April 2017

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
1 Peter 1:3-9

“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
Romans 6:5

Spring is finally here! What wonderful time of the year this is. The days are getting longer. The bulbs of those beautiful perennial flowers, which have been cold and frozen by the hard winter ground, have given away to bright green leaves and delightful blossoms. Nearly every morning when I wake up, I can hear the song of the birds outside my window. I didn’t know how much I missed their melodies until I started noticing that they were back.

As we greet the new month of April and the new season of Spring, we continue our Lenten journey to the cross. During this season of Lent, a season for listening to God’s still-speaking voice in our lives, God might have been planting seeds of hope and new life in your life. Maybe God woke you up to places in your life that are a little sleepy after a long winter or are a little hard after being out in the cold. As new life is blooming all around us, how do we let the promise of new life that we have found in Christ take root in our lives?

Our journey is taking us closer and closer to the day of resurrection when the tomb will be rolled away. Sometimes there are things in our own lives that need to be rolled away in order for the seeds God has planted in our lives to be able to give way to new life. Maybe as we get closer to Easter, you are being called to a spiritual “spring cleaning.” How might you refresh your spirit?

This season in the church brings with it so many opportunities for us to gather together as a community of faith to worship and grow in our faith. Our Wednesday evening worship services continue until Holy Week. During Holy Week, we will gather on Maundy Thursday to remember Jesus’ command to be nourished around the table through the breaking of bread and the pouring out of the fruit of the vine. On Good Friday, we will find ourselves at the foot of the cross and will confront the hard truth of sin and death. On Holy Saturday, our young people will get to have some fun at the Easter Egg Hunt, as we get closer to our celebration of the resurrection. At 6:30 am on Easter morning, our youth will lead us in our worship and praise of the God of new life and resurrection. They have been ready and willing to take the lead on this service, have spent lots of time writing their own skit, and have prepared to bring us a word of truth and hope. The offering they take up will go to support our scholarships for summer camp at Merom. It will be well worth it to get up a little extra early Easter morning to witness the faith and leadership of our youth. Breakfast will follow the service, and then we will move into our regular Sunday morning schedule as we celebrate as a church family on this most holy of days.

These are all opportunities for us to brush away some of the dust in our lives or for us to get rid of some of the clutter that keeps from more fully experiencing the newness of life God wants for us. I hope you can join us as this journey to the cross and the empty tomb continues. Please, invite your family and friends to join us for this special season in the life of the church. They are always welcome.

Pastor Sarah