Dear Caldwell,
“The sun’s light failed ….”
That is how the Gospel of Luke describes the weather upon Jesus’ death. In Charlotte today, with the sun shrouded by the clouds, the weather would seem to want to keep us in a contemplative mood, appropriate for remembering the darkness of Jesus’ tomb a little while longer. But the sun is predicted to come out later today. On this the second day, the disciples felt completely lost and aimless on that first Easter. But we know what we are looking for and we have preparations to make.
A great Caldwell tradition is the decoration of the cross on Easter morning and we need your help. The black shroud hung carefully on the cross Thursday night by Marilyn Rowland and Carl Brinson will be taken down. In its place, we will hang the full spectrum of God’s colors in fresh-cut spring flowers. Because Easter is later than usual this year, we do not have the tableau of dogwoods and azaleas this year. So we will need plenty of flowers. If you can bring some, please stop by the cross around 10:30 or so. If you are coming to Sunday school, you can leave them at the cross and they will hung with care.
At 9:45 tomorrow, Rod and Rhonda McLain will teach a Sunday school class on the Easter story. In worship, we will focus on the Gospel of John’s account of how Peter, Mary Magdalene and the one John calls “the beloved disciple” encounter the empty tomb (20:1-18) . Each of their encounter stories is a fascinating portrait of faith and each can connect with our own faith journey. We also have the privilege of commissioning our Vision Team, which leaves for Guatemala early Tuesday morning.
If you are up early and can’t wait to worship, our friends at Bread of Life have invited all to a sunrise service in Belk Hall at 6 a.m. followed by a great breakfast.
Come one, come all. Come let us worship our Lord on the holiest day of our tradition.
In Christ,
John