April 22, 2021
Last Sunday we kicked off a sermon series about What Comes Next?
And we entered into the stories of scripture when the disciples are wrestling with that same question in the wake of the resurrection. Where do we go from here, what does it mean to live the Jesus way right here and right now?
In our scripture texts, we were clued into a few possibilities for what comes next mainly centered around forgiveness and food.
First, we heard in first John a reminder of who and whose we are, that we are children of God by the love of God and that we are and will be like Christ (1 John 3).
Next, we heard the encounter of the disciples with the risen Jesus in Luke 24:36 and folowing. Jesus commissions them to go out and continue his proclamation of repentance and forgiveness, and he also draws near to them by eating with them, sharing his hunger, and calling them to feed him.
Jesus calls and commissions the church to offer forgiveness and food. And Jesus himself will not stop doing this ministry in them, through them, and with them.
I am drawn to the table when I hear this call to forgiveness and food. For in the Eucharist we receive both – we are given food that is the body of Christ and the forgiveness of sins. We are nourished and sent to be what it is that we have received, to be the body of Christ in the world calling for repentance, offering forgiveness, and feeding those who are hungry.
In our Wednesday What Comes Next? Conversations at 7 PM, we’re talking in depth about what it means to be the body of Christ right here and right now. How might we offer forgiveness and food to the world as we share God’s love?
May the God who brought Jesus from death to life fill you with new life and open you up to the presence of the risen Christ with you now and always.
Pastor Drew
PS – A reminder about our upcoming changes to worship as we make plans to gather again safely in-person for worship in the weeks ahead (pending continued improvement of COVID conditions). Our Sunday morning email liturgy and volunteer needs are going to change a bit. The email will still go out just before 9am each week, but we are no longer pre-recording the sermon, music, prayers, or readings. Now that we have the option to gather more people together to lead the livestream worship, we’ll simply be providing a link to watch the livestream (you can watch it with us live to connect with others in the chat, or enjoy it “on demand” anytime after it has ended). Then through the course of Sunday afternoon, we’ll edit that longer worship video and break out the minute message, sermon, and prayers and put them up as stand-alone videos for those who want to enjoy those pieces of worship again.
As of now, the Sunday morning schedule will continue to look like it did before Palm Sunday:
8:45am email liturgy
8:50am Sunday School for adults via Zoom
10am Worship (online & in-person this week)
11am Zoom fellowship time
When in-person worship services are being held, they will also be at 10am moving forward, we hope to announce a bit more about in-person worship gatherings as our in-person gathering taskforce met Monday and council meets tonight. I can go ahead and announce that we will look to hold an outdoor in-person worship gathering Sunday, April 25 at 10 AM that will also be streamed online, and will likely be offering an in-person opportunity for worship weekly moving into the month of May.