Rev. Dr. Timothy Oleksy
Sermon Title: Already There
Service begins at 11:00am * All are Welcome!
Old Testament: Jeremiah 33:14-16
Gospel: Luke 21:25-36
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Upcoming Events
- Pot Luck Supper April 24, 2019 at 5:30 pm – 6:15 pm Fellowship Hall
- Evening Bible Study April 24, 2019 at 6:15 pm – 7:00 pm Fellowship Hall
- Choir Practice April 24, 2019 at 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Choir Room
- BSA Girl Troop April 26, 2019 at 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm Fellowship Hall
- 2nd Sunday of Easter April 28, 2019
- Sunday School April 28, 2019 at 9:30 am – 10:30 am Adult Classroom
- Coffee & Fellowship April 28, 2019 at 10:30 am – 11:00 am Fellowship Hall
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The Christian Year: Resurrection of the Lord / Easter
The festival of the Resurrection of the Lord (or Easter Sunday) is the center of the Christian year. On this occasion the church joyfully proclaims the good news that is at the very heart of the gospel: that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.
It is sometimes said that every Sunday is a little Easter; liturgical theologian Laurence Stookey suggests that it might be more appropriate to say that every Easter is a great Sunday (Calendar: Christ’s Time for the Church, Abingdon Press, 1996, 158-161). Easter Sunday is the Lord’s Day writ large: a great annual celebration of Christ’s resurrection on the first day of the week. As such, the service should be centered around the typical and fundamental elements of Christian worship on the Lord’s Day: the proclamation of the Word and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Easter Sunday is also an especially appropriate time for the sacrament of Baptism, if not celebrated during the Easter Vigil of the previous night.
Easter Sunday is something like the keystone of an arch — the top and center stone upon which all the other stones lean and depend — both in terms of its theological significance and its relation to other events in the Christian year. Theologically speaking, the faith we claim and the life we live depend on the affirmation, celebration and proclamation of Christ’s resurrection. In a chronological sense — since Easter is a “moveable feast,” taking place on a different date each year — all the other events of the Christian year (from the Transfiguration of the Lord and Ash Wednesday through Pentecost and Trinity Sunday) pivot around the date of Easter Sunday, shifting accordingly.
The Christian Year: Season of Easter
Easter isn’t just a Sunday — it’s a season. One day out of 365 is hardly sufficient to celebrate the great mystery of our faith — that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. Accordingly, the season of Easter lasts seven weeks (a “week of weeks”), spanning the 50 days from the Sunday of the Resurrection to Pentecost Sunday and encompassing the festival of the Ascension of the Lord.
The season of Easter is intended to be a joyful time for celebrating the presence of the risen Christ in the church. If your congregation doesn’t already celebrate the Lord’s Supper (a feast with the risen Lord) each week, the season of Easter is an excellent and appropriate time to explore this practice.
Of course, Easter really isn’t just a season either. In the fullest sense, Easter is a new way of life — in which we are “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:11), called to “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). Every year, for fifty days, the church celebrates and rehearses this new way of life in the Season of Easter — as we await its completion in the fullness of Christ’s reign.
The Christian Year: Great Vigil of Easter
The Easter Vigil is historically the first service of Easter. In fact, Christian feast days generally begin at sunset on the previous day (best known in the example of Christmas Eve). For this reason, the duration of the Easter Triduum (“three days”) is from the evening of Maundy Thursday to the evening of Easter Sunday. The same principle applies to the Jewish reckoning of liturgical time, in which the sabbath begins at dusk and continues to nightfall of the following day. This is reflected in the priestly “refrain” of the Genesis 1 creation story: “and it was evening, and it was morning, the nth day.”
The Christian Year: Good Friday
Good Friday is the day we remember Jesus’ crucifixion. The hours of noon to 3 p.m. are particularly significant as these commemorate the time Jesus hung on the cross. It is an especially important time to pray for the church and the world for whom Christ gave his life.
The Christian Year: Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday begins the Three Days (or Triduum), remembering the new commandment that Christ gave us in word and deed as he taught us how to love one another, washing our feet as a servant. We also celebrate the Lord’s Supper, remembering the meal Christ shared with his disciples before his death.
Historically, this was the traditional day in which those who had undergone a period of public penance under church discipline would be restored to full communion.
The Christian Year: Three Days / Triduum
One of the first annual events of the Christian year, after the celebration of the resurrection on every Lord’s Day, was a commemoration of Christ’s dying and rising at Easter. Over the years, one day was split into three different rituals to remember the Last Supper and New Commandment (Maundy Thursday), the Crucifixion (Good Friday) and the struggle to make meaning of the cross in light of the whole of salvation history (the Great Vigil) — all culminating in Easter at day break.
What was originally one annual service remembering the Lord’s death and resurrection became split into separate services in order to pay closer attention to the significant details of Christ’s death and resurrection. These were considered to be part of one salvific activity of God and thus celebrated as such without a benediction until the end of the service with the Easter announcement that “Christ is risen!” The Three Days or Triduum (Maundy Thursday at sundown through sundown of Easter) are the most solemn of the church year. The whole church’s participation is encouraged in this time of great significance for all who would be formed in the Christian faith, especially catechumens. The Great Vigil of Easter was the time set aside for the annual baptism of new Christians, coinciding with the eucharistic dawning of God’s reign in the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
The Christian Year: Passion / Palm Sunday
Passion / Palm Sunday begins Holy Week, a time in the church year when we remember how Christ gave his life in love for the world. As this service opens, the crowd waves palm branches, wanting to crown Jesus as king. But as the story of the passion unfolds, their shouts of praise turn to demands for his crucifixion; he receives a crown of thorns as he is handed over to be mocked and killed.
Green Hill Girl Scouts
Today is @girlscouts @girlscoutssa Leader Appreciation Day! In case someone hasn't said it to you lately, or even if they have, thank you for all that you do for our local girls! You are AMAZING! I belonged to two different troops when I was a girl. One was led by my mom, and the other was led by a woman named Laurie. l am sure I said "thank you" to both, in a general sort of way, when I was a girl, but it wasn't until I was an adult that I had a real appreciation for what they did for the girls in their troops. I have since been able to thank my mom, specifically for being a Girl Scout leader, but I will never get the chance to thank Laurie in that way. So, as you go about your day today, and through the rest of this Girl Scouting year and beyond, know that you are planting seeds. You really are building girls of courage, confidence, and character. They probably aren't going to realize everything you do for them now, and they may not thank you for it, but when they look back, they will be grateful for the time you took out of your lives to mentor them. To all of the "Lauries" out there, thank you from the bottom of my heart. May you be just as blessed by your experience in Girl Scouting as the girls who have been blessed to have you as their leaders.
Sandra
Wonderful service @greenhillpc this morning. Even the babies were shouting, "Amen!" He is risen. He is risen, indeed!
The Easter Bunny brought candy, cascarones, and a board game! (It was Ms. White, in the kitchen, with the wrench.) Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter with their families.
Best friends! Counting down the days until @winshapecamps 2019!
Two osprey tried to build this balloon into their nest, one becoming tangled in the process. She got free, but it is still a great example of why balloons should not be released! #balloonrelease @menunkatuck_audubon
Found this gem in a box of photos. All of these @girlscouts are now in High School! @girlscoutssa
Staring up at the majestic bell towers of #notredamecathedral during last month's trip.
