We are still a little ways from April as I write this, on the second full day of spring. Looks and feels like spring, too; sun is shining through the windows, and it’s warm enough to stand on the porch for a few minutes with my coffee. I joke a lot about how much I enjoy cold weather, but I’m always ready for the change of seasons (although summer is less welcome). Spring means gardening, cooking outside more frequently, easier exercise, and the trees, flowers, and grass all waking up from their winter sleep.
Spring also means we are about to celebrate Resurrection Sunday! Easter is relatively late this year, but I’m already excited. I had an interesting conversation the other day with a guy who is exploring church (he has a Christian background, but I don’t think he has surrendered his life to Christ yet) and was surprised to find that one of the things that bothered him about church services was the celebratory atmosphere. He seems to think that an attitude of celebration is somehow disrespectful in the presence of a Holy God.
And I get where he’s coming from, but having just come off several weeks of teaching on praise and worship, I was ready for this conversation! One of the things we talked about was the fact that the resurrection was such a central, powerful event, that the early church, which was almost all Jewish, began to assemble on the first day of the week, since that’s the day Jesus rose from the dead. The Sabbath, Saturday, was always the day to meet in the synagogue, but just like that, Sunday became The Day.
And it wasn’t just about which day to meet. The Resurrection was such a
joyous event that early church traditions discouraged or even forbade fasting on Sundays. If you were participating in an extended fast, you took Sun-days off because it was considered inappropriate to afflict oneself on The Lord’s Day. Why? Because the only appropriate response to the resurrec-tion is celebration!
Couple of things coming up that I want you to be there for:
Community Good Friday Service:
The Methodist Church and the Church of Christ here in St. Joe will join us at LWFC for a community Good Friday service. That’s Friday, April 19th, at 7PM. What a great opportunity to lay aside doctrinal differences and celebrate what we have in common, and there is nothing more important among those things than our belief in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ!
Keith Hershey, founder of Mutual Faith Ministries, a ministry with a tru-ly global reach, which we as a church have supported for many years, will be with us Sunday Morning, April 28TH. I know you will be blessed by what he shares, and I would like you to come pre-pared to bless him and his ministry.
Resurrection Sunday itself.
There are great things happening at Living Word, and there is a clear presentation of the Gospel every week. Especially on Easter, when we look closely at the importance and impact of the Resurrection, wouldn’t it be great to have some people there who need to hear it? Would you consider inviting someone? Remember the things we talked about in the last message of the worship series. Prepare your heart with prayer, prepare your bodies with rest, and prepare your mind with the Word. Let’s believe God together to do great things in our midst!
Blessings,
