Interruptions to Easter 

Some days it's easy to sense Easter and the new life in Christ we celebrate. Some days it's hard to find.  Some days we can only see it because what we're experiencing is so bad, or so hard, or so strange, that the contrast makes us realize that this isn't how it is supposed to be. 

And some days, it's just odd.  Like the day after Easter this week was. .. I was still thinking over the events of Easter Sunday, remembering the music, the flowers and decorations, the people, the scripture - and being a little weary, too. I was out of the office, on my way to an appointment, when I got a call from the office.  "Pastor, there's a woman here from Paramount Studios, and they want to shoot part of a TV show in our sanctuary!  On Wednesday!" 

Hmmm, maybe they need a minister for the shot, too, I thought... no, couldn't be. So, I got the woman on the phone: "Tell me about the show," and she mentioned a show that was a little on the dark side, but not too bad.  I had actually seen it a few times.  "And tell me about the scene that you want to shoot."  Silence. .. "Well, there's a medium (the name of the show), a serial killer, and a detective in the scene.  The detective is on his cell phone saying to someone on the other end, 'I've found the bodies. ", "Wait, bodies, in my sanctuary?  Where?" I asked.  "Well," she said, "they would be on the altar, covered with a cloth."  As my dreams of TV-stardom began to fade, I explained how offensive that would be to the congregation, and declined her offer. 
It was a surreal experience, made all the more so by its proximity to Easter, the celebration of Jesus' resurrection and the new life we share with him.  For a moment, the world intruded into my sense of Jesus' presence, and it wasn't pretty.  Funny, but not pretty. 

How often we have our sense of Jesus' love and new life broken by the events of our lives: an unexpected turn, a disappointment, a painful word, a death, a surreal moment that seems to be trying to undo our faith.  But what should we do?  How can we ever make sense of our lives when one of these moments comes?  Face it, deny it, fight it, and live in the moment of Jesus' revelation to you as your Lord and Savior.  Find ways to celebrate life and love!  And no, I'm not embarking on my TV career any time soon. 

Offering Update 

The church council asked me to update the congregation on the special appeal to help make up for the approximately $76,000 church/school deficit from last year, and current budget status.  As of today (4/1/05), your donations for the special appeal total $11,276.  That's so great!  We're nearly to the $17,000 or so that we spoke about in January.  And even more important, our offering is $14,000 ahead of where we budgeted to be at this point in the year.  This is the kind of increase in giving we need to keep current! 

And the good news continues: our expenses are $6,000 under where we thought they'd be, totaling over $20,000 to the good.  And yes, there's more good news: the school and preschool have positive news: the school is $4,000 ahead, and the preschool is more than $6,700 ahead, for a total of over $31,000 ahead of budgetary schedule for the church, school and preschool! This is really encouraging as we head into the summer months. 

Thank you so much for your support for the ministry here at Trinity!  Your response is amazing! 
 

Pastor Larry