We prepare for Holy Week with a parade of palms. This day also marks a special procession of gifts for our Forward Together In-Gathering. We give thanks for all of God's blessings!

Lazarus is known for his dramatic story of death and resurrection. At its core, this event is about Jesus who is the Resurrection, and the community of followers who are liberated, unbound from death itself.

So often we connect with the concept that even Jesus was tempted, but his time in the wilderness is less about the temptation and more about understanding what kind of God Jesus is going to be.

This day is an opportunity for us to be fully revealed before God as Jesus encourages a faith that is genuine, leaving behind our imposter faith.

Relationships require tender cultivation and work, but even the best of relationships can languish. In God's reign, all relationships matter and the work of reconciliation is essential to breathing new life into that which has died.

Jesus reminds his disciples that they are "salt of the earth...the light of the world," which is what they were created to be. These realities are unchanging even in the midst of the struggles they face.

True blessedness is found in the Kingdom of Heaven, which is “at hand.” Only in turning our lives to God’s way, can we follow Jesus into the fullness of God’s blessing in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus calls the disciples under the specter of John's arrest. The Roman Empire tries to suppress the message of God's Kingdom, but Jesus takes this as an opportunity to form a movement to seek God's love and justice in an unjust world.

The gospel offers an opportunity for witness as Jesus, the Lamb of God, invites us to "Come and see..." Our work begins as seeing leads to faith, and faith leads to witness, as we're called to say something to invite others to faith.

Jesus is baptized and commissioned for his public ministry, a life of service to others. We share in the same baptism and the same call to serve. Baptism isn't about what happens when we die, but instead about living a life of faith now.