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April 2008
Dear friends:
It was cold on Easter morning, too cold to worship at sunrise in our outdoor chapel, so we gathered in the sanctuary. It felt a little like any other early Sunday, except it was a little earlier, and we were all a little more dressed up, wanting to be at our best as we told the story and celebrated the good news.
We sang, we prayed, we heard the gospel. It was early enough that the light changed as the sun came up even while we were sitting together. Toward the end of the service, as we made our way toward the communion table, we brought our yellow daisies forward to dress up the cross that had been standing empty.
I loved watching that cross come to life. I loved watching each of you come forward in turn and place your flower on the cross. You did it with such care. With the placement of each flower, I saw each of you offering not just your flower but your very selves, the tallest among us ensuring that the top of the cross was well adorned, the youngest among us seeing to the very bottom.
Toward the end, a couple of you came by with whole handfuls of yellow, wanting to make sure that every flower was used and that the cross was as bright and beautiful as possible when we carried it out to the front lawn.
It takes all of us – in all our particular ways – to tell this story.
Our worship theme for this Easter season is “Becoming the Family of God,” inspired by Jesus’ words in John 14:18, “I will not leave you orphaned.” We’ll follow the story of the disciples as they learned how to live and worship together in the days following the resurrection. And we’ll challenge each other to do the same.
Take a look in these pages and read about the good work that this family of God is already doing. Be inspired by Olivia Viola’s essay on Safe Haven (pg. 4). Catch up on the work of the Drawing Board (pg. 8), which is moving us ever closer to our vision. Read about our next Toolkits for Life event on April 6 (pg. 10) and Randy Johnson’s visit on April 13 (pg. 7) and plan to attend both. Pray the prayer offered by two of our youth (pg. 5).
As I write this, the flowered cross still stands out front facing Leesburg Pike, offering a glimpse of brightness on a gray and rainy day. We’ll take it down soon, take the flowers off and put the cross away until next Easter. But that won’t keep us from telling the good news.
I’m glad to be in this family with you.
Lee
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