April 2008
Dear Friends,
Lent, Holy Week, and Easter are over and so is all of the time and energy spent planning and preparing for it. For churches and for pastors, this season of the year is usually busier than Advent and Christmas. And now there is a sense of back to ‘business as usual’ in the church. But, as people of faith, can we really let our lives go back to business as usual. That’s what the disciples attempted to do after Jesus died – and then, they were confronted with resurrection, and were called forth from their fears to live as people of the resurrection. It changed them. Bishop Sally Dyck has the following thoughts on resurrection:
“Will we as Christians go to worship this year believing the same? Will Christ's death and resurrection make any difference in the way that we speak to and about one another? How we care for the world, including creation? How we have allowed God's grace to dig at our hard hearts and uncover the first shoot of forgiveness? Will we go just out of love and loyalty for grandma (or our spouse or our children), or will we go to sing the songs and hear the good news that Christ has risen because we believe that it will make a difference in our lives, relationships, attitudes, behaviors, and hope?
The evidence of Jesus' resurrection is that it changes us, changes our churches, and changes the world. The spiritual discipline of the life of faith is to look for the evidence of this central core of Christianity. We're called to look in order to see where God is acting and changing in us, through us, and with us.”
How will PAUMC be changed because of our Easter celebration of the resurrection that we just experienced together? How will the power of the resurrection live in and through us that will make a difference in our life together as a congregation and our life together as we serve the community? These are the questions to have before us as we continue to learn and grow together.
Peace to you all,
Suzanne
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