Resurrection Day

Wow, what a week! So many amazing things have happened over the past week that I haven't had time to write about them. We finished our 21-day challenge on Easter Sunday, during which many of us read a chapter of the Gospel of John each day for 21 days. I wrote some reflections on each chapter on the Intake blog, so that's taken most of my blogging time. All 21 posts are still there, so if you didn't take the 21-day challenge there's no time like the present! I have done few things in recent years that made the impact on me that reading John has made this month. Try it, and see what happens in your life.

Resurrection Day was a landmark day for me. We had our first "family service" at the Springs, with elementary age through adults in the service together, and changes made to the service to make it more engaging for the kids. Our Core Virtue this week was Hope; what else would it be on Resurrection Day? I asked the kids to color pictures of Hope for me during the service, and they did a great job. Check them out! If you click on the slideshow above, controls will appear that allow you to pause the show at your favorite pictures. It's amazing to me how insightful they are. Sometimes I think they kids get it better than the adults. I thought they were terrific, and I can't wait for our next family service.

After the service, our table group gathered at our house for Easter lunch. This was a first for me. We had grandparents, parents, kids, and friends, I think 19 in all, and Elizabeth pulled out her grandmother's china for the occasion, which I don't think we've used since she received it as a wedding gift 17 years ago. We shared communion together as part of our celebration, sharing the bread at the beginning of our meal and the wine (grape juice for the kids) at the end of the meal, just like the first Christians did (yes they did, check into it). It may have been my favorite Easter celebration ever. The more things like this we do, the more I realize how much of the real essence of Christian community--of Christian life--I have missed over the years. For me, what church "should be all about" is becoming what church is all about. Resurrection Day was a perfect day to experience that.

There was a lot more that happened last week, but I'll save the rest for tomorrow's post. Love Wins! Let the joy of the living Christ carry you through your week.