Dear Friend,

This Sunday our scripture reading will be the same reading it is every year the week after Easter, commonly known as the story about “doubting Thomas.” What has really stuck out to me is that Jesus says three separate times “Peace be with you.” This is also a man who had just gone to his death without returning any violence himself.

As we continue to be at war with Iran and continue to drop bombs; as we have heard leaders justify this as a war in Jesus name; as we have heard threats to wipe out an entire civilization from our president; as we see videos of Iranian people creating human chains around power plants; as we count the cost in lives on both sides; as we continue to build up our military to levels never seen on Earth before, it all begs the question: where is this peace Jesus speaks of? Where are the peacemakers? Where are the people who carry forward the good news of Easter – the non-violent, revolutionary news of a Savior who lives by peace, not the sword? May it be us. May we tire of war and war-mongering and follow a risen Lord who speaks again and again of peace.

Blessings,
Pastor Jenny

What Does the Death of Jesus Have To Do With Me?

by Brandon Ambrosino

Easter brings with it a lot of difficult questions about theology. Why did Jesus have to die? What does Jesus’ death on the cross mean? This author offers one answer that’s worth reading. I particularly like this paragraph: “God did not want the crucifixion to happen. What God wanted, says Bauerschmidt, was for Jesus to happen—and to happen in a specific way, one that, from this side of history, ran smack into a Roman cross. Here’s how he puts it: “Rather than ask why God wants Jesus to die the way he did, we should ask why God wants Jesus to live the way he did and why this way of life led us to want to kill him.”

Read the full article here.

Because He Lives

Celtic Worship

A good song for Easter week!

Savannah Guthrie’s Easter Message

Savannah Guthrie | Good Shepherd Church

Most of us have heard the news of Savannah Guthrie’s mother’s abduction. All this time later, she still has not been found. Guthrie, a member of Good Shepherd church in New York City, offered this message to her church on Easter morning about a savior who has felt what we feel, even in the most devastating moments.

A Prayer for Easter
from page 158 of To Light Their Way by Kayla Craig

We praise You on this Easter morning
With glad and grateful hearts,
Eager to shout Your glory.

Death could not hold You.
Sin could not destroy You.
For You are God
And worthy of every praise!

O Jesus, You continue to make a way
Where there is no way.
As we celebrate Your resurrection power,
We pray our children
Would sing and dance
In the promise that we are Easter people
And we have a living hope in You.

May our children
Bask in the truth
That You have conquered sin and death,
And may that living hope
Spill into all they do, all they meet, all they are.

Lord, You know us by name,
And You do not forget us
Or forsake us.
May our children proclaim Your goodness,
And may they feel Your graciousness.
Shine upon their faces
Like the spring dawn breaking through.

In the empty tomb,
We are given life—
And life abundant!
All the jelly beans and dyed eggs,
Baskets and bunnies
Pale in comparison to You.

O Prince of Peace, we celebrate on this day.
As we eat and gather around the table,
May we remember those who are lonely,
Those who have none to feast with
Or share their table with.
As we eat and gather around the table,
May we remember those who cannot afford
To fill their cupboards.

As we eat and gather around the table,
May we remember those whose lives
Have been marked by violence.
As we eat and gather around the table,
May we pray for all those who are unsafe
In sharing their faith.

As we go out into the world,
May our family live in a way
That proclaims the Good News—
Good news for the poor,
Good news that sets the captive free.
O God, the tomb could not hold You.
Fill our family with a love
That is shared between us
And freely given to everyone we meet.
The earth declares Your glory.

All of creation praises Your name.
And our hearts cry out, “Hallelujah!”
We praise You, O Lord,
As we throw off the sin and the shame of yesterday.
Let us dance in the promise of the new morning
Of today and tomorrow and forevermore!