New dresses.  Men wearing pink shirts.  Women in white shoes.  Frilly gloves and bonnets.  Candy.  Candy.  Candy.  Marshmallow Peeps.  Inflatable bunnies.  Plastic Eggs.  Easter.  Is there some joy in there anywhere?  All the hype around Christmas and Easter makes me think something must have happened a few thousand years ago to keep all this going.  Something more than a retail store rhythm and a candy seller’s dream.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the pivotal point in human history.  There is human history before the cross and resurrection and there is human history after the cross and resurrection.  Those three days changed the destiny of the human race.  Jesus was certainly a Great Teacher and the Best Model for life and practice but that reality is not the source of our joy.  What He accomplished on the cross, that was validated by His resurrection, is the source for our joy.  Joy is a “pervasive sense of well-being.”  If we are burdened with guilt and shame, if we are hopeless and powerless to change, if we are trying to fix our world and all the people in it, we will not have a pervasive sense of well-being.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ means more than a new destination for those who believe.  It means a new life!  It means a new way to live!  It means a new identity and a new future and a new hope…and, it means joy.  Jesus said that we can have His joy in fullness and that no one can take it away.  We hope to see you Sunday for more on this glorious subject.