A Christmas Letter at Easter

Each Christmas season I receive a few cards stuffed with Christmas letters that begin something like this: “Our Year in Review”, “This Year’s [so-&so] Family Adventures”, or even a statement about what the sender means, including their anxiety about having to perform said such annual ritual, “Our Obligatory Annual Family Christmas Letter”. I personally have never written a letter such as this and I admit that when I receive one, I don’t always read them thoroughly. Sometimes I simply glance at the picture, the title, the greeting, and the closing lines and with a warmed heart and a smile, then set the letter aside thinking to myself, “I will read that through later.” 

Funny thing about that is, I don’t often go back and follow through. As the New Year turns and I take down all the holiday decorations, the Christmas letters get placed in a pile that gets moved from spot to spot before eventually ending up in the recycle bin. 

Spring arrives and as the Lent and the Easter season comes into full bloom alongside spring flowers, those Christmas letters of mine are long forgotten. My sights are set on warmer temperatures and the coming summer days I will spend traveling, taking morning walks, and doing a variety of other delightful activities. I will have left behind thoughts of the Christmas miracle and God’s human entry into the world so long ago. Each year I “trade in” my Christmas letters on the hope that another letter will come. I am hopeful but not many arrive, and there doesn’t seem to be a tradition of sending letters at Easter.

 I admit that I don’t write many letters myself. However, there is One who wrote a Christmas letter and was faithful to follow up, sending the greatest Easter letter of all time. The God of all creation. The story of Christmas for us is more than decorations, presents, and letters from friends. The Christmas story is about a Christmas Letter from God and the follow up letter that came as the ultimate gift at Easter. Year after year we are reminded of the greatest author of all time and place. God sent us a Christmas letter! God sent us an Easter letter! God followed through! God loves us with a never-ending faithfulness! 

May your Easter season be filled with the words sent from God in the greatest letters ever! Peace and blessings, 

Pastor MP

Worship Prayers for Easter Sunday

 CENTERING PRAYER

 

Holy One, you come to us with power beyond all knowing. You lift all things out of the dust, you breathe love into every cell, you call us into communion with you, and you claim victory over death. Blessed be your holy name now and forever. Amen.

 

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Christ is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

This is the day the Lord has made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Christ is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

 

 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

 

All-knowing, all-powerful God, we confess that, even on this most holy day, we are unable to believe in the victory over death shown to us in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord. We confess our utter dependence on you not only for life but also for faith, hope, and love. Without your astonishing appearance to our ancestors and your stunning presence throughout the ages, we would be lost. Forgive us and transform us, that in every way our work and prayer will make whole what is broken and give peace on earth. (Silent Confession)

 

 

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH – The Apostles’ Creed

 

 

OFFERING

 

Invitation to the Offering

 

With compassion for our needs, the Risen One stands beside us, calling our names. Let us, with that same mercy, bring forth our tithes, offerings, and gifts, to relieve the suffering of this world and proclaim far and wide the good news of resurrection life.

 

Prayer after Offering

 

Let us pray… Holy God, you shower us with gifts so abundant, we cannot measure them all. You give us life itself and the power to befriend our companions in this world. Bless these gifts for the sake of those in need. We pray this in the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Worship Prayers for Easter Sunday

 CENTERING PRAYER

 

Holy One, you come to us with power beyond all knowing. You lift all things out of the dust, you breathe love into every cell, you call us into communion with you, and you claim victory over death. Blessed be your holy name now and forever. Amen.

 

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Christ is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

This is the day the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Christ is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

 

 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

 

All-knowing, all-powerful God, we confess that, even on this most holy day, we are unable to believe in the victory over death shown to us in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord. We confess our utter dependence on you not only for life

but also for faith, hope, and love. Without your astonishing appearance to our ancestors and your stunning presence throughout the ages, we would be lost. Forgive us and transform us, that in every way our work and prayer will make whole what is broken and give peace on earth. (Silent Confession)

 

 

 

OFFERING

 

With compassion for our needs, the Risen One stands beside us, calling our names. Let us, with that same mercy, bring forth tithes, offerings, and gifts to relieve the suffering of this world and proclaim far and wide the good news of resurrection life. Let us pray…

 

Holy God, you shower us with gifts so abundant, we cannot measure them all. You give us life itself and the power to befriend our neighbors in this world. Bless these gifts for the sake of those in need, in the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, one God, now and forever. Amen.

