Easter's over, now what?

After Easter, now what?

Granted this Easter, not unlike Easter 2020 looked different. For those of us who typically spend almost all of Holy Week in the Church building, it was again different than years past. I missed the grandeur of Holy Week, the setting up and creating of an experiential Good Friday service. I missed the music of Easter Sunday morning. 

These Covid days have a tendency of blurring into one another and unless you have little children around anxiously awaiting the Easter Bunny, you may have found yourself saying, “Oh right, it’s Easter”. 

My prayer has been that even though we were unable to gather in person, that you were still able to stop, reflect and celebrate.  Now that Easter has passed, my prayer for you is that you will remember that Jesus lives in the everyday, and every day we are invited into His presence. 

After the eggs are cracked and egg salad sandwiches consumed, after the little foil wrappers from the chocolate eggs are picked up off the floor and table tops and thrown away, after the bunny decorations are packed up… it’s easy to put “Easter” away until next year.  

But Jesus says, “I am always with you.”

That means that Jesus is with us as we are pumping gas or at the dentist. Jesus is with us if we are worried about test results, or anxious about our online presentation. Jesus is with us when we lose our temper or when we feel like all that we do goes unrecognized.

Jesus says, “I am always with you.”

There is a story in the Bible of two men walking to Emmaus. Jesus joins them on their journey, but the two men didn’t recognize Him. They were chatting away, telling Jesus all that had happened to Him, and they didn’t even know it was Him. Jesus was right there next to them.  He was right there all along and they didn’t see Him.  How often do we do the same?

As you journey through the next days, weeks and months after Easter, remember that the Easter message was never intended to be a one-Sunday-a-year event.  We are to live out the message of the good news that Jesus was indeed crucified, buried and He rose again on the third day with all power and glory. 

Remember today, no matter what circumstance you find yourself in, Jesus says, “I am always with you.”

Easter Blessings!

This past week I received an email from a dear friend and congregant who said,

“Having a wonderful Easter feeling weekend after the drive thru yesterday and watching this week's church service. So much talent and work was involved.  It was fabulous!  Yesterday, seeing Church people live and in person gave me such a lift. You must be very proud of Amberlea. We are so fortunate to be members. Looking forward to the rest of the services this week.”

Yes, yes, yes!  It was an amazing weekend pointing us to the Greatest Story ever told about the Greatest Show!  Where God showed us in no uncertain terms God’s power over death, and the love of the Father revealed in His Son.  The work that has been done for you and me.  Hallelujah!

This is Holy Week and I hope that you will join me on Maundy Thursday (April 1) for a special Communion Service. Let’s recreate the Upper Room, the place where Jesus shared the Last Supper with his friends. Friends, who one by one betrayed him. 

Then on Good Friday (April 2) let’s gather to remember and reflect.  But beloveds, 

“Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning!”  (Psalm 30:5). 

So, join us on Easter Sunday Morning (April 4) as we celebrate the Risen Christ!

This will be our second Easter a part, and for me it will be hard. I miss the energy, the sound of raised voices praising God, your responsive faces, not to mention your hugs. The novelty of virtually everything “virtual” has worn thin for many of us. BUT GOD.  We have learned that Church is not the building. The church is you and me. And even though we miss being in Community we continue to be a part from one another because our love and care for each other runs deeper.  We are Easter people!

So, this Easter: 

We sing because we love God. 

We rejoice because we know that God is still on the throne. 

We worship because God loved us first.

We will praise before we see the miracle because we Trust God in all of it!

Easter Blessings!

The Lesser known...

I remember, when I was a very young Christian, a member of my family saying, “You know what I can’t stand about Christians? They are all hypocrites! They act all goody, goody on Sunday and then the rest of the week they act completely different”.

Those words have never left me.  

Have you ever felt like you like you wear a mask in certain areas of your life?  I don’t mean a literal mask, because we all know we need to do that.  I am talking about how we live our lives. How, perhaps sometimes we carve out a portion of our lives and choose to live it differently than the rest.  For instance behaving a certain way with certain people or certain circumstances.

We are called to live honestly in every part of our lives.

“Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”  Galatians 5:25

After Jesus’ death, Joseph of Arimathea , the lesser known Joseph, went public with his faith. He is remembered for stepping out in faith to claim the body of Jesus. For three years of Jesus ministry, Joseph was a secret disciple. As one of Israel’s wealthy religious elite, it was dangerous for Joseph to associate with Jesus. It was not until Jesus’ crucifixion that Joseph was willing to risk a public association. 

And I wonder what he might have missed out on had fear and hesitation not taken over? What opportunities had he missed? What miracles and life change did he not experience out of fear of being found out that he was in fact a follower of Jesus?

I suppose the same question could be asked of each of us. What might we be missing out on?

What opportunities are we missing out on because we are afraid to commit fully to our faith?

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“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”  (John 10:27)

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Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

Join us this Sunday, March 28th (Palm Sunday) for a very special service with our children!