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He is risen: The story that never gets old

Local pastors share why the message of Easter is still fresh, relevant today

-Messenger photo by Deanna Meyer
The Rev. Scott Meier, pastor of Badger Lutheran Church, says the message of Easter forms the foundation for the Christian faith. “Not only is the resurrection an Easter celebration,” he said, “but the resurrection is an every Sunday awareness.”

Each Easter, faithful Christians walk through the doors of their local church to hear anew the good news that forms the bedrock of their faith — that Jesus suffered and died a brutal death on the cross to save people from their sins, was buried in a tomb and three days later rose victorious from the grave.

In the 2,000-plus years since, Christians have been retelling the miraculous resurrection story.

For local pastors, many who have served their congregations for several Easters, their challenge — and joy — is to present that message in a way that’s fresh and relevant.

For the Rev. Dale Harlow, who has been senior pastor at Northfield Church in Fort Dodge since 1994, the message of Easter has taken on new meaning in recent years.

“A couple years ago, I really dove back into the resurrection end of it,” Harlow said.

He said he heard a sermon by Andy Stanley, a renowned pastor and communicator from Atlanta, Georgia, titled, “Nobody expected no body,” referring to the empty tomb after Jesus rose from the dead.

“Since then, I’ve been even more excited about it every year. That’s obviously the lynch pin of our faith.”

He said presenting the Easter message in a new way is slightly easier than Christmas, even though the holiday surrounding Jesus’ birth offers more material.

“With the resurrection, the resurrection’s enough because that’s the event that changes everything for Christians,” said Harlow.

He said it helps to know that even Jesus’ disciples didn’t immediately believe he had risen from the dead. “They didn’t believe until they had seen the proof that he had come back from the dead,” said Harlow.

When it comes to preaching on Easter, the Rev. Scott Meier, pastor of Badger Lutheran Church, has years of experience. He has served at four churches in the last 27 years and has been leading his current congregation since October 2015.

And while Meier always tries to approach the message in a way that grabs people’s attention, he said the basics do not change.

“The main point is the main point — the resurrection of Jesus. It’s true and we hold on to that truth,” he said. “It’s a verifiable fact that he rose again by witnesses and historians, and we get to share the good news and what it means.”

Meier pointed to the evidence for the resurrection, including the fact that Jesus appeared not only to his disciples, but more than 500 witnesses after he rose from the dead. In addition, he said, “There are three historians that provide particular evidence outside the New Testament about Jesus: Josephus, Tacitus and Suetonius.”

Meier said Josephus was born in AD 37, within a few short years of Jesus’ death, and was likely “able to talk to eyewitnesses of the resurrection.”

He said many refer to the following quote from Josephus’ “The Antiquities of the Jews” as further proof of the resurrection:

“Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works — a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. … He was [the] Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.”

“The resurrection is the truth that solidifies the rest of the Bible. Without the resurrection, there is really no Christian faith,” Meier said. “But with the resurrection, there is not only Christian faith, but trust that the one who rose from the dead brings new life to us on a daily basis and brings new life in the world to come.”

Meier said that for Christians, “Not only is the resurrection an Easter celebration, but the resurrection is an every Sunday awareness.”

He also tries to keep in mind that his Easter congregation often includes visitors who may not attend church regularly throughout the year.

“I certainly am aware of the fact that there are people who don’t often have as much depth of understanding,” Meier said, “and I try to make it easily understandable for their benefit.”

Msgr. Kevin McCoy, pastor at Holy Trinity Parish in Webster County since 2008, said, “The fresh thing about (Easter) is, the story of Christ doesn’t change.”

He spoke of the shift that happens in the Catholic church from the Lenten season, which encompasses 40 days of prayer and fasting, leading up to Easter.

“The first part of Lent focuses on our own moral and ethical life,” he said, but then shifts to a “christological” focus on Christ. As the church follows the suffering of Christ leading up to Easter, he said another truth remains, “We are people in need of a Savior.”

He said what is new and fresh each year is where the Easter message meets parishioners in their personal lives.

“We bring each year our own personal reality into this whole season. … Our own lives as believers, in that sense, present a new canvas,” said McCoy. “We’re not the same person as we were a year ago.”

Each year, he said parishioners find themselves in different places in their personal relationship with Jesus, as well as with loved ones, colleagues who may be difficult to deal with, and others they see on a daily basis. The Easter message can help give new insight into how to deal with those various situations and relationships, said McCoy.

“We’re in need of healing from Jesus in a different manner, in a different degree,” he said, than last year.

Whether preaching to those who come each Sunday or parishioners returning home for Easter, McCoy said, “You try to stay true and faithful to the message you’re trying to deliver,” adding, “I think that message can be inviting.”

