Living Into our Easter Hope
Coming out of our Easter Sunday celebration, even while it was different from any other we have experienced before, we pray you were inspired and reminded of the WHY of our faith. Jesus’ death and resurrection is the event which gives us meaning – without this event, as Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:14, “If Christ hasn’t been raised, then our preaching is useless and your faith is useless.” That is why this Sunday was also the beginning of our next sermon series, “Living Hope – the Promise of Easter.” During the next six weeks, leading into Pentecost Sunday, we will continue to make sense of the living hope Jesus offers us as his disciples, a hope which transforms our thinking and actions and gives us a new imagination with which to see this world.
Part of this imagination involves living with gratitude, for the great gift of salvation we have been given but also for all the ways God blesses us in our daily lives. Brother David Steindl-Rast is a Benedictine monk who founded an organization called A Network for Grateful Living. He outlines the following steps for living with gratitude in our world:
- Wake up: Step away from the things currently filling your thoughts, your worries and schedules, and wake up to what is surprising around you. Br. David writes, “As long as nothing surprises us, we walk through life in a daze. We need to practice waking up to surprise.”
- Be aware: What are the opportunities, the gifts, being afforded you in this very moment to simply enjoy life?
- Respond: Now that you have stopped and become aware of an opportunity to experience joy or gratitude, take advantage of it!
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But as Br. David writes, “…simple does not mean easy. Some of the simplest things are difficult because we have lost our childlike simplicity and have not yet found our mature one.” So we invite you this week to practice gratitude.
Christ is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
Pastors Lisa & Samuel
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As we continue to gather online, remember you can continue to give your regular tithes and offerings online (kcnewhope.churchcenter.com/giving) or through the ‘Church Center App’ on your smartphones (Android and iOS/Apple). Identify with New Hope Church of the Nazarene in order to use the ‘Give’ feature on the app. If you would prefer to mail a check in to the church for your offering, please use the PO Box address:
New Hope Church of the Nazarene
PO Box 12688
Kansas City, MO 64116