Pentecost...our mission continues

Have you ever said, “Easter??!!??... wasn’t it just Christmas, like, yesterday?”  We’ve all felt that way some years. And with Easter coming so early this year, it felt even more so.
It’s true.  We cycle through the major life events of Jesus so quickly in the first few months of the Church year… Christmas, Epiphany, the Baptism of our Lord, Transfiguration, the journey thru Lent, the celebration of Easter and, finally, Christ’s Ascension. In a snapshot, Jesus is born; he is celebrated and baptized; he is crucified, risen and ascended in the span of 3 or 4 months. Whew… what a whirlwind!

But now we are in the Season of Pentecost… also called “Ordinary Time.” It is occasionally more flippantly called “the long green season,” because while the colors of chancel area changed rapidly from blue to white to purple, (and sometimes black) and back to white for Easter, and then a splash of red for the Day of Pentecost (the “birthday” of the Church), for this period of time from May through November, the predominant color of our worship space will be green.

Green equals “growth.” Green equals “environmental responsibility.” And so it is in our worship. The “long green season” will find us celebrating fewer “events,” and focusing more on what we can learn about our own ministry and discipleship, and our service in the world. You might say we are entering the part of the Church year where we can more fully live out our mission statement:

St. John Lutheran Church (Windfall), is Centered in the Word; Strengthened in the Sacraments; Sent into the community, to share the Love of Jesus.

The Pentecost season gives us a chance to put “legs” to our congregational tagline  — “Come and see. Serve and Grow.”
Please… join us!