Say YES Again
“There can be no transformation without art.”
- Peter Block, Community: The Structure of Belonging
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Dear Easter Friends - just over a month ago, Pastor Brandon shared these words in his final blog post:
You are an amazing congregation, and you faithfully bear witness to God’s big “YES” to each one of us, to the community, and to the world. In Jesus, God says “YES” to each one of us—even though we are imperfect, unfaithful, quite needy, and often choose things other than God for life—God says “yes” over and over and over. “Yes” to loving us and yes to us sharing that love with our neighbors. “Yes” to the gifts that our neighbors have, yes to the gifts our partners have, and yes to the beloved community we are creating together.
I hope you will continue saying “yes” to the community. I firmly believe that every person who steps foot on Easter’s campuses is an Easter person—there is no “us” and “them.” There is only the beloved community God is creating among our amazing partners at Treehouse, Reaching Up Homework Help, Loaves and Fishes, Easter Preschool, The Open Door, and so many more.
You are a gift. You have been a gift to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you. May you continue to be a gift for one another and your neighbors.
YES! These words inspire me, and I hope they inspire you too. I couldn’t say it any better. Our amazing congregation of Easter people is committed to growing in faith and carrying on the work of Jesus Christ by saying yes to the beloved community of God. When we reach out to each other and to our neighbors to build relationships and create community, we are saying yes to God.
This week, I invite you to say yes to Easter’s fall kick-off event on Friday, September 16th from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Easter on the Hill when we welcome our entire community to Eagan Art Block.
Co-hosted with Easter Preschool, our theme this year is “Tied Together in Community” and features lots of free hands-on activities involving string and yarn. We’ll have inflatables for all ages and a delicious spaghetti dinner prepared by Andiamo Restaurant. In keeping with the “strings and things theme”, The Mill City String Quartet will perform a free concert at Easter on the Hill at 3:00 on Sunday, September 18th.
What a wonderful way to reunite with old friends and rejoice with new friends! Of course, we cannot build community without saying yes – yes to showing up, yes to warmly welcoming new people, and yes to providing hospitality and grace. It takes community to build community. Dear friends, we need extra help to make this community event a reality. Please consider saying yes to a volunteer shift. You can sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/tiedtogether
Let us pray
God of rejoicing – Thank you for blessing us with each new day. Awaken in us a renewed commitment to live together as a joy-filled, faith-growing, life-changing community with Jesus as our cornerstone. Let our love be genuine and our hospitality remain rooted in the Spirit so we build a place of welcome where strangers become friends. Amen.