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Rev. Craig Goodrich, Senior Pastor,
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Well, it’s April already. Can you believe it? The Season is coming to an end, and for all who are heading back north, we wish you traveling mercies and grace. And we hope you will stay in touch.
But there is another season that is ending and that is the season of Lent. In fact, by the time you read this we will be in Holy Week. We will gather on Maundy Thursday evening for handwashing and communion and again on Good Friday at noon to remember the Crucifixion. And then Sunday to celebrate Easter and the resurrection of Jesus.
Of course, we know there could be no resurrection without the crucifixion and that is the pattern of the Christian life. Jesus said we find our lives by losing them. We die to self and ego, only to find our true selves.
Our four gospels contain numerous stories of the appearances of Jesus, though interestingly there is no description of the actual resurrection itself. But we do see the risen Jesus meeting Mary Magdalene in the garden. We see him in the upper room with the disciples and encountering Thomas who missed his first appearance. We see him on the road to Emmaus with two forlorn disciples and on the shore of the Sea of Galilee preparing breakfast for his friends.
We will be looking at all of these stories during our Easter Season as we celebrate and hope for resurrection in our own lives.
I love what the late Presbyterian writer Frederick Buechner wrote about resurrection:
“The earliest reference to the Resurrection is Saint Paul’s, and he makes no mention of an empty tomb at all. But the fact of the matter is that in a way it hardly matters how the body of Jesus came to be missing because in the last analysis what convinced the people that he had risen from the dead was not the absence of his corpse but his living presence. And so it has been ever since…”
He continues, “[b]ut the proclamation of Easter Day is that all is well…Love is the victor. Death is not the end. The end is life. His life and our lives through him, in him. Existence has greater depths of beauty, mystery, and benediction than the wildest visionary has ever dared to dream. Christ our Lord has risen.”
And we say “He is risen indeed!”
A Blessed Easter to you and yours.
Faithfully and Gratefully,
From The Pulpit
April 2
Palm/Passion Sunday
Rev. Rex Childs
“Donkey and Colt”
April 6
Maundy Thursday
7 p.m. worship
April 7
Good Friday
12 noon worship
April 9
Easter Sunday
7:30 a.m. Courtyard Worship
8:30 and 10:15 a.m.
Rev. Craig Goodrich
“
RunningonEaster”
April 16
Rev. Craig Goodrich
“
FaithandDoubt”
April 23
Earth Sunday
Rev. Rex Childs
April 30
Rev. Craig Goodrich
“FollowingJesus”
Saint John’s Bible Products for Purchase
FPCN members are given the opportunity to order TheSaintJohn’sBiblebooks, notecards and prints with a 20% discount through April 20. You may purchase your products by visiting www.litpress.org/sjb and include the discount code of NAPLES20 when checking out. A list of the products that are available can be picked up in the church office or in Spencer Hall. For questions, please contact Elizabeth Owens at eowens@litpress.org or calling her at 1.800.858.5450 ext. 2059.
20% off Discount Code: NAPLES20
Good only until April 20, 2023
Here are just a few of the items available to order. Please visit the website for more items.
The Palms Society
Presents:
