Atonement Lutheran Church Newsletter - Messenger

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March 19, 2008 - Volume 29, #12

• Easter Sunday
  

  Please join us - and bring your friends and family - in celebrating Easter Sunday!

  At Atonement - Pastor Gaetz Preaching

  • 8:30 AM Festival Holy Communion
  • 9:15 AM Easter Breakfast in the Fellowship Hall - Everyone is welcome!
  • 10:45 AM Festival Holy Communion

  At St Paul's Fabius - Pastor Suarez Preaching

  • 9:00 AM Festival Eucharist
  • 10:00 AM Family Fellowship

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• Devotional

  Easter Sunday - Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24

  The last verse of this selection, v. 14, should be familiar to all of us: "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." It's a common refrain in our services, where the pastor says the first line, and we switch to auto-pilot and repeat the second line without pause. This psalm deserves to be part of worship: its original intent is for worship. As Psalm 118 is read, we can hear the movement of the people of Israel, they are walking through the gates of Jerusalem, toward the Temple where the LORD resides. Well, I'm inviting us to take a pause, and think about this verse a little differently.

  I heard someone say that if there were only one verse in the Bible, he would pick this one. It tells us of the awesome creator God, about whom all of scripture points to. This is the Lord who makes things, who crafts and creates. And look at what the Lord has created: this day. Time itself is a creation of God. The last part of this verse tells of our response: let us rejoice and be glad in this day. How fitting for this verse to be part of our Easter worship! Time is usually an enemy for humans: eventually we run out of time and die. But instead, the LORD, the creator of everything, (even time!) has said that time and death are not the final answer. They are but creations, and God has control over them. And we remember that this Sunday morning, where the dawn breaks on a world where there is an empty tomb.

  Let us pray, Creator of All, we rejoice and are glad in you. You have transformed this world, and renewed it. Give us pause to not be bound by the chains of time, but to rejoice in the glorious freedom that you have given us. In the name of your Risen Son we pray. Amen.

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• Appleseed Presents

  

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• New Wednesday Adult Class Begins March 26

  "Listen, God is Calling" will be an adult class offered by Pr. Gaetz on Wednesday evenings, beginning at about 6:45pm, immediately following the Wednesday evening service. The class will explore ways "God is Calling" us, with emphasis on the Bible as God's word to us. This class will meet March 26 and April 2 & 9. There will be no mid-day class these weeks.