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“And he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.’” (Mark 16:6)
“Running on empty” may sound contradictory when describing the Christian life, but consider what the author of Hebrews says. We run the race set before us “looking to Jesus” the risen and ascended Savior “seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1). We “run on empty,” that is, we run filled with hope that comes from an empty tomb and the promise it brings.
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We “run on empty” because the empty tomb assures us that our faith is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:17).
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We “run on empty” because the empty tomb assures us that we have an imperishable and “living hope” (1 Peter 1:3).
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We “run on empty” because the empty tomb assures us that Jesus Christ is victorious over sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).
On behalf of the entire Life Team at LFL’s Life Center, I wish you a blessed Easter. We pray you will have peace, joy, and hope as you run the race set before you with the assurance that comes from the empty tomb and the angel’s message, “He is not here.”
LFL loves to help people dealing with life issues “run the race” in this manner.
A woman with an abortion in her past wrote me recently after hearing an LFL presentation that connected the Gospel of forgiveness to the sin of abortion. She said, “I feel a lightness to my heart that has been gone for many years.” She was learning what it means to “run on empty”!
An elderly woman dealing with end-of-life issues as she cared for her stroke-disabled husband read some LFL publications. She wrote, “Thank you again for lifting my heart.” She was learning what it meant to “run on empty.”
The empty tomb is more than a Sunday School story or some historical site with a church built upon it. The empty tomb proclaims a message of hope and victory tailor-made for people feeling hopeless and defeated because they face difficult situations in their lives.
LFL continues to equip Lutheran pastors, educators, and congregations to apply this Easter message to the life issues. No other message can “lift hearts” or bring “lightness” to hearts as this message. I’m asking for your help to do so. We rely on people like you for the majority of our funding. Easter is a good time to celebrate the hope and victory of the resurrection by giving a gift in memory of someone.
So please consider a gift of prayer and financial support—of whatever you are able to give—and help LFL help others “run the race” with their eyes fixed on a risen Savior.
What Do We Do with Your Gifts? Here is a synopsis of what we did in 2010.
I preached Life Sunday Sermons at 20 different congregations, spoke at 22 other For Life events, eight Lutheran schools, five youth events, 10 pastor’s meetings, and two seminaries. The total number who heard the message of the empty tomb connected to the life issues was 10,492. We do not charge speaker fees for any of these events. You make this possible.
Your gifts help us provide free or low cost educational resources for congregations to use to equip their people to apply the message of the empty tomb to the life issues. We have 229 items in our catalog! In 2010 we sent out over 350,346 items; 10 percent were free. Annually, over 220 customers collectively receive 420,000 copies of our Life News bulletin insert. Last year, we gave samples of our materials in an educational resource manual to 264 seminary students. You make this possible.
A comment on how the Lord of Life works through these materials. “LFL publications have provided me with such comfort and peace. The work you are doing is changing lives—especially mine.”
Our quarterly journal LifeDate is the only journal of its kind that connects the message of the empty tomb to the life issues in each and every publication. We send out 32,000 free copies every quarter. You make this possible.
Touched by a LifeDate article, a young woman considering an abortion wrote. “I just want to thank you for the magazine. I know God reached out to me. I am not going to hurt my baby. I cannot believe how close I came to doing something I would regret for the rest of my life. I am going to consider adoption.”
Our Teaching For Life® curriculum is being used by 150 Lutheran schools and is being well received. A comment from a teacher: “Teaching For Life® is so colorful and well done, that when we opened up the first unit we wanted to do everything in one day!”
More to Come! LFL now has a comprehensive, six-year, seventeen-page strategic plan. This plan contains 17 major goals, 43 objectives, and 217 action plans. Our year has just begun, but already twenty-seven action plans have been completed. The focus of the plan is on three major areas:
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Equipping Lutheran pastors and congregations to be Gospel-motivated voices For Life.
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Equipping Lutheran educators and schools to be Gospel-motivated voices For Life.
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Equipping the younger generation of Lutherans to be Gospel-motivated voices For Life.
LFL’s bold vision is to equip all these Lutherans so that someday every Lutheran congregation will uphold the God-given value of human life and influence our society to do the same. We would all like to see that!
You can help! You are an important part of our strategic plan! Every plan needs funding. So I am asking that you prayerfully consider helping us—through both prayer and financial support—equip Lutherans to apply the hope-filled and life-assuring message of the empty tomb to the life issues.
“Run on empty”! Run the race set before you with the assurance that comes from a risen Savior!
Your servant For Life,
Jim Lamb
Executive Director
P.S. Would you do me a favor? When you finish this article, send a link to a friend. Encourage them to join you in spreading the Easter message through LFL.
