We take a break this week from our current conversation series, “The SOAP Sessions, to focus on Resurrection Sunday, also referred to commonly as Easter. As we move through our Sunday Liturgy, you will notice that it is poly-centric finding anchorage in three themes. Disruption/death, disorientation, and new possibility/resurrection are the three themes that help us along our journey. In the death of Jesus, we see the loss of expectations and hope, and in the mystery of the empty tomb we find new possibility and new hope.

Before the cross, the hope of God’s people lays in the belief that God was present in the Temple. In this way, the Temple served to remind the people that one could draw near to God. But in the shadow of the cross and the reality of an occupied tomb, the Temple is laid bare; God is no longer there. It is this revelation that sees the story shift. On the third day, the tomb is empty; Jesus is no longer there. So it is in the reality of the empty Temple and the empty tomb that we find the possibility of God present with us

Formational Learning:

(Head)

Jesus dying on the cross represents the failed dreams of his followers. What do we do with the moments of disruption and disappointment in our hope and dreams for God?

(Heart)

We all find ourselves standing in front of the empty tomb, pondering the possibility of new life. What are your stories of encountering the risen Jesus?

(Hands)

How do we allow our experience of the risen Jesus to help us point others towards the new possibility and hope of the risen Jesus?