We made it through another Holy Week and Easter. We spend weeks preparing our hearts and minds for it and in a matter of four days, it’s over. Service after service go by. Somber songs turn into joyful praises. The cross that held our Savior is bare and the tomb that encased him is empty. Christ is risen, just as he said! Alleluia!

While the Easter season is all but over; known as Low Sunday, the Sunday after Easter tends to show a decrease in church attendance. Where is the joy of the empty tomb? Not surprisingly, this happens all over the world. People are just “churched” out. I’m not saying this to guilt trip anyone. Many pastors tend to take the week off after Easter as well. “Low Sunday” is also given its name because the high festival of Easter has a time time being topped the next week, as one can imagine.

To combat this “lull” we celebrated Evangelism Sunday. We took the news of the risen Savior and the empty tomb and thought, “What can we do with this good news?” We can share it! We have the most amazing gift of all and we have been given a task by the Lord to “Feed my lambs.” Jesus first spoke this to Peter. It seems that at times Peter had a problem focusing on the task at hand. His arrogance often got in the way of him seeing the bigger picture of the kingdom. Jesus even asked Peter if he loved him three times to make sure he understood what he would be facing in the future. This goes to show how well Jesus knew his disciples, and how well he knows us. What does our future hold? It’s hard to say. What we do know is that Jesus holds our future and the future of his kingdom in the palm of his hand. Where can we go to be assured of this when the world seems to be out to get us? The house of God. As summer approaches and the non-festival half of the church year may seem “low” and boring, that is where we learn what we are to do with the amazing gospel we have been given. Allow Jesus to ask you the same question he asked Peter, “Do you love me? Feed my sheep.”

From Pastor Rothfuss, Newsletter Volume 1 Issue 3, May 2022