from the Desk of the Pastor
In person worship Services continue to be temporarily cancelled. We have no definite re-opening date but it appears it will at least not be until the Summer/Fall of 2021. We are looking toward vaccines being received which will cut down the current health risk.
For our virtual services, we have incorporated a plan to check the temperature and have a health check form be completed before anyone enters the sanctuary. This is done for the safety of our members during this period of increased cases in our city. We thank our Holy Light Ushers for their work in providing their services in this area.
Please note that on the Holy Light MBC Facebook account there is a live service at 9:00am every Sunday morning. The recording of the services are on the Holy Light face book page as well as the Holy Light website holylightmbc.org.
Please continue to pray for our members who are dealing currently with illness and health issues. The prayers of the righteous availeth much!
Continue to pray for our nation, state and city and for the hearts of those to change their positions of authority in law enforcement. We also pray for our President-Elect and Vice President-Elect as they ready themselves to take on a big challenge in our nation.
Sunday Service: March 28, 2021
Sunday Service: March 21, 2021
Sunday Service: March 14, 2021
Communion
Sunday, April 4, 2021 (10:00am-12:00pm)
Communion will be served as always in the Church Parking Lot. Sunday, April 4th from 10:00am to 12:00pm.
Bible Study
Wednesday, April 7, 14, 21, 28 (7:00pm)
Please plan on taking part in our Bible Study on each Wednesday at 7:00pm.
*Zoom info was emailed to our members. If you haven't received it, please contact Pastor Dandridge.
This will be a recurring weekly meeting until April 28, 2021.
Church Improvement
Church Property Improvement Updates – We are still in the process of receiving estimates on the replacement of flooring in the church vestibule and fellowship hall areas. We will provide an update when this work will be done in the next newsletter.
Glorified Christian Time
We are now members of the Glorified Christian Times Family. The link to the Christian newspaper is https://www.getglorifiedchristiannews.com
Health & Community
CALIFORNIA COVID‐19 RENT RELIEF
Now Available to Income Eligible Households & Their Landlords
If you or someone you know has fallen behind on rent or utility payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the California COVID-19 Rent Relief program that just launched on March 15 may be able to help.
Households that have experienced a financial hardship due to COVID‐19, have past due rent or utilities, and have an income that is not more than 80% of the area median income (AMI) are eligible for emergency assistance through the Housing Is Key initiative made possible by state and federal funding.
Landlords and renters can verify eligibility and apply immediately by visiting HousingIsKey.com or by calling 833‐430‐2122.
Landlords that participate in the COVID‐19 Rent Relief program can receive assistance for 80% of eligible renters’ unpaid rent accrued between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021, if they agree to waive the remaining 20% of unpaid rent from the same time period.
Eligible renters can apply on their own to receive assistance for 25% of unpaid rent accrued between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021, even if their landlord doesn’t agree to participate in the program.
Renters can also apply to receive financial assistance to pay future rent, equal to 25% of monthly rent. This combined assistance can help renters stay housed once California’s eviction protections expire on June 30, 2021. Additional financial assistance available through the California COVID‐19 Rent Relief program includes help paying past due utility payments accrued from April 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021, as well as help paying future utility bills, both of which may be paid at 100% of cost but are limited to a total of 12 months.
To check eligibility, review the required application items and get prepared to apply, visit HousingIsKey.com. Once an application has been processed, both the landlord and renter will receive notification of their application status and next steps.
Resurrection Sunday
The Uniqueness of Christ’s Resurrection
The significance of resurrection of our Lord is first to be seen in the uniqueness of His resurrection from the dead. There are several facets of the uniquesness of the resurrection of our Lord which we shall focus on:
(1) The resurrection of our Lord was unique because of His deity.
The significance in the event of the resurrection is intertwined with the significance of the person who was raised. It was no mere mortal who rose from the dead on that Easter morning, it was the Son of God
(2) The resurrection of our Lord was unique because of the death which preceded and necessitated His resurrection.
