Welcome

Welcome

Visit our Sunday worship services at 8 or 10:30 am. Sunday school and adult Bible class at 9:15. We are "Making Christ Known" by faith, worship and witness to get the message of Jesus Christ to all people.

April 2019

On: By: Rev. G. Michael Rose

“I will lift the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.” Psalm 116:13

Dear Redeemer Family:

On the night of the Jewish Passover, the most sacred of Jewish Festivals commemorating when God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, as the family eat the Seder Meal, somewhere during that time, the youngest person present asks “The Question.” It is, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” The oldest person there present then reviews all that God had done to save His chosen people from slavery in Egypt, and how God brought them out with “a mighty hand.” This has been repeated in every Jewish home on that night for nearly 4,000 years! Why? Because it is important, very important!

In the same way, as we proceed through the Season of Lent, we recall, remember and hold dear, all that our Lord has done for us. The Season of Lent is a review, if you will, of Jesus’ steady and unflinching walk to Jerusalem and the waiting cross, all done to secure our salvation. It is important to remember that our salvation comes at a very high cost, the life of the Son of God. The Author of Life gives up His life for the life of the world. It is a tremendous act of love for us all. It is something which we hold on to and cherish.

The salvation of the Israelites cost the Egyptians the lives of their first born all the way to the first born of Pharaoh. But the salvation of the world comes at the price of the life of God’s only begotten Son. This is the greatest act of grace God has ever done. But it does not end there.

Lent, and the story of the journey of our salvation, does not end at the foot of the cross. No. It ends, and begins in a strange sort of way, at the empty tomb. It is there that the Lenten journey really ends, and where our redemption is secured. At the door to the tomb, with stone rolled away, and burial cloths left behind, we can truly behold the glory of God’s plan and act of salvation for us. For it is there, in the emptiness, that all is fulfilled. There we know that Jesus, the Author of Life, cannot be held by death. He bursts death’s bonds, and destroys the power of sin and evil in one overpowering act. He is raised. And we behold, and testify to the wonder of it!

Why is this Easter morning different from all other mornings? Because it is on that morning, God freed us from all that would enslave us. And for that, we must always remember, believe, and cry out in praise!

In Christ,
Pastor Rose

March 2019

On: By: Rev. G. Michael Rose

“Alleluia”

Dear Redeemer Family:
At a recent conference, a speaker said, “Christians proclaim the gospel…the good news… but what is that news? The news is that Jesus did not stay dead. The news is that Christ is risen.” She paused. The conference was silent. Finally, one lone voice from the crowd called out tentatively, ”He is risen indeed. Alleluia!” It was September, and the crowd was a bit rusty. The Easter proclamation felt odd at first, out of its usual context. The speaker repeated the call and response, and urged the assembly to repeat it, again and again, underscoring how we are called as Christians to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ not only on Easter Sunday but on every Sunday.

On Transfiguration Sunday, the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, we will be following the ancient Church tradition of “burying” the word alleluia to mark the beginning of Lent. As we do this, we know that Lent is not a time to bury Jesus. Jesus is not dead. The newsworthy event – Jesus died and did not stay dead – is the good news we are continually called to share. The world inverting miracle of the incarnation, “God with us” – which we might associate more with Advent or Christmas – also has deep resonance in these forty days.

Christ is risen. And the season of Lent also deserves to be its own thing. It’s the same good news with the emphasis on a different syllable. A grieving mom spoke once of how she tried to go to church at Christmas, but couldn’t bear the overwhelming imagery of baby related joy, backed up by cheerful music and tinsel everywhere. When she returned to church in Lent, “the church looked how I felt: bruised.” She decided she was ready to return to church. In Lent she could hear, see, and sing the incarnation and resurrection hope in a way that also acknowledged the reality of loss and death. Lent is a time when everything we do in worship – readings, music, colors, liturgical arts – can remind us simultaneously of the reality of death, the reality of resurrection life, and Jesus’ experience of life, death, and resurrection life with us. As Bishop Guy Erwin said at the same conference, mentioned above, “Our faith is death-defying: it take death seriously, and faces it unflinchingly.”

Life has its ups and downs. Although we always look forward to the celebrations of Christmas and Easter, the themes of Lent are just as real to us. And they are all too real for our faith development, and faith journeys. Alleluia.

In Christ,
Pastor Rose