{"id":2580,"date":"2013-05-05T16:32:48","date_gmt":"2013-05-05T13:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/?p=2580"},"modified":"2013-05-18T11:26:21","modified_gmt":"2013-05-18T08:26:21","slug":"happy-resurrection-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/happy-resurrection-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Resurrection Day!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today Christina and I want to wish you a happy Resurrection Day! This morning we celebrated Easter at our home church Hope for People<\/a><\/span> here in Odessa, Ukraine. It’s at times like this that I really love the name of our church, after all Jesus’ resurrection does give true and lasting hope for people!<\/p>\n

\"!\"

Happy Resurrection Day from Ukraine!<\/p><\/div>\n

Last night my mind was so active, thinking about the resurrection that I had a hard time sleeping. At 4am I woke up and walked out into our balcony to look at the usually empty street below. However, to my surprise I saw dozens of people headed to the Orthodox temple, with baskets containing bread, sausage and vodka for the priests to bless!<\/p>\n

Over the past few years it has become increasingly popular to celebrate religious holidays like Easter, Christmas and Ascension Day. Unfortunately the popularity of religious activities will never change the condition of the human heart.
\n\"SONY<\/p>\n

\n

Religious ceremony may temporarily make us feel better about ourselves but it will never make us better.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We need something more than rules and liturgy, we need a solution that reaches into the depths or our souls and exchanges our corrupt nature with a new nature that pleases a holy God.<\/p>\n

Today is Easter and just about everyone you pass on the street will greet you with “Jesus has risen” and the response, “He has risen indeed!” It is a wonderful greeting that rings with the truth upon which hinges the entire history of mankind.<\/p>\n

The problem is that you and I can speak words of truth and yet fail to repent and believe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Words, even true words without faith are nothing more than empty religion. When these hollow words connect\u00a0to the motions of “worship” you end up with a religion which prescribes medicine for the symptoms of sin when what you need is Jesus who cures man from the source of sin!<\/p>\n

Without true faith Jesus doesn’t save and without Jesus the Holy Spirit<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>does not change our hearts and enable us to do the good works God has called us to do.<\/p>\n

Without the Holy Spirit’s\u00a0\u00a0work our attempts at righteousness will produce little more than a moral recipe for religious failure.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today is Resurrection Sunday and I’m checking my heart to make sure that my words match my faith! I am also reminding myself that Jesus came to free us from empty religious activity and in its place give us a living relationship with a holy God.<\/p>\n

There is hope for people and his name is Jesus!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Question: How is the resurrection of Jesus impacting your life today?<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today Christina and I want to wish you a happy Resurrection Day! This morning we celebrated Easter at our home church Hope for People<\/a> here in Odessa,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[36,8,193],"tags":[49,254,290],"class_list":["post-2580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-ministry","category-ukraine-2","tag-easter","tag-orthodoxy","tag-religion"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/DSC03672.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3izZc-FC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":397,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/resurrection-sunday-in-odessa\/","url_meta":{"origin":2580,"position":0},"title":"Resurrection Sunday in Odessa","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"April 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"What was great about celebrating the\u00a0resurrection\u00a0here in Odessa Ukraine? Enjoying the walk to church with my beautiful wife! The fam, minus Anastasia who is with Ukrainian grandparents in Cherkassy A full service at our church \"Hope for People\" People enjoying the beautiful weather outside the church after the service. Matching\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Family"","block_context":{"text":"Family","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/family\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11918,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/resurrection-greetings-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":2580,"position":1},"title":"Resurrection Greetings","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"April 24, 2019","format":"video","excerpt":"Christina and I want to send you our greetings as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.\u00a0 This Sunday was Palm Sunday in Ukraine, (you can watch my sermon in Russian here) we will celebrate Easter next Sunday. It was also presidential election day. Many Ukrainians\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":395,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/easter-greetings-2011\/","url_meta":{"origin":2580,"position":2},"title":"Easter Greetings 2011","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"April 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear friends, we greet you on this great holiday, Holy Easter!May the Lord bless you so that the hope of His resurrection would be alive in your heart all your life.Thank you for your prayers for us and for our ministry here in Ukraine.Christ is risen!He has risen indeed!Happy Easter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Updates"","block_context":{"text":"General Updates","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6430,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/a-tense-easter-holiday-weekend-in-odessa\/","url_meta":{"origin":2580,"position":3},"title":"A Tense Easter Holiday Weekend in Odessa","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"May 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Armed men in men in camouflage showed up in our city just a few days before our Easter holiday weekend. The \"Odessa Clashes\" which occurred exactly 2 years earlier on May 2nd 2014 raised the likelihood that violence could break out as pro-Russian activists prepared\u00a0to protest against the Ukrainian government\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/620_400_1462107100-3264-e1462261906548.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/620_400_1462107100-3264-e1462261906548.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/620_400_1462107100-3264-e1462261906548.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":223,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/he-is-risen\/","url_meta":{"origin":2580,"position":4},"title":"He is Risen!","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"March 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Although Ukraine doesn't celebrate Easter until April 27th we want to wish everyone who is celebrating the Resurrection of Christ today a wonderful day!We snapped the above picture in a believer's home after the morning service in Makarovo. We had a great time of fellowship today with the Makarovo church\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Updates"","block_context":{"text":"General Updates","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":642,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/easter-in-cherkassy-and-mayovka\/","url_meta":{"origin":2580,"position":5},"title":"Easter in Cherkassy and Mayovka","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"April 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Suko Family News \u00a0 April 2012 \u0425\u0440\u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0441 \u0432\u043e\u0441\u043a\u0440\u0435\u0441, \u0432\u043e\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0438\u043d\u0443 \u0432\u043e\u0441\u043a\u0440\u0435\u0441! Christ is risen, He is risen indeed! I hope you had a great celebration of the resurrection of Jesus this month.\u00a0 I had the privilege of traveling to Cherkassy with my in-laws and spending Easter at House of Gospel Church.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Video Updates"","block_context":{"text":"Video Updates","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/video-updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2580"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2662,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2580\/revisions\/2662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}