Easter Sunday

Sunday Reflection – Easter II, April 27, 2025

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Faith and Doubts

John 20 19 The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. He greeted them 20 and showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy.

21 After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, “I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23  If you forgive anyone’s sins, they will be forgiven. But if you don’t forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven.”

24 Although Thomas the Twin was one of the twelve disciples, he wasn’t with the others when Jesus appeared to them. 25 So they told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But Thomas said, “First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger. I must put my hand where the spear went into his side. I won’t believe unless I do this!”

26 A week later the disciples were together again. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. He greeted his disciples 27 and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands! Put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and have faith!”

28 Thomas replied, “You are my Lord and my God!”

29 Jesus said, “Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!”

Sunday Reflection – Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025

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Christ is Risen! Hallelujah!

Luke 24 Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, carrying the spices they had prepared. 2 When they found the stone rolled away from the entrance, 3 they went in. But they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus, 4 and they did not know what to think.

Suddenly two men in shining white clothes stood beside them. 5 The women were afraid and bowed to the ground. But the men said, “Why are you looking in the place of the dead for someone who is alive? 6  Jesus isn’t here! He has been raised from death. Remember that while he was still in Galilee, he told you, 7 ‘The Son of Man will be handed over to sinners who will nail him to a cross. But three days later he will rise to life.’ ” 8 Then they remembered what Jesus had said.

9-10 Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and some other women were the ones who had gone to the tomb. When they returned, they told the eleven apostles and the others what had happened. 11 The apostles thought it was all nonsense, and they would not believe.

12 But Peter ran to the tomb. And when he stooped down and looked in, he saw only the burial clothes. Then he returned, wondering what had happened.

Kids Korner: Jesus is alive! (April 20th)

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Read Luke 24:1-12 with your family.

He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Happy Easter

It’s hard to imagine that between the Palm Sunday celebration from last week and the Easter celebration this week, that we have had the saddest week in the Christian year. All week we watched people get madder at Jesus and eventually the people representing the Roman Empire killed him. It was awful.

His friends waited and wondered if anyone would come after them. All of Jesus followers were sad, and we were sad when we remembered the story.

But the most wonderful thing happened Easter morning. Mary Magdalene and her friends went to the place where Jesus was buried and they discovered he wasn’t dead anymore. Jesus was alive!

And so we celebrate Jesus coming back to life today (and it’s okay if you have fun joking about zombies…. my kids always have).

Happy Easter. Christ is Risen. He is Risen Indeed, Hallelujah!

Sunday Reflection – Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024

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The tomb was empty

Mark 16 After the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James bought some spices to put on Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on Sunday morning, just as the sun was coming up, they went to the tomb. 3 On their way, they were asking one another, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance for us?” 4 But when they looked, they saw that the stone had already been rolled away. And it was a huge stone!

5 The women went into the tomb, and on the right side they saw a young man in a white robe sitting there. They were alarmed.

6 The man said, “Don’t be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who was nailed to a cross. God has raised him to life, and he isn’t here. You can see the place where they put his body. 7  Now go and tell his disciples, and especially Peter, that he will go ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you.”

8 When the women ran from the tomb, they were confused and shaking all over. They were too afraid to tell anyone what had happened.

Kids Korner: The tomb is empty (Easter Sunday, March 31st)

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Read Mark 16:1-8 with your family.

One of the strangest parts of the story of Easter Sunday found in the Gospel of Mark, is that the women ran away when they heard about Jesus being alive again, because they were scared.

In every other gospel the women run to tell people, but in Mark they just run away.

That’s because the Gospel of Mark was written like a Greek play where the audience who first heard the story and those of us today who are hearing it again, are expected to finish the story. We are the ones who are now supposed to tell everyone that Jesus has risen!

Christ has Risen! Christ has risen indeed! Hallelujah!!

Sunday Reflection – Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023

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Story Time

Reading

 

Matthew 28 The Sabbath was over, and it was almost daybreak on Sunday when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 Suddenly a strong earthquake struck, and the Lord’s angel came down from heaven. He rolled away the stone and sat on it. 3 The angel looked as bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards shook from fear and fell down, as though they were dead.

5 The angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid! I know you are looking for Jesus, who was nailed to a cross. 6 He isn’t here! God has raised him to life, just as Jesus said he would. Come, see the place where his body was lying. 7 Now hurry! Tell his disciples he has been raised to life and is on his way to Galilee. Go there, and you will see him. This is what I came to tell you.”

8 The women were frightened and yet very happy, as they hurried from the tomb and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them and greeted them. They went near him, held on to his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid! Tell my followers to go to Galilee. They will see me there.”

Reflection

 

 

Performed by Margaret Whisselle

Kids Korner: Jesus is alive again (Easter Sunday, April 9th)

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Read Matthew 28:1-10 with your family.

Easter Sunday is a wonderful day of celebration. All of the horrible things that happened to Jesus on Friday are behind us and we get to celebrate. The Hallelujahs come back because Jesus is alive. We can dance and sing and pray.

The women at the tomb on Easter morning arrived feeling sad, but very quickly felt joy when they learned that Jesus was alive again.

Our Jewish siblings have a tradition of spreading honey on specially prepared pages of scripture, scooping it up with their fingers, and putting the honey on the lips and tongues of small children so those children will know how sweet the words of God are to all people. Christians don’t have that specific tradition, but we can celebrate by tasting the sweetness of candy and knowing how sweet it is that Jesus is alive again.

Kids Korner: Easter Sunday (April 17th)

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Read Luke 24:1-12 with your family.

Some churches often forget that the women came back to Jesus’ tomb while the men were hiding in the upper room, scared about what would happen. In all the excitement about Jesus’ resurrection, we forget who the first witnesses were to the empty tomb.

Jesus was very intentional about teaching women and men about God and the world God wants to make. It wasn’t only about the 12 named disciples and what they understood or the mistakes they made. The women were there, learning and believing.

In all Christian traditions, Mary Magdalene is a saint because she was the first one to tell everyone about Jesus’ resurrection.

Sunday Reflection – Easter Sunday, April 17, 2022

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Story Time

Reading

 

Luke 24 Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, carrying the spices they had prepared. 2 When they found the stone rolled away from the entrance, 3 they went in. But they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus, 4 and they did not know what to think.

Suddenly two men in shining white clothes stood beside them. 5 The women were afraid and bowed to the ground. But the men said, “Why are you looking in the place of the dead for someone who is alive? 6  Jesus isn’t here! He has been raised from death. Remember that while he was still in Galilee, he told you, 7 ‘The Son of Man will be handed over to sinners who will nail him to a cross. But three days later he will rise to life.’ ” 8 Then they remembered what Jesus had said.

9-10 Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and some other women were the ones who had gone to the tomb. When they returned, they told the eleven apostles and the others what had happened. 11 The apostles thought it was all nonsense, and they would not believe.

12 But Peter ran to the tomb. And when he stooped down and looked in, he saw only the burial clothes. Then he returned, wondering what had happened.

Reflection

 

 

Performed by Margaret Whisselle