Happy Easter!

Chad preached on Sunday morning; it was short but completely wonderful. He skipped the traditionally Easter morning message and really challenged the people, and by "people" I also mean me. He read from Ephesians 1:15-23. I want to pass along some of my notes that I took because I think it was so amazing and I want everyone else to experience a snip of how amazing it was.

Ephesians 1:15-23
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding[a] being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Let me break down vs19 like Chad did. He studied the Greek origins of the words and gave a literally translation based on the words that I highlighted above.
Exceeding - Over-the-top, he used the example of "to overthrow"
Greatness - HUGE
Power - raw strength
Working - Energy from within
Mighty - to win
His Power - physical strength from the same power that raised Christ from the dead
What Chad is trying to show is that Paul (the writer of the book) was really trying to make a point about the over-the-top, huge, raw, determined, physical strength that we (as Christians) are able to tap into. So instead of praying for strength (because the strength is already there), we need to pray "Let me know and experience Your power today!" And humbly recognize that we NEED to rely on His strength. And why did Paul use the resurrection as a visual in vs20? Because it's a beautiful, daily reminder. So, I walked away with this, "Is vs.19 representative of my Christian life?".
Chad is really a wonderful preacher who uses lots of examples and really knows how to challenge believers. Thanks, Babe!

After the service we tried taking a couple of pictures outside, although it was kind of a gloomy day. And then we spent the rest of the day resting and hanging out...kind of a lazy day for us. It was a wonderful day spent with family, remembering that the strength that raised Christ from the dead is the same strength that is with me daily...we are truly blessed!