This will be my final newsletter article. Next month you will be greeted by your new pastor, Pastor Martin Luchterhand. The good thing is that there will be no interruption of ministry here at Crown of Life. The same truth of the gospel will be preached and taught in the future as it has in the past. Souls will still be fed and nourished with the same forgiveness that Jesus purchased and won for every sinner by His death and resurrection.

   Do we always cherish what that means? Do we consider as often as we should how blessed we really are to be the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, our Savior? That is a blessing we never want to take for granted. Can you imagine what it would be like to be without Jesus, without faith, without any hope of a better life to come?

   That is also why it is so important that we faithfully continue to use the Word and sacraments that the Lord provides for us through His called servants. It is through these means the Holy Spirit continues to do His work in us of preserving and strengthening our faith so that we will always be ready for the time He comes and calls us out of this life.

   The last words of the Bible are these: “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen” (Revelation 22:20-21). It is Jesus Himself speaking these words through the pen of the apostle John. The word “Yes” is actually the word “Amen”. It is a word that means “truth”. Another way of putting it would be “It is true” or “You can count on it”. Yes, truly Jesus is coming soon. That “soon” can be anytime for any one of us or any time for the entire world. It’s a tremendous promise for the believer and a warning for the unbeliever. That is why the church of believers responds to the Savior’s announcement with the words “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus”. Truly, we want You to come, Jesus – the sooner, the better. That is when we will finally be delivered from all evil and live forever in glory.

   And then John concludes the Bible with the blessing: “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.” That is also my departing prayer and blessing for everyone who reads these words. May the grace (or undeserved love) of our Savior continue to be with you always. As He gave His life to save you, may you continue to trust in Him alone for your salvation. May you continue to faithfully serve Him with your life. Then we all will be reunited again permanently in that glorious home that our Savior has prepared for us. “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).

   I also want to add my sincere thanks to:

All who have been faithful these past four years in their attendance at church, the Lord’s Supper, and Bible classes. That is the greatest joy for any pastor’s ministry;

• All who have used their time and talents to attend meetings and serve as officers, on committees or boards, and in many other ways at Crown of Life;
• All who have been so supportive of my ministry as well as myself and my family;
• All who participated in any way in the retirement service and celebration, the retirement gifts, and with their cards and best wishes.

   The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you always. Amen.

Pastor William Balza

Most Christians know that Easter is the most important day of the entire church year. Every other Sunday revolves around Easter. That is why each Sunday is sometimes referred to as a “mini-Easter”.

Easter, of course, is the day Jesus rose from the dead. The Bible states that “(Jesus) was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25). We might compare what happened to Jesus to what we do when we go to a grocery store. After we pick up our groceries and take them to the check-out counter, the cashier scans our groceries and tells us how much we owe. That is the PRICE for our groceries. We pay the cashier what we owe. That is the PAYMENT that we make. But after the payment is made, the cashier may give us our change and our groceries. But there is one more thing we want to have. That is our receipt. The receipt is our PROOF OF PURCHASE      .

On Good Friday Jesus died on the cross. His suffering and death and the shedding of His innocent blood was the PAYMENT for all our sins. Because Jesus made the payment on our behalf, for our sins, there is nothing more that we need to pay. There is nothing that we can pay. Jesus did it all for us.

On the third day Jesus rose from the dead. His resurrection was God’s way of demonstrating that He had accepted the payment that Jesus made for us. In other words, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is our PROOF OF PURCHASE. Jesus redeemed (bought us back) from our sin, from death and from the power of the devil. Because of that payment that Jesus made for us, God has now “justified” us or declared us to be “not guilty”. We are forgiven. And that means we have the certainty of eternal life through Jesus. “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

No wonder Easter means so much to the Christian. It is our day of victory. “Because I (Jesus) lives, you (we) also will live” (John 14:19).

On Easter we decorate our church with flowers, most of which are white (the Easter lily). White is the color of joy and celebration. It is also the color of purity or holiness. Because Jesus died and rose again, all our sins are forgiven and, through faith in Him, we are cleansed, purified, of all sin.

Easter is also the symbol of new life from the dead. As believers in Jesus, we have a new life. It is the life we live by faith in Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. Each day of our lives, we want to live for Him to show our love and gratitude for all that He has done for us.

May our Easter celebration again this year bring renewed joy, celebration and life through our risen and glorified Savior – JESUS CHRIST!

Pastor Balza