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| An Easter Devotional by Rev. Amaury Tañón-Santos |
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| Church Newsletter Blog | |||
| Written by Rev. Amaury Tañón-Santos, Senior Pastor, Central Baptist, Elizabeth | |||
| Wednesday, 08 April 2009 16:25 | |||
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El Reto Pascual - The Paschal Challenge
by The Rev. Amaury Tañón-Santos
The known Spanish hymn, "Amor Es" (Love is), by Jorge Ramírez, ends challenging the audience with the following words (translated from Spanish): An you should always say that in Christ there is salvation, Y siempre debes hablar que en Cristo hay salvación,
carrying with you the message of death and resurrection. llevando este mensaje de muerte y resurrección. Love is to give oneself in body and soul for humanity. Amor es el entregarse en alma y cuerpo a la humanidad. It is to always live serving, without expecting anything in return. Vivir siempre sirviendo, sin que tu esperes algo para ti. The evangelical Latin American proclamation (learned well from the protestant missionary movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and against the historical perceptions of Catholicism) emphasizes, almost obstinately, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus - the Christian Easter. The proclamation of eternal life as a consequence of the resurrection of our Lord is a staple of our evangelistic labors. This is one of the reasons Easter Sunday is the most attended celebration of Holy Week in the United States. The celebration of "victory" seems to blur other events of remembrance of the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord - Holy Week. The Paschal challenge, though, is to have the courage to remember, proclaim and live, not only the end of the story, but the whole story. It is well expressed in the hym. But we are also reminded in the ordinances of the church - baptism and communion - and in the stories of Scripture. Jesus' obedience was not fulfilled in the resurrection. The love of God for creation and the divine will of reconciliation was realized in the cross. The resurrection was only the result of a committed and obedient life - already fulfilled in Christ, and the mysterious hope of those called Children of God. Jesus already showed his love - calling us friends, he died of us and gives us hope of life eternal. How many of the so called Christians will be willing to love in the same manner? The link to the article in Spanish - http://centralbaptistelizabeth.blogspot.com/2009/04/el-reto-pascual.html
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