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After Easter |
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Location: Blogs Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive |
 | | Posted by: Brad Miller | 4/15/2009 3:25 PM | Greetings on this beautiful spring day!
Easter is such a wonderful time, but it can also be one of great stress, too. Not only for the preacher who wants to find a new way to tell a story that everyone already knows, or the choir director who wants to have the best possible anthem on that special day, or the person who gives the children’s sermon who wants to wow the kids on the biggest day of the church calendar. No, it can be stressful to the person who after witnessing all the passion and joy of the resurrection, gets up on Monday morning and realizes that their life has not changed a bit. If Easter happened, why am I not in a better place,or in a better mood, or why haven’t I solved my problems? Year after year, Easter comes and goes and we celebrate. But what of the person who witnesses the perfect love of God revealed in Christ Jesus, and still finds themselves mired in a decidedly un-perfect world?
Well, it may just be that that is why the worshipping community doesn’t meet just once a year. We know that the resurrection of Jesus is an incredible event. But we must continue to lay ourselves bare before God, we must continue to raise our prayers up together, we must continue to work toward feeling the joy of Easter in our lives every day. That takes time. In fact, for many of us, it takes years, maybe even a lifetime. Because Easter is not the end. Easter is the beginning. Easter shows us what the absolute pinnacle looks like, and we can spend a long, long time striving to reach that pinnacle in our own lives.
It is not easy. But it is fairly straightforward. It starts with us continuing to worship, to pray, to study and to open our hearts and lives to the presence of God. It starts with us recognizing that the resurrection happened for us, and us dropping to our knees in thanksgiving because of it. It starts with the day after Easter, and the next day, and the next. It starts with celebrating that because we are part of this community of faith, we need not do it all alone. It starts with our acceptance of the assurance that throughout the whole process, God is here for us, and that God will never leave us.
When we realize all of that, we will also recognize just how changed our lives really are. And that, after all, is what Easter is all about.
For a complete, updated prayer list and an updated calendar of events, please go to www.brookhavenchristian.org
For your prayer list
Margie Mitchell, knee surgery next Tuesday.
Cindy Parker, as she recovers from burns on her foot as the result of a household accident.
Upcoming Events
Because of the congregational pot luck breakfast last week, there will NOT be a congregational pot luck lunch this Sunday. See you next month!
Habitat for Humanity is here again! BCC will participate with neighboring churches in a build beginning Saturday May 2, and running for 7 Saturdays (skipping Memorial Day Weekend). Contact Jim Mowrey for more information and look for a signup sheet this Sunday in the bulletin.
Camp season is coming again! If your child is interested in Camp Christian this summer, be on the lookout for an e-mail detailing sign-up procedures, cost, etc. Sign up forms will be available the next couple of Sundays. Contact Debbie Kinney at debbie@brookhavenchristian.org for more information
Come and get your picture made on Friday May 1st or Saturday May 2nd….these are the pictures for our church directory and each participating family or individual will get a free 8 X 10 portrait and the chance to purchase more if you so desire. You will also get a free pictorial directory. See Harold Kinney or Mary Ann Brooks in the narthex before and after worship next Sunday.
The Garden Club’s Spring Yard Sale is coming soon! On Friday May 8 and Saturday May 9, this BIG event will take place and your help is needed. We will need volunteers to help set up, staff the sale, provide refreshments, and clean up. This is a major fundraiser for the garden club and helps underwrite the beautiful improvements they continually make to our church grounds. The donated items are already threatening to take over the basement storage room, but there is still time to donate. If you can help in any way, please contact Daonne Caldwell.
I hope to see you all this Sunday as we celebrate the second Sunday in Eastertide. The sermon is titled “Complete Joy” and the scripture is 1 John 1:1 – 2:2 (note this is not the Gospel of John, but the first letter of John.) Have a great rest of the week!
Be peaceful,
Brad
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