• Man, what a weekend.
• It was so good to be gathering again this year for Easter Weekend.
• Think about my contrasting views from last year to this one…
• That pretty much sums up a lot of how I felt about it — being together was amazing.
• And so cool to be able to be outside and to have so many people come.
• I guess “cool” might not be the best word for that 10:00am service… was pretty dang hot, actually.
• About half-way through the sermon I was looking at people and thinking, “I gotta wrap this up so people can enjoy these baptisms.”
• And the baptisms were so, so encouraging.
• Such a wonderful diversity of ages and backgrounds among those who were baptized.
• When you hear of kids who grow up being taught the truth and who, having wrestled with who they are and what they believe, decide they want to follow Jesus — that’s awesome.
• And when you have adults who spend most of their lives without Jesus (or marginally following him) begin to see that he really is the center of their lives — well, that’s awesome too.
• And, once again, it was sweet to see a number of folks who haven’t been back to in-person church in a year.
• Particularly special for our family this year was having my in-laws with us.
• They’re from Ohio and haven’t been here on an Easter weekend before, so it’s been great being with them.
• Also got to catch a spring training game with them early in the week (and Hank got a ball, which was awesome).
• We also enjoyed watching the first episode of season two of The Chosen last night.
• If you haven’t already, it’s a must-watch show about the ministry of Jesus (it’s available through their app — on Apple or Google — and you can beam it to your TV)
• When I first heard of it, I was a little suspicious.
• After all, so much Christian film and TV is actually pretty lousy.
• Jesus always comes out looking very two-dimensional.
• But not in The Chosen.
• Especially having dug more into who Jesus was as a person over the last few years and teaching the Gospel of John right now, I’m extra attuned to the way Jesus is portrayed.
• And it’s so good — seriously, watch it.
• I don’t have a lot else to report today, so I’ll sign off.
• Have a great week, live in the power and joy of the resurrection of Jesus, and remember that all of life is all for him.