Romans 5:8,
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
This year we held an "Easter Celebration" on March 21-23, 2008. On day one, we had a group Bible study led by Pastor Teddy Hembekides as well as a prayer journey. On day two, we were led through a Passover Seder ceremony by a co-worker in the Messiah, a representative of the "Jews for Jesus" ministry, David Ortega. And on day three we heard a Resurrection Message, delivered by Pastor Kevin Jesmer from NIU UBF. This Easter Celebration was very special, not only because the contents of the celebration were satisfying spiritually, but because all of the programs were held on the campus of Triton College. Indeed God is helping us to influence the culture of Triton College with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The opening night consisted of a group Bible study and a three room prayer journey. Shp Teddy led about 50 people through Mark's account of Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection. Through it, we discovered the heart of the Gospel message. We could see the simple, gospel truths, that Jesus was crucified and that he has risen. These truths are enough to change, sorrowful and despaired and fearful people, into joyful and powerful witnesses of Jesus' resurrection. After the group Bible study we were all invited to participate in the J.O.Y. prayer journey. J.O.Y. stands for Jesus, Others and Yourself. When we live with these priorities then we can taste true joy. Three rooms were set up as a multi-sensory prayer experience. One prayer room was set up to pray for our relationship with Jesus; the other for World Mission and the other for prayers for ourselves. The prayer rooms utilized all the senses in order to help people to meditate and pray with all of their hearts. People went through the prayer rooms alone or 2X2. Everyone prayed sincerely for over an hour. We hope to present this prayer room journey to the greater Triton Community in the future.
On Saturday night we had a special guest, David Ortega, to perform a Passover Seder ceremony with us. The presentation was entitled "Christ In The Passover. A presentation of Jews for Jesus." At the Seder were people from Triton UBF, NIU UBF and also West Loop UBF. Several people attended through the Triton Bible Club outreach. David identifies himself as a co-worker in the Messiah. With true missionary spirit, he took time off of work to prepared an extensive ceremony in which approximately 65 people were provided with bitter roots, matzoh bread, salt water, a boiled egg, minced fruit, five small cups of grape juice, basically everything needed to demonstrate the Jewish Passover ceremony and how it points to Jesus. He involved the entire group, even small children. We all sang Messianic themed songs. It is amazing how Jesus is not only found in the story of the Passover, from the Book of Exodus, but Jesus is also found in the Passover traditions, practiced by the Jews for thousands of years. God has been making it clear He is the only one who can deliver us from our bondage to sin. David encouraged us that Jesus will be clearly revealed to the Jewish people if there are only people to step up and explain it to them. David Ortega gave us some hints on how to minister to the Jews. He also pointed out, that we, as Gentiles, have a unique opportunity to reach out to our Jewish friends because they are more open to our words than the words of a Jewish convert. We all enjoyed a delicious fellowship meal together, prepared by our woman co-workers.
The final day of our conference was Easter Sunday where 62 attended. On that day Shp Kevin Jesmer delivered a message based on Mark 16:1-20, "He Has Risen! He Is Not Here." Even though the death of Jesus has power to change hearts, we need to also have faith in the resurrection of Jesus in order to truly empowered to live as witnesses of the Risen Jesus. He urged people to hold onto the simple truths that Jesus was crucified and that he was raised from the dead. These simple truths, coupled with prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit is enough to touch the hearts of even post-moderns. We are thankful for the music servants, who worked hard to prepare and practice music not only for Sunday, but also for the opening night.
In conclusion, we thank God for sending Jesus as our Passover Lamb. Just as he delivered his people from bondage in Egypt, God is still delivering his people of every nation from their bondage to sin and bringing them into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We thank God for making this Easter one of the most meaningful, memorable and joyful Easter celebrations. We thank God for opening the way for us to celebrate it on Triton Campus. We pray that, through this celebration, God may prepare our hearts with Gospel faith, so that we may stand up as powerful resurrection witnesses on our respective campus.
