The Berthoud Bugle: He Changes Everything
- berthoudfoursquare
- May 1
- 8 min read
Volume 2025: Edition 37
Food for thought: He Is Risen! And That Changes Everything
Hello everyone. We thank you for your love and support for our Church and our family. Please continue to pray for our church, our pastor and his leadership, and our church leaders as we move forward into this year. We are so blessed and grateful for the growth in our church, the ability to share our messages and newsletters with our viewers, and the strengthening of our church family and viewers as a congregation and as individuals. We strive to bring encouragement and connection through this newsletter, which we will continue to post every 1st of the month. So, we hope you will continue to learn and grow in God's word with us.
"Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.
Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.
Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead."
(John 20:1-9)
We have just celebrated the most important event in all of human history, the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Now the question stands before us: where do we go from here? Does the resurrection change anything in our daily lives? The answer is clear. Yes, it changes everything.
In the reading from John 20:1-9, we see Mary Magdalene discover that the stone has been rolled away and the tomb is empty. How did Jesus leave that tomb? Either someone removed His body, or He rose from the dead. And everything we know from Scripture and history points to one breathtaking truth: He rose.
Remember, both the religious leaders, the Pharisees, Sadducees, the chief priests, and the Roman authorities, had every reason to guard that tomb. They stationed guards, sealed it tightly, and tried to prevent any tampering. Yet the tomb was empty. No human explanation, no plot, no theft, makes sense of what happened. Only the power of God can.
This is where everything turns: if Christ rose, then new life, hope, and victory are ours. If He didn’t, then everything falls apart, and this is exactly the argument Paul makes so passionately in his letter to the Corinthians.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul tackles doubts head-on. He makes it crystal clear: the resurrection is not optional to Christianity. It is the very foundation. If Christ has not been raised, then our faith, our preaching, and our hope are all empty.
Paul says:
“Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ - whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised… If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”
(1 Cor 15:12–14, 17)
Paul lays out a very logical structure in 1 Corinthians 15, like a careful teacher giving a critical lesson. Here’s his flow:
The Kerygma (Greek for Proclamation) is the core message of the Gospel, announcing Christ’s resurrection and its significance..
If there is no resurrection, the Gospel message itself collapses.
Because Christ has been raised, all who belong to Him will also be raised.
Without the resurrection, hope, endurance, and faithfulness are meaningless.
The resurrection means the transformation of our mortal bodies into glorious, imperishable ones.
Paul concludes powerfully:
“Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
(1 Cor 15:58)
Let’s be clear: if Christ has not been raised…
Our preaching is useless.
Our faith is empty.
We are false witnesses against God.
We are still trapped in our sins.
Those who have died in Christ have perished without hope.
Everything is on the line. But the testimony of Peter, John, Mary Magdalene, and over 500 witnesses confirms the truth: Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead. No one stole His body. No one fabricated a myth. They saw Him. They touched Him. They ate with Him.
The resurrection is real and your relationship with Jesus is real. Don’t let anyone or anything steal this truth from your heart. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the power that fuels you every day. What happened to Jesus prefigures what will happen to us. We will follow Him through death into eternal life. We are more than conquerors through Him who loves us.
This changes everything. It changes your past, your present, and your future. It’s a new day. He is risen and because of that, so shall we.
Lord Jesus,
You are alive, and because You live, I live also. Let the power of Your resurrection fill my heart today. Strengthen my faith, renew my hope, and transform my life, that I may walk in Your victory every day.
Amen.
As this newsletter continues to grow and expand, please don’t be afraid to let us know if you are in need of prayer or support. And feel free to share your stories, your testimony, or just a quick question in the comments section below any of our links. We truly want to hear from you and do what we can to help because we are meant to be here to love, encourage, and support one another.
We are grateful to have you with us as readers, church members, and interested guests and we are always open to any suggestions and volunteers for our website, newsletter, and future activities. We hope to see you at our Sunday service and stay tuned for our coming newsletters and updates at church, at bible study, on Facebook, on our YouTube Channel, on the Wix App, and on the website.
