Hi Church,

It was a rich, meaningful and joyful Holy Week together. May our encounters with Jesus, the Risen Lord, over these past days prove fruitful in our lives to His glory and for His purposes. I’m looking forward to the weeks ahead as we carry on through the Easter season of joy and feasting. 

This Sunday the celebration continues as we rejoice in new life in Christ through the sacrament of baptism. Please join me in praying for Zoe, Eleanor, James, Maggie, Cora, Eden and Owen. Our desire is that they experience new grace through the Holy Spirit. 

We’ll also re-engage with the Gospel of John through the sermon series. Last year during Eastertide and Ordinary Time we moved through the first 11 chapters of this wondrous story of the Word made Flesh. This year we’ll pick up where we left off and through the final portion of the book. Check out this sermon from last year outlining some of the goals related to this series for a refresher on why it is we are focusing on the Gospel of John. 

In the weeks ahead we’ll be including in the e-news the passage , which will be our focus for the coming Sunday, along with a question for engaging with the Scripture more deeply. While this series will extend beyond the Easter season, the conviction undergirding it is that Jesus is alive. The desire that animates this series is that we would meet him as the Living and Risen Lord. When we do so, everything changes. I’m excited to journey on this remarkable book of the Bible with you and meet Christ through its words. 

Throughout Eastertide we’ll have special treats or elements on Sundays to help us celebrate more fully. This Sunday following worship there will be cupcakes, as is our custom with baptisms. We are also having a community picnic (with an egg hunt) on Saturday, April 20th as part of our celebrations. See below for details and join us! 

In Christ, 

Peter+ 

Ps. Almighty and everlasting Father, in your great mercy you saved Noah and his family in the Ark from the destruction of the flood, prefiguring the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. Look mercifully upon these your servants. Wash and sanctify them through your Holy Spirit, that they may be delivered from destruction and received into the Ark of Christ’s Church; and being steadfast in faith, joyful through hope, and rooted in love, they may pass through the turbulent floods of this troublesome world and come into the land of everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.