Eden Prairie United Methodist Church
Connect with Us!
  • Home
  • Being Church
    • Crops For PROP
    • Serving Our Neighbors
    • Fellowship >
      • Women's Retreat
      • Church Directory
  • Children | Youth
    • Nursery
    • Sunday School (Preschool through 7th grade)
    • Especially for Families
    • Rooted (3rd - 4th grade)
    • Vacation Bible School
    • Middle School Youth (Grades 7-8)
    • Confirmation (8th-9th grade)
    • Higher Ground (10th-12th grade)
  • Music
    • Adult Music Opportunities
  • About EPUMC
    • Worship
    • Staff
    • Notes from Pastor Becky Jo
    • Lay Leadership
    • A Reconciling Congregation
    • Tumbleweed Newsletters
    • Videos
    • Annual Report
    • Sermons
    • Calendar
  • Prayer
  • Online Giving
  • Contact Us

Weekly Memo: Holy Week Reflections

4/18/2019

Comments

 
It was hard to watch the video of Notre Dame Cathedral burning. There are still some things in our world that are so iconic, so sacred, that we are moved when they are threatened. And it doesn’t matter if, like me, you’ve never seen Notre Dame. What matters is that sense of being connected to something beautiful. What matters is the willingness to allow your heart to be broken open to receive, to recognize that we are a part of something beyond ourselves…we are connected to something.
 
Every day there are stories of tragic events that invite this response. It’s why the news is often so hard to watch. When we listen to the stories of others, we can be moved to a relationship we had not intended and perhaps were not emotionally ready to take on. And unlike a reality show where we can either switch the channel or fast-forward to where everything works out, when we open our hearts in real life, whatever we allow in grows roots.
 
One of the things that has taken up root in my heart is the tragedy of the last week of Jesus’ life. What I wrote about last week here moves me so that I cannot escape it. This week, what we often call Holy Week, is always for me a different week. It’s a time where I often pause in the middle of what is my routine and consider life differently. And what I’m often reminded of are the things that are iconic, sacred in my life. What is sacred in our lives often boils down not so much to things, but to relationships. As I said, even when it is a sacred place like Notre Dame Cathedral, what matters is the connection, the relationship it encourages.
 
This is why when push comes to shove, I describe my faith as a relationship with what is eternal, and Easter, the resurrection, as the defining moment that is at the center of that relationship. Easter is a day to open our hearts to the abundant grace of God in our lives that Easter day announces is eternal. By eternal I mean: We are invited to trust that whatever else our relationship with God is, it so important that it has taken up root in our hearts, we can trust wherever it is leading us in the present and it will be awaiting us in whatever the future holds.
 
The writers of the gospels in their accounts of the resurrection of Jesus are inviting us to open our hearts not only to this iconic… sacred…defining moment but also to the relationship it encourages. 
 
Have a Blessed Easter.
 
Pastor Dan
 
This Easter at EPUMC our Sunrise Service will be at 6:30 outside the church. And our Easter Breakfast is being served from 8-10 in the fellowship hall.  And yes, it is okay to eat breakfast during the 8:30 a.m. service.
Comments

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2012

    RSS Feed

Connect with us!
office@prairiechurch.org
(952) 937-8781

15050 Scenic Heights Road
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
Picture
Picture