Trinity Church Grand Island

Yesterday, being Easter Day, our worship attendance doubled.  It is common among clergy to speak negatively about "C & E" Christians.  "C & E" Christians are those we usually see only on Christmas and Easter, and sadly at their funerals.  I take a different perspective on this, however, and I would like to say that I was so very glad the visitors came.  I believe, in fact, that it was God who planted in their minds that they ought to celebrate Easter.  I am thankful that God is able to do far more than this preacher can, even reach and influence those for whom faith is only a periodic thought.  Easter reminds us that in life, death, and the possibility of life after death, God is the major player.  We are only the supporting cast.  My prayer is that either through us, or inspite of us, our Easter message was able to be used by God to touch and influence people's lives.  If even one of the persons who attended was touched by God's message of the possibility of eternal life when people come to faith in Jesus Christ, our Easter services were a grand success, celebrated this day even in heaven. 

Larry Baird, senior pastor

Is 43:1 "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine."

Well, this part is over. Many of us who gave up something for the 40+ days of Lent were relieved that we made it, and now could return to 'normal,' whatever that is. Those of us who took on something extra can also return to our 'normal.' But I would bet that somehow something was and is changed.

Since Ash Wednesday, I have taken on the discipline of reading the Upper Room each day. I have a sense of accomplishment because I fulfilled my promise - albeit a few times at minutes before midnight.

 Each year, we hear the words, "He is alive!" "Christ the Lord is risen today. Alleluia!"  If Christmas is the birthday of Jesus, Easter is the birthday of the church. Each year we, the believers, are in a different place in understanding what it means that Jesus is alive. We will have another day, month, year to fulfill Jesus’ message of God's abiding love.

So, this part is over, but it is only the beginning for each of us, builders of the kingdom of God on earth –step by step, brick by brick, prayer by prayer. We go with God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!      Ginger Mason

For the Jews in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, today was the Sabbath when the observant Jew was bound by restrictive rules “To keep the Lord’s day holy.”  And so it is not until the first day of the week, Sunday, that the women go to the tomb to perform the ritual cleansing of Jesus’ body.

But today is Saturday. Where was Jesus on Saturday?  Surely, Christians know that he was not in the tomb early Sunday morning. Dan Dick ponders this question in his blog “United Methodeviations.”

Saturday Stillness (The Mind of Christ) March 30, 2013

“All is darkness. Was Jesus sentient at all on the Sabbath? It is a disquieting association –Sabbath rest with death, yet on this seventh day, Jesus rested. At what point did resurrection occur? We know when the followers experienced it, but when did it begin? When did the pneuma — the breath, the Spirit, the essence — return? When did awareness dawn? When did Jesus come back to himself, and begin the return journey?  . . .”

       From “United Methodeviations” by Dan R. Dick, an ordained United Methodist minister, http://doroteos2.com/author/doroteos2/

What was Jesus doing in the time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the hours between the time of his physical death and others’ awareness of his physical resurrection? Today, as I go about the regular activities of Easter preparation: the food prep, egg decorating, candy buying, Easter basket filling, (and this year, birthday celebrating for Laura who will be nine-years-old tomorrow), I will ponder this question.   Ginger Mason

Mark 15 "⁴² When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, ⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴ Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time. ⁴⁵ When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶ Then Joseph^[l] bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body,^[m] wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. ⁴⁷ Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus saw where the body^[n] was laid." (NRSV)

For Jesus, the agony and the reason for his life and death are finished. But for the rest of us, our life purpose has just begun. Sometimes, I wonder if I would have been as brave as Joseph of Arimathea - a man of authority in the Jewish council. Joseph, a believer in the promise of the restored glory and power of the Jewish nation. Joseph who went before Pilate and asked - boldly asked, Mark tell us - for the body of the rabble-rouser, blasphemer, the one whom Pilate had just put to death. Joseph who had everything to lose!

I can picture Joseph carefully removing the bloody and broken body of Jesus and tenderly cradling it as he wrapping it in linen. How did Joseph become brave enough to stop caring about his safety or reputation? Maybe Joseph was the first to carry on, followed by the Marys at the tomb, and, eventually those who walked, talked and ate with Jesus. And let's not forget Saul/Paul; who could forget Paul!

We, in the 21st century, stand at the end of the long line of those who throughout history have heard the message of Jesus and carried the message forward. For us who carry on, it is not yet finished!   Ginger Mason