The Season of Easter
Easter 2023
Dates: Easter Sunday (April 9th) - The Day of Pentecost (May 28th). Ascension Day (May 18th)
Colors: White and Gold
Icon: Our Easter seasonal icon combines the image of a crown and a throne, symbolizing our Lord’s Kingship and victory over death. But there is more than meets the eye: the crown is also an ichthys interwoven in a Trinitarian form. Masterfully designed by Atlas Minor Design Studio.
A Portrait of the Season
"To be a Christian is, perhaps above all things, to be a person whose life is anchored in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Indeed, the Christian life is unintelligible apart from this resurrection. We pray believing that He hears. We weep believing that He cares. We struggle believing that He helps. We live this life, in other words, because we believe that Jesus lives. And the work of such a life—its very meaning—is to bear witness to the reality of this resurrection in who we are and what we do.”
Gregory Thompson
“For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”
1 Corinthians 15:16–22
There is something incredibly satisfying and captivating about a solid first line. In an age where our attention spans are at an all-time low and distractions abound, a riveting hook is essential in sparking and sustaining our interest. Think of some of the most classic first-liners: “Call me Ishmael” (Herman Melville’s Moby Dick), “I am an invisible man” (Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man), “You better not never tell nobody but God” (Alice Walker’s The Color Purple). These few words catapult readers into whole worlds.
In Mark 1, we, too, are ushered into a new world. In his inaugural sermon, Jesus captures an entire city with the best of all one-liners: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.” In the synoptic Gospels, we walk through plot, characters, and conflict until the grand climax, Jesus’s crucifixion. If it ended there, the story of the gospel would not be interesting at all, let alone a classic. Those first words would lack their power, falling on the ears of a dying people who would be, as Paul wrote, “most to be pitied.” And yet, as we know and celebrate in this Eastertide season, the story continues. Hallelujah!
After a weekend in the grave, Jesus is raised from the dead, and now, as N. T. Wright explains, “the resurrection completes the inauguration of God’s kingdom. . . . It is the decisive event demonstrