“And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:42-43)

In these days of political turmoil and moral chaos, many people in the communities around us are in desperate need of truth, mercy, and comfort. The talking heads in media are no help for, although they claim to be sources of helpful information and truth, they essentially provide opinion and disinformation. In the process they hype up the dangers we face these days because it justifies their existence, ego, and income. The government and civil authorities can also provide no long-lasting solutions for the problems of the nation, the ills of society and of the world all have spiritual roots and they require a spiritual solution.

The source of help for spiritual problems is within the church of Jesus Christ, a source which the government and the media have practically declared to be nonessential, divisive, and irrelevant. People need to seek out the Lord Jesus who is proclaimed as Lord and Savior by the Church which He has established. Those who have faith in Jesus have found the help and hope that everyone is seeking these days, because we have seen the Lord!

As we see from the various readings for Easter Sunday, the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ resurrection rested upon the testimony of eyewitnesses, men and women who saw Jesus crucified, buried, and resurrected from the dead. Peter cited these testimonies when preaching the gospel to the Roman centurion Cornelius and his household (Acts 10) as did Paul in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 15). Such eyewitness testimonies were powerful evidence of the resurrection of Jesus for it was an event which far exceeded the world view of all people even people today. A person could easily dismiss the resurrection as fantasy because it was unbelievable, until confronted by the eyewitnesses. These witnesses were unlikely to tell bold lies or concoct fantastic tales of events totally beyond the scope of their worldview. They were simple people, humble and meek, not well-educated. In addition, their testimony did not put them in a good light for they admitted they had been terrified when Jesus
was arrested and crucified. They testified that they all deserted Him. They testified that they had completely misunderstood Jesus, His teachings and His mission. If they had been lying they would not have admitted to such weakness but would have put a “spin” on the story to make themselves look good, much like many people do today. These days It usually is a matter of how well one can spin or skew the facts.

When we present the gospel to an unbeliever we can tell them what Jesus has done for them based of the testimonies of reliable witnesses as presented in the scripture. More than that, we can tell them of our own testimony. We can also tell them of the grace and mercy of Almighty God who grants forgiveness of sin through the sacrifice of Christ for imperfect and unworthy people. Only through Christ are we made right with God. Only through Christ, then will anyone find comfort in times of sickness, fear, and tribulation.