April 23, 2019 - Love and peace from our brother Jesus. Sunday was Easter. Well, at least it was Easter in the Western part of the world. Next Sunday will be Easter for the Eastern Church. It was decided at the Council of Nicea that Easter would be the first Sunday following the full moon after the March equinox. So Easter is a “moveable feast” day. To complicate things more, the Western Church used the Gregorian calendar and the Eastern Church used the Julian calendar to determine Easter’s date: Thus, we have two different dates for Easter.
Our Sunday school lesson was about our need to proclaim the Resurrection. The text for our lesson was Matthew’s story of the women coming Sunday morning to the tomb. They encounter an angel who informs them that Jesus had been raised and would see the twelve in the Galilee. As the women flee the tomb, Jesus appears to them with reassurances.
The Gospel Lesson for this Sunday was Luke 24: 1-12—Luke’s narration of Easter morning. Each gospel tells a different story, but the thrust of each is the same: The women discover the empty tomb and Jesus is among the living. In my sermon I stressed that the Easter story is incomplete until we begin to live as Christ lived. It may sound easy but is hard to do.
Fannie’s granddaughter Alix Ann and her family joined the Paxton Methodists for worship this morning. It was so nice to see all of them; I know that Fannie had Easter plans for her whole family after church. We had a beautiful Sunday morning, the entire day custom-made for get-togethers.
Last week was our Holiday Nursing Home monthly program. I was the emcee, choosing songs for congregational singing and sharing stories with the group. Mrs. Hilda was her usual lively self on the piano, making us sound better than we actually are. Fannie read an Easter poem, and Sue performed The Teacher from the Black Lagoon. We had a nice group of residents, including Activity Director A’leena, who has a strong, melodic voice. This coming Thursday we will head to Lakeside Assisted Living at 2PM for our ministry of music, song, and stories.
Whoever you are, in whatever faith you were born, whatever creed you profess; if you come to this house to find God you are welcome here.” Paxton United Methodist Church is an inviting church that takes to heart the idea of “Open Doors, Open Hearts, Open Minds.” Sunday School starts at 9:30 and Worship begins at 10:00. Our email address is paxtonumc@yahoo.com. If you would like the weekly email newsletter about Paxton Methodist you can send me your email address to the Paxton email address and I will add you to the list. God’s Speed.