 

Scripture for Easter Sunday

 Mark 16:1-8

Jesus Has Risen

16 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.[a]

Read full chapter

Noël Coypel - http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/Noel-Coypel/The-Resurrection-Of-Christ,-1700.html

After Easter

--   Julie Northrip   3/15/2021          

But now is Christ risen from the dead – 1 Corinthians 15:20

Inside the Easter card was this scripture and the message “With thanks to God for you and for all the joys that are ours because Jesus lives.” I found the card last summer while looking through a box in my office. It was filled with items I had saved from my desk at the Arch when I left in 2016 but had never taken time to sort through. At first the card puzzled me. Why did I have an Easter card at work?

Opening it up, I saw it was from my sister. She wrote, “I am sorry that you have to work on Easter.” There was that one year when I was supervising the staff at the Arch and I worked on Sundays. I remember bringing her card to work with me that day. I also remember playing the Hallelujah Chorus in my office just so it would seem a little more like Easter.

My sister didn’t just send me a card because she felt sorry for me having to work. She continued with “I see Easter as not only the day that we celebrate new life through the blood of Jesus but also the new life I have because of your stem cells that make my blood. I am thankful that you were able to save my life.”

She was grateful for the gift of life, the life she had at that moment, but also for the life that she knew she would have later. Reading this a few months after her death, I will admit to feeling some guilt that my gift to her didn’t give her as many years as we had hoped. But, here in this card, written several years earlier, she is telling me that she was thankful for the life she was able to have at that moment. She was also recognizing that there would be new life for us in the future.

At Easter last year, just a couple of months after her death, I took some comfort in the message of eternal life, but it was all still a bit too raw to fully accept. It wasn’t until several months after Easter, when I found the card, that I began to think about what Jesus’s love and sacrifice meant for those of us living here on earth and in the future. It took being reminded of that special gift by someone who was experiencing a life that will never end.

Links for Sunday Worship

Click here for the link to the Bulletin:

As always, you may visit www.discoverstmark.org for more information on how to join our virtual Worship.

Second Sunday of Easter, 10:30 AM Service: https://youtu.be/eS5sZMMz_WE

Scripture: 1 Kings 11:26-40, 12:20 (click on these)

St. Mark Spark

For Tuesday, Pastor Dave discussed the Easter season and how we understand and share resurrection stories.  Click here for this discussion if it doesn't appear above.

On Wednesday,Pastor MP discussed Thomas the Disciple. Scripture reading is John 20:24-29.  Click here, if it doesn't appear above.

The St. Mark Spark appears Monday-Friday around 1 PM on Facebook.  Past "Sparks" appear on the St. Mark website.  https://www.discoverstmark.org/worship/st-mark-online/the-st-mark-spark/

Pastor MP also has a Coffee Zoom on Thursdays at 10 AM.  If you would like to join in this fellowship, e-mail her mpanco@discoverstmark.org.

Drive-In Easter Worship Service

We had our first Drive-In Easter Sunday Celebration at 9:00 am in the St. Mark parking lot. Pastors Dave Burgess and MP lead a sunrise service broadcast over 88.5 FM on the participant's  car radios. This was a chance to worship together and safely keep our distance at the same time.

Thank you to Dale Weir and Stacey Caplinger for the photos.

He is Risen!

Order of Worship 

Easter Sunday 10:30 AM Service: https://youtu.be/m5q441nd-aY

CENTERING PRAYER Almighty God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ you broke the power of death and opened the way to eternal life. As the empty tomb stands witness to his triumph over death, make your church to be a bold testimony to his enduring victory in life, that all we do may proclaim to the world, “He is risen, indeed! ”Through Christ, who lives with you and the Holy Spirit now and

forever. Amen.

