Monday, April 05, 2004
HOLY WEEK SERVICE SCHEDULE
Maundy Thursday
Calvary Presbyterian, Barnum 7:30 p.m.
Zion Lutheran, Gowrie 7:00 p.m.
Trinity Lutheran, Boxholm 7:30 p.m.
Good Friday
Fulton Lutheran, Roelyn 7:00 p.m.
Zion Lutheran, Gowrie 7:00 p.m.
Faith Lutheran, Harcourt 7:30 p.m.
FUSION 1107 Market St., Gowrie 9:00 p.m.
(The Stations of the Cross)
Easter Worship Schedule
Don Williams shelter house 6:30 a.m.
(breakfast following)
Zion Lutheran, Gowrie 7:00 a.m.
(breakfast following)
Calvary Presbyterian, Barnum 7:30 a.m.
(breakfast following)
UCC/Congregational, Moorland 8:00 a.m
Faith Lutheran, Harcourt 9:00 a.m.
Fulton Lutheran, Roelyn 9:15 a.m.
Trinity Lutheran, Boxholm 10:30 a.m.
Zion Lutheran, Gowrie 10:30 a.m.
Maundy Thursday
Calvary Presbyterian, Barnum 7:30 p.m.
Zion Lutheran, Gowrie 7:00 p.m.
Trinity Lutheran, Boxholm 7:30 p.m.
Good Friday
Fulton Lutheran, Roelyn 7:00 p.m.
Zion Lutheran, Gowrie 7:00 p.m.
Faith Lutheran, Harcourt 7:30 p.m.
FUSION 1107 Market St., Gowrie 9:00 p.m.
(The Stations of the Cross)
Easter Worship Schedule
Don Williams shelter house 6:30 a.m.
(breakfast following)
Zion Lutheran, Gowrie 7:00 a.m.
(breakfast following)
Calvary Presbyterian, Barnum 7:30 a.m.
(breakfast following)
UCC/Congregational, Moorland 8:00 a.m
Faith Lutheran, Harcourt 9:00 a.m.
Fulton Lutheran, Roelyn 9:15 a.m.
Trinity Lutheran, Boxholm 10:30 a.m.
Zion Lutheran, Gowrie 10:30 a.m.
Posted by Cheryl at 1:28 PM
Images of the Season
On that first evening, Jesus' followers, understandably more flummoxed than we, found what they thought would be a safe place and hid there. When Jesus appeared among them, he began the process of drawing them away from the graveyard and into the land of the living. The season of Easter does the same for us. We need not linger at the tomb. Because he is risen indeed, we must discern how we shall live.
White Easter paraments set off the beauty of our emerging understanding, like the dormant plants now stirring outdoors. The fresh colors of spring, buds swelling and then releasing the pent-up leaves and flowers, all shine vividly after the sparsity of the Lenten season. We can sing Alleluia again!
Easter is the morning of faith. The air is fresh and new. The sun is not too harsh. If Lent was the night of waiting, Easter is the dawn of hope, not yet tarnished by discouragement or impatience. The texts for the third Sunday of Easter work this theme. We could not see in the night, but in the morning, we can recognize that it is Jesus who feeds us and calls us to feed others.
During the Easter season, the raw fear and confusion of the hours surrounding Jesus' death and resurrection slowly gives way to a growing awareness that we are called out of our comfort zones to claim and proclaim the power of the resurrection. Faced with this new identity, we need assurances, much like a child who is learning to walk. No longer immobile or a crawler, a walking child gains a certain independence and is faced with the responsibility and risk inherent in it. The fourth Sunday reminds us that God is still in charge and will use the power of the resurrection to bring life to others and to us. Dorcas, who had done much good, was raised to life again. We shall not want, the psalmist confesses. Jesus, with a view of the Mount of Olives where he prayed so earnestly before his death, asserts that no one can snatch his sheep from his hand. We are encouraged to venture forth, people of the resurrection. We can boldly claim the bloom that is ours.
