April 4, 2010 - Easter Sunday!

Christ, The Lord, Is Risen Today!

"CHRIST, the Lord, is risen to-day," Sons of men and angels say!
Raise your joys and triumphs high: Sing, ye heavens; thou earth, reply.

Love's redeeming work is done; Fought the fight, the battle won:
Lo! the sun's eclipse is o'er, Lo! he sets in blood no more!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Christ hath burst the gates of hell:
Death in vain forbids his rise, Christ hath opened Paradise.

Lives again our glorious King! Where, O death, is now thy sting?
Once he died our souls to save; Where's thy victory, boasting grave

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Following our exalted Head:
Made like him, like him we rise, Ours the cross, the grave, the skies.

King of glory! Soul of bliss! Everlasting life is this,
Thee to know, thy power to prove, Thus to sing, and thus to love.


Charles Wesley (from 1739)

April 3, 2010

Keep On Keeping On

Read: 1 John 1:5-9

One rainy afternoon I was driving along one of the main streets of town, taking those extra precautions necessary when the roads are wet and slick.

Suddenly, my son Matthew spoke up from his relaxed position in the front seat: "Mom, I'm thinking of something."

This announcement usually meant he had been pondering some fact for a while, and was now ready to expound all that his seven-year-old mind had discovered. I was eager to hear.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"The rain," he began, "is like sin, and the windshield wipers are like God wiping our sins away."

After the chill bumps raced up my arms, I was able to respond.

"That's really good, Matthew."

Then my curiosity broke in. How far would my little boy take this revelation?

So I asked, "Do you notice how the rain keeps on coming? What does that tell you?"

Matthew didn't hesitate one moment with his answer: "We keep on sinning, and God just keeps on forgiving us."

I will always remember this whenever I turn my wipers on.

I think I will also remember this when I turn on my wipers.
I hope you will too.

April 2, 2010 - Good Friday

O Love Divine, What Hast Thou Done

O Love divine, what has thou done!
The immortal God hath died for me!
The Father's coeternal Son
bore all my sins upon the tree.
Th' immortal God for me hath died:
My Lord, my Love, is crucified!

Is crucified for me and you,
to bring us rebels back to God.
Believe, believe the record true,
ye all are bought with Jesus' blood.
Pardon for all flows from his side:
My Lord, my Love, is crucified!

Behold him, all ye that pass by,
the bleeding Prince of life and peace!
Come, sinners, see your Savior die,
and say, "Was ever grief like his?"
Come, feel with me his blood applied:
My Lord, my Love, is crucified!

Charles Wesley, 1707-1788

April 1, 2010 - Maundy Thursday

Feast of Love

Read Luke 22:17-20
“This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me” Luke 22:19

In preparing for a discussion on the book Food & Faith by Wendy Whiteside for my fellowship group, I have gained a new understanding of the sacrament of Holy Communion. Communion is an act “of sharing intimate fellowship with God.”

Our Wesleyan traditional calls it “an outward sign of inward grace.” Whiteside writes, “In this sacrament we find a place where God offers each of us, in tangible ways, a channel for receiving God’s grace.” In communion Jesus created a new Covenant and proclaimed our sins forgiven. “Every time we eat the bread and drink from the cup, we are to experience Jesus’ love and grace anew to strengthen and encourage us on our faith journey.”

Methodists call the consecration and sharing of the elements The Great Thanksgiving. We take the bread and wine and we are restored by receiving grace. But communion shouldn’t stop there. I had never thought of Communion requiring a response from us. Whiteside says, “We should response to this gift with joyful hearts and acts of caring and kindness toward others. “In giving thanks we receive the gift of gratitude. Thanks to God for his goodness, for the gift of Jesus and our life in him is the key to our joy” Once we have this joy we are ready to serve God.

Whiteside makes clear that Holy Communion is the communion of the church, the gathered community of the faithful. It is more than a personal event. “Communion is a reaffirmation of our commitment to the family of God. We eat and drink both in acknowledgments of common loyalty and in anticipation of being strengthened for discipleship in the world.”

The hymn: Come, and Let Us Sweetly Join

Come and let us sweetly join, Christ to praise in hymns divine;
Give we all with one accord glory to our common Lord.

Hands and hearts and voices raise, sing as in the ancient days;
antedate the joys above, celebrate the feast of love.

Jesus, dear expected guest, Thou art bidden to the feast;
For thyself our hearts prepare; come, and sit, and banquet there.

Sanctify us Lord and bless, breathe thy Spirit, give thy peace;
Thou thyself within us move, make our feast a feast of love.

Karen Bromley