Is It 2016 Yet?

Hello Emmanuel,

It is already March.  Wow.  How time flies when you are … ummm… having… ummm….

Ok… so January and February was not all that fun (aside from a week vacation).  It has been too cold, too gray and too many funerals.  The count is now up to eight.  I did 3 all of 2014.  So there has been an obvious theme to 2015 so far.  I told Kim I am ready for 2016 now…. Except….

Easter is coming…. 

Life seems to show up just in time to save the day… or in this case, the year.  I don’t know if it was intentional, but planning Easter to coincide with Spring was brilliant (at least for this hemisphere).  As drab as it has been, I know that green and sunshine and smells of new growth and baseball are very close.  And Jesus will once again show us that life can come from death.  Faith will get a shot in the arm.  I will be very excited again.

So how are you preparing for new life?  While the Lenten season certainly encourages us to prepare for starting all over again with God, I’m not sure we are always focused enough on what new life really means.  As a church, we do get busy with the Easter season, but do we spend enough time sitting still and ponder the upcoming emptiness of the tomb?  And when it happens, do we find that moment on Easter day to allow the drab colors of Winter and Lent to be washed away?

I hear a lot about people who struggle through the Winter.  I’m not sure I hear enough Easter cheer to counterbalance the blahs.  Lent is not only a time to get right with God.  Lent is also a time to anticipate the moment when God makes it right with us.  How do you anticipate?

Emmanuel has opportunity.  The choir is preparing a cantata for Easter.  If you can sing, join us Wednesdays at 7:00.  New Small Groups are getting started.  If you want to connect with people in the church, let me know.  A new class is going to be taught about finding your niche in the church.  If you want to find your niche, let me know.  10,000 Easter eggs need to be filled with candy and we need servants for the April 4^th hunt.  Thousands of chocolate eggs need to be created.  The basement of the church is waiting for the arrival of many.

How are you anticipating God working miracles again?  Let me know if you need help figuring it out.  It’s already March.  Easter is coming.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe