EASTER
April 4, 2021
RCC
in
Winter
Our Drive-In Service in Winter
Valentine's
Day
at RCC
Rye Congregational Church
Celebrating God’s Love ~ In the Heart of Rye Since 1726
Promoting Christian growth and fellowship in a politics-free zone.
Biblical • Traditional • Independent
Click here for recordings of Rev. Lavoie’s Sunday sermons and to hear Children’s Bible Stories, narrated by Rev. Lavoie.
(Password: Since1726)
Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an
eternal glory that outweighs them all. (II Corinthians 4:17)
“Wake me up when it’s over” – a long-time family friend would often say. Sometimes, it struck a humorous tone, sometimes not so much. The phrase was usually said on leaving the room after listening to an unpleasant news broadcast of which there was an abundance during the Vietnam War days, when I first remember hearing it. It would also be said after the first or second period of a hockey game that was not going very well for the Bruins (… who do those Montreal Canadiens think they are, anyway?) or the 5th or 6th inning of a similarly dismal Red Sox game (“darn” those Yankees!). The phrase has gotten more use in our house during the last year when someone, Yours Truly, decided that the news was too much to take and the nearest and best relief was to go to bed early and take my chances in dreamland. Sometimes that worked out, sometimes it didn’t. It turns out that watching a heavy dose of bad news before bedtime is not the best way to ensure sweet dreams.
But we managed and we coped; we all did. We prayed and we persevered. We sought good information and sorted through the myriad of lies, deception, and cover-ups. We took it one day at a time, through Summer and Winter, in sunshine and rain, heat and cold – we took it outside, and the weeks turned into months, and into more than a year of isolation and displacement. And yet, by the grace of God, we can see light at the end of the tunnel – this strange episode of the Twilight Zone, this unfun game of kick the can. It will take time to process all of this, especially for the many innocent people who will likely never see justice in this world for what harm was done to them in their neighborhoods and homes and places of business.
But in many ways God has been good to us. God has been faithful. God has sustained us and nourished us through our wilderness wanderings, and we can now see in the not too distant future a return to our Promised Land, our Sanctuary of Peace and Love. I have walked through its aisles a few times during the past year and was struck each time by its beauty and grace. “Forgive me, Lord, if I ever walked into this sacred space without a song of thanksgiving and praise in my heart ~ may it never happen again!”
I long to see you all again, face to face, in the bright and warm atmosphere of this Sanctuary that God has given us. I want things to return to “normal” again, but I think “normal” will be different from now on. It will be different because we have all learned things, and we have all been changed by what we have gone through. I think that has happened to everybody, and that means we may well be seeing new faces coming through our doors, looking for something new in their lives. I believe we are all more ready to share something “new” with them than ever before. Something “new,” and yet as timeless and ageless as Life itself ~ the love of God in Jesus Christ. A Bible verse comes to mind: In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord, and be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. I Peter 3:15
Okay, world: Ready or not, Here we come! (see you inside on Sunday, June 20th!!)
In God’s Love,
Pastor Ron Lavoie
(The Preacher in the Rye)