Preparing for Palm Sunday

Ahhhh, the season of Easter. Some like Christmas (it's not called “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” for nothing) but I'm a bit more fond of Easter. I know Santa's fun and all the gifts at Christmas are nice, but it seems that the Birth of our Lord has lost it's meaning among all the commercialization and hype. I sure hope the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord doesn't suffer the same fate.
It is life in the Post-Easter era that makes us who we are. Did you know some early Christians knew nothing of the birth of Jesus, only the life and death? (read the gospel of Mark - there is no mention of the birth (or resurrection for that matter). Yet these early Christians truly followed the teaching and suffered with others for their faith in the one we call Lord.
Let us not forget to whom we belong and why. I'll see you later this week for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, not to mention Sunday for Easter! Peace and Grace, J

March 29, 2009
It was such a joy to be able to take a week with the family. Thank you for being such a generous congregation in working with me on my vacation schedule. Gerald Ray helped me out so much. Not only did he preach for me on Sunday, he also showed me how to throw a casting net and where to find fish on Lake Fairfield. The kids loved catching the Crappie and Blue-gill.
To know that Sunday is taken care of is such a great thing as well. A lot of work goes into preparing a sermon and it is difficult to “be with” the family if one has to be working on a sermon the entire time. Thank you Gerald Ray for being there for me and for your church.
Peace and Grace, J