Upcoming Events:
Special Prayers:
Pray for Rachel Salazar that the Lord provides her with comfort, Love, and peace
Pray for all mothers during this upcoming Mother's Day for God gave them children to nurture, love, and raise in the teachings of the Lord. May God provide them patience and guidance in their parental role.
Pray for Lucy that the Lord continues to watch over and protect her
Pray for Rory that the Lord strengthens him and provides him with rest
Pray for Jessie for his mental state and overall health
Pray for Jax and the healing and strengthening of his body
Pray for Gloria and her family for guidance and strength
Continued prayer for our brothers and sisters in Christ in the Bangladesh Education Program. Pray for the provision of all necessary resources to support this program and for their ministry.
Pray for our Newsletter that we can continue to write through the Holy Spirit
Pray for our Pastor and our church that we may be blessed to continue to grow and share the word of God
Weekly Devotional: Every Good and Perfect Gift
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change"
(James 1:17)
Have you ever been shopping for a gift and had no idea what the intended recipient needed or wanted? You didn't know what size or what color of sweater to buy or if the child's toy was aged appropriate, so eventually you just threw your hands up in frustration and said, "I'll just buy something! They'll take it back anyway. Who cares?"
Gift giving is not always as easy or joyful as it should be. The fact of the matter is, even the best of us can't give perfect gifts every time because we are flawed. We lack the insight and the knowledge, and sometimes the resources or even the willingness, to give the right gift. In this we are utterly different from God, for God is the perfect giver of gifts, and ONLY perfect gifts. He is spontaneously good and overflows with generosity. He gives without expecting anything in return, and He doesn't restrict His goodness based on what the recipients deserve. And no gift from Him ever needs to be returned.
Not only is God perfectly generous, but the generosity never changes. Even the best earthly parents need to be approached at the right time and in the right way because they can be inconsistent. Children learn to choose their moments. As a teen, I found it easy to read my father's body language while he was on hold with the electric company and think, "I'm not sure now is the time to ask for two new tires for my car."
With our Heavenly Father, though, we don't need to wonder if it's okay to approach Him. He is neither fickle or quick to anger. We can be confident that He will always act appropriately. We will never find Him unaware, unable, unavailable, or unwilling. Through Christ, He is accessible and responsive to our hearts, pleads and our daily concerns.
We are children of God, and one of the way our Father expresses His love for us is in His perfect gifts to us. Therefore, a mark of everyone of His children should be gratitude. If we know our Father's character, how can we be anything other than grateful - even when His gifts are not the ones we would have chosen ourselves? So, be careful to count your blessings, daily. Remember that all good things are gifts from Him. Be sure to say to Him:
Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
there is no shadow of turning with thee...
All I have needed thy hand hath provided -
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Please read Psalm 103 in connection to this devotional
Begg, Alistair. Truth for Life - Volume 1. The Good Book Company, 1 Oct. 2021.
Verse of the Week:
" For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well."
(Psalm 139:13-14)
Announcements:
Don't forget that this Mother's Day we will have a special time during service to appreciate the women among our congregation for their tireless work as moms and as fellow sisters in Christ
who serve not only an important purpose among their families but in our church family.
We would like to remind you that we will be having a fellowship meeting after the first or second Sunday service of every month. This month will be after the 3rd Sunday service due to Mother's Day. This meeting is an important time to have fun together and get to know each other as a church family. If you would like to lead a Fellowship meeting for this year, please sign up on the Church Bulletin board.
We have been printing and mailing our newsletters to our subscribers for the past couple of months. If you haven't received the newsletter physically and would like to join our mailing list, please sign up below.
We would love to send out the newsletter personally to every member as well as pray for and celebrate birthdays and anniversaries together as a church family. We are asking for all of our members to fill out the member information card either in church or through the mail after they've received their mailed newsletter.
Questions?
For any questions or suggestions regarding our newsletter please email berthoudfoursquarechurch@gmail.com
Comments