Easter 2019

Dear Easter Pilgrims,

So here we go…we are to the point of no return.  It’s Wednesday today as I write this, but Sunday is a-coming.  Grounds looks amazing, details coming together, meeting today to review all our services.  Seder Meal is all ready to go and messages are being crafted, kids are finishing up their week and then it’s all to Easter. 

The Scripture from Luke 24 has such a richness to it.  The women come to the tomb and the angel says to them, “don’t you remember what He told you?”  The women, like us, get so caught up in the moments of life, it’s hard to remember all the intricacies of life.  People say this and that, but then something spurs the memory and we have that warm memory of a great and blessed time.

What do you remember of Easter’s gone by?  I remember having a blue leisure suit in the 70’s and thinking I was great.  I remember my first Easter as a parent, our son, born on Good Friday, and sitting in church crying with joy and a new sense of responsibility. 

What will trigger that warm memory for you?  Maybe a hymn or a praise chorus?  Maybe the smell of Easter lilies?  Maybe your children running around looking for eggs and running around in footie pajamas like little Easter bunnies themselves, until every egg is found?

For me, Easter isn’t Easter until I have sung hymns, heard the Scripture account of Jesus’ resurrection, remembered those, whom I love, who are now in heaven and doing all that in the community of our Church.  God bless you as you move through the last days of Jesus’ life.  Our services are so poignant and filled with meaning.  There is a richness to remembering.

• Thursday, we smell the wine and taste the bread of Jesus’ last supper.  Services at 12:15pm and 7pm in our Sanctuary, as we gather around and remember the night before Jesus was betrayed.
• Friday, we see the starkness of the cross and remember the sacrifice that brought us peace with God.  We gather at 12:15pm and 7pm in our Sanctuary and 7pm in our Walker Hall Auditorium for services that bring back memories of hope and salvation.
• Saturday, we remember the in-between time.  Jesus in the tomb and Jesus on the way out to eternity.  We gather for the Easter Vigil at 7:30 in the Sanctuary.  Thanks to our Kantate Choir for helping lead this recounting of God’s promises fulfilled for us.
• Sunday Morning,  we gather together at 6am, 8am, 9:30am and 11am in the Sanctuary to celebrate the Festival of the Resurrection with Choir and bells and lots of people.  We gather in Walker Hall Auditorium at 9:30am and 11am with Praise Band, Singers, and an awesome message will lead this service.

After the angel spoke to the women on the first Easter, Luke records “then they remembered his words.”  How comforting that was for them.  Jesus was up and on the move.  He was not dead and decaying.  The message remembered brings joy to the soul and energy for life.  He is not here, He has risen.  What will be memorable for you?  What will you take in your heart?  How will your life be impacted this weekend?  Nothing more restorative to a tired life than hope that comes in Jesus.

To my faithful weekly worshipers, please remember that people save pew space, they bring coffee into the venues and they come very much like a deer in headlights.  I pray we cherish those who are here for the first time, that we regard their attendance as precious.  So, as insiders, we help make Easter memorable for someone perhaps who has zero familiarity with Jesus risen from the dead.

I can’t tell you enough how much I love you all and what it means to lead you this season in this great celebration of life.  God bless and keep you strong in Jesus and have a memorable Easter.

Christ is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed…Alleluia,

Pastor Tim Klinkenberg

Holy Week & Easter