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** The Season of Resurrection
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Easter is a season in the liturgical year that celebrates for 50 days, culminating in Pentecost, the sustained reality of the resurrection of Christ. Throughout church history, an entire period of rejoicing was deliberately dedicated from Easter Sunday through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples, fifty days later.
Joan Chittester describes this post-Easter period with beautiful profundity:
“Only here in this time, between the bursting open of the tomb and, fifty days later, the overflowing of the Holy Spirit, does the full awareness of what it is to live in Christ, with Christ, and through Christ fully dawn. Indeed, those first Christians were the first citizens of the new creation. Now began the breaking open of the future. Now the human community sees life lived as it is meant to be. Now creation is re-created. In this Creation, Jesus, risen, walks among the living to demonstrate the presence of the living God among us. In this period, we are all risen to new life. We all become a new people together.” (Joan Chittester, The Liturgical Year).
Welcome, Church, to the season of resurrection. Welcome, Church, to fifty days of new life, sustained joy, feasting, and play. Welcome, Church, to life with Jesus experienced in fullness. Welcome, Church, to the season of Eastertide.
- Missio Alliance
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** Formation / Mission / Witness
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** A Poetic Theology of the Cross: An Easter Conversation with Brian Zahnd and Mandy Smith ([link removed])
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"I had felt that I was lacking for being unable to understand the cross. Instead I’m seeing that our theology has been lacking for asking us to understand only with one (good but limited) part of ourselves — our rationality. Jesus came to redeem rational selves. And to draw in their whole being. I want the cross to not only save my mind but my heart, my senses, my memories, my dreams. After reading so much unsatisfying theology of the cross, I knew something was different about Brian Zahnd’s new book, The Wood Between the Worlds. Never before had a book of theology engaged my heart. Both the beauty of its cover and the poetry of its title awakened that part of me which first learned theology in Narnia. I hoped that the contents would be as engaging and have not been disappointed. It was such an immersive read that I invited Brian to have a conversation with me. ([link removed]) "
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Watch Mandy’s conversation with Brian in full for free here. ([link removed])
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** Culture / Witness
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** Heaven at Our Fingertips | Katelyn Dixon ([link removed])
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"What I have found on my journey of navigating grief by cultivating a relationship with heaven is this: there is a life-changing difference between intellectually acknowledging heaven as a spiritual “someday” and embracing heaven as a vibrant, whole-life-encompassing spiritual reality today."
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** Culture / Formation / Witness
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** Hierarchy: A Word Christian Leaders Can Confuse with the Dark and Love to Hate | MaryKate Morse ([link removed])
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"I believe that hierarchy is part of our human identity. Hierarchy, when associated with responsibility and order for the purpose of ‘goodness,’ is the narrative of creation. The final act of creation in Genesis 1:28 is the story of our making. We are reminded that being made in God’s image included an authority over all the earth, an authority bestowed for the earth’s and humankind’s flourishing, not domination."
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Beyond Atonement: Recovering the Full Meaning of the Cross (eBook) | N. T. Wright, Greg Boyd, & Ruth Padilla DeBorst: $1.99 for a limited time! (80% off) ([link removed])
Beyond Atonement ([link removed]) is adapted from a conversation between three leaders, grappling with the complexity of Jesus’ death the Cross. In a truly one-of-a-kind event, N.T. Wright and Greg Boyd came together in conversation with Ruth Padilla DeBorst to discuss their work on the cross. Their contributions, alongside the perspectives and insights of Padilla DeBorst as a Latina theologian from the Global South, help us revisit the full impact of Jesus’ death on the cross in light of the whole narrative of Scripture with a direct view toward its significance for the life, witness, and mission of the Church.
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** Theology on Mission ([link removed])
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S9: E11 Redeeming Power or Powering Under: What Did Jesus Do? | Matt Tebbe
"We continue our exploration of power in the context of Jesus' life and teachings. We ponder over the transformative power of Jesus, examining different biblical narratives where Jesus interacts with societal norms and challenges power structures."
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** Theology on Mission ([link removed])
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S9: E12 On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living | Dr. Alan Noble
“We aren't always honest about how difficult normal human life is. For the majority of people, sorrow, despair, anxiety, and mental illness are everyday experiences. While we have made tremendous advancements in therapy and psychiatry, the burden of living still comes down to mundane choices that we each must make ― like the daily choice to get out of bed.”
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** Celebrating Resurrection Deliberately!
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The Easter celebration begins in the deliberate and growing ownership of the Resurrection reality: Christ has defeated death and walks in risen life – his own, and yours as well should you decide to partner with him. A season of sustained joy, Easter is stretched beyond one Sunday throughout a seven-week period of celebration of this life we now live as resurrected creations. How one practices this inward celebration becomes key:
1. Refrain from negative self-talk and spiraling self-examination. Lent has passed, and new life is now available through Christ. Enjoy the freedom of victory!
2. Pursue practices and behaviors that bring sustained joy in your life. Embrace a new hobby, hang out with friends who make you laugh, and indulge within the freedom that Christ offers.
3. Intentionally seek to make weekly Sabbaths playful and fun. Set aside deep self-examination or meditative study, and instead, head outside with others to experience the God of all Creation!
4. Create. Embrace your identity as one fashioned in the image of a Creative, Playful God. Seek to bring something fresh to life within this Easter season.
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