I have been laying low on this site since taking my new job. Some of that is the craziness of the transition and some of that is that I've been blogging for my church. Click here if you want to see those posts. This post below is one I just posted there and thought fit my personal blog as well. Enjoy!
One of the best parts about spring is the renewal that it produces for all creation. Flowers bloom, trees return to green, grass begins to grow once again. Fresh rain covers the land. People make new choices and do their “spring cleaning”. Some people I know change careers and move to a new state. In spring we enjoy the, “new” that is being offered by God.
Every ministry job that I have had before always started at the beginning of something. The previous two (my full-time positions) began on January 1. My internships either started at the beginning of a summer or the beginning of a school year. It was easy to begin, because it was natural.
Knowing that we wanted to come to University Church, I knew that wouldn’t be able to start in January. I also knew that waiting for the beginning of the summer would be way too long to wait. So Leah and I decided that we would start April 1. Let the jokes begin. Yes it is April Fool’s Day. However, it is also Palm Sunday.
Palm Sunday may not be a beginning of a calendar season, but it is a beginning of Christian calendar season. Palm Sunday is the beginning of the last week of Lent. It is the beginning of Jesus’ final week. It is the beginning that is leading to another new beginning; Easter and the Resurrection. So I’m pretty excited about my first sermon being on Palm Sunday, April 1.
I appreciate New Year’s resolutions. I hardly ever make one, but I appreciate a new beginning and that others set out for a new beginning. Palm Sunday becomes a new beginning’s resolution for Christians. As we just practiced preparation, sacrifice, and slowness we now can make a focused, prayerful resolution to God of how we will begin anew in Him, His Son, and His Spirit.
Lent is our winter season where we die to ourselves. Easter is our spring season where we celebrate newness. Palm Sunday is setting the tone that all things will be made new, even if it means not yet.
I’m looking forward to our New Beginning!
One of the best parts about spring is the renewal that it produces for all creation. Flowers bloom, trees return to green, grass begins to grow once again. Fresh rain covers the land. People make new choices and do their “spring cleaning”. Some people I know change careers and move to a new state. In spring we enjoy the, “new” that is being offered by God.
Every ministry job that I have had before always started at the beginning of something. The previous two (my full-time positions) began on January 1. My internships either started at the beginning of a summer or the beginning of a school year. It was easy to begin, because it was natural.
Knowing that we wanted to come to University Church, I knew that wouldn’t be able to start in January. I also knew that waiting for the beginning of the summer would be way too long to wait. So Leah and I decided that we would start April 1. Let the jokes begin. Yes it is April Fool’s Day. However, it is also Palm Sunday.
Palm Sunday may not be a beginning of a calendar season, but it is a beginning of Christian calendar season. Palm Sunday is the beginning of the last week of Lent. It is the beginning of Jesus’ final week. It is the beginning that is leading to another new beginning; Easter and the Resurrection. So I’m pretty excited about my first sermon being on Palm Sunday, April 1.
I appreciate New Year’s resolutions. I hardly ever make one, but I appreciate a new beginning and that others set out for a new beginning. Palm Sunday becomes a new beginning’s resolution for Christians. As we just practiced preparation, sacrifice, and slowness we now can make a focused, prayerful resolution to God of how we will begin anew in Him, His Son, and His Spirit.
Lent is our winter season where we die to ourselves. Easter is our spring season where we celebrate newness. Palm Sunday is setting the tone that all things will be made new, even if it means not yet.
I’m looking forward to our New Beginning!
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