On Easter, we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, but what does this amazing life-yielding miracle have to do with a bunny and painted eggs?

The short answer is, “Maybe not so much!”

Every year, Christians revisit Jesus and his disciples entering Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, the Jewish holy season that commemorates the Hebrews’ release from slavery. And, every year, we study our Lord’s arrest, crucifixion, death and resurrection.

It’s no surprise people of Jewish origin were among the first to celebrate the resurrection, likely as a new facet of the Passover festival. In fact, the Easter celebration, Pascha, in Aramaic and Greek, is derived from the Hebrew Passover. An early sacred ritual of Easter was the lighting of the Pashcal candle. You can see where this candle derives its name. The Pashcal candle symbolizes light out of darkness similar to the Christ candle of Christmas.

Originally, Easter was celebrated two days after Passover but this meant Easter could fall on any day of the week. In 325 A.D., Roman Emperor Constantine and the Council of Nicea ruled Easter would always fall on Sunday, this being the day of the week Christ rose from the dead.

It was also the Council of Nicea that decided Easter would be celebrated the first Sunday following the full moon after the spring equinox. Easter would then always fall on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25. As Christianity spread through Europe, pagan European customs began to emerge and spread. In fact, some argue that Easter may have received its modern -day name from Eostre, the goddess of spring and fertility, which brings us to the Easter bunny and Easter egg.

Easter bunnies and Easter eggs were a perfect match, although one probably not made in heaven. The fertile bunny, at least in connection with Easter, didn’t show up until about the 16th century, but had long been a symbol of new life. Eggs, on the other hand, have been a symbol of life and birth for thousands of years.

The advent of Easter bunnies and Easter eggs led to children being told, if they were well-behaved, the Easter bunny would visit and leave Easter eggs as presents. It seems we are always looking for incentives to make children behave; thus, chocolate eggs and other gifts enter the Easter equation too!

President Rutherford B. Hayes, who served in the White House from 1877 to 1881, once said, “To avoid even the appearance of evil, I think sometimes I have unnecessarily deprived myself and others of innocent enjoyment.”

President Hayes deprived no one of innocent enjoyment when he approved egg rolling and egg hunting for the first time on the White House lawn, a tradition that remains today, at least unless it is cancelled due to sequestration …

I encourage you not to deprive yourself this Sunday. Celebrate the miracle of the resurrection.

If you choose to do so at Steeple on the Beach, please know we will have an Easter bunny and an Easter egg hunt for the children at 9:45 a.m. between Easter Sunday worship services! Why? Because children and church are the perfect match made in heaven!

Join us Holy Saturday at 6 p.m.in historic Briggs Hall to watch Mel Gibson’s movie “Passion of the Christ.” There is no charge for admission and refreshments will be provided.

Join us for a spectacular Easter Sunday Celebration at 8:30 a.m. or 11 a.m. in our beautiful sanctuary. The message this weekend is “Conquering the Inevitable” based on the 15th chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.

Reverend Andrews is Minister at Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach (Steeple on the Beach) located five blocks south of Hillsboro on AIA. www.communitych.org or find us on Facebook.

Our son, still a very young man, takes a well-deserved early retirement from the army this week. He returned from Iraq last year with more injuries than desires to explain them. But he is among the ranks of our more fortunate veterans who physically, mentally and emotionally survive the call to duty. Like most Americans, we are grateful. Like most parents, we are proud.

I remember our son as a young boy playing on the floor with those little green rubber soldiers. He would, as a child with pretense and make-believe, make sounds and crashing noises he would hear for real as a young man. I suspect he prays to forget those noises now …

It was a great privilege to see him carry the flag for his graduating class. A few years later, it was an even greater privilege for his mother and me to join a few thousand family members in the wee hours before sunrise to welcome home a few hundred of our soldiers.

It was joyful when the troops marched in formation to meet families straining to see and have that first glimpse of their soldier. All around us, we heard families when they saw their soldier excitedly call out, “There he is! There he is!”

It was somber when the troops once assembled were held in formation. There was a respectful silence that set upon this jubilant crowd when the troops were addressed by their commanding officer.

He gave thanks for each soldier being safely reunited with families and he gave thanks for the honored few who had already returned home, soldiers deployed with these troops the preceding year, but returned earlier, after having been seriously injured or after having given the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.

Billy Graham once wrote on the topic of duty that “every generation is strategic. God will hold us responsible as to how well we fulfill our responsibilities to this age and how well or how poorly we take advantage of the opportunities we have.”

If you believe as I do that answering the call to duty for our nation is important then faint not at the idea, it is even more important that we answer the call to duty in the church Christ leads.

When Jesus says, “Come, you that are blessed” he challenges the very people who say we are his disciples to chose a path that is neither pretense nor make-believe.

It is the Christian’s uncomplicated call to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned. And we will be held to account as to how well or how poorly we take advantage of our abundant opportunities to do these things.

MATTHEW 25

The Truth is we serve a Lord even greater than the greatest nation in the history of the world, who makes it possible for even fallen soldiers to reunite one day with loved ones.

JOHN 12:27

Jesus says, “For now my soul is troubled and what should I say — ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.”

Friends, these are among the reasons we are blessed to answer our call to duty!

Join us Saturday @ Six and Sunday morning at 8:30 or 11 a.m. The Sunday Message “Call to Duty” is based on Matthew 25: 31 – 40.

Reverend Andrews is Minister at Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach (Steeple on the Beach) located five blocks south of Hillsboro on AIA. See more @ www.communitych.org or on Facebook.

Have you ever heard about the man who was quizzing his wife during half-time of the Super Bowl to find out if she had ever before been in love with another man?

The man’s wife finally answered, but only after reflecting on the question far too long.

“Absolutely not,” she said. “When I was in high school, I really liked one boy for his impressive intellect. Then, there was that spectacular athlete in college I admired because of his humor, courage and character.”

Then she paused, smiled and wistfully said, “And after college, oh my, there was that one young man I was attracted to because of his amazing good looks and charm. But surely you understand that, with you dear, the only explanation is love!” We can argue whether the man’s question or the woman’s answer is worse, but we can agree that we get more than a little confused about love and we trivialize that which we need the most.

Some people claim to love the Super Bowl, but have no idea who won the game last year. Other people say they love the Super Bowl commercials, but, the day after seeing them, have no remembrance of what they promote.

And, sometimes, perhaps like the woman responding to her husband’s prodding, we label something as love if we don’t know what else to call it or how else to explain it.

The truth is what the world needs most is love – genuine love, unending love, the kind of love Paul describes in the 13th chapter of his letter to the Corinthians. Read it, re-read it, and try your best to apply it to your life, especially to the people you love!

Some of you will remember Hal David’s song lyrics “What the World Needs Now Is Love Sweet Love” put to music by Burt Bacharach and popularized by singer Dionne Warwick. The song was thought to draw special meaning out of the context of the turbulent 1960s and early ‘70s.

But, behind the simple lyrics and the catchy tune is a Biblical truth and a basic human need that passes like time from one generation to the next. Our need for love is really our need for God. The Ten Commandments and the holiness code of the Torah are based on God’s steadfast love that runs deeper and lasts longer than mere admiration, attraction, amusement or even personal enjoyment, even though we often seem to value these other things more.

God’s love flows much like the Jordan penetrates the wilderness. The heaven opens and the Spirit of Love descends like a dove, but somehow the song’s lyrics still ring true to me and you.

Love still is the only thing there’s just too little of, not just for some, but for everyone. Lord, we don’t need another mountain or another meadow. There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb. There are oceans and rivers enough to cross, enough to last ‘til the end of time. What the world needs now is love, sweet love!

The Good News is this.

God is love and the Holy Word of God made flesh reveals God’s unending love to the world in Christ. God comes to the world to save the world. And, in Christ, finally and forever, we have the love we need, all the instruction, all the encouragement and the foundation for a song that never ends.

What the world needs now is not a new Super Bowl champion. What the world needs now is for us to share the love we already have.

Join us this weekend Saturday @ Six or Sunday morning at 8:30 or 11 a.m. The Message “What the World Needs Now” is based on 1 Corinthians 13.

