MARCH 2024
CENTENARY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Great Love, New Life
E
ven as I pen this note, the world is beginning to wake up. Yes, it's early in the morning, but we are also on the cusp of nature's rebirth, spring's reawakening. The vernal equinox is days away, Easter follows close behind, and specks of color are beginning to dot the landscape. Just as the onset of winter guides us into a season of waiting and reflection, the coming spring invites us to remember that we are a thousand new creations, that God is always working in us to nurture transformation and abundant life. On March 10, the Chancel Choir sings John Ireland's Greater Love Hath No Man in worship. At the heart of that anthem lies the phrase, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." As we move toward Holy Week and Christ's Passion, we too are called into a life greater than our self-serving ventures and ambitions. In so doing, we prepare ourselves to be filled with love and new life which many waters cannot quench and which floods cannot drown. Signposts of new life are also evident in our Atrium Gallery where Dr. Barbara Lister-Sink's watercolor pieces are on display through April. In addition, throughout Holy Week, paintings by Tennessee death row inmates depicting the fourteen stations of the cross will again be available for meditative viewing in our sanctuary, bearing witness to the spiritual truth that beauty is often born out of the darkest of circumstances. Beauty out of darkness. Life out of death. Love out of ruin. These are the Easter promises on which we stand. This is the lifeblood of Resurrection that pulses through our veins and calls us into the depths of God's love.
- Jonathan Emmons, Director of Music Ministries