In my early twenties, I spent the better part of three years trying to figure out if any religion represented the truth about God. I never doubted God's existence, but beyond that I just wasn't sure. So I read the writings of all the major world religions, along with several philosophers. At the end of my research there was one piece of evidence that I couldn't get past. It was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Nothing else came close to the resurrection claim. What struck me the most was how easy it would be to disprove a claim like this. But the historical record contained no counter claims to the resurrection. Instead there were multiple eye witness accounts of a resurrected Christ. Now, at a distance of 2,000 years there are many who deny the resurrection. But when the claim was made and the evidence was fresh, no one offered any credible evidence to counter it. 

So I decided to surrender to the evidence and place my faith in the one who had risen from the dead. The resurrection became the foundation of my faith. Even to this day I will often run my mind over the evidence again and say to myself, "If the resurrection is true, then Jesus really can be trusted and I am no fool to follow Him." Paul said it best in 1 Corinthians 15:14.

       If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

What I have taught at Seabreeze rests on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If that is not true then my preaching has been useless. My wife and I have built our lives on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Again and again we have come to the intersection of decision and decided to follow Jesus even when we wanted to go another way. If Jesus didn't walk out of the tomb, then we have been fools. But I am convinced that both my preaching and my faith have not been useless. I am convinced that the best decision I ever made was to bow my knee to the one who conquered death.

So don't miss Easter. It's the centerpiece of our faith. 

Bevan  

seabreezechurch.com