Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1st Peter 1: 3-5)
Our theme through the weeks of Eastertide is A Living Hope. This is taken from the opening verses of the book of 1st Peter.
It makes me think how hard this is sometimes —to bear witness to resurrection and transformation in a world that doesn’t seem like it wants to be transformed. And so, it occurs to me that the very act of celebrating transformation and the joy that comes from it is a truly countercultural act that requires effort and purpose. We need to intentionally practice the living out of this hope in our community so that we can then be the proclaimers to the rest of the world.
Lately, the world around us seems like a challenging place to live. Much of our life-patterns have been altered in the last few years. We lament that things are not the same. We long for the way things once were. But our text reminds us that God continues to reveal new things and shows us where there is new life.
This is why I hope that the conversations we have been having in worship with folks from our community are life-giving. The stories that each person shares have told us where God has been alive and at work in their lives. It is a testament to the risen Christ.
And we can see this in even more ways—we celebrate those who have made a commitment to be a part of the ministries of First Church by joining in membership.
I am so thrilled that Kory Pritchett is taking steps toward licensed ministry and has been unanimously affirmed by a charge conference to be recommended to the District Committee on Ministry to take these next steps.
These are signs of resurrection life and our living hope is visible and alive. It is my prayer, in this season of Eastertide, that you will find ways to see the living Christ at work in the lives of those around you. As 1st Peter tells us, it is our calling to find joy in these glimpses of the Kin-dom. And so my call to each of you is to live in the way the writer of 1st Peter invites:
In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith–being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
(1st Peter 1: 6-7)
Let us live in this joy of the risen Christ, because in him, we have evidence of our Living Hope.
Easter Blessings,
Pastor Duane
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