March 26 (The Resurrection of Mary)

It won't be long before we will be remembering Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. But before we start Holy Week, we still have one more Sunday of our Lenten Conversations' Worship Series. This week's story is another doozy! 

In the 11th chapter of John's Gospel, we are told about the death of Jesus' friend Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha. After being dead for four days, Jesus brings forth Lazarus from the grave.

I have preached on this resurrection text numerous times, but Sunday's sermon will be quite different from any I've preached before because of recent biblical discoveries. There is a new theory about this story that has shaken the world of biblical scholarship. I like the new theory and look forward to sharing it with you on Sunday. The sermon title is, "The Resurrection of Mary." (No, Mary isn't really the one who has died—it's still Lazarus.)

Our closing hymn will be a song called O Mary Don't You Weep. It is an African American spiritual — born in the anonymity of slavery. The song might have been lost to the ages had it not been resurrected by the Fisk University Jubilee Singers of Nashville, Tennessee, who performed it on their post-bellum worldwide tours and were the first to record it in New York City on October 23, 1915. Since then, Nat King Cole, Pete Seeger, Aretha Franklin, Aaron Neville, and more recently, Bruce Springsteen have recorded it. From the title of the sermon and the title of the closing hymn, you may have deduced that the new biblical scholarship doesn't have so much to do with Lazarus as it does Mary. There's some exciting news to share about her. 

We have been blessed during Lent to gather as a church family for food and fellowship on Wednesday nights. Join us for our last Wednesday Night Supper for a while. It starts at 5:30 pm. Please see our website and our newsletter for details about menus and how to register.

Following supper. we will have our last Taizé Service this year. We will miss these special thirty minute services that renew our soul. Try to come to the last one on Wednesday March 29th at 6:30 pm. It will bless you.

 

Palm Sunday — April 2nd, 9:30 a.m.

Maundy Thursday Service — April 6th, 6:00 p.m.

Good Friday Service — April 7th, 12 Noon

Easter Egg Hunt — April 8th, Wesley Oak Campus, 10:00 a.m.

Easter Services — Wesley Oak, 9:30 a.m.

 

Palm Sunday — April 2nd, 11:15 a.m.

Maundy Thursday Service — April 6th, 7:30 p.m.

Good Friday Service —  April 7th, 7:30 p.m.

Easter Egg Hunt — April 8th, Wesley Oak Campus, 10:00 a.m.

Easter Services — April 9th, 11:15 a.m.

 

Our Children & Family's Ministry will be sponsoring an Easter Egg Hunt next Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. It will be held at our Wesley Oak Campus on the corner of Victory Drive and Mechanics Avenue in Thunderbolt. Although this event is design for children, we hope everyone will come out to see and support them—and have some Easter fun!!! 

I know of no better book about the life of Jesus from Palm Sunday to his crucifixion than The Last Week by John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg. If you want to enhance your experience of Holy Week, I encourage you to get a copy of this book and read it. You can find it in paperback or on Amazon Kindle for $10 or $11. It is well worth it. 

Blessings to all! Hope you can be with us on Sunday!

Love,
Billy