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Apr 20 2017

I had a fabulous Easter, and I hope you did too! My heart filled with joy as I worshipped with so many of you, your family, and friends. Last Sunday's worship also reminded me of how blessed I am to work with such talented people. Shandon organizes, manages, and troubleshoots things seen and unseen to create a sense of warmth and welcome in an often-chaotic environment. Eric weaves together graphic arts, music, light, and a host of individual people with unique gifts and skills into a cohesive whole that is beautiful in its own right and that also transports me beyond it into the presence of God. Julie connects the words of scripture to daily life in ways that consistently give me new insights, and she doesn't miss a beat when I ask things like, "What if we preached the Easter sermon together?" Our Access Easter celebration did lack one thing, however: a Hunky Jesus.

Each year in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, a group hosts the Hunky Jesus contest. It's pretty much what the name suggests. I laughed when I first learned of it (in that it's-kind-of-funny-but-also-kind-of-disturbing way), but theologically Hunky Jesus misses something important, and that's why our Access Easter celebration lacked one.

Hunky Jesus is a bit like the empty tomb without the cross. By itself the empty tomb is quite attractive. It represents life triumphing over death, second chances, new beginnings, and the defeat of evil by good. But the cross tempers the attractiveness of the empty tomb with pain, sacrifice, and death. When it comes to the actual Jesus, the empty tomb and the cross are part of the same revelation of God's power.

Jesus defeats death not to make himself more attractive to his followers but to encourage us to follow his example of choosing pain and self-sacrifice for the sake of others. The empty tomb shows us that these few years on earth are just a prelude to eternity, so we don't need to pursue popularity, wealth, security or anything else to make these years the most attractive they can be. Worshipping the Jesus of both the empty tomb and the cross means allowing the resurrecting power of God's Spirit to energize us, give us hope, and to set us free to humble ourselves and to serve others.

I hope you'll worship with us at Access this Sunday at 11:00. We're kicking off a new series of sermons about healthy conflict called "Lighting the Fuse." We'll find the same Easter dynamic of power and humility at play as we explore tips and spiritual insights for making something positive from conflict with others.

In Christ,
Rich

Rich Rindfuss
Access Pastor
First United Methodist Church Richardson 

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Apr 6 2017

Those creatures on the Access sign are gratitoads. In 2014 our church members took photos with gratitoads to document things for which we were grateful. I recently listened to a podcast where two psychology professors reminded me that not everything that provides a reason for giving thanks is visible. The professors gave four examples of invisible but real reasons for gratitude.

They named opportunities for education, being alive, freedom of speech, and the dramatic reduction in child mortality over the past hundred years. They went on to say that happiness and gratitude tend to go together, and that people that take time to think about all the visible and invisible things for which they have to be grateful tend to be happier. Thinking of people that look for reasons to give thanks reminded me of the apostle, Paul, who – while he was in jail - wrote, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice" (Philippians 4:4).

I encourage you to take time over the days leading up to Easter to think about the invisible and visible reasons you have for gratitude. Give some time to recall Jesus' life, death, and resurrection and how it has changed the world and how it has affected your life. Think about our faith community that exists because of Jesus and how it makes a positive difference in your life. Finally, I ask you to invite friends to join you at one or more of the many events happening around our church in the coming days. From the Lenten Journey to the Easter Egg Hunt to special Thursday and Friday services focused on Jesus' Last Supper and crucifixion to our Easter worship services, each event will help in a unique way to make the invisible but very real things of God a bit more visible. They'll increase our gratitude and likely our happiness too.

I'll see you this Sunday at Access where we'll worship God with amazing music, giving, scripture, prayer, and a sermon looking at the "Holy Ground" at the foot of the cross. We'll even invite our kids to participate in a "palm processional" that will recreate the excitement as people waved palm branches when Jesus entered Jerusalem the week before Easter.

Have a great weekend!

In Christ,
Rich

Rich Rindfuss
Access Pastor
First United Methodist Church Richardson

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Mar 30 2017

The Bible shows prayer as a deeply vital part of Jesus' life. Prayer has surrounded and sometimes instigated the most important decisions of my life. And yet sometimes my practice of prayer feels boring and stale. Over the next week I'm looking forward to two opportunities at church to enliven our prayers with some hands-on activities.

This Sunday Access will continue our Holy Ground series of sermons with "The ground of prayer." We'll learn a bit about the Lord's Prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, and we'll also engage with that prayer through some hands-on activities. The photo at the top of this post came from a worship service a few years ago that included reflecting on names of God by placing them on a Scrabble board. This Sunday we have some similar but different activities planned that will help us get hands-on with the Lord's Prayer.

Then next week on Thursday and Friday, April 6^th and 7^th, FUMCR will offer a come-and-go prayer experience from 7:00am – 7:00pm called the Lenten Journey. Check out the video below for a quick preview.

I look forward to worshipping with you at Access on Sunday!

Have a great weekend!

In Christ,
Rich

Rich Rindfuss
Access Pastor
First United Methodist Church Richardson