The death of Christ was the death of one who was sinless, on behalf of those who were sinners
The death of Christ was unique, because it was a part of God’s eternal plan that Christ would die as an innocent sacrificial lamb, as a substitute payment for the sins of men. The sacrifices of the Old Testament system anticipated Him who was to come as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29; cf. I Cor. 5:7). From eternity past, Christ was designated as the perfect sacrifice, without spot or blemish, whose death could thus atone for the sins of others (Is. 53; Heb. 9:11-14; 1 Pet. 1:18-20; 2:21-25).
(3) The resurrection of our Lord was unique as an event which had no precedent.
1 Never before had anyone been raised from the grave in such a way as to be completely transformed and thus beyond the icy fingers of death. Our Lord’s resurrection was the first genuine resurrection in the history of man. His resurrection is referred to as “the first fruits,” for there will be many who will follow after Him (1 Cor. 15:23).
(1) The resurrection of Christ was necessary to prove that Jesus Christ was who He claimed to be.
Our Lord had clearly claimed to be the son of God, which was the reason why the religious leaders conspired to kill Him (cf. John 19:7). The resurrection was God’s proof that the Lord Jesus was Who He claimed to be: the Son of God:
(2) The resurrection of Christ was necessary to prove that Jesus Christ had accomplished what He had promised.
The death of our Lord alone would not have sufficed, since it is by our identification with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection that we are saved.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (Rom. 5:9-10).
In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, that great resurrection chapter of the New Testament, Paul argues that apart from Christ’s resurrection, we would have no hope: But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. . . . For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins (1 Cor. 15:13-14; 16-17).
In his message at Pentecost, Peter taught that the resurrection of Christ by the Father (through the Holy Spirit) was God’s vindication of His Son, His message, and His work
(3) The resurrection was a necessary in order to fulfill biblical prophecy.
In Acts chapter 2 Peter argued that the resurrection was biblically necessary, citing David’s words in Psalm 16:10: “Because Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades, Nor allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay” (Acts 2:27; cf. 13:33).
Peter argued from Psalm 16 that David could not have referred to himself, but rather to his Son, Messiah, whom God would raise from the dead. The Old Testament Scriptures were understood by the apostles to foretell the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ was thus a biblical necessity.
(4) The resurrection of Christ was also a logical necessity.
In his message in the second chapter of Acts, Peter also contended that the resurrection of Christ, the Messiah, was a logical as well as a biblical necessity.
“And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:24).
Peter argued here that it is impossible for God to remain in the grave and to decay, as men do. By virtue of being God, Christ could not have been left in that tomb, dead.
(5) The resurrection of Christ is vital because it is a necessary element of a saving faith.
In both the Old and the New Testaments, a saving faith was a faith in a God’s who could and would raise men from the dead. A careful study of the 11th chapter of Hebrews will indicate that the faith of Old Testament saints was a resurrection faith.2
Let;s use one Old Testament figure to demonstrate the resurrection dimension of faith, the faith of Abraham. The initial absence of this kind of faith is apparent from Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his wife’s purity in order to save his own skin. As Abram and Sarai approached Egypt, he said to her,“See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman; and it will come about that when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I might live on account of you” (Gen. 12:11-13)
As God continued to work in Abraham’s life, a resurrection faith resulted. When God promised Abram and Sarai a son in their old age, Abraham believed God because he had come to possess a saving, resurrection faith. Paul writes about Abraham’s faith in his epistle to the Romans:
And without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore also it was reckoned to him as righteousness (Romans 4:19-20).3
Abraham’s resurrection was put to its most crucial test, once again pertaining to his son. The writer to the Hebrews tells us,
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac; and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” He considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead; from which he also received him back as a type (Hebrews 11:17-19).
Thus we can see that the faith of the Old Testament saints was a resurrection faith. So, too, the faith of the New Testament believer must be a resurrection faith. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)
The apostle Paul wrote: . . . if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved (Rom. 10:9).
Personal faith in the resurrection of Christ is therefore necessary because it is a vital element in a faith that leads to salvation.