Wesley United Methodist Church

LIVING INTO EASTER

We are now into the Easter cycle for another month or so until we come to Sunday, May 27th – Memorial Day weekend and Pentecost – the season of ministry and emphasis on the spiritual gifts which help us to grow as Christians.  But this is still Easter and Easter is the season of surprises and new life.  I look ahead we can see that new life in many ways in our congregation.

Shortly I will have at least five baptisms – some of whole families who will be brought into the Kingdom of God and His Church through this special sacrament of new life.  Symbolically, baptism is a time of dying to the old and rising to the new.  It is good to see some younger families making this commitment and with it their promises to raise their children in the Christian faith and our Sunday school program.

Another part of new life for our church will possibly be an installation of a new video system in our sanctuary. The Board of Trustees now have two bids and in another week or so may be ready to act on one of them to begin an installation of flat-panel screens in our sanctuary.  The possibilities are endless of what we can do – the Methodist Youth Fellowship, Sunday School, United Methodist Women among others can use videos to show us their activities or promote a project.  Film clips can be shown to introduce a sermon theme or help interpret our monthly mission emphasis.  We can use them to help set a visual theme for the morning worship or scroll our announcements instead of reading them. Or perhaps, if your pastor gets up to speed he can highlight the Scripture or topical points of his message with a power-point outline.  If this project goes ahead (with some help from the Memorials Committee and our United Methodist Women) we will try to get it all up to speed by the start of our Fall program in September.  It is another facet of new life coming to our church on Sunday mornings!

On Sunday, May 6th we had five of our 9th grade youth join the church by confirming their faith.  This completion of their Baptismal sacrament is another process of new life living in the Life of our Lord and growing and deepening their faith through membership in our church.  Somehow we will need to emphasize it is not so much an ending as it is a new beginning just as Easter and the empty tomb were for those first Disciples.

Later in June I will begin a ministry to our Chisholm United Methodist Church family.  Hopefully this will bring some renewed and new life to them as well.  Where is Easter’s new life happening in your life? or your family?  It is perhaps the greatest affirmation of our faith that through our love for Jesus Christ we not only have life but sometimes when we need it most – new life.  And one day, someday that is God’s gift that will be the biggest surprise of all eternity.

Sincerely yours in His ministry,

Pastor Terry