Local Holy Week and Easter Services

Badger Lutheran Church

127 Second Ave. S.E., Badger

Maundy Thursday: 6:30 p.m.

Good Friday: 6:30 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 7 a.m., 9 a.m.

Christ Lutheran Church

2220 10th Ave. N.

Easter Sunday: 9 a.m.

Crossway Evangelical Church

2058 10th Ave. N.

Good Friday: 7 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 9 a.m.,

No Sunday School held Easter

Epworth United Methodist

2025 11th Ave. S.

Easter Sunday: 10:30 a.m.

Faith Baptist Church

1408 N. 22nd St.

Easter Sunday: 9:30 a.m. breakfast

10:30 a.m. morning worship

First Baptist Church

28 N. 10th St.

Easter Sunday: 10 a.m. breakfast

10:30 a.m. worship service

First Congregational United Church of Christ

1611 Williams Drive

Palm Sunday: 11 a.m., followed by potato bake at noon

Maundy Thursday: 5 p.m. potluck, 5:30 p.m. worship

Easter Sunday: 10 a.m. breakfast, 11 a.m. worship

First Covenant Church

201 Ave. H

Easter Sunday: 10:30 a.m.

First Presbyterian Church

1111 Fifth Ave. N.

Palm Sunday: 10 a.m.

Maundy Thursday: 6 p.m.

Good Friday: 6 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 10 a.m.

First United Methodist Church

1002 First Ave. N.

Good Friday: 6 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 9:45 a.m.

Good Shepherd

Lutheran Church

1436 21st Ave. N.

Maundy Thursday: 7 p.m.

Good Friday: 12:30 p.m., 6 p.m.

Easter Vigil (Saturday): 5 p.m.

Easter sunrise service: 7 a.m.

Easter Festival: 9 a.m.

Grace Lutheran Church

211 S. Ninth St.

Palm Sunday: 9:30 a.m.

Maundy Thursday: 6:30 p.m.

Good Friday: 6:30 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 9:30 a.m.

Easter breakfast: 8 a.m.

Harvest Baptist Church

614 Second Ave. S.

Easter Sunday: 10:45 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Harvest Vineyard Church

1402 Ninth Ave. N.

Maundy Thursday: 6:30 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 10 a.m.

Holy Trinity Parish

2501 Sixth Ave. N.

Palm Sunday:

Saturday 4:30 p.m.

Sunday 7:30 a.m., 10 a.m.,

Noon (Spanish), 7:30 p.m.

Holy Thursday: 7 p.m.

Good Friday, Noon

Holy Saturday: 8 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 7:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m.

Lighthouse Ministries, Inc.

1333 Fourth Ave. N.

Palm Sunday: 10 a.m.

Good Friday: 12:30 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 10 a.m., 7 p.m.

Easter Egg hunt and brunch following morning service

New Covenant Christian Church

3318 Fifth Ave. S.

Good Friday: 7 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m.

Northfield Church

2933 N. 15th St.

Good Friday, 6:30 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m., and 11 a.m.

Prairie Lakes Church

200 Ave. O

Good Friday: 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.;

Saturday: 6 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 9 a.m.

and 10:30 a.m.

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church

1023 S. 27th St.

Palm Sunday: 9:15 a.m.

Maundy Thursday: 1 p.m.

Good Friday: 1 p.m.

Holy Saturday: 6 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 9:15 a.m.

Rolling Hills Community Church

2891 N. 15th St.

Good Friday: 6 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 10:30 a.m.

Salvation Army Temple

126 N. Seventh St.

Palm Sunday: 10:45 a.m.

Good Friday, 1 p.m.

Easter: 7 a.m. sunrise service

Breakfast 8 a.m.

Easter Holiness Meeting: 10 a.m.

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church

1001 First Ave. S.

Maundy Thursday: 6 p.m.

Good Friday: Stations of the Cross at noon, Worship service at 6 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 10 a.m.

St. Olaf Lutheran Church

239 N. 11th St.

Palm Sunday: 9 a.m., 11 a.m.

Maundy Thursday: 6 p.m.

Good Friday: 6 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 9 a.m., 11 a.m.

St. Paul Lutheran Church

400 S. 13th St.

Maundy Thursday:

Noon and 7 p.m.

Good Friday: Noon and 7 p.m.

Saturday Easter Vigil: 6 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 7 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

Easter Festival (indoor kids games, crafts, snacks):

8 to 10 a.m. Sunday

Trinity United Methodist Church

838 N. 25th St.

Maundy Thursday: 5:30 p.m.

Good Friday: 5:30 p.m.

Easter sunrise service:

7:30 a.m.

Westside Church of Christ

1132 A St.

Easter Sunday:

9:30 a.m. Bible Class

10:30 a.m. Worship

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