for happiness in your walk with God – pick up the towel! True satisfaction comes when we give to others. You’ve been a spiritual couch potato long enough! Make a commitment today to serve God, your church and your world. You will discover a joy and satisfaction reserved only for those with a servant’s heart.

– Pastor Ball

Pastor Osborne’s recent comments at our Pastor’s prayer meeting provided the inspiration for this evening’s thoughts:

When we are first learning to read, we stick to books like, “See Spot Run” – a simple story about Dick, Jane and Spot. “See spot. See spot run. Look, Jane, look.” You get the idea! There’s really no plot. With a book like this, you are not reading to learn – you are learning to read. There is no character development or theme. There’s no lesson. You’re just learning to read.

You advance to read stories like, “The Three Little Pigs.” It’s still a simple book. It has the same characters throughout. It’s not complicated or deep. But you begin to learn something from what you are reading. There’s a plot. There’s a message or moral to the story.

We graduate as adults to books that are broken down into chapters. The chapters are about different things and have different themes and lessons. Events will happen in some chapters, but never again in the rest of the book. You’ll meet characters in one chapter who disappear altogether in the next and may never reappear in rest of the story. Things in some chapters that are very important may no longer even play a role in later chapters. But we understand the author knows the beginning from the end and is weaving together a story. In the end the author will have worked all those chapters TOGETHER into a beautiful masterpiece.

Our lives are not like the book “See Spot Run” or “The Three Little Pigs.” Our lives are comprised of chapters. People move in and out of our lives. Circumstances and settings change. Some things that are very important to us now will not even be on our radar in a year. Some chapters are filled with adversity, hardship or grief. Others are about joy, progress or accomplishment. There are chapters that seem uneventful, even boring, while others bring new faces and new places.

As Christians we hold fast to the promise that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). We believe that God is the Author and Finisher of our faith and that He is blending the various chapters of our lives together into a beautiful masterpiece.

There are times when we don’t understand why things are happening. We’ve all asked God, “Why?” Why did this happen? What good can become of this? Many times life doesn’t make sense. If you were to read just one chapter of a novel, it probably would not make any sense at all. It’s only when you read the whole story that you realize every chapter played an important part of the whole. When we get to the end, we will look back and see that God used all the different chapters of our lives to create a beautiful story of grace and victory.

The important thing is to trust in God. Trust that He is in control and charge of our lives. We’ve put the pen in His hand. Now we must trust the Author. We must believe that He is working all things for our good and His glory.

The last year or so has been a difficult season, both for me personally and for our church. We’ve experienced death, loss, sickness and serious spiritual battles. It’s been a chapter about trusting God in the storm. The theme of this chapter has been about walking by faith and praising God even when you don’t understand.

At the turn of the New Year, I felt a change. In the last five weeks we’ve had INCREDIBLE services, huge crowds and guests and a great outpouring of God’s Spirit. I feel like God is turning the page and beginning to write a new chapter. I know every season has some spiritual battles and adversity, but I feel like this new chapter is going to be one filled with revival, growth and progress. I sense we’re entering a season of new faces, new places and new opportunities.

I believe 2013 will be a new chapter for you as well. God has turned the page. The pain and difficulty of the last chapter will not carry into this new season. Perhaps you feel the same anticipation. Whatever the New Year holds, I know He is the Author and is working all things together for good.

~Pastor Ball