Fwd: PBPC Daily - Monday, April 13

Dear Friends,

Good morning, and welcome to this new week. I hope that you had a joyous and uplifting Easter. It certainly helped that yesterday was a glorious spring day, filled with sunshine and the signs of new life all around us.

Sometimes the day after Easter can seem like a letdown; after an entire season of Lent in which we focus on the cross, the celebration of the Resurrection is wonderful - and yet over in a day. But the ancient church did not limit Easter to a single day; rather, Easter is a season, extending over the course of the next seven weeks leading up to Pentecost Sunday. We need a season in which to dwell in Resurrection hope.

I think this is especially helpful for us as we return to normal life today - because normal life for most of us is sheltering in place in the midst of a pandemic. In some ways, it is as if Lent continues - and we can become focused on the suffering in the world and what we have all been forced to give up. So we need the message of Resurrection to continually give us hope in these days, and the reality of the Resurrection in our lives in the present moment becomes all the more important.

¹So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, ³for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.  - Colossians 3:1-4

May we all live in Resurrection hope today.

Blessings,

Pastor Chris