Love is

Dear friends in faith,

Steve Garnaas-Holmes posted on Facebook this week: “Jesus wasn’t starting a new religion, or even criticizing an old one. He was teaching a spiritual practice: the practice of radical kindness and trust in God. That is all. That’s it. That’s Jesus’ teaching and ministry in a nutshell. Sounds nice and benign, huh? But if you practice radical kindness to everybody, including the poor, sick, outcast, foreigners, incarcerated, sinners, enemies, EVERYBODY – well, it will overturn all of society. So, yeah. Religious and political authorities had reason to get rid of Jesus. Holy Week reminds us that love is powerful, and love is revolutionary, and people with worldly power will resist it. But love will win. Love will win.”

This is the heart of Holy Week which culminates in celebrating the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. We celebrate the power of love to overcome even death. And that empowers us to live each day with hope. No matter what we encounter and experience, we can hold on to our faith that in the end love will win. Alleluia and Amen.
 
WORSHIP
·       Holy Thursday we will have a service on Zoom tomorrow, April 14th, at 7:00 pm to remember the Last Supper and pray with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Here is the Zoom info: Meeting ID# 889 9872 6182 Passcode: hopelives
·       Easter Sunday April 17th at 8:00/Grace, 9:30 Pine Creek/Zoom, 11:00 Holbrook. We will praise God who has power over death and life as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
 
Current Small Group opportunities:
·       Men’s Group All are welcome to join this lively gathering of men who discuss books and topics of the day. Join on Wednesdays at noon at Grace UMC.
·       Women’s Small Group meets on Wednesday evenings at 5:30. They meet in the chapel at Holbrook UMC. Newcomers are always welcome.
 
May the Lord bless you and keep you,

Pastor Patti