PAINTING, LANDSCAPING, COMMUNITY, AND EASTER - AND CHANGE
Thank you one and all for a wonderful weekend! We had:
A great group come together Friday Night for supper at our first North Cross Night Out (kudos to our youth for their work on the babysitting end!);
A hard-working and numerous gathering on Saturday morning where we knocked out a lot of much-needed TLC on our grounds (including finishing the walkway to our office building;
Wonderful worship led by our most excellent music ministry;
Lots of food and fun with our Palm Sunday Picnic & Easter Egg Hunt (poor Easter Bunny will get next Sunday off since our kids got the candy they need yesterday); and,
Highly efficient and motivated servants of the Lord who helped make quick work of the vast majority of the painting in our sanctuary and lobby.
As I posted for my status update on Facebook last night, as I reflected on the weekend's activity in light of this Holy Week we have now started, I couldn't help but think about the joy that comes from the anticipation of Easter Sunday.
As we gathered Friday night, we were strengthening the bonds of the community that will gather to celebrate Maundy Thursday, observe Good Friday, and celebrate the Resurrection, remembering that Christianity is communal, not individual.
While turning shovels, pushing wheelbarrows, laying pavers, spreading dirt & mulch, and so much more on Saturday morning, we saw in each other (whether we realized it or not at the time) the people of the community sacrificially giving of their time and talent to tend to the church grounds - many after having given sacrificially to the landscaping fund as we honored and remembered our loved ones in preparation for Easter, giving thanks to God for sharing these with us.
Sunday, we worshiped together, ate together, celebrated our children's excitement over the Easter Egg Hunt together, and cleared our worship space so that we could begin the task of giving it a much-needed fresh coat of paint and adding even-more-needed color to the place. The painting commenced right around 3:00 on Sunday afternoon, and it was a joy to hear the sounds of so much community-building going on in the midst of the work.
Work continued Monday afternoon/evening, and will probably carry on for a couple of more days as we finish the painting and put the place back together Wednesday.
Things are changing around North Cross, externally and internally to our structure. More importantly, people are changing and being changed around, in, and through North Cross by the grace of God alone. Just ask anyone who has invested themselves in the ministry of the church beyond worship - especially Sunday School, Disciple Bible Study, Namesake, or our Wednesday Night activities.
When you enter our worship space this week, or come upon our property if you haven't been by since Saturday morning, you will see different things, and not everything is going to be put back, or if it is, maybe not in the same places or with the same prominence as before.
Then again, does it really matter? The biggest change we will celebrate and observe this week comes not from painting and mulching, but from a Savior who, through the bread & cup, conviction & execution, and resurrection from the grave changed everything completely.
THAT, my friends, is the most glorious change of them all.
See you Thursday at His table, Friday at the cross, and Sunday outside the Empty Tomb.
Grace and Peace, Lamar