May 2014 – Pr. Anthony’s Letter

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! The long awaited celebration of Easter has finally arrived. We have made it through the season of Lent and the 40 days of focusing on repenting of our sins. The season of Lent ends on Maundy Thursday as we move into the most holy time of the year. Now our celebration of the Resurrection of Our Lord did not end on Easter morning. Easter is not a day celebration, it is a season celebration. We celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord not for 1 day, but for the 50 days after Easter. It is 50 days full of alleluias and joyous celebrations. And after all, it doesn’t make any sense that the most holy day of the church would be celebrated for just one day of the year. The Resurrection of Our Lord from the dead is a very special and important event for us. It literally is the difference between death and life for us. Because Jesus overcame death by rising from the dead, we too are promised life in his name. Now which sounds better: 1) celebrate this most joyous event 1 out of 365 days or 2) celebrate this most joyous event 50 out of the 365 days.

This year for our 50 day Easter celebration, we are going to be focusing on the epistle letter, 1 Peter. 1 Peter 2:9 has been our theme verse this year, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Since September we have been talking about this verse as we work to define who we are as Circle of Faith Parish. Our councils (your elected leaders) have been working hard at answering this question. We are now starting to come up with some answers and so we are coming to the end of our focus on this theme verse.

As a way of celebrating the 50 days of Easter and concluding our focus on 1 Peter 2:9, we are offering a 5 week Bible study on the letter of 1 Peter. This Bible study will actually begin during the regular worship service on April 27, May 4, May 11, May 18 and May 25. The focus during these worship services will be on the different characteristics we have as God’s children (testing people, trusting people, called people, holy people, proclaiming people). After the characteristic is introduced during the Sunday morning worship service, you are invited to attend a Bible study group in which you can dig deeper into the topic that was introduced at the worship service. Each week there will be a group meeting at:
St. Peter following the Sunday morning worship service
Todd and Susan Rathman’s house on Mondays at 6:30 pm
Trinity on Wednesday’s at 7:00 pm
On Facebook throughout the week
Get join the Facebook group either send a message to Pastor Anthony or search for
the group “God’s Own People – Circle of Faith”
The discussion topics will be posted on Mondays
Then you post comments and questions throughout the week
Discussions each week end on Saturday

Please join us for celebrating the Resurrection of Our Lord for the next 50 days!
Blessings to you in this Easter Season!

In Christ, Pastor Anthony