Dear Partner in Preaching, There is no question that this Easter will be different. Very different. As in, unlike any Easter Sunday in the memory of any of our members. Our churches will be empty, not filled by the crowds we’d hoped for. Not even gatherings of any meaningful size. Our people will be feeling isolated, unsure even of when they might go out again. And many of them will be afraid – for their safety, for their lives, for their futures. And we may wonder what, if any, value our words will have, what comfort they may bring, whether it is worth bringing them at all. Yes, this Easter will be different. Very different, unlike...

Matthew 28:1-10 Dear Partner in Preaching, Here we are again: the climax and conclusion of Lent and Holy Week, the pinnacle of the Christian year, the very peak of the Christian story and, we confess, world history itself. And here’s the thing: while I believe that each of those statements is true, I also believe each is insufficient. Too often, I think, we see Easter as a conclusion, when I suspect that in the Gospels and, for that matter, in the early Christian community, the resurrection of Jesus was meant to be only the beginning. The very fact that we have Matthew’s scene of the resurrection supports that assertion. Assuming with...