Pastor's Page
Pastor Sam and Abby
Greetings Friends!
Pastor Sam here, I pray everyone is enjoying the spring weather that is hopefully here to stay and surviving the onslaught of pollen that comes with it. It is always a blessing to experience the changing of the seasons, the warming of days, the blooming of the Earth, and to participate in the work of planning and preparation for summer. Though we are certainly excited for warmer weather and the fun that comes with it, I encourage everyone to remain in prayer for all those who continue to be infected or affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Just a couple weeks ago we had the pleasure and privilege to celebrate Easter Sunday. Often seen as the herald of spring, it is a day we celebrate the Resurrection and the new-life Jesus brings into our own lives through the Spirit and through the change in seasons. It is well known that the time before Easter is known as Lent, a time of preparation and recommitment to the faith, leading to and culminating in our Easter celebrations with church and family. Less well known is the season after Easter, often called Eastertide, which is the 40 days after Easter. This is a time of joy where we continue to celebrate the new life of Christ, but it is a celebration that calls us into action. Much like the season of Lent, Eastertide calls us to take on and live out the core of the Christian faith more fully.
Now that we have spent a season recalling the story of Jesus and the Disciples leading up to, and through, the crucifixion of Good Friday and resurrection of Easter, we are called to join more fully in the walk of faith. We spend this season centering ourselves on the work of those who followed Jesus, the early disciples/apostles, as we seek out ways to live into the faith that they demonstrated so fully in their own lives. Each Sunday in Eastertide is treated as a ‘mini-Easter’, and each day treated like the first time the disciples got to see Jesus, a celebration that calls us deeper into the love and new-life that sits at the heart of the season and at the heart of our faith.
As we prepare the ground for planting, the ball-fields for games, and our schedules for summer fun, make sure to spare time and thought for the true joy of this season; the new-life of love we are called into by and because of Jesus.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Sam Mitchell