The First Baptist Church of Redlands
T A PE S T R Y
APR 2020
Wo v e n To g e t h e r I n L o v e : C o l o s s i a n s 2 : 2
It Will Be Easter!
A Message from Pastor Shawn
Issue No. 4
What a month this has been! I can’t think of anything that has been like this season of living with the crisis of COVID-19. It is a time that is testing us as a nation, as a global community, and as a church. As I write this article in the middle of March in order to meet the deadline for April 1 delivery, I am anticipating that we are looking at more weeks ahead of us with limited physical access to each other. This means that we will not be able to meet with one another physically for the activities that we observe and celebrate at this most important season in the church year. I will miss the Holy Week activities of Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday. I will miss the ecumenical gathering that we have come to appreciate for Good Friday. It is unbelievable that we will not be able to be together physically for worship to celebrate Easter. In my 60+ years of life, I have never experienced anything like this. It has been, and continues to be, really difficult! The struggles that many of us have faced during this time are only compounded by our not being able to be with each other in the ways that we are accustomed. Some of us may be struggling with illness, while others are struggling financially, and all of us with the anxiety of so many unknowns and knowns! In all of this, God is near. I pray that each of us has become aware of God’s presence and power in our lives in unexpected ways. I pray that we have been an encouragement to someone in our lives. I pray that our children have developed character that will continue to grow in ways that will make this world a better place in the future. I pray that we all have been given a stronger sense of mission that is connected to the Kingdom of God. This will end and we will gather again to worship. And when we do, IT WILL BE EASTER! Whatever the date, we will celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and what it means to us and to the world! New life will rise out of the ashes of grief, struggle, illness, anxiety and difficulty. As we wait for that day, and the new days to follow, may we continue to be faithful to trust and serve our Lord. May the world see the Church be what God has intended and empowered us to be. Let us continue to encourage one another during this time as we look to the day when we will celebrate Easter together again! The Lord has Risen! Jesus has risen, indeed! Be strong in the Lord! In Christ, Pastor Shawn
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