Rev. Andrews is a minister at Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach (Steeple on the Beach) located five blocks south of Hillsboro on AIA. See more @ www.communitych.org or on Facebook.

One of the most horrible traffic accident scenes etched in my memory as a former Indiana sheriff is of a young boy struck and killed riding his bicycle in front of his home. He was following instructions at the time of the accident to remain close to home and ride only so far north and only so far south.

Making the loop in front of his home time after time on the public two-lane county road one mile south of Interstate 70 became monotonous. The road was not heavily traveled and, at the end of one loop, he failed to look back before making his tragic last turn.

The young boy turned his bike in front of an oncoming truck and was killed instantly.

The boy’s small body was covered as we waited for the coroner’s arrival when the father of the child arrived home. It is painful to recall the raw emotion expressed by this very large man. “Where’s the driver?” he repeatedly screams.

The driver, also a large man, is sitting in the front seat of my sheriff’s car. The truck driver sees and hears the father and, disregarding my instructions, he exits my car. The two men physically come together as I run to step and squeeze between them. I feel like a slice of bologna between two pieces of thick hardened bread.

I see the arm of the father come over my shoulder toward the truck driver and I fear the worst until I see an open hand rather than a clenched fist, until I hear the father say, “I forgive you!”

By then, all three of us are crying…

This is the single most powerful human illustration of forgiveness I have ever seen, at least on the surface. The father in his rawest state of pain truly did not blame the driver of the truck. No. He blamed himself.

It was the father who had given his son the instructions that contributed to the son’s death.

There is no one in this world who understands this pain as purely as God the Father who sent his Son into the world to suffer and die in order to earn forgiveness for anyone and everyone who will but believe in Him.

Every Sunday in church, we pray the prayer Jesus taught us to pray. “Forgive us our debts (trespasses) as we forgive our debtors (those who trespass against us).” The truth is sometimes it is easier to forgive someone else than it is for us to forgive ourselves.

The words of Ecclesiastes come to mind. “For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.” (3:1) The musical group the Byrds in the 1960’s convincingly sing these verses in their hit song “Turn, Turn, Turn.”

My New Year’s prayer for 2013 is that this be a time to forgive, a time when we not only forgive others, but a time when we also forgive ourselves, a time when God steps in between the hurting, the offending, the otherwise unforgiving. Think how many wars could be averted, how many marriages saved, how many conflict ridden neighborhoods or places of employment could be made peaceful if only we could forgive and be forgiven.

When we see the elementary school parent in Connecticut express forgiveness after the unthinkable, unimaginable, unnecessary loss of their child to a deranged gunman, we realize how often the real forgiver is God.

So unclench the fist and open the hand and follow the example of the world’s only perfect man.

Accept Christ for who He is, know Him, believe Him, give and receive forgiveness through Him.

Make 2013 a time to forgive.

Join us this weekend Saturday @ Six or Sunday morning at 8:30 or 11 a.m. The Message is “A Time to Forgive” based on Ecclesiastes 3: 1-14 and Colossians 3: 12-17.

Dennis Andrews Ed.D.

Reverend Andrews is Minister at Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach (Steeple on the Beach), five blocks south of Hillsboro on AIA. Visit www.communitych.org or Facebook.

We may not hear “God Bless America” quite so often now that Election Day is behind us, but we should hear it as we pray it every day!

These three words have become such a common tagline at the end of political speeches that I worry the meaning and import of “God Bless America” may sometimes be unintentionally diminished.

Most people of faith, hopefully including speechwriters and political orators who make frequent use of the phrase, believe God’s blessing upon our great nation is essential for survival, let alone peace and prosperity.

Most of us in the church believe we are shown God’s favor when we receive God’s gifts and resources in the first place. We obtain God’s blessing as the second gift when we do what God intended with what God provided! This sounds way too simple, I know!

We don’t expect God to bless wrongful use of God’s gifts and this, by the way, renders the election of wise leaders who will make right use of America’s abundant resources all the more important…

One reason I believe our nation has been so blessed is because our aims have so consistently been honorable. We are an imperfect nation but one, nonetheless, bound by principles of freedom and justice. We are liberators, not captors; freedom fighters, not tyrants.

