Christ is Risen! That changes everything!
On March 27, we celebrate Easter Day. In the words of N. T. Wright, “Easter day is about the wild delight of God’s creative power…we ought to shout Alleluias…we should light every candle in the building…” (p. 255,
Surprised by Hope) In other words, we should go all out in our celebration. And we do. But Easter doesn’t end on that day. In the Christian church, we celebrate Easter for fifty days. (Well actually each Sunday is a “little Easter.”) What would it take for us to continue our ‘wild delight’ at least for the fifty days of the Easter season? Again in the words of N. T. Wright, “If Lent is a time to give things up, Easter ought to be a time to take things up. …Christian holiness was never meant to be merely negative. …If Calvary means putting to death things in your life that need killing off if you are to flourish as a Christian and as a truly human being, then Easter should mean planting, watering, and training up things in your life (personal and corporate) that ought to be blossoming, filling the garden with color and perfume, and in due course bearing fruit.” (p. 257)
With God’s help, we are going to do what we can to keep the excitement of Easter Day alive each Sunday. In April we are entering into a debt reduction campaign, “Greater Things,” because we know that reducing the debt will bring new life and enable us to do even greater things for God. It’s an exciting time for our church. I know you’ll want to be a part of it!
The culmination of the Easter season is our celebration of Pentecost on May 15; that Sunday, we will be welcoming new members. If you are interested in joining Aldersgate, please join me for our New Member Orientation on Monday, April 25 at 7 PM. Between now and then you have time to participate in some more of the Discovery Discussions. (There are discussions planned for April 3, 5, 10, 17, 24, and 26. Be sure to check the schedule and weekly bulletin for details. The schedule is available on page 3 or on the bulletin board by the elevator.) Even if you haven’t completed the discussions and feel called to membership, come to the orientation. If you can’t make the orientation and still want to join the church, please let me know.
Christ is Risen! Let’s keep celebrating on Sunday and in the way we live our lives each day!
Blessings,
Anne