Brothers and
Sisters in Christ,
On April 8th we begin our celebration of Easter, the Queen of Feasts,
the most important season of the church year. We see the importance of
Easter in the way it dominates the gospels, the preaching of St. Paul and the
message of the New Testament. Without Easter, without the resurrection, there is
no Christian faith.
Everything that happens in our worship before Easter points to it. Advent and
its promise of the Messiah, Christmas and its celebration of the birth of our
Lord, Epiphany and its manifestation that Jesus is the Lord of the nations and
Lent and its journey to the cross all point us to the empty tomb of Easter and
our Lord's victory over death and the grave.
Everything that happens after Easter is seen from its perspective. Pentecost and
its story of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the Pentecost season and its
focus on the teaching of Jesus all are understood post- Easter. They make no
sense and have no power if Jesus is not risen from the dead.
Take away
the resurrection of
Jesus and the Christian faith implodes. All his teachings, all his miracles and
his suffering and death have no meaning apart from Easter. Likewise, our
Christian ethics and morality have no meaning either. Without the resurrection,
there is no purpose to living by the precepts of our faith set forth in the
scriptures.
The resurrection of Christ is brought to bear on our lives by the Holy Spirit.
As its life-giving power is imparted to us, we are energized and enabled to go
forth into the world to live as the faithful people of God and as disciples of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
The theme of our Easter worship services is Meeting the Risen Christ. Each of the Sundays of Easter we shall
focus on the impact our encounter with the risen Christ has upon our lives. The
themes for each of the Sundays of Easter are:
| March 23 | Meeting the Risen Christ Out in Galilee |
| March 30 | Meeting the Risen Christ in the Gathered Community |
| April 6 | Meeting the Risen Christ in Holy Communion |
| April 13 | Meeting the Risen Christ as the Keeper of the Gate |
| April 20 | Meeting the Risen Christ as He Shows Us the Father's Love |
| April 27 | Meeting the Risen Christ in Acts of Love for One Another |
| May 4 |

I pray that as you come to worship to celebrate
this great mystery of faith and gift of God's love, you will be blessed by an
ever growing awareness of the risen Christ's presence with you.
Peace and Joy in Christ, Pastor V