03-31-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
EASTER SUNDAY
March 31, 2024
Good Morning! It is Easter!! For forty days, we have been on a Lenten Journey that culminates today. And though our Lenten Theme of Pressing the Reset Button has come to a conclusion, I pray that you took seriously the notion of the reset in your own life and maybe even found a couple of specific places to start. One of the areas where I have been attempting to hit the reset is with regard to my attitude toward church, specifically the decline of church attendance and even religious interest. The statistics are a bit daunting and could easily leave someone overwhelmed and feeling powerless. Well, first, Cypress Creek is bucking that trend, in part because of a more open and thoughtful approach to scripture, along with a more Jesus-like expression of inclusive love. But the reset in my own life, which is hitting home this morning on Easter, is connected to the conviction that we have what I believe to be Good News to share. At the end of the day, Jesus did not call us to be successful using society’s measurements of success. He called us to be faithful, even when that faithfulness has numerous critics and detractors. Today is a new day, and despite all the news that could carry me into a tomb of despondency, I am choosing to claim resurrection and the amazing God-possibilities that come with such conviction. It is Easter! Let’s see if we can put a little Easter attitude into everything we are doing in the life of the church.

What a day! What a glorious day! It is made glorious because of what you have done, Lord God. What was written off and sealed behind a stone has been liberated by the power of love. Today, I claim that idea is more than some past event. It is happening today because your Spirit continues to move stones and bring life where the world has only seen hopelessness and death. Amen.