One of the most rewarding things I do as a pastor is to lead grief support groups. Our recent group here at New Hope has been especially meaningful. We found that spending time together trying to understand grief helped us all. We were able to love and encourage each other. We will start another grief support group soon.
At Easter we celebrate God’s resurrection power. It is about much more than our positive thinking. It opens us to a power and grace beyond us. Since God raised Jesus from the dead, we know that there is life beyond death for our loved ones.
God’s power breaks into our world to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Whenever we trust in God’s care for us and share it with each other, as in a grief support group, His resurrection power breaks into our lives. In the peace God brings to us in the midst of our grief, we receive resurrection power. God brings healing to our aching emotions.
Thank God for giving us this family of faith we call New Hope. In it we have the privilege of sharing each other’s sorrows and joys. As we care for each other, we experience God’s resurrection power at work among us.
1 comment:
Hi, I just stumbled across your blog and was drawn by the hope we have in the resurrection. In my own grief journey, I found I connected more with the idea of lent than I had before my husband's death. I am Mennonite, and we tend to jump pretty quickly to celebrating the resurrection and try not to dwell on the pain.
But I remember my pastor preaching about Jesus being in the wilderness. I found a lot of comfort being reminded that Jesus walked some pretty painful roads in his lifetime too.
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