April 3, 2023

“He isn’t here, because he’s been raised from the dead, just as he said. Come, see the place where they laid him.”

- Matthew 28:6 CEB

Dear Christ Church and Friends,

It is finally here! Holy Week and Easter are here!

Everything changes with the above verse echoed in Matthew’s Gospel when the angel pronounces that the tomb is empty and that Jesus is risen! Death, sin, nor anything else have the final say on our lives or any part of creation. Instead life is the final answer. Specifically, life made possible by God’s unconditional love for all has the final say! Life defeats death even when death had looked like it had won.

This is what we celebrate during Holy Week and on Easter: Life and love have the final answer!

I hope you are making plans to join us this week at any of our worship services and activities. You can read more about everything happening in the life of our church on our website.

Hundreds of people will be joining us for this life-changing celebration. They’ll get the opportunity to experience a little of who we are and who we are becoming at Christ Church United Methodist, just like many of you do each week.

I shared a couple of weeks ago in one of my sermons that I have been reading a lot more this year than I have in past years. One of the books I read recently is Daniel Coyle’s The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups. I’ve been working with my clergy coach to apply in the life of our church some of what the book discusses.

So far, we have used and are using some of what the book offers in our staff meetings. Recently the staff took time to discuss catchphrases we sometimes say or hear that identify who we are as a staff and as a church. It was a lively conversation. After much discussion, we came up with not only catchphrases that help us identify who we are, but also priorities that are driving us in our work.

Here’s some of what we came up with:

Priorities:

• Our Mission Statement – We are an inclusive and diverse community experiencing and reflecting the love, hope, and joy of Jesus to one another and our community.
• We are grateful.
• People first
• Growth – numerical and depth

Catchphrases to embrace and embed to help us live out our priorities and identity!

• Our Mission Statement
• We get to!
• 70/30! (I’m willing to be uncomfortable 30% of the time so that others might have a chance to be comfortable).
• Relationships change everything.

This is just a first working draft of this work with our staff. I know there is a danger in sharing unfinished work, but what do you think? Do these priorities and catchphrases describe who we are as a church? What are we missing? What would you add? What might our church look like if we all fully embraced these priorities and catchphrases, and they became a natural part of who we are and the language we use?

Don’t worry, we developed a list of negative catchphrases that we sometimes find ourselves using or hear others using. I’ll share those in a future post. Those are the phrases that we want to stop using immediately because they do not describe the church we are now nor the one we wish to be.

My hope is when you or anyone else joins us -- whether it be for Holy Week, Easter or another time; whether you join us in person or online; whether you are at our school or either of our campuses -- that you will experience these priorities and positive catchphrases. Indeed, it is my hope, prayer, and vision that this is who we will fully become.

We have more work to get there, but I believe we are on our way. I’m delighted that we get to be on this journey together.

I am pumped to celebrate my first Holy Week and Easter with you as your Lead Pastor. I can’t wait to celebrate this life-changing week with you, your friends and family, and our larger community.

He is risen, and the tomb is empty. Praise God! The tomb is empty!

Grace and peace,

Nathan,

Lead Pastor