To join us remotely for our Good Friday service on April 10 @7:00 PM and our Easter Sunday service on April 12 @ 10:45 AM, go to:  https://m.twitch.tv/cbcridgecrest/profile.

Good Friday is the commemoration of Christ's death on the cross.  

DEATH COULD NOT HOLD HIM!  HE IS RISEN!  Easter is the celebration of Christ's resurrection from the dead.  Here are four reasons why the resurrection of Jesus Christ is so important in the Christian faith:

• It fulfilled Christ's prophecies before His death that He would be raised from the dead (Matthew 16:21; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33-34; Luke 9:22; John 2:22)
• It proved that Jesus is the Son of God (Romans 1:4; Ephesians 1:19-23)
• It demonstrated that God has accepted Christ's substitutionary death on the cross as payment in full for the sins of believers (Romans 4:25; 8:33-34; 1 Corinthians 15:17; Hebrews 10:12-14)
• It guarantees that believers will also be raised from the dead (Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:20-22; 2 Corinthians 4:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:14)

Here are some quotes on the importance of Christ's resurrection:

• Hank Hannegraaff: "The resurrection is not merely important to the historic Christian faith; without it, there would be no Christianity. It is the singular doctrine that elevates Christianity above all other world religions. Through the resurrection, Christ demonstrated that He does not stand in a line of peers with Abraham, Buddha, or Confucius. He is utterly unique. He has the power not only to lay down His life, but to take it up again."
• John MacArthur: "The truth of the resurrection gives life to every other area of gospel truth. The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns and without which none of the other truths would much matter. Without the resurrection, Christianity would be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside all other human philosophy and religious speculation."
• Henry Morris: "The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the crowning proof of Christianity. If the resurrection did not take place, then Christianity is a false religion. If it did take place, then Christ is God and the Christian faith is absolute truth."
• J.C. Ryle: "We need not wonder that so much importance is attached to our Lord’s resurrection. It is the seal and headstone of the great work of redemption, which He came to do. It is the crowning proof that He has paid the debt which He undertook to pay on our behalf, won the battle which He fought to deliver us from hell, and is accepted as our Surety and our Substitute by our Father in heaven. Had He never come forth from the prison of the grave, how could we ever have been sure that our ransom had been fully paid? (1 Cor. 15:17.) Had He never risen from His conflict with the last enemy, how could we have felt confident, that He has overcome death, and him that had the power of death, that is the devil? (Heb. 2:14.) But thanks be unto God, we are not left in doubt. The Lord Jesus really “rose again for our justification.” True Christians are “begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” They may boldly say with Paul, “Who is he that condemns – it is Christ that died, yes rather that is risen again” (Rom. 8:34. Rom. 4:25. 1 Pet. 1:3)."