April Chimes

April 2024

Dear siblings in Christ,

Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, alleluia! ….now what? Each year, we join the joyful proclamation sharing the good news of Christ’s triumph over death and the grave. The forces of evil and hate do not get to have the last word—God does. And God speaks a word of love, of new creation, and of salvation—lives freed from sin and despair and free for life in God’s kingdom.

But what comes next? If Easter morning is the culminating moment of Jesus’ story, the climax of the scriptural narrative, what are we meant to do after Easter? This year, in the seven-week season of Easter, we’ll be thinking about exactly that in a new sermon series titled Go: The Church in Act-ion.

Every Easter season, our first lesson each Sunday is a reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the account of the early church. We see what the earliest followers of Jesus did after his death and resurrection. We see how their lives were different because of everything that had taken place. And we see how they tried to shape a community—a church—that reflected the teachings and values of Jesus and would be part of his mission to usher in God’s kingdom.

The early church wasn’t perfect (go and read 1 & 2 Corinthians if you need examples), but they did strive to live a different way. They did strive to make God’s love real in their words and actions, in the way that they treated each other, and in their witness to others.

I hope you can join us as we look at what the early church was up to and explore what lessons and callings the Book of Acts has to offer the church today.

Blessings in this Easter season,

Pastor Laura

Go: Believers in Act-ion
April 7: Active in Generosity and Service
April 14: Active in Repentance
April 21: Active in Healing
April 28: Active in Breaking Barriers
May 5: Active in Giving and Receiving Hospitality
May 12: Active in Tending to its Communal Health 

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