As we approach Holy Week, I want to share a moving piece sent to pastors by Rev. Tom Sheffield, the Presbytery Pastor of Denver Presbytery. Tom will also be our guest preacher on April 12th. I want to encourage you to attend at least one service during Holy Week in addition to Easter Sunday. It will enrich and deepen Easter's meaning. 

Here is the schedule:

 

Matins (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 am, followed by breakfast)

Maundy Thursday at 7:30 (with communion)

Good Friday at 7:30 (a dramatic service moving from light to darkness)

Easter Vigil at 7:30 on Saturday (this is a longer service that tells the story from creation to Jesus' resurrection)

Easter Sunday (identical services at 9 and 11 am, with the Easter Tea and Craft Fair in between services)

 

Grace and peace, 

Ian

 

Christ is crucified.

Racial anguish is palpable in every community.

Living for one's own success is unmistakable in lives, nations and churches as well.

The Middle East explodes in war and terrorism that tear apart treasures of the past, life in the present and hope for even a glimpse of peace in the future.

Death waits for many who make the desperate journey in the darkness and through the desert from Mexico to the United States.

Mistrust, jealousy, competition, gossip, and a failure to believe God is at work in the world paralyze the Body of Christ.

Young girls are used, misused and thrown away in a world-wide scandal of human trafficking.

Forgotten women and men die alone.

Neighbors throughout Colorado, who possess no documents but do possess a desire for new life,

live in constant fear.

Disease, civil war and government corruption remain unchecked for whole continents.

Our church finds unity a distant reality.

Suicide attacks on Pakistan Churches kill worshipers. An enraged crowd lynched two people suspected of being accomplices in the bombings.

The homeless sleep on city sidewalks.

An ache, a pain, a longing in you will not cease.

 

Christ is risen.

Each one recognizes that God is calling all to live uniquely, responsibly, lovingly in the world.

Silenced voices are heard, the invisible are seen, the forgotten are remembered.

Criticism of our church is replaced with celebration of what God is doing, an embrace of the gifts from the past and hope for all that yet can be.

Partnerships of mutuality, deep respect, and persistent love become a way of life for each church, each nation and ourselves as well.

Honest, caring dialogue reveals ways to heal the wounds of racism.

Diversity becomes an essential gift of God ... even in the church.

People far from us become beloved neighbors. People close become treasured sisters and brothers.

You recognize the difference you make to others.

A belief that there is no hope for the world is replaced with courageous acts that seek

justice, reconciliation, and peace and a daily decision to live only from the love of Christ.

The longings of your heart find peace.

 

In the days ahead may we see and hear the Crucified Christ.

And may we receive the abundant life of Christ who leads and strengthens us to live

in boundless hope and endless love.

 

 Christ is risen, indeed!