New Hope UMC of the Northern Berkshires

The stone is rolled back, and the tomb stands empty, and we need not seek for Jesus there: he is risen!

Alleluia! He is risen!

He is risen, indeed!

But there was still some uncertainty, I think, with the Disciples. One by one, they'd betrayed Jesus: summoning soldiers, abandoning him, denying him. He was risen, indeed, but would he be risen to anger with those who followed him most closely... or to something else?

Listen to this story of astounding love.

We love our celebrities, don't we? We love to see them succeed, and we love to see them fall. When they're on high we admire them, we wish we were them. We praise them and we shower them with love.

When they fall… well, they fall. And we watch them hit the ground.

That kind of love is a fickle thing.

But that's not real love.

Join us Sunday at 10am for Palm Sunday as we talk about real love, and see it personified in Christ.

This weekend's Gospel reading has Jesus saying, "What, should I ask that this cup pass from me? No, way, this is why I'm here!" This seems to stand in stark contrast to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, all of whom relate Jesus in the Garden on the night of the betrayal asking, specifically, that the cup he was about to drink be passed on.

How do we account for this seeming contradiction? They can't both be right!

Or, can they?

Join us at 10am on Sunday as we talk about this seeming contradiction, and the blessing it really is for us, as followers of Christ.

Here's a bulletin for this weekend's service:

Birds are always significant in the scriptures. They show us dry land after a season of floods; they embody the Spirit, descending on Christ and proclaiming his glory. They are both sacrifice and salvation, and they're revelation.

The Gospel for the 3rd Sunday of Lent also has doves. Here, they serve a different purpose, but maybe a subtle one.

As we continue to look at these Lenten scriptures searching for stories in the words that we've never told, let's spend some time with these doves, and what they tell us about unconquerable love.

This Lent we're looking at the stories of Lent with fresh eyes, seeking new perspectives. This Sunday, we talk about the baptism of Jesus, and wonder if it might not have been a very, very different scene than the sunlight streaming down over the peaceful riverside.

The story of the Transfiguration is many things. One of those things is that it is a reminder of God's incredible love for all of us. This Sunday is the Transfiguration... and it's also Valentine's Day. Let's spend some time together talking about love, and the cards, chocolates, flowers... and other gifts that demonstrate love. For each other. And for us.

Today's story really begins AFTER Jesus calls his first four Disciples, but it's part of their call story. Because, as with us, I don't believe Simon, Andrew, James, and John experienced a divine flash of insight when Jesus called them to follow him. I believe their call story unfolded over the series of events that STARTED when Jesus invited them, saying, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people."

And that's important for us. Because I don't know about you, but my decision to give my life to God and to the Church didn't happen all at once.

Our decisions to experience discipleship, and engage in the ministries to which God calls us, are not usually one-and-done thunderbolt moments in time, but the result of an unfolding of love through experiences that slowly and gradually transform us into Christ's image.

As we finish the first month of 2021, we have an opportunity to look back and reflect. For some, just putting 2020 behind us was where we put our focus. I know I, personally, was excited to flip the calendar.

Or the changing of the calendar year.

2021, so far, has not lived up to the hype. In fact, I've heard some people call 2021, so far, "just like 2020, only one worse."

So let's not put our hope in symbols. God offers a hope based, not in superstition, random luck, or the recognition of the day humanity picked to mark a complete rotation around the sun... but in power, and glory, and majesty. And love. And Grace.

And the promise to all of us that God will be faithful in God's promise to us.

Let's praise God, and celebrate God's enduring love.

God has expectations of us: that we live in justice, mercy, and compassion. God wants us to love one another with a love that isn't rooted in emotion, but action.

In the story of Jonah, God required action of God's prophet: that Jonah would go to the city of Nineveh and rebuke the people, that they might be saved. But Jonah demurred. He did not wish to go to Nineveh. In fact, he wanted just about anything else. Mostly he wanted justice for Nineveh. Human justice.

But God's justice is not human justice, and God chose Jonah to show us what it looks like when prophets, and heroes, fall short.

Join us at 10am to talk about this story with no heroes on Facebook live, YouTube live and through our website.