Assured of God's steadfastness, we are invited into the visions of what this resurrection faith looks like. Peter's dream vision expanded his view of salvation to include the Gentiles, an unthinkable option before the resurrection. All people and all creation praise God's goodness in this new world--it is truly a new heaven and a new earth, a place where death will be no more and the spring of the water of life flows freely for all. Jesus offered the new commandment at the last supper: "Love one another." This will be the mark of our new identity, that we love one another.
The visions play out even more in the following weeks. Paul is drawn to Macedonia and the faith of Lydia, ever farther from the temporal city of Jerusalem. The new Jerusalem, though, is filled with God. No temple is needed, nor sun, nor moon. From the throne flows the river of the water of life, which nourishes the tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.
This vision is what the resurrection has broken open for us. Our thirst for wholeness and holiness is slaked in this river. Our need for cleansing is satisfied in this river. From this river of life flows the baptismal water that has made each of us, and all of creation, God's chosen. Ours is not a God of modest means, but one of poignant purpose. God's power is for the sake of the well-being of all of God's creatures. Anyone who wishes may take the water of life.
Reprinted from Words for Worship, copyright 2003 Augsburg Fortress.
Used by permission of Augsburg Fortress.
On that first evening, Jesus' followers, understandably more flummoxed than we, found what they thought would be a safe place and hid there. When Jesus appeared among them, he began the process of drawing them away from the graveyard and into the land of the living. The season of Easter does the same for us. We need not linger at the tomb. Because he is risen indeed, we must discern how we shall live.
White Easter paraments set off the beauty of our emerging understanding, like the dormant plants now stirring outdoors. The fresh colors of spring, buds swelling and then releasing the pent-up leaves and flowers, all shine vividly after the sparsity of the Lenten season. We can sing Alleluia again!
Easter is the morning of faith. The air is fresh and new. The sun is not too harsh. If Lent was the night of waiting, Easter is the dawn of hope, not yet tarnished by discouragement or impatience. The texts for the third Sunday of Easter work this theme. We could not see in the night, but in the morning, we can recognize that it is Jesus who feeds us and calls us to feed others.
During the Easter season, the raw fear and confusion of the hours surrounding Jesus' death and resurrection slowly gives way to a growing awareness that we are called out of our comfort zones to claim and proclaim the power of the resurrection. Faced with this new identity, we need assurances, much like a child who is learning to walk. No longer immobile or a crawler, a walking child gains a certain independence and is faced with the responsibility and risk inherent in it. The fourth Sunday reminds us that God is still in charge and will use the power of the resurrection to bring life to others and to us. Dorcas, who had done much good, was raised to life again. We shall not want, the psalmist confesses. Jesus, with a view of the Mount of Olives where he prayed so earnestly before his death, asserts that no one can snatch his sheep from his hand. We are encouraged to venture forth, people of the resurrection. We can boldly claim the bloom that is ours.
Assured of God's steadfastness, we are invited into the visions of what this resurrection faith looks like. Peter's dream vision expanded his view of salvation to include the Gentiles, an unthinkable option before the resurrection. All people and all creation praise God's goodness in this new world--it is truly a new heaven and a new earth, a place where death will be no more and the spring of the water of life flows freely for all. Jesus offered the new commandment at the last supper: "Love one another." This will be the mark of our new identity, that we love one another.
The visions play out even more in the following weeks. Paul is drawn to Macedonia and the faith of Lydia, ever farther from the temporal city of Jerusalem. The new Jerusalem, though, is filled with God. No temple is needed, nor sun, nor moon. From the throne flows the river of the water of life, which nourishes the tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.
This vision is what the resurrection has broken open for us. Our thirst for wholeness and holiness is slaked in this river. Our need for cleansing is satisfied in this river. From this river of life flows the baptismal water that has made each of us, and all of creation, God's chosen. Ours is not a God of modest means, but one of poignant purpose. God's power is for the sake of the well-being of all of God's creatures. Anyone who wishes may take the water of life.
Reprinted from Words for Worship, copyright 2003 Augsburg Fortress.
Used by permission of Augsburg Fortress.
Posted by Cheryl at 1:25 PM
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