Does it seem like Easter was forever ago? Some days it does to me and I am grateful for this season of Eastertide that allows us to continue our celebration of Easter for weeks after Easter Sunday.

I've been talking with various people and am reminded of how much is going on in people's lives—sometimes we know it and often we don't. Whatever your life holds, I invite you to pause and take a deep breath. Remember that in joy or in sorrow you are not alone. You are held by your Creator and by the Spirit of God you are woven into the family of faith.

Sundays when we come together is another good time to take a deep breath and ask God to meet you where you are and grant you courage and strength and peace.

I look forward to seeing you Sunday online or on site. Pastor Hardy will be away at the Next Church conference, so we'll pray for his time there and welcome the leadership of some of our officers during the worship service.

Peace,

Karin

If you're worshipping with us online, please join us immediately afterward for the virtual Coffee Hour.

“When we look at Jesus, we see human nature as it is intended to be. Fully human, fully divine, Jesus shows us what human nature is, what the Divine nature is.

Our goal is to go down, down, and down into our own inner beauty and love, to rest in our own depths. We commit, together in community, to being more and more ourselves, our real selves.”

 -N. Gordon Cosby, Seized by the Power of a Great Affection

Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”