Easter Sunday It’s been a long year... In addition to a global pandemic that has spanned the entirety of the last 12 months +, we’ve struggled through a long season of social unrest and we’ve endured an especially contentious election cycle. Add to that the personal challenges, which for some of us, have been many - job loss, financial hardship, illness, death, moves, loneliness and isolation, profound uncertainty, and more. We find ourselves at yet another Easter, wanting to celebrate and believe what we say today, but is new life really possible? Does Easter really matter? Can it really make a difference... and make a difference for me? Everything changed on that first Easter morning. Everything changed for the women who discovered the empty tomb, for Jesus’ followers, for the world - - and for you. Can you see it? Will you see it? The women returned to the tomb to continue grieving and to anoint the dead body of Jesus. They found the stone rolled away from the entrance of the tomb and they searched inside for the body. But instead of the dead remains of the previous days, they received encouragement to look elsewhere. They would not find what they needed - and what this day promised - among the dead, in the past. Neither will we find what we need by sifting through yesterday’s remains. It’s a new day, and it’s time for us to seek a new life among the living. Today we choose to look towards a new tomorrow - today we choose the Living Jesus. Happy Easter! Worship link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU8j2WyIN2A&t=1s

The opening lines to William Chatterton Dix's famous Christmas carol ask a poignant question, "What child is this, who, laid to rest, on Mary's lap is sleeping?" Dix goes on to answer this question in part during the last line of the repeated chorus. This child is "the babe, the son of Mary." The One that the angel said would be conceived by the Holy Spirit is also the son of a very ordinary, very human, young woman. Jesus is not just the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, and the Wonderful Counselor that we sing about and worship at Christmas. Jesus is also the One who walked the same dusty roads that humans walk. He knows real physical pain, real emotional angst, real spiritual need. He has felt the same hunger, knows that same thirst, that we have. God came to earth in Jesus not just to bring a cosmic realignment of all of creation. God came to bring real human comfort and care, to feed our hungry spirits, and to quench our deepest longings. If your Christmas list this year includes wishes for things that can't be wrapped and put under the tree... healing, hope, comfort, community, acceptance... know that the child we worship brings all that and more. What child is this? This is the One who knows you like no other because he has been where you are. Worship Link: https://youtu.be/IphC5qM0xDc

It's common to see on a mom's social media feed, a photo of their child with the caption, "My heart." Shorthand for expressing how deeply she loves her child; how committed she is to that child; how very much her mind, her life, her work, her efforts, are invested in her children. Sweethearts sign their notes to each other with a heart - it's a symbol of their love and affection. One source claims that the red heart emoji ❤️ is the second most used emoji the world over (second only to the joy smiley face emoji, represented by a teary-eyed laughing face [ ] ). For much of human history, the heart has been considered the seat of human emotion, and the place where those things most dear to us reside. In a worship series titled "Matters of the Heart" that Pastor Elizabeth Gilbert will launch on July 12, she will share some of the things most dear to her in her life with Jesus and in her ministry. In "Matters of the Heart" Pastor Elizabeth will reveal the heart Christ has given her for the stranger, for worship, for the unique gifts Jesus has given each of us, and for our life together in community. Union Chapel Worship will continue online at least through the Sundays of July. You'll find worship each week posted on Union Chapel's YouTube Channel (search YouTube for Union Chapel Indy), as well as linked to the church's Facebook page, facebook.com/UnionChapelIndy. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ01vmnBuLk

Our faithfulness is not measured in what we don’t, but in what we do.

Then he looked up at his disciples and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor,    for yours is the kingdom of God.  ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,    for you will be filled.

"Assuming you don’t like the world the way it is, would you change it? Would you be the one to make the changes that are needed—that you believe are needed?"