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Dear MRC Family,

Eastertide blessings to you!

Yesterday was the Ascension of the Lord in the liturgical calendar. It is a time when we mark Jesus returning to God to intercede for us. And yet, even though the disciples surely experienced a very present absence, God had not left them. This was not the end; in fact, it was just the beginning.

Now, standing on this godforsaken hillside
comes the real test:
to trust the God who absconds,
whose icon is empty air
with a light breeze.
The feeling that there once was more—
wasn't there?—but not now;
once a simple certainty
that there was someone there,
but now that gray hollow in your guts,
the grief over your childhood faith,
the empty chair, the faint vale
in the other side of the bed.
And given that, to trust.

The Beloved has departed
the world of the senses
to be even more present,
a mystery for us, about us,
without us.
Not someone who is loving,
but love itself, loving.

Now we learn to be at home
in this peripheral God
who, like sleep, or the present moment,
in being perceived, disappears.

Now we learn a new faith,
to trust without feeling,
to breathe air we can't see.

Above our wondering heads
birds migrate along their invisible paths. — Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Yes, God is still with us for we were promised, And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth . . . I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. (John 14.16, 18-20)

God is with us, Immanuel. God is still here for the Spirit is with us.

Trust that Truth. Live in Love itself.

Come, beloved of God, let us gather together knowing God is always with us and worship this Last Sunday of Easter at 10:30AM. Tom will lead us in our hymns and the Joyful Noise Adult Choir will sing the Anthem “Believer’s Prayer.” Our children will bring us joy as they sing the Message for all ages, “He’s Not Here.” I will be preaching from Philippians 2.1-11 — last week we learned what a koinonia is; this week we will discover how a koinonia acts  — and my sermon title is Like-Minded. Assured of God’s real presence, we will come to the table of the Lord to receive the bread of life and the cup of blessing.

If you are unable to be in person for worship, we will be streaming live on our YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@mrcafabulouschurchoflove1611. And if you are one of our many followers on Facebook, subscribers on YouTube, or you worship with us online, please consider donating to the ministries of MRC at www.mrchurch.us/give. Thank you for your generosity!

 

In gratitude for the privilege of being your pastor and the holy call of loving you,

Pastor Trish

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