To kick off Resurrection Week, presenter Chris Smith addressed The Gathering Tuesday morning.
“Our inheritance and ourselves are guarded through faith and salvation,” he said. “Through this we rejoice, even if for a little while. Jesus admits the legitimacy of our suffering but He tells us that it’s for a little while and not forever.
“Our story has a happy ending.”
Smith began with the discussion of abundant life, mercy and grace and how these things relate to the gifts God has given His people. Smith said that everyone at some point will be disappointed in life, but reminded students that God’s mercy is a guarded gift.
“This is an inheritance,” he said. “Kept in heaven for you. You are being protected by the power of God.”
Smith used an example from Les Misèrables. A theif steals the silverware from a respected bishop and gets caught. This man is brought to the bishop but instead of throwing this man in jail, he shows mercy and tells the guards that the man took what was his and actually “forgot the candlesticks” as well.
This changes the thief’s life. This extension of mercy changed the projection of a life.
“By God’s great mercy, He has given us a new birth,” Smith said.
According to Smith, everyone wants a do-over, no matter who they are or what they have done. There is always a moment in which people pray for a chance to prove themselves again.
While a do-over is rare in the secular world, God has given His people a do-over, a fresh start to begin again.
“Hope means means confidant expectation,” Smith said. “There’s a new birth in hope. All because He raised from the dead.”
Smith went on to say that God will make everything right in the world one day and said that the call as Christians is to make things right everyday. His people can’t wait for heaven to come down in the future, but instead must bring heaven to Earth every day.
Resurection week continues with Prayer in the Square on Thursday morning at 10 a.m. in Bison Square and a Good Friday Gathering service with Ken Durham on Friday in Allen Arena at 11 a.m.
Photo by Charissa Ricker