2215AFC041522 – GOOD FRIDAY (on Holy Thursday)Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often. Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.
John 20:1 – 1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.
Aloha nui loa. That could be translated “Much Love to you.” That would be accurate in spirit, certainly but perhaps is not adequate as a literal translation. Your Aloha Friday message comes today, Thursday, because tomorrow is Good Friday. Perhaps some of you will have the day off. Many of you will not; nonetheless, I want to send you my Easter greeting so that it will arrive before the weekend.When I was growing up in Denver, our family was active in our home church, Corona Presbyterian. It was in downtown Denver at Eighth and Downing. Our Pastor, Rev. Bob Lūtz, led a Sunrise Service every Easter at a nearby park, Cheesman Park. It covers about 81 acres and is located about a mile and half east of downtown. It started out as a HUGE area for a cemetery, and there are legends that it is haunted. For our family, though, it was a great place for church gatherings and summer-stock performances of plays and musicals.
The main feature of the park is the wide-open central lawn. It’s surrounded by a band of trees and has three structures. On the west is a small children’s playground, on the north is a rustic gazebo and on the east, the highest point in the park, is a large Neo-classical pavilion. The rest of the park is grass. In warm weather the slope down away from the pavilion, which you see pictured here, was a wonderful place to play, to picnic, to sunbathe, and to enjoy a quiet respite from the busy city. It also became a place of worship at least once a year. On the Saturday before Easter, the men of the church, particularly the deacons and elders, would go to the park and set up benches and chairs for the expected crowd which seemed to me to number in the thousands.It was a wonderful celebration and one which my dad thoroughly enjoyed. When I was invited to participate with him in getting the park ready for the service setting up sco0res of park benches; it was like a rite of passage and to this day is one of my most cherished memories. I particularly remember one Easter Sunday when we awoke to find about eight inches of snow had fallen and buried the park and all the seating we had worked so hard to set up the day before. The moment we knew, Dad and I sped off toward the park (we lived in University Hills about 20 miles away for downtown Denver), and joined a dozen or so other men who were rushing to clear the snow from the benches and chairs. I recall that this work was done cheerfully and with the expectation that the seats would be filled.
Well, as you might expect, attendance that year was pretty low. Despite the weather, the cold, and the diminished crowd, the spirit of the day was led by The Spirit. Our traditional Easter Greeting was, “The Lord is risen!” and the response was, “He is risen indeed!” That declaration and affirmation really resonated that particular Easter. For years after that, until my dad passed away on the day on his eighty-first birthday in 1997, one of us would call the other on Easter morning and say, “The Lord is risen!” And in that instant two hearts, two minds, two souls, two Servants lifted hearts, minds, hands, and voices to affirm “He is risen indeed.”
So, today, in anticipation of Easter, I say to you, “The Lord is risen!” and as you read this He will know that you are responding in your heart, in your mind, in your soul “He is risen indeed!” (↔ Music Link) Romans 8:10-11: 10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.Happy Easter, Beloved. May the God of Peace and Light bless you richly with faith, wisdom, and determination to live in, with, and for the Risen Lord. And remember these useful tips:
A.S.A.P.!
There’s work to do, deadlines to meet;
You’ve got no time to spare,
But as you hurry and scurry-
A.S.A.P. – ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER
In the midst of family chaos,
“Quality time” is rare.
Do your best; let God do the rest-
A.S.A.P. – ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER.
It may seem like your worries
Are more than you can bear.
Slow down and take a breather-
A.S.A.P. – ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER
God knows how stressful life is;
He wants to ease our cares,
And He’ll respond to all our needs, so
A.S.A.P. – ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER. Lisa Englehardt
P’s Power ~~ Plan Purposefully, Prepare Prayerfully, Proceed Positively, Pursue Persistently! May “P’s” be with you!!
- Serving Him on Earth may not always garner the best wages, but the retirement plan is out of this world!!
- Not all thorns have roses.
- “God helps those who help themselves.” Hezekiah 9:9*
- “God helps those who cannot help themselves.”
- “God helps those who help others.” Vivian Gordon
- “God helps everybody whether they know it or not, whether they believe it or not, whether they ask for it or not. Regrettably not everyone accepts that help.” Chick Todd.
- Remember the smile on your face was put there by you, but the ability to do that is a Gift from God, so be generous with that gift!!·
- People often don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Beloved pray for ALL the people, especially those who ask for our prayers, and for those who do not believe anyone will pray for them. We also pray that those who fear they cannot or should not be forgiven will find that God’s mercy exceeds all their fears.With great hope in my heart, I invite you to pull up these two lessons from last year for your devotional reading this Easter Week
2106AFC020521 – Searching in the Dark and especially 2114AFC040221 – While it was still dark *And for you Bible Students, yes, I know there is no book in the Bible called “Hezekiah.” That’s why this famously popular “verse” is not in the Bible!
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.
PRAY FOR UKRAINE |
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License Originally posted under Aloha Friday Messages at http://www.aloha-friday.org – The Moon Beam Network – 615AFC041206
