It Gets Even Better

Hello Emmanuel,

What a great day yesterday!  7 Baptisms.  9 new members.  3 re-affirmations.  Can it get any better?  Yes, it can…. As soon as next weekend.

The reason yesterday could be so great is because of next Sunday.  Easter gives us reason to celebrate God’s grace.  Easter weekend is full of activity (Breakfast 8:15-10:30; Services at 9:00 and 10:30).  With the egg hunt on Saturday (1:00 at Batavia Township Park), it makes it even more exciting.  We will be inviting, welcoming, inspiring and teaching what new life is all about.

Oh…. And then there is Thursday.  Thursday doesn’t get as much of the attention as Sunday does, for obvious reasons.  However, consider the significance of this Thursday in your walk through this week of holiness.  Before the tragedy of Friday and the miracle of Sunday is the somber fellowship of Thursday.  Jesus spends time with His friends and His friends don’t entirely understand why. 

I invite you to come Thursday at 7:00 to spend time with some friends and to understand why.  We celebrate fellowship.  We remember Jesus last moments before the weekend.  We consider the meaning of His words as we look forward to resurrection.  You are invited to commune with us.  Perhaps it is the primer you need for…

Resurrection of Well Being….

It is the new Sunday sermon series that will explore what resurrection means for you right now.  New life is present, not just a future hope.  Are you living like you have a new start?  The empty tomb certainly gives you reason to do such.  We will look into the why’s and why nots; the how’s and how not’s; and soaking up the encouragement that Jesus gives us.  You are invited to be inspired with us. 

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

Sunday is Coming

Hello Emmanuel,

Before I forget to type this:  March 20^th will have only one worship service:  10:00.  There will be water flying, banners waving and people committing to Jesus.  Car pool if you can.  Extra parking will be at the airport with a shuttle going back and forth.  You don’t want to miss it!

No matter what your week will be like, Sunday is coming.

Sometimes you have weeks filled with conversations you would just rather not have.  Perhaps the conversations are important, necessary and even beneficial, but not all conversations are pleasant.  There are times when unpleasant conversations are unexpected, which makes it more difficult to cope with the week.  Other times they are planned, leaving time to have angst over what might and might not be said.  Either way….

Sunday is coming.

I have a list on my phone that I will look at frequently the next 6 days.  It is a list of all who will be getting baptized and/or joining the church.  Next Sunday is one of those days that will remind me why I have conversations.  It will teach me yet again why God’s Call on my life is irrevocable.  We will watch faith being expressed in authentic and heart-felt ways.  Souls are going to share their commitment to Christ with all of Emmanuel.  Many of you will have a moment of joy (and some of you will shed happy tears…. You and I know who you are).

Sunday is coming.

It will be a full parking lot, a full church, and a full time together.  I invite you, encourage you to attend.  Yes, we will be squished together, but it will be a day when you, too, will be reminded why you have conversations and that God’s Call on your life is also irrevocable.

Sunday is coming……. And it will be a wet one…

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

Too Much Cemetery

Hello Emmanuel,

Before I forget to type this:  March 20^th will have only one worship service:  10:00.  There will be water flying, banners waving and people committing to Jesus.  Car pool if you can.  Extra parking will be at the airport with a shuttle going back and forth.  You don’t want to miss it!

I’m seeing more and more of the cemetery.  When we first moved to Batavia 7 years ago, there was a small, but heavily wooded area directly across the street from us.  We would also see wildlife, even the occasional deer roaming around, wary of us humans.  However, last Summer things began to change.  Men started the noisy act of clearing out that wooded area.  Slowly and surely the trees have been removed.  The larger trees still stand, but it is now clear what is on the other side:  a cemetery.

I’m not exactly thrilled to wake up every morning, look out my front window and see tombstones.  I get reminded often enough of my own mortality just in my every day grind of leading a church.  And while I even enjoy the stillness (no pun intended) of a cemetery, there is such a thing as too much quiet (again, no attempt to be funny). 

So this Easter will be different for me.  On March 27^th, I will leave the morbid ground of my home and make my way to a life-filled church.  How appropriate! 

Do you have too much cemetery in your day?  Are you looking forward to March 27^th?  For me, death might be right across the street, but life is right around the corner.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe