April 27, 2014 "MISSING OUT"

AN AFFIRMATION OF FAITH FOR EASTERTIDE written by Rev. Dr. Amanda J. Burr
We trust and affirm that each of us is created in the image of God.
God’s Grace is immeasurable and God’s will for us is always Goodwill.
We believe that Jesus Christ lived to forgive, to heal the broken hearted and proclaim God’s love to the world.
We believe Jesus bore our shame carrying our sins to the cross where he surrendered his own spirit to God in order to set our spirits free.
God promised that Jesus would not be given up to death and, true to that promise, God raised him from the dead.
We trust in the counsel of The Holy Spirit who guides us in our efforts to live out the commandment to love one another as Christ loved us.
We believe the Holy Spirit moves us ever onward toward perfection and for this we give thanks to God. Amen
CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
Most loving and mysterious Creator hear our prayer. Let not the wonder of Easter slip too quickly away, making it just another holiday that is over and done for this year. Let our amazement at the radiance and lightning-like appearance of the angel at the tomb linger for weeks to come. We confess our desire to touch some tangible proof of the resurrection, and to rest in the substantive truth of it. But then we realize how you would not have us rest, until the race is finished. In the days ahead, as we follow in the footsteps of Christ’s disciples, we shall seek to grow in faith, as they did. They will show us how being in prayer together gave them a spiritual strength and stamina they had never thought possible. Our faith looks up to thee. Show us the way. In the name of the Christ we pray.
PREPARING FOR THE OFFERING
Some of the Trustees and I went on a field trip the other day to the Coachella Valley Water District’s Garden of Desert Flora. We saw the lush and vibrant colors of desert plants many of which brought me back into the mood and spirit of Holy Week; the purple passion flower vine, the red flowered crown of thorns bush, the butterfly iris. The fiery red blossoms that adorn the spiny core of the barrel cactus reminded me of the coming day of Pentecost. The Trustees’ hope and mine is to gradually introduce these conservation conscious plants onto the church’s campus and into our memory garden. Indeed their colors and their names promise to remind us of the creative spirit of God that is ever in our midst.