With God's Hope~Our Journey Continues...

The Resurrection of our Lord is a powerful promise of new life and constant hope for us. In the midst of the long journey that we have been on with this new sanctuary (that has gone much longer than normal) the need for strength in the Resurrection of our Lord becomes even more important for us. There have been many bumps in the road and we will struggle to be ready by April 29th for dedication. However, we are making every effort to reach that important day. Pray for the workers and pray for the difficulties to be solved so that the last weeks of this project may go more smoothly. The reason we are a church that follows Jesus Christ and the reason we are making new room those who aren’t here yet, is to share this powerful message of passion and hope that our Lord brings to all in this Easter celebration. Pray that all of us will be moved to come to worship during Holy Week and on Easter Sunday to remember what our God has given to us for our daily strength.

We finally have parking! Parking lot lights will be installed soon. Sidewalks will be completed soon to the entryway. The sound system is installed and will be fine-tuned and training will begin on how to operate it. The pews, altar, pulpit, lectern, organ, and baptism font will not be moved until after Easter. We still have a fire alarm and a retaining wall problem that is a big concern. Landscaping will not be completed until later. April 29th will be difficult but every effort is being made to dedicate that day. Pray that all will come together smoothly. This has been a difficult project and hopefully it will be completed soon. Pray that there will only be rain to water the earth this month!

Pray that the new life promised in the Resurrection will fill us all with courage to share the compassion and strength that our God promises to us in our baptism and the celebration of Holy Communion. Even if we aren’t certain of how all will come together, we know that our Lord is constantly reaching out to us with streams of joy and gladness in the gift of new life even when we struggle. Come, let us sing together, “Jesus Christ is Risen today! Alleluia!”

Easter is a celebration of what can happen when we find ourselves connected to a God whose presence in and among us has the power to bring life from death, light from darkness, hope from despair. Easter is a celebration of new possibility! How fitting then, that we find ourselves dedicating our new worship space during this seven week Easter season!

The completion of our new worship space represents the realization of a vision for our congregation – a vision that we discerned quite a few years ago. Now as we move into the future, it’s a good time to ask ourselves what new visions God’s Spirit may be planting in our hearts and minds.

As a way of exploring the new possibilities that lie before us in light of our new worship space, we are inviting everyone in the congregation to participate in an Easter Season Dedication Exercise. Beginning on Easter Sunday, you may pick up a piece of paper with circle and cross, representing the shape of our sanctuary’s new windows. Inside the four quadrants of the circle you are invited to write words or draw images that represent “God’s Vision for our Atonement Family”.

Note that what we’re asking for is not your vision for our Atonement family but God’s. While that may seem a bit presumptuous at first, it’s my fervent belief that it is precisely through each of us that God’s Spirit is alive and at work in the world. And so as we each pray and mediate on this question of a vision for our future and then look faithfully together at what comes forth, what will come into focus slowly but surely can fairly be called God’s vision for us!

We ask that you bring your completed Easter Season Dedication Exercise back to church on the morning of Sunday, April 29 so that we may display them for our Dedication Service that afternoon at 3:00 PM. From there they will go into the hands of our church council leadership as we begin to discern the particular shapes and textures of God’s Vision for our Atonement Family!