From Black-and-White to Full-Color
Way back in 1909, color film was non-existent; all pictures were in black-and-white. But then a Russian photographer named Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii produced a photographic survey of his homeland featuring hundreds of photos in full, vivid color. How? 

Sergei designed a camera which took three black and white photos of a scene in rapid sequence, each though a differently colored filter. It captured all three images onto the same plate, resulting in three monochrome images. One commentator said “He then used a special projector to project the three images through filters onto a screen, each directly overlapping the others. The recombined projection was a full-color representation of the original scene. Each three-image series stored all of the color information onto the black and white plates; all they lacked was actual tint, which the color filters on the projector restored.”

The color was there in real life. But all the pictures up to that point could only show grainy black-and-white.  When Sergei took his pictures, somehow the information that would reveal the full glory of the image was imprinted deep in those black-and-white plates.  A special triple exposure was required to bring it alive. The difference was stunning.

The soul of every person on our planet is a study in black-and-white. No matter their wealth, education, personality, ethnicity, expertise or influence.  No matter how many headlines they generate, how large they appear to live or how together they seem.  No matter how colorful they think the picture of their life is. At the soul level, it’s all black-and-white.  Flat and two-dimensional.  That’s not negative or cynical thinking.  That’s just the way it is. Nobody on the planet can fully display the person they were created to be. All the color is filtered out by sin, by the wandering from God that has marked every person for all time. The best humans can produce is grainy black-and-white.

But… then comes Jesus and Easter.  Jesus died on the cross to take away our sin completely. Jesus rose again to give us life forever.  Taken together, we call that the gospel…good news.

What happens to our souls when we trust Jesus’ gospel?  Jesus develops a new picture of you and me.  The Easter gospel applies three overlapping filters to the picture of our soul. Filter 1: God, our gracious King, planned Easter “before the foundation of the world, to the praise of his glorious grace” (Eph. 1:4,6) Filter 2: Jesus, God’s Son, died as a substitute for our sins and rose again, and ”if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.” (Rom.6:5) Filter 3: The Holy Spirit applies the gospel to our hearts, mysteriously wooing us to trust Chris to be “born again” by “convicting the world of sin and righteousness and judgment” for “it is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no help.” (John 3:5-8 16:8, 6:63)

The person who has embraced this Easter life enabled by the creative work of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is like a new person for “anyone who is in Christ is a new creation; the old has passed away and all things are made new” (2 Cor. 5:7) Human life before Easter life is all black-and-white—everybody blends together in mere grayscale madness.  But a human life after Easter is another thing altogether, because for the first time, a person can begin to experience their life as God imagined it from the beginning – rich and robust, full of heaven’s colors of grace, mercy, love, peace, purpose,  joy. It is life in full color. 

That’s why you should invite somebody to join you for one of our services during Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Day.  They will see Jesus dying and rising again—for them. And if they trust Him, they, too, can move from death to life, from despair to joy, from black-and-white to full color life…forever!

Living in color with you, Pastor David (Join the conversation at www.ponder/anew.wordpress.com)

Help us out here!
Email family info, kids' achievements and other stuff to the church for inclusion in next month's Vic Bits.

Did you know that we have two guys who work at local golf courses? Ben Barnes (Renee) is course Superintendent at Idle Hour Country Club in Lexington. Jim Barkley (Lori) works at Champion Trace Golf Course as part of the Green Staff in Nicholasville.

We now have six expectant moms!
Carol Tenzca is due in May; Heather King is due in June, Lisa King is due in July, Stacy Jones is due in September, LeeAnn Lewellen is due in September, and Vanessa White is due in October.

Joe Ragland and Greg Howell are both preparing to run their first marathon by the beginning of May.

Scrapbooking/Craft Night
Join us Thursday, April 16, 6:30 - 9:30 pm, in rooms 7 & 9. Please bring your own supplies. Contact Paula Head (523-4101) for more information.

Covered Dish Dinner
Join us April 9, at 6:00 pm, for dinner and program. Our guest speaker will be Lori Bruner, Ventriloquist. Guests welcome.

Laser Tag
Join us for some spring break fun playing laser tag Thursday, April 1, at 2:00 pm. The cost is $8 each. (We'll probably do some eating too.)

Secret Soul Sisters guidelines and signup forms are available in the foyer. Deadline for sign-up is Sunday, April 12.

Preschoolers from the 2's, 3's & 4's class will be singing Sunday, April 5 during the worship service.

Preschool Easter Activities
Wednesday evening, April 8, 6:30 - 7:30

Moms Together Playgroup
MTP is open to all preschool moms and there is no cost to attend. Bring a friend to a meeting: April 8 and 22, 9:30 - 11:30 am. Contact Stacy Jones (245-8571) or Betsy London (272-0418) for more information.

Preschool Parents' Night Out
Only two more nights! This babysitting exchange is just about to wind down for the summer. It is open to all Victory pre-k parents and there is no cost. Contact Christina Cohen (230-2863).

Pizza & Games Derby
Join us for a pizza lunch and games after morning worship, Sunday, April 26. Cost is $3 each.

Save the Date
Vacation Bible School (3 yr olds - fifth grade) will be June 14 - 17 this year and the theme will be straight from Australia, Boomerang Express. If you have interest in working VBS, please contact Joyce.

Oneida Baptist Institute
Volunteers are needed to serve at Oneida April 26 - May 1. Tasks vary according to ability. There is a particular need for 1-2 workers with basic carpentry skills. Cost will include carpooling expense. Lodging and meals provided. Sign up in the foyer or contact Lindy Morgan for information (273-9659).

Our Levite teams need you to serve once a month for a couple of hours to help clean the church. The four teams rotate weekly, so consider which week of the month you and/or your family would be available to help and email the church.

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