15 DAYS...

As I hit 'send' on this email, Easter will be a little more than 15 days away.  Thinking of that, I've been wondering if I'm ready, if we're ready...and, admittedly, I don't know.

Oh, of course, the to-do lists are complete, the logistics are in place, the landscaping will be done, the palms for Palm Sunday are ordered, the bulletins for Easter Sunday are completed, our friends who will be cooking for our Palm Sunday picnic are lined up, the eggs and games for the picnic are progressing nicely, the sermons for the next three weeks are pretty much finalized, the work for the Wednesday of Holy Week (when we will be walking with and towards Jesus) is in very capable hands, Kathy and I are pretty sure about the Maundy Thursday service, Good Friday speaks for itself, the music for all these services is planned out...but...am I ready for Easter?

Are any of us truly ready for Easter? I'm not talking about the things like Easter outfits and family logistics and all the other stuff that we deal with - I'm talking about you and me...are we ready to confront once again the empty tomb? Are we ready to encounter a risen Christ who's life, death, and resurrection put to rest any and all excuses we might come up with to not be who God has called us? Are we ready to embrace the promise that comes when we, like those on the first Easter morning, peer into the tomb and see that He is, indeed, Risen?

Let me ask you this: If someone were to ask you right now if you were ready for Easter, to where would your mind wander?

No matter the answer, let me offer you a simple gift for these next 15 days: Take a look at what all is going on in the life of our community over this time and look at these events not as more things on the calendar but as sacred gifts from God through Christ by the power of the Spirit to draw us into the eternal Good News of God's gracious love that came to fruition through the one who rose from the grave on that Easter morning.

You and I may not, by our own efforts, be ready for Easter. And that's ok. Let's you and I make a deal here and now to let God prepare us, together, through the life of this great church, to be ready for the glory of Easter!

Grace and Peace, Lamar