Holy Week 2024

Holy Week will once again offer us the power of the story of God’s love for us.

Palm Sunday, March 24

8:30a & 10:45a (English), 10:45a (en español)

Hear the story of the entrance of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem to shouts of “Hosanna. Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Maundy Thursday, March 28

6:30p (English), 6:45p (en español)

Remember the Last Supper in the Upper Room, prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus’ arrest, and trial. This worship service ends with the meaningful “stripping of the altar” to remind us of the humiliation and suffering of our Savior.

Good Friday, March 29

Worship: 12p and 6:30p (English), and 6p (en español)

Hear the story of the crucifixion of Jesus along with the seven last words of Jesus from the cross. We will gather to remember and offer worship to the One who saves us from our sins. The sanctuary will be open with candlelight from 1-3 p.m. for those who desire a time of quiet prayer.

Good Friday Procession: We invite you to participate in our Latino Ministries’ Good Friday procession. We will start our procession from the three crosses in the memorial garden. We will lower the cross and the participants will be able to pass the cross to the people who will carry it on our trip to the tomb (Latino Sanctuary). In the sanctuary, we will, as always, have the experience of walking and experiencing how the beauty of the alfombras/carpets disappears.

Easter Sunday: The Day of Resurrection Joy

8:30a & 10:45a (English), 10:45a (en español)

The story of the power of God overcoming the power of death. The story of the power of love overcoming the power of death. The story of Jesus defeating the grave. It is our story. Come and see what God has done. Be reminded of the promise of God’s unimaginable love for you. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Welcome to the Season of Lent

It feels as if we are constantly playing catch-up with the season of Lent. The calendar did not help this year. In only seven weeks we went from the celebrations of Christmas to reminder of our mortality on Ash Wednesday. Some years we have as many as 10 weeks to make the transition. As I have entered into conversations with members of the church, I am struck by the fact that I am not the only one who feels rushed this year into the season of Lent.

On the first Sunday in Lent, I invited people at worship to write down the name of someone in their life who is in need of prayer…for whatever reason. My accepted “extra” in Lent has been to pray over these names each week. It is a daunting pile on my desk. Prayer cards stacked some two and three inches high with the first names of people who are loved, considered, remembered by many of you in your own daily prayers. It is humbling to be entrusted with those names. There are names that give me pause because I know the story behind the name. On some cards, people feel the need to offer explanation, which can be helpful but not necessary. And there are always a few cards with not just one name but three and four names. Just so you know – I stop and pray for each name – not just the first one at the top. What grounds me in the season of Lent, as we wander in the wilderness for a time, is the opportunity to settle into my prayers. Each prayer card offers me a little extra moment of time to speak the name and ask God to tend this loved one in some way. There is a meme running around the internet that says:

It is a solid reminder for my own prayer life. Of course, right after I saw that reminder meme, I saw this one:

And that brought me right back to why sometimes my life is messier than it should be. It is no surprise. My faith life ebbs and flows like everything else that clamors for time in my life. Depending on which guilt lever gets pulled can often determine the next task to tackle. Reading with my youngest child – yes, important. Checking in on my dad, my sister – yes, important. Date night with my wife – yes, SO IMPORTANT (if she is reading this)! Reconnecting with an old friend – yes, important. Visiting someone who is sick or feeling lonely – yes, important. Getting this newsletter article done – yes, important. All the things that beg for attention are almost always important enough to be listed. It amuses me that right after I typed the list above I realized that I left off “tending my relationship with God.” How did I miss that in the season of Lent? It happens.

The gift of this season of Lent is that we have the opportunity for just a little extra opportunity to tend our relationship with our God. Sunday worship, The Chosen Video series, midweek soup supper and worship, and Holy Week events to name a few “extra” opportunities. The Soup Suppers are always a gift to be in relationship with other members of the body of Christ in simple ways around a simple meal and a new recipe. You still have three more opportunities to join us on Wednesday nights. Before we know it, Holy Week will be upon us.

See you in church,

Pastor Chris

March Madness and Lent

Most of you are probably aware that I’m a huge fan of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament better known as March Madness – and I’m thrilled that it’s almost here!  In just a few weeks millions of people, superfans as well as fair-weather ones, will be filling out and checking their brackets daily, if not hourly. Workplace production is certain to take a dive. And for three straight weeks sports fans will be glued to their screens watching all the drama unfold.

