Practicing Resurrection

Due to a variety of circumstances, this little column never made it into our church's newsletter. There is a great line in here from the poet Wendell Berry that I would encourage us all to live by!

Grace Notes

Greetings!

Grace and peace to you in the name of our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ! I hope this column finds you well, living as a resurrection people. Currently, we are in the middle of the Great Fifty Days, the time from Easter Sunday that leads up to Pentecost Sunday, which falls this year on May 31st. During this time you will notice in worship that the music, liturgy, images, etc. are celebratory, because these Great Fifty Days are the biggest celebration days of the church year.

The last Sunday of May this year is Pentecost Sunday, where we will celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit as well as the birthday of the church. Please don’t miss this important Sunday! In between that, we will observe Mother’s Day on May 10th, and the Ascension of Christ on May 24th.

The observation of these days and the telling of these stories are vital to God’s work in shaping us into who God wants us to be. Attendance to the means of grace (including taking Holy Communion, being a people of prayer, searching the scripture, and attending corporate worship) is, frankly, mandatory to growing in our walk with God. I hope you will be able to join us every Sunday in May!

As we are in the middle of the Great Fifty Days I have been thinking about a phrase from one of my favorite poets, the great Wendell Berry. The phrase is this: “practice resurrection.” How are you practicing resurrection these days? Where do you see new life in your midst? What are you doing to renew and restore and rebuild relationships in your life? What practices are you engaged in that bring you life?

Whatever it is, I hope that you are finding new life during this season of resurrection! I look forward to worshiping with you this month and growing with you into the Body of Christ that God has called us to be!

In Christ,

Rev. Joe Stobaugh