Stories

It’s the coolest thing to walk out of church on Easter Sunday filled with joy after a fresh reminder that Jesus paid it all.

Leaving church on Easter can feel a little bit like the women who heard of Jesus’ resurrection in Matthew 28:8. They “hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples”! The songs of celebration, the reassuring message of hope, the time spent with family—all of yesterday’s activities can leave us with that same excitement the women at the empty tomb felt, eager to go and tell the world about the risen Savior.

But now it’s Monday, and we’re back in routine. We can so quickly slip back into old habits and spend the day feeling far from excited. We can forget that our faith and hope were renewed just yesterday, celebrating the resurrection of Christ.

I want to maintain that Easter joy today!

We do too, so let’s take some steps forward together! Let’s talk through how to respond daily to the reminder of the Good News.

But before we discuss how to respond to the Gospel, let’s think about what our response should be.

For the women at the empty tomb, their response to Jesus’ resurrection was to tell others. And just a few verses later, their actions were affirmed as Jesus gave the Great Commission. Before ascending into Heaven, He said:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. – Matthew 28:18-20

The women hurried to Proclaim the Good News, and Jesus goes on to say that we should do the same, by making disciples of all nations.

Now we’ve got what our response to the Gospel should be: Tell others!

Then comes the how. How do we take the joy of Easter we experienced yesterday and translate it into sharing Christ with others?

Well, it’s pretty difficult to share the joy of Jesus if you’re not reminding yourself of that same joy on a regular basis. Like the women running from the empty tomb, we want to be so excited about Jesus’ resurrection that we can’t help but hurry to share our joy with others!

How do I get there?

Reignite your excitement for the Good News routinely. Just like you can’t pour anything out of an empty cup, you can’t pour joy into others until you’ve refreshed your own.

To take a step toward filling your cup with joy, spend a moment right now writing down something that positively impacted you on Easter. It could be a thought from a sermon you heard, a song lyric that stuck with you, a conversation you had about Jesus’ sacrifice… you name it. When you’ve written it down, set the reminder somewhere you’ll see it daily.

Then, for the next week, take a moment to reflect on that note each time you see it, and praise God for what He showed you. That ongoing reminder will help you hold tight to the joy you experienced yesterday!

I’m on it!

Let us know how your joy is refreshed this week!

And to keep taking steps toward responding to the Good News, take a look at the action steps and prayer points below. We hope these ideas help you become excited about the Gospel routinely, so that you can’t help but joyfully run to tell others.

Happy Easter from the Mission India team!

PRAY

• Praise God that we get to experience His grace and demonstrate His love to the world!
• Ask God to bless you with excitement and joy around the Gospel on a daily basis! Pray that, even today, He opens your eyes to another reason to be excited about His love.
• Pray that God uses you to spread the joy of the Gospel to others through your day-to-day interactions.

TAKE ACTION

• Ask a friend what’s made her joyful lately! When we share in each other’s joy, we’re reminded of His goodness, even if we’re struggling to find joy in our own circumstances.
• Spread the joy of the resurrection to India’s children! There are less than two weeks remaining in our 10-Day Children’s Bible Club matching challenge, where every $1 you give is doubled to reach TWO of India’s children with the Gospel. Give a matched gift here.