Dear Parish Family,
Reminders
Next Sunday is Palm Sunday. I will need several readers to be involved in reading the Passion narrative. Please see me Sunday if you are willing to help.
Holy Week is just that... the holiest week of the year and a time for entering as fully as possible into the remembrance of the life of the one we confess as Savior and Lord. We will have several opportunities to gather and remember the last events in Jesus' life.
On Tuesday, March 30 we will have a presentation of the Stations of the Cross. This will be at the 304. A soup and salad supper will be available at 6:30, with Stations beginning at 7:30. We will conclude ay 8:30. The Stations help us remember Jesus' walk to the place of his death on Golgotha.
On Maundy Thursday, April 1, we will have a traditional Seder Supper followed by a very informal Eucharist. The Seder begins at 6:30, and again we will finish by 8:30. Since we will be serving a meal and presetting places, we need a count of how many will be attending. Please sign up on Sunday or by responding to this email. This is a child - friendly event, and children who can read are welcome to be a part of reading the seder service.
On Good Friday, April 2, there will be Stations of the Cross for Children at the 304. We will begin at 11:00. A "fasting lunch " of clear foods will be served about 11:30, and we will have a "taste and talk" time to talk about what it is we are doing when we have Communion together. If time permits, we may bake bread fro Easter church as well.
On Good Friday evening we will have a service of Tenebrae beginning at 7:30. This will be held at Little River in the gym. This service moves us from light to darkness. it is a wonderful time to bring someone who does not know the Christian story, or who does not have a church home.
On Saturday, April 3 we will have an opportunity to rerach out to our neighbors here in South Riding as we provide eggs and water for the spring egg hunt. our hope is to give eggs to those who don't get any (or many) form the traditional egg hunt.) We will gather at the Branch's at 9:30. Please give of your time to help us reach our neighbors!
This Sunday we mark the first day of spring as well as the fifth Sunday of Lent. Our readings include Isaiah 43:16-21, Psalm 126, Philippians 3:4b-14, and John 12:1-8. In Isaiah we hear of God's promise of restoration and renewal. Psalm 126 also carries the theme of restoration, with the promise of joy in place of weeping. In Philippians Paul lays out his "pedigree," enumerating his credentials as a Jew in response to the Judaizer's claims that one must be a Jew before becoming a Christian. Paul, citing his own background claims that none of it was of any importance. The only thing of importance, he claims, is knowing Christ. In John's gospel we hear the story of Mary anointing Jesus' feet, an act of utter humility and intimacy with the one to whom she owed so much.
Paul and Mary both had hearts that had been converted to Jesus – hearts that had fallen in love with the one who so loved them. Each of us must undergo such a conversion if we are to serve God fully, and not just that conversion, but two others as well. Come Sunday to hear the three conversions that are essential to living out the Christian life, lest we be like the Judaizers, stuck in the forms of religion without the heart of the Savior.
See you Sunday!
In Christ,
Becki+
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