Posts from March 2021
Easter Week
Dear First Church Family, Holy Week blessings to you! What a difference in mood we experience during this sacred time of year. Last Sunday, we began worship with Jesus’ triumphal entry to Jerusalem, amid shouts of “Hosanna.” In fact, things were going so well that John says the Pharisees murmured: “Look! The whole world has gone after Him!” (John 12:19) Everything seemed wonderful! But Jesus knew it wouldn’t last. He knew how fickle crowds could be. He knew that the faces of people inside…
April Message
First Church Family, I continue to pray for you as we begin to move through spring. I pray that your life is being renewed just as our surroundings are. Something we don’t often talk about is the many miles Jesus walked during his ministry. There were no trains, planes, or automobiles to help in His transportation. And walking was a slow process. Interestingly, though, He came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on a donkey. He only rode it a couple…
Passion Sunday
First Church Family, I pray you are enjoying some of the signals that spring is here, arriving this past weekend. And God’s creation is alive with new life: blooming daffodils and jonquils, budding and flowering trees, Hostas breaking the surface of the ground, and the like. Last Sunday we gave in-person worship a trial run in our Sanctuary with a limited number of people. And things couldn’t have gone better. This coming Sunday, Palm/Passion Sunday, we will hold in-person worship at 10:00am in our Christian Life Center.…
Resurrection Greetings!
March 22, 2021 Resurrection Greetings! Here we are again at that beautiful time of year we know as Easter. Many have rightly called it the “Season of Resurrection,” because it highlights the most amazing event in all of human history: the moment God raised Jesus from the grave! As we enter this blessed season, I’m reminded that things are different than they used to be. We are still cautious about our comings and goings, even though we are beginning in-person…
Welcome Back
First Church Family, I pray you are enjoying some of the signals that spring is coming: blooming daffodils and jonquils (what we used to call “March flowers”), budding and flowering trees, Hostas breaking the surface of the ground, and the like. Spring will officially arrive before we worship together for the first time in a year this coming Sunday. And after a cold, dark, wet winter it couldn’t be a more anticipated arrival. As we announced last week, we are giving in-person worship a…
Re-Opening: March 21
First Church Family: Much has changed in regard to COVID 19 in the past months. Infection rates are down; vaccines are being given to a much larger number of persons across our community; and it is being reported that all three of the vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson) will prevent 100% of possible hospitalizations from the virus. Our leadership has sought to move wisely and cautiously over the many months that we have dealt with the pandemic. And we have been blessed that there…