Redeemer Lutheran Church, DeSoto, MO

“I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and
everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” John 11:25-26a

Dear Redeemer Family:
He is the resurrection and the life! We are now in the Season of Easter, and we especially celebrate
Christ’s resurrection at this time. This year, the Day of the Resurrection fell fairly late in the year, April
20th. That’s pretty late. The latest that the date of Easter can fall is April 25th. Remember that, because it
will fall on April 25th in the year 2038. You have time to prepare for it.

But the interesting thing about it falling this late around where we live is that literally the whole creation
is bearing witness to resurrection and new life. The trees have budded. Flowers are blooming. Even the
wisteria that I planted three years ago has bloomed for the first time. Truly, all of creation is bearing
witness to the Lord of Life. It is something which we can rejoice in after a long, and sometimes hard
winter. I was driving out in the area north of town this week to help someone. As I drove, I saw fields
filled with these little, short purple flowers. I have no idea what they are. But, to me, at that time, I took
them as a sign of new life. Whole areas were filled with these little beauties. And purple is the color of
royalty. So, I also took them as bearing homage to Christ’s resurrection!

We too are bearers of that message. We shout out with all of creation at this time the Christ is risen! He
is risen, indeed! Christ is victorious of sin and death, even the devil himself! And we are saved! More
than that, we are even made to be Christ’s brothers and sisters! Now, all of creation cries out with that
same glee!

It is the message of the ages. We sing it. We shout it! We exclaim it! Jesus Christ is risen from the dead
by the glory of the Father. And the world is suddenly more beautiful. The colors stand out more. We can
see with new eyes the many wonders which God has wrought for us. May we all rejoice this season. For
truly this season is glorious! Praise be to God in the highest heaven!
In the Risen Christ’s Name,

Pastor Rose

“In the day of trouble, God will give me shelter.” Psalm 27:5

Dear Redeemer Family:
As I write this, there is snow on the ground, and it is 10 degrees outside. We are just getting through our latest winter storm. The idea of shelter has been on many peoples’ minds the last few days. The arctic air that we have received has been brutal. On the other hand, the snow has definitely brightened up the outside world. And, remember, the days are in fact getting longer, a little bit each day. Translation: there is hope for a better tomorrow!

We are mortals. We are tied to Creation. And so, we go through cycles. Too often we think of these only in terms of the calendar and the seasons. But there are other cycles which we all go through as well. For example, there is a daily cycle. To put it very simply, we sleep. We get up. We eat. We do some work. We eat. We go back to sleep. We start over. How is that for a description of our lives? But basically, very basically, that is it for most people. It is so routine that we don’t even think about it. But what happens when our routine is changed. When something unexpected occurs. I can remember times when I didn’t eat for a couple of days, nor sleep. At the end of it, I was a walking zombie, and just wanted to get back to my routine. Or think about our health. That is another thing that people far too often take for granted. That is until they get sick. Then all they want to do is get healthy and go about their daily routines. I can basically tell how long a person has been in the hospital just by seeing how they are when I go in to visit them. Let’s put it this way, the tension mounts. They just want to go home and get on with their lives.

The Church Calendar is another cycle which affects us. Recently, we celebrated Christmas. We worked ourselves hard to prepare for it (that is called Advent), we celebrated, and the basked in its joy. Then we rested and are now enjoying the beauty of God’s light (we call that Epiphany). And we know that soon, we will enter into another time of preparation as we get ready for Easter. That time of preparation is Lent. And we will enter it early in the month of March. It is a time of preparing for the most important celebration of our faith, Easter, the Resurrection. But it is also a time of self-reflection upon our own lives and faith. It is a time when we can contemplate the times of trouble in our lives and faith. We can strive to find ways to make ourselves better. It is a time when we can draw closer to God in our faith. And it is a time when we can realize that we already shelter in God’s love, every day, through our many life’s cycles. And we live our lives in the shelter of Jesus’ cross.

In Christ,
Pastor Rose