 PRELUDE    Fanfare on Thine Is the Glory            Pozzi

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

CALL TO WORSHIP Beloved church, behold the victory of our God: Jesus, our Lord, has conquered the grave. 
Christ is risen! Alleluia!
Sin and death shall reign no more.
Christ is risen! Alleluia!
Let this place resound with joy.
Christ is risen! Alleluia! Thanks be to God.

† HYMN    Jesus Christ is Risen Today    Hymnal #232

PRAYER OF CONFESSION Lord Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit we have been raised from the waters of baptism to share in your glorious resurrection. Yet we have not lived as Easter people. We are unsure of your promise, confused about your will, and afraid in the face of danger. Like Mary, we weep at the tomb, but do not recognize your presence. Call us by name, risen Lord, that we may know you with confidence. Whenever we are tempted to fear death, give us courage to confess your Easter victory. Whenever we are distracted by petty conflicts, keep our minds on your reconciling love. Whenever we are overwhelmed by the power of evil, reveal again to us your triumph over the destructive powers of oppression. Forgive us our sin and let our lives be a testimony to your salvation through the love of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Silent Confession)

ASSURANCE OF GRACE

 † SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
The peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.

SCRIPTURE READING John 20:1-18

SERMON “Luminous, but Not Clear” Rev. Dr. Dave Burgess

† AFFIRMATION OF FAITH – Westminster Confession of Faith Shorter Catechism Question One What is our chief end? Our Chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy God forever 

OFFERING AND WORSHIP THROUGH GIVING -- One Great Hour of Sharing

† THE DOXOLOGY     Hymnal #607

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND LORD’S PRAYER Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER
Invitation to the Table
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
Words of Institution
Sharing of the Bread & Cup
Prayer after Communion

† HYMN    In the Bulb There Is a Flower    Hymnal #250

 † CHARGE AND BLESSING

† POSTLUDE    LLANFAIR    Robertson

† You are invited to stand, as you are able.

Easter Memories

An Easter Reflection

Ah, Easter!  My memories begin in the 1950’s in the metropolitan Kansas City area, more specifically the beautiful Country Club Plaza.  I remember being outfitted in new white patent leather Mary Jane shoes, a pretty pastel dress with a little jacket (with the obligatory stiff crinoline underneath), and a spotless white fancy straw bonnet with an elastic chin strap to keep it firmly affixed on my head - despite the breezes coming from across Brush Creek.  Strolling through the Plaza on that special Sunday felt like participating in Kansas City’s own Easter Parade, and I felt as special as Judy Garland must have felt on Fred Astaire’s arm.  I alternated between holding my daddy’s or my paternal grandfather’s hand as we walked down the sidewalks, anxiously searching for something extra special: the human-sized bunny statues, scattered throughout the area and brought out just for Lent!  

Of course, these bunnies had Easter outfits, too. The daddy rabbits wore vests and striped pants; the mama bunnies were in long, bright-colored gowns and carried baskets of flowers.  (The top hats and festive bonnets certainly were custom-made, as proven by the slits in them to accommodate the perfectly-groomed ears.)  And the accompanying children were special, too.  The boy bunnies mirrored my little brother’s shorts and knee socks, the little girls had similar shoes and outfits to rival mine, and each carried a basket filled with dyed eggs. For many, many years, when the weather permitted, and until we moved to St. Louis, this was the Berry family ritual, fit in between church and Easter dinner. My brother and I patiently posed for my grandmother by the various bunnies (for Gram Berry always had a camera in her bag), sometimes alone, sometimes together, sometimes with other family members.  There are of course pictures where I am being held by my mother in earlier years, and, a few years later, pictures of my brother in a stroller when he just wouldn’t stand still for photos!  I cherish those pictures when I come across them in the old family albums,  and I hold fast to those memories they evoke.

Rebecca Pierce