On this Sunday, many in our country and around the world will celebrate Mother’s Day. Others will bemoan it. In our denomination, although it’s not an official church holiday, it’s roots are in the church. Sadly, just a few years after the holiday began, the founder, Anna Jarvis, thought that we'd lost our way or at least lost sight of the original purpose and intention of the day.

As our mothers and mothering figures know, we can all lose our way. Check out the Acts passage for this sermon and imagine what Stephen's mom might be thinking and feeling? What about Saul’s mama? One has been silently serving and the other loudly preaching; but who is following the Way Jesus describes in our Gospel lesson? And how do we find "the way?" (By the way, is there only one way? We'll be considering that in the sermon as well).

So come to this sermon to celebrate God's love in our midst, the ways God's love leads us, and all who reflect God's way, truth, and light.

Every year on the church calendar, three weeks after Easter, we are encouraged to celebrate “The Good Shepherd” Sunday and read John 10:1-11. I love the passage, but I struggle with the imagery. What’s the modern, urban day version of a shepherd, anyway?

Is it the Uber driver who gets you where you are going? No, because you decide the destination and not the driver / shepherd.

Is it a cross-walk guard? No, because although she gets you safely across a treacherous intersection, she stays put rather than walking with you to the next crossroad.

I could continue to seek a city metaphor, but I don’t know anyone in our metropolis whose job it is to make sure I am fed, nurtured, and protected while keeping me connected to my community. On top of that who would be willing to lay down her / his life for me if need be? Only God does that, and this is the God we serve. This is the one who is concerned about our every need and willing to go as far as necessary to care for us. So if you are feeling hungry, lost, without shelter, or alone, come Sunday to meet and talk with the Shepherd through worship, prayer, and song. Or if you are feeling fed, protected, and surrounded with community, come Sunday to thank the Shepherd. No matter if you are wandering at the moment or satisfied in your pasture, God wants to connect with you, to show the way ahead, and to walk with you through all the crossroads.

With all this in mind, I encourage you to listen to our guest preacher's take on the Good Shepherd.

In addition to Pastor Alisa, listen to the testimonies and insights of:

Peter B and Carlos R (pianist);

Sandy S;

Chris & Piper H;

Michael J (read by Kim W-K);

Jonathon & Sarah P

I just heard the term, “An Easter Hangover,” for the first time this week. Apparently, it’s all the rage in explaining why so few folks come to worship the Sunday after Easter (which is a documented fact)! Honestly, I don’t much like equating inebriation with Christian joy, but go with me for just a minute.

One the one hand, it can feel like we “blew it out” on Easter with lots of worship and too much candy so we just need a rest. On the other hand, unlike a chemical high from which we drop, Resurrection is a new permanent reality, not just a temporary bliss.

After all, this is what Thomas is wrestling with in the gospel passage for this sermon. Is Resurrection a pipe-dream of the disciples hiding out in the upper room? Or did He really rise? And if He did, what would that change?

So, come to this sermon as an opportunity to explore together how Resurrection changes us. Spend some time thinking about what Resurrection changes in your life. You'll also hear an original song written by one of our own members about an experience she had “here in this place” we call CHUMC!

Have you ever been in an earthquake?

Why do I ask? Because according to the gospel of Matthew, Easter is an earthquake that shook up the whole world.

Will Willimon puts it this way, "We modern types try to 'explain' the resurrection. One says that Jesus was under a deep drug, and woke up. Another said the disciples got all worked up in their grief and just fantasized the whole thing. But you can't 'explain' resurrection: Resurrection explains us."

Really? Can resurrection explain us? What would that look like in your life and mine? I shake a lot of things up. If / when we believe that God conquered death and all the lies, betrayals, fears, and violence that lead to death, what changes?

Come to this sermon with that question on your heart, and bring your deepest question, fear, hope...in other words, bring your heart and mind, ready for Christ to shake them up and reorient them with Resurrection.

When’s the last time you had a change of heart? Within 5 days, people turn from shouts of praise to cries for crucifixion. Now I don't know the last time my heart swapped emotions so quickly, but I know without a doubt that I, too, am capable of praising someone one moment, and then, later out of hurt or fear, turning my back on them. It’s not intentionally hateful, it’s simply human. When we are real with ourselves, we recognize: how easily influenced we can be by emotions like fear and uncertainty; how easily we can be divided from someone just a little different than us; how quickly we can be influenced by what's wrong instead of what's right. At least for me, when I’m honest with myself, all that is true.

But this isn’t the “Alisa Week.” It’s Holy Week. It’s the week we see in the most dramatic and clear fashion who God is. For while I’m easily swayed, God is not. God’s heart remains steadfast, forging forward on a path to heal me, to unite us, and to change the world. No betrayal by friends, nor false conviction, nor even crucifixion can change God’s heart for you and me.

The first Holy Week changed everything. As Christ put it, he tore down the temple and rebuilt it in 3 days. May we open ourselves to allow God to tear things down in us, including any and everything that separates us from the surprising love and power of the Resurrected One.

Up until now, God has appeared in a place - be it the Garden, the altar in the wilderness, the first temple, or the second. But in our Old Testament lesson, Haggai the prophet challenges the people to expand their experience of God’s presence. And in our Gospel Lesson, Jesus insists that God is not walled in by the law, but freed by love, freed so that God can live in our own hearts and actions.

As a part of the worship service in which this sermon was given, the hymn, “Wondrous Love,” was played 3 different times. So, in preparation for listening to this sermon, think of how you would define Christ’s “wondrous love?" What makes his love so wondrous for you? Then ask yourself how you may be walking in or limiting the wondrous love God wants to live in and through you.