Dear Broadway Community,
Beloveds I am watching the snow fall gently to the ground and cover the grass with white fluff, but it is unable to cover the ground! The green and the tiny purple wildflowers are peeking through the snow reminding me of the cycle of life, and of the liturgical season we are in. This Sunday, March 24th, we celebrate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem with people celebrating, singing and waving palm branches as we relive that celebration with Palms!
But that celebration will be short lived, because soon that crowd turns against Jesus and side with the powers-that-be of the day. His followers have understood him fully so one of them gets Jesus arrested, after breaking bread with him!
To remember that day, we invite you to a self-guided journey through those moments of journeying to the cross. On Thursday, March 28th, the building will be open from 3pm- 8pm for you to come anytime you are able, spend time at those stations and end your journey with communion before leaving the building!
The journey continues into Friday, when the crowds scream, ‘crucify him!’ and prefer to get Barabbas released. We will have a Good Friday Tenebrae service on March 29th at 7pm journeying through the passion of Jesus towards the cross until crucifixion. On this day we will also be blessed to have the KEFAS Choir from Denmark who will participate in the service with us. We invite you to share this information with your friends so more people can be blessed by them.
Saturday is traditionally observed as “Holy Saturday” remembering that Jesus’ physical body laid in the tomb. But it is not there for too long because Sunday brings the resurrection message, and we revive the “Alleluias” with the SONrise service.
On Easter Sunday, March 31st, we will meet by the Clock Tower Café (3701 N Recreational Dr) around 6:20am to worship and enjoy an Easter Sunrise (rain location is the church) which will be followed by an EASTER WORSHIP service at 11:00am at church to be reminded that the barriers that Jesus’ followers thought would be there are gone and instead, they discovered life, inviting us to also look up from our complacency, apathy, fear and depression about “the way things are” and be filled with the promise of new life and hope yet again!
And I pray that this preparation for celebration of life over death, and good over evil, will move us to join our United Methodist Bishops in demanding “a permanent cease-fire in the conflict between Hamas and Israel in Gaza and pledge our prayers and commitment to work for a durable peace for Israelis, Palestinians…” and on Wednesday, March 27th at 11am central join Eyewitness Palestine for a Live from Lyd webinar, to virtually travel around Lyd on a custom tour of the city and to hear from Lyd residents about the resilience and struggles they face in the community.
Let us also continue to contact our elected officials calling for a Ceasefire! This will be the best way for us to prepare to celebrate good over evil.
Beloveds, let us continue to follow Jesus who always addressed injustices, exorcised evil from communities and shared love with all people. Let us continue to commit ourselves to sharing the love of God with all people to the best of our ability, and become agents of hope in this world.
Beloveds, may we be blessed, and be a blessing to all we meet, and I look forward to seeing you all at church.