Pastor Dan -April

         The Lenten season shatters this month like a delicate crystal Christmas ornament meeting the tile floor at high impact. The season suddenly ends. Lent’s purpose of shedding new light into the darker corners of our being disappears as the heavy cold morning stone of a tomb is removed and the Risen Lord shakes of death to walk among those frozen by the events of His brutal crucifixion. The Almighty’s promise of New Covenant life now seeks out others to share in such resurrection hope and a God-given life coming to those in which the breath of the Resurrected One ignites new life to all who inhale in the Lord’s giving.

          There will be celebrations galore throughout the world as family and friends gather to bask in the new light of eternal glory as this glory dwells within and among the faithful. The traditions of cultures will be on display for all to see and hear as the story of Christ is shared with word and deed. Baskets and flowers, hams and lambs, eggs and sweets stir delight in the hearts and souls of the gathered faithful. It is in the gatherings in which an eternal hope and a brighter path are manifest.

          Can any of us, those called by the Eternal Christ, live a life in which resurrection is but a whimsical wish? As St. Paul writes to the churches in Corinth: “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:13-14). It is in verse 20 in which St. Paul affirms and proclaims, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.”  The “but in fact” expresses not a desire of the human heart and a dream and vision of a better world but expresses the very heart and core of God of whom has acted in such a way to fulfill and make whole the Lord’s promise of eternal relationship.

          May we continue to walk in the truth and fact that God Almighty continues to engage this world and the people of this world and those who are faithful to Christ in this world in such a manner that the Almighty’s love, grace, care and hope fill us to the brim and then overflow to the lives around us. May your Easter day and Easter life blossom as a fragrant praise to our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Risen Christ of God.

          In Christ’s Love and Service, 

                          Pastor Dan