He is risen indeed.

One of the things I really love about our church is that we follow the Church calendar. Not a calendar of events that happens at church (although we do have a very active calendar of events) but rather the traditional calendar the church began long ago. This is particularly meaningful to me (as well as our little body of believers) around Easter.

Easter has always been meaningful to me, of course. It's Christianity's holiest day. However, in following the Church calendar, our church here really builds up to Easter as a climax, bringing all of the phases of Easter preparation into full focus.

I wrote a little bit about Ash Wednesday last year. It may be one of my favorite services of the year, which is a little weird, seeing as how it's the beginning of a period of "trial." The fact that our whole church goes through fasting and praying together, breaking our fasts on Sundays and studying what fasting/praying/suffering looked like from Jesus' standpoint, makes the process so real. There's so much accountability (but not judgment) and solidarity: experiencing something together that is designed to remind us of Jesus' journey.

Palm Sunday is a big day at Christ Community. As one friend says, "It's the day we let our Freak Flag fly." It's a little bit true. In keeping with the spirit of "palm" Sunday, we actually use palm branches during our worship time. We start in the parking lot and walk into the church while singing Hosanna (imagine this song done in a cool acoustic way with a jembe keeping time) and waving our palms. The kids LOVE it, and- weird though it may be- it absolutely puts us in the frame of mind that surrounded Jesus as He made his triumphal entry.

Holy week is just the best time of the calendar at CCC. Palm Sunday, of course, begins the week. Side note: this year, Brad and I were actually in toddler nursery on Palm Sunday (after the palm part of the service...oh man. Adventures.)

Maundy Thursday is really unique: we celebrate a Passover meal together: Jesus Feast. We partnered with another church in town and celebrated a Passover meal that we pitched in to prepare, walking through the phases of the Passover, discussing the significance of each element, and observed Communion together. It was truly a neat experience. I love the thought and care that goes into the music for every service. We sang the song "Table of Plenty" at the beginning of the feast, and the further along we got into the service, the more tangible the lyrics became:

Come to the Feast of Heaven and Earth

Come to the table of plenty!

God will provide all that we need

Here at the table of plenty.

Tenebrae on Good Friday is one of the most somber experiences I can think of. Growing up in a Christian home, Easter observance has always been a part of my life. Unfortunately- and this is of my own doing- I often fail to grasp the significance of Good Friday and just skip to Easter. During the service, we went through the seven last sayings of Jesus, each saying punctuated by a short commentary done by different men in the church. Each man brought out truths, promises, and realities from biblical bases and personal experience. As each commentary wrapped up, one of the seven candles (almost the only light in the room) was extinguished- until we were left in darkness, contemplating the last moments of Jesus and the weight of his sacrifice. The whole church sat in silence and darkness, and I promise you, I felt the despair of the crucifixion (as in, the actual death scene) for the first time. I felt cold and creepy and alone (sort of like the description of a Dementor attack in Harry Potter). We left in silence, which hammered the impact of the service home even more.

Then Sunday came. CCC is a raucous little church on Easter Sunday! Our elders describe our little group as an "Easter people," and boy, are we ever. We sing loudly (and not necessarily well) and there is no containing the joy and excitement on Resurrection Day. This song is a staple (and no one cares if we're all off-key. Amiee is never off-key, though. It's good to sit by her if you can). But, the best is when we sing "Low in the Grave He Lay." There's just nothing like it.

Low in the grave He lay

Jesus, my savior

Waiting the coming day

Jesus, my Lord

Vainly they watch his bed

Jesus, my savior

Vainly they seal the dead

Jesus, my Lord

Death cannot keep his prey

Jesus, my savior

He tore the bars away

Jesus, my Lord

Up from the grave He arose

With a mighty triumph o'er His foes

He arose a victor from the dark domain

And He lives forever with His saints to reign

He arose! He arose! Hallelujah, Christ arose!