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Surprises sometimes require some degree of planning. If you were with us on Easter morning on April 4th you were witness to many surprises. Good surprises, too! After the Gospel was read and the sermon was preached we moved our service into the baptism of Courtney and her two sons, Dakota & Elliot. It was a wonderful surprise! To feel Christ’s presence in the water & the Word. To know that God was blessing the three of them in their new lives in Jesus Christ. What a better time to baptize then Easter morning? To know that He is Risen, He is Risen, Indeed! That is a celebration!
After the baptism our worship moved into the welcoming
of our new members and this is the part of the service where a surprise
did require some degree of planning. Shaun, one of our new members,
came in months before and asked if he could propose to Teranie during
worship on Easter Sunday. At first, I had no idea logistically how this
might work. Could we do this? If I’ve learned anything about Our
Saviour’s over these last 3 years—we are an open, fun, quirky bunch who
is willing to try just about anything in worship. We had prayers over
the group of our new members---recognizing them in the body of Christ &
celebrating their presence in our community with the sponsors near them,
praying over their heads with laying of hands. It was then that I asked—do
any of the new members have anything they'd like to say?
To which Courtney, the newly baptized, looked at me shaking her head all
nervous! Her shakes indicated—no
way, no how, please don’t make me speak in front of all of these
people!!! Then Shaun surrounded by his
sponsors and fellow new members said,
“yes, I do....”
He pulled out a red rose and handed it to Teranie. All of the adult
ladies in the congregation were given a white rose as they came into
Easter worship. He said,
“ladies will you lift up your white roses...to me, Teranie, all these
women are beautiful in their own way....but to me, you are the red rose,
you stand out amongst all the other roses....”
He got down on one knee & asked her,
will
you meet me back here on this altar, will you marry me?
She cried, everyone in the pews cried.
“Oh my,”
she said, “yes!!”
Shock! Surprise! It was beautiful and that is what Easter is all
about—our new lives together in Christ. For what was one dead is now
alive. Shaun then thanked the congregation for being so welcoming to
them....he thanked Betty Lou & Felix Meijia and then me. Talk about an
Easter Surprise, huh? That is what Easter is all about, our new life in
Christ. Betty Lou Meijia said after worship (along with many others
echoing the same sentiment)—that was such a wonderful Easter. We
celebrated Christ Risen Indeed and....the whole thing the proposal was
beautiful. Icing on the cake! In my humble opinion, this is what BEING the church is all about. This is what being our church FAMILY is all about too. One of the joys of my call as your pastor is that I am invited to be a part of some of the most special and unique parts of your lives. Birth, death, graduation, marriage, funerals, hospice, hospital trips, baptisms, visits at home, dinner parties, worship, Bible study…the list could go on and on and on and on. Thank you. I give God thanks for you. God’s joy to you, Pastor Emily |