Thank you for a great tailgate!
It seemed like we really needed this! It was so nice to be outside and to be able to just fellowship with each other. What a great morning! I personally loved the karaoke time. What part did you like best?
I doubt we will get as nice of a weather day as we had last week, but we will definitely do it again!
Pig Lipstick
I can’t tell you how excited I am about doing a significant refresh on our building. It will really make a much better first impression on anyone that comes to see us.
More importantly, it will provide some much-needed space for us to do what we are called to do… Cultivate relationships. I really think this will all really enhance our scope of ministry and create better community!
Have you had a chance to look over our plans? I hope you will have a look and that you will join us in our desire to put a little lipstick on.
Easter Sunday
We are really gearing up for our big Easter celebration on April 4. We’re going to have three services. Have you invited someone to come with you that morning?
Discussion Questions
Do you believe that God is finished with you? Yes or no, why do you believe that way?
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
James 1:2–4, 12 (NLT)
God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
What have you persevered through? How has that made you stronger?
How have you seen God turn ashes into beauty? Graves into gardens?
Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign Lord: I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, on which you brought shame while you were scattered among the nations. 23 I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign Lord, then the nations will know that I am the Lord. 24 For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.
Ezekiel 36:22–38 (NLT)
25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.
28 “And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will cleanse you of your filthy behavior. I will give you good crops of grain, and I will send no more famines on the land. 30 I will give you great harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines. 31 Then you will remember your past sins and despise yourselves for all the detestable things you did. 32 But remember, says the Sovereign Lord, I am not doing this because you deserve it. O my people of Israel, you should be utterly ashamed of all you have done!
33 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I cleanse you from your sins, I will repopulate your cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The fields that used to lie empty and desolate in plain view of everyone will again be farmed. 35 And when I bring you back, people will say, ‘This former wasteland is now like the Garden of Eden! The abandoned and ruined cities now have strong walls and are filled with people!’ 36 Then the surrounding nations that survive will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruins and replanted the wasteland. For I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do what I say.
37 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am ready to hear Israel’s prayers and to increase their numbers like a flock. 38 They will be as numerous as the sacred flocks that fill Jerusalem’s streets at the time of her festivals. The ruined cities will be crowded with people once more, and everyone will know that I am the Lord.”
What part of this passage speaks to you today?
How can you love your family, your neighbors, and those in the margins today? How can you love them between now and Easter Sunday?