Dear Members and Friends of EvUCC,
The Lenten season is winding down and I’ve appreciated the opportunity to grow in my faith over these past weeks. We’ve had numerous opportunities to reflect on our sinful nature, actively repent, and engage in a spiritual discipline. Through these types of Christian practices, we draw closer and more reliant upon God.

I’ve also really enjoyed the fellowship and community of the Lenten soup suppers and Wednesday evening worship services. They have nourished us on our journey with Jesus to the cross. Thanks to the different boards of EvUCC who made amazing soup and desserts and provided excellent hospitality.

And now, the joy of Easter is almost upon us.

Even though my boys are now in college, they will always remember hunting for decorated eggs in the backyard on Easter morning – real eggs that we’d eat for a week afterward. There were also Easter baskets for each child filled with chocolate eggs, plastic eggs with coins inside, and that annoying plastic grass.

In my humble opinion, Easter Sunday is the best day of the entire year. The joy and wonder of the empty tomb signify that the love of God is stronger than sin and death. We don’t have to worry what tomorrow may bring because Christ has secured our future with Him. Death does not have the last word and what a relief that is! Our Easter faith trusts that what God has done with Christ Jesus, God will also remember to do with us.

But, we cannot fully appreciate the happiness and joy of Easter Sunday without first experiencing the pain and sadness of Good Friday. We can’t have one without the other. Good Friday leads us to the darkest place on Jesus’ journey – to the cross. The people who were praising Jesus at the beginning of the week were the same ones who were shouting for his crucifixion. It is an incredibly sad story, and yet, without the cross, Jesus would have never been able to serve as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

I encourage you throughout Holy Week to focus not just on the anticipated joy of Easter Sunday, but also on the sacrifice that was made on our behalf. God’s remembering of creation promises to restore wholeness and fulfill justice, extend mercy, and bring life, as God has intended from the beginning. May you and I become the witnesses of this new creation so that we can be those whose trust roots deep into the soil of Easter. May God’s remembrance be our life and hope for all time and beyond time.

With the greatest of hope!
Pastor Bill