Pastor’s Note 04/24/2025
1-4 After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God’s angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightning blazed from him.
His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn’t move.
5-6 The angel spoke to the women: “There is nothing to fear here. I know you’re looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed.7 “Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He is risen from the dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.’
That’s the message.”
8-10 The women, deep in wonder and full of joy, lost no time in leaving the tomb. They ran to tell the disciples. Then Jesus met them, stopping them in their tracks. “Good morning!” he said. They fell to their knees, embraced his feet, and worshiped him. Jesus said, “You’re holding on to me for dear life! Don’t be frightened like that. Go tell my brothers that they are to go to Galilee, and that I’ll meet them there.”
(Matthew 28:1-10) Eugene Peterson, The Message
Easter changes everything! What seemed like the end became a beginning. What was a death, became a new life!
Jesus’ resurrection from the dead means that there is no reason to despair. There is hope. There is always hope.
You and I will hear about bad news. We may experience times where we are frightened and confused but in Christ, there is always hope.
Christ’s resurrection gives us hope in any situation. It reminds us that even in death, there is hope because He is alive.
Pastor’s Note 04/17/2025
Today is Thursday and marks the end of Lent. The church down through the ages has used these next three days for worship in preparation for Easter and the celebration of Christ’s resurrection from the dead on Sunday.
The three days, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, are three days of worship that are intended to be one worship service stretched over three days.
- It begins with Maundy Thursday, a service of remembrance when Christ was in the Upper Room with His disciples.
- The second service is Good Friday, when we remember Christ’s trial and walk to the cross.
- The third service is the Easter Vigil or Holy Saturday, a service of waiting in hopeful anticipation of Christ’s resurrection on Easter morning.
Now most churches don’t offer all of these services but at LCPC we observe two of the three.
- We are having a Maundy Thursday service on Thursday evening at 6:00pm where we will remember Christ’s Last Supper, and His final “mandates” (maundy is taken from the Latin word “mandatum” which means mandate or command). If you want to join us for a simple Soup supper at 5:00pm, you can.
- Our Good Friday Service is at 7:00pm where we will have a service that includes the “Rites of Nails” remembering that it was our sins that nailed Christ to the cross.
Let me also encourage you to invite someone to our Easter Celebration Service on Sunday at 9:45am. The best way is to give a personal invitation.
The way our church will be a thriving growing church will be through your personal invitations. Be praying about all of the upcoming services and I hope that you will invite a few people to be a part of our Easter celebration.