It’s still dark, but she goes to check on the tomb. Fear strikes her heart as she sees the stone is rolled away! Has this weekend possibly just gotten worse? As she lies weeping at a situation that is beyond repair, the gardener of the sun, moon, and stars, who cultivated everything in 7 days, whispers joy of new creation in the form of her name, "Mary."

Good Friday service. The Cup

God created the world and gave us dominion over it. However, we do not always use that dominion in a beneficial way, using too much sometimes, while other times not enough. Even Peter struggles to get this right, but Jesus still loves him to the end.

Of all the ways of Jesus, we expect truth to be the least broken. But, our relationship with truth isn't quite as straightforward as we might expect. We are invited to be ambassadors of truth, not by defending it but by embodying new creation, faithfully pointing people to Jesus, and showing that self-giving love is the most powerful force in the world.

We can hear the cry of our hearts for freedom, but once we have freedom, it's so tempting to just curl in on ourselves. Jesus, however, constantly gives to us from his abundance.

What makes something beautiful? Is it a look or maybe a feeling? When John writes to his people, he invites us to the creation then shows us beauty in the resurrection.

Often when we think of spirituality, we think of something that is intensely personal. But what if it looks more like vines and jokes than solemn and alone?

Weddings are beautiful places of love, but so often we discover the brokenness of that love way too quickly. So where is unbroken love? Maybe it's the rebuilding of the temple in 3 days.

We see so much hurt and injustice in society, and we cry out for a better way. But even that search for something better often leaves behind a trail of hurt. Perhaps justice can find its place in the creation story and the recreation of the gardener.