And by God’s grace, the blessing of a nation avails itself to its people. This means if you have seen God’s favor and, if you have the gift of faith to discern and undertake God’s purpose for your life, then you have every reason to hope for God’s blessing.

But know this; both nation and people require God’s favor and God’s blessing to achieve God’s purpose. It is God who is the author of every good and virtuous thing. The Psalmist says, “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.” (Psalm 127:1-2)

The bread of anxious toil makes me think of my son, who is a veteran of the Iraq war. He and his comrades in the infantry consumed the bread of anxious toil in and around Baghdad. They went days without sleep. They guarded a foreign city and, thousands of miles from home, they prayed, “God Bless America.”

God Bless America is a prayer. We know God has already shown America great favor. Our prayer is that we, the people, and the leaders we elect make wise use of God’s gifts and resources for God’s purposes.

Sunday is Veteran’s Day and there are no people in the world more acutely aware of God’s favor, God’s blessings and God’s call on America than our veterans and their families.

Veterans and current members of our nation’s armed and diplomatic services have answered the call with love of God and country. We thank God for their service and sacrifice.

This Sunday, we will thank them. We will pray God Bless America. We will sing God Bless America and we will prayerfully give full meaning to phrase!

Join us this weekend Saturday @ Six or Sunday morning at 8:30 or 11:00. The Message is “God Bless America” based on Psalm 127.

Dennis Andrews Ed.D.

Reverend Andrews is Minister at Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach (Steeple on the Beach) located five blocks south of Hillsboro on AIA. See more @ www.communitych.org or on Facebook.

“The season” in South Florida means two very different times of year. Most prevalent is the season when cold winds blow up north and winter residents and vacationers stream south in search of paradise.

A second season is when hot winds blow down south. We watch the Weather Channel during this season, at the ready to put up shutters, gather supplies, hunker-down or flee in search of safety and security.

Every four years, along with the rest of our great nation, we have another season. It is “the season” of presidential politics. This season combines many of the characteristics and objectives of the first two! I will leave it to you to draw your own parallels!

I recently watched portions of both national political conventions. Carefully-crafted speeches by two accomplished and genuinely brilliant men, President Obama and Governor Romney, bore true two themes found in the letter of James, brother of Jesus.

“All of us make mistakes” and “No one can completely tame the tongue.” [James 3] These eternal truths amazingly presuppose speech writers and teleprompters.

Imagine how inspiring, how compelling both conventions could have been had every speaker and speech from the podium commenced with and then followed the instruction of the 19th Psalm. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer!”

I realize to always give highest and top priority to pleasing God is a challenge for all of us. And, my nose might begin to grow if I were to suggest pleasing God is the strategic aim of a national political convention. Most would agree a convention’s goals are more, shall we say, “down to Earth.” But hope springs eternal …

I grew up being attentive and engaged in politics and I still believe politics and governing are enormously important. I encourage anyone who believes otherwise to read the 13th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans. A careful reading of these verses may drive you to the polls!

Theologian John Calvin’s take on Paul’s writings on government is that civil power originates with the sovereign God. In other words, God is the foundation, not the footnote; the farm, not the farmer. God is source and supplier, not client or customer. Surely people of every political bent can agree we did not build ourselves!

I think the outcome of every election is important, and this year’s presidential election is no exception, but I believe the fate of our nation is always and forever in the hands of God, who is the author of the liberty we champion. What I recommend for every season is that we not look to government for paradise or even for lasting safety and security. These things, much like all God’s seasons, are things of God, not men.

An important endnote from Calvin’s writings on “Religion in the Public Square” is not surprisingly his focus on the church itself.

Calvin did not see church and state merged into a theocratic monster. He called instead for the church to energize distinctly under the leadership of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit to be the world-changing community. May this be “the season” for that! And may God bless America in all her seasons!

Cross the bridge and join us this weekend: Saturday evening at 6 p.m. or Sunday morning at 8:30 or 11 a.m. www.communitych.org.

This Weekend’s Message is “The Season.”

Reverend Dr. Dennis Andrews is Minister at Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach (Steeple on the Beach) located five blocks south of Hillsboro on AIA.