Dear Friends,
Easter blessings upon you and your family. Easter is not just one Sunday but a season of Sundays which continues until Pentecost. This week we will be learning about another of Jesus’ resurrection appearances and what it means for us.
If you would like a home visit, conversation, or home communion, please call me at 573-437-2779 (church).
- Please remember to return you congregational surveys by April 14.
- Council Meeting on Tuesday, April 16 at 6pm
- Grape Cluster Earth Day Celebration at Camp MoVal on Saturday, April 20, register online by April 13.
- The Dorcas and St. Peter’s will be serving lunch and cookies at the Blood Drive at Immaculate Conception Church on Thursday, May 9 from 12-6. Volunteers and donations of cookies are needed for this event.
- St. Peter's Cemetery Cleaning event with the Scenic Regional Library on Saturday, April 8. Register with the Owensville library.
Blessings,
Pastor Stephanie DeLong
Scripture: Acts 3:12-19 • Psalm 4 • 1 John 3:1-7 • Luke 24:36b-48
Sermon: Witness of These Things
Have you ever been called upon to tell what you witnessed? If it was part of a criminal investigation this call to bear witness may be quite terrifying. Wedding licenses often ask two witnesses to sign the license as a testimony that they witnessed the wedding ceremony take place. This would be an example of a joyous moment of witnessing. Throughout life we are given opportunities to talk about what we know, have seen or experienced.
What if you are being called to bear witnesses to the good news of Jesus? Jesus calls upon the disciples to do this in our reading from Luke.
Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
(Luke 24:45-48, NRSVUE)
The disciples had first had knowledge of who Jesus was and all that Jesus did, but even they had trouble making sense of the crucifixion and the resurrection.
The Gospels all tell stories about what those who witnessed the resurrection saw, heard, and felt. Each of the Gospel writers tells the story a bit differently. In Mark, the women left the tomb in shocked silence. In John, Mary encounters Jesus in the garden and Thomas gets to touch Jesus’ wounds. Matthew has the women encounter the risen Christ as they run away from the empty tomb. Luke gives us the story about the two disciples who encounter Jesus on the road to Emmaus when the two disciples originally thought that Jesus was just another traveler on the way home from Jerusalem only to realize who Jesus is when they shared supper with him.
The two disciples who were on the road to Emmaus rushed back to Jerusalem to share their story with the other disciples. Naturally, the disciples entered a discussion about what happened. During this discussion Jesus stood among them wishing them peace. So startled are the disciples that Jesus ate some broiled fish to prove that he was not a ghost. The disciples needed Jesus’ teaching and guidance to make sense of it all. It is after teaching them that Jesus called upon them to bear witness to the resurrection and all that Jesus had done.
These teachings have been passed down from generation to generation. We are the beneficiaries of the witnesses of the good news of Jesus. What experiences have you had with the good news of Jesus? How have you been bearing witness to this good news?
Some churches have a tradition of asking people to share their testimonies and witness to the goodness of God in their lives. Other congregations choose to witness by their actions of love in Jesus’ name. Some choose to witness through art and music. Some say that living in loving community bears witness to the work and word of Jesus. I say a combination of all the above works well because people need to hear, touch, and experience the good news of Jesus to believe it.
Take a moment now to think about the ways you have heard the good news and experienced the good news of Jesus. How do hear God calling you to share the good news? What do you think that God is asking St. Peter’s to do to witness to Jesus?
Prayer: God help me to bear witness to the Good News of Jesus in my daily life. Amen.
Prayer list: All who have been on our list for a while, Mark’ s brother Billy, Tyra, Freya, Vicki B., Barb Z., Jesse, Tammy. Jennifer, Richard, Tamara, John, Dixon’s daughter, Ashlely and Cody, Garth, Linda, Tessa, Carl, Kimbra, Liz’s father, Dannie, Lathe, Marilyn, Kris, Lee Ann, Bob, Diane, Linda, Keetha, Carly, Mia (Good news, she is healing.), Brenda, David, Dave, Jeff, Bill & Kathleen, Bill with cancer, Nancy and Pat, Son-in-law of friends for Diann K., baby Claire. If you know of anyone who would like a prayer shawl, please let us know.
