An Easter Message

“Yet a time is coming & has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit & truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. [24] God is spirit, & his worshipers must worship in spirit & in truth.” –Jn:23-24 

Many are lamenting, perhaps rightly so, that we will not be able to gather together in church for Easter Sunday worship.  I lament this as well, and I miss greeting you hand to hand and seeing you face to face. You bring me joy when we gather together in the name of Jesus.  And yet, I reject the notion that we are not celebrating Easter this year. We ARE celebrating Easter, just in a different way! While we may not gather together for worship in the church building, may we yet gather together in spirit, as the people of Trinity United Methodist Church!  

In the verses above, Jesus is redefining worship for the Samaritan woman at the well.  She is debating WHERE proper worship should take place – in Jerusalem, as the Jews declared, or on a mountain in Samaria, as the Samaritans practiced.  Jesus moves her away from ‘where’ and redirects her to ‘how’ and ‘who.’ Do these words still speak to us today, in this time of isolation and mandated stay at home orders?  “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth…” Jesus declared. 

Since we can’t worship together in the place we normally do, let’s allow Jesus to redirect our focus on how we will worship, and who we will worship!  We WILL worship. You are all invited to ‘gather’ virtually in our online space, which means joining us either on Facebook or on our website to watch, to listen, and to participate in worship through the lifting of prayers, the singing of songs, and the preaching of God’s word.  This is one way we can still celebrate Easter. We can still give, as well. Though we aren’t passing an offering plate, we do still encourage you to be faithful in stewardship through mailing in your tithes and offerings, or using our online giving option.

Who do we worship?  The risen Christ! We rejoice that the darkness of Good Friday turned into the dawn of Easter Sunday, and where death and despair reigned temporarily, life and love now reign eternally!  The message of Easter rings as loudly as ever – Jesus is risen! Jesus is risen indeed!

God bless,
Jeff Vanderhoff, Pastor