For some, their enthusiasm can appear almost religious. All over the country, fans will deck themselves out in their favorite team gear or team colors all while exhibiting a heightened sense of nervousness; desperate for their team to win and advance to the next round. They’ll be watching games while yelling “No, no…yes, yes!” while kids are running around the house dribbling and shooting basketballs as adults are running to the kitchen for more appetizers. It’s chaotic. It’s madness. And I’m not ashamed to say that I can’t get enough of it!

But as I’ve been psyching myself up for this year’s tournament it occurred to me that there was a connection between our faith, the season of Lent, and The Big Dance and I’m wondering, “What if we viewed our faith and the experience of Lent through a different lens”? What if we used the “madness” of the NCAA basketball tournament to better understand our nature as humans created in the image of God?

I think the attraction to March Madness reveals aspects of our life of faith and our journey through Lent that may be helpful in reorienting us and reenergizing us for the road ahead. 

We want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. March Madness allows us to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We may not be on the court, but filling out our brackets and cheering alongside countless others gives us some skin in the game. So too does our faith. Especially in the season of Lent as we stand alongside countless other Christians taking time to reflect on our lives, intensify our faith practices and turn back to God. Much like the discipline and focus necessary for teams in the tournament to be successful, we too must engage in this same discipline as we make our journey toward Easter.

Disappointment and heartache are lurking around every corner. Teams dream, plan, and prepare for a long and successful run deep into the tournament, however, anyone who’s ever witnessed an upset knows that even the best laid plans are sometimes met with unexpected disappointment. Our lives are like that aren’t they? We plan, save, try to eat healthy, live responsibly, pray and come to worship and yet we still encounter heartache, disappointment, sadness, pain, and grief. Although God never promises us a life absent of difficulties and pain, the more connected we are to God and one another, and the deeper we engage our faith and faith practices the more we open ourselves, allowing God to comfort us and heal us in times of brokenness.

We crave hope. Every year in the tournament there are amazing comebacks and last second buzzer beaters. Underdog teams who can’t seem to miss a shot or a team that finds itself down as the final seconds tick away relying on a step back three pointer or an unbelievable half court prayer thrown up in desperation – Cinderella stories reminding us that David can beat Goliath. Personally, I just hope not to be in the bottom half of my family’s bracket pool this year. For people around the world, hope is wanting something to happen or be true and to think that it could happen or be true. For Christians, our hope rests not in our own abilities or a last second desperation attempt but rather in a sure thing. We trust that God’s promises will be fulfilled because God promised them. Our hope rests in the truth that Jesus’s death and resurrection secured victory over sin and death and sealed our relationship with God forever.

Victory is found in the most unexpected places. An unexpected player or team that surprises everyone by playing far beyond what anyone thought possible and ends up victorious. A superfan nun whose health isn’t the greatest but still manages to get herself to the sidelines to cheer on her team. The coach or player who overcomes a life-threatening illness or injury only to find themselves on one of the biggest stages of their lives. The unexpected surprises us but it also has the potential to enliven us, if we allow it to. But these stories merely echo the greatest story in all of history. Separated from God because of our sin, humans had no shot of making it back into God’s favor. But then came Jesus, in the form of a servant – living, teaching, and preaching about a different kind of kingdom. Jesus lived a perfect life while challenging the rules, assumptions, power structures, culture, and people’s beliefs and conquered sin and death by dying a sacrificial death and rising from the grave victorious for all. We love underdog and comeback stories, and this is the greatest one for all eternity.

As we step into Lent on our journey toward Easter, I’d like to invite you to join me on this sacred journey and allow God to draw us in and transform us so that we might more fully live into the abundant life that God has promised us. The Final Four may signify a nearing of the end of the tournament as we approach the championship game and prepare to crown a tournament champion. Similarly, our journey through Holy Week gets us one step closer to the culmination of an empty tomb on Easter morning as we celebrate the victorious journey of Jesus and the fulfillment of all God’s promises.

So, for the next few weeks I hope you’ll enjoy some great basketball games and have fun rooting for your favorite teams. But while you do I also invite you throughout the upcoming Lenten season to pay attention for the unexpected because you just might be surprised at what God has waiting for you.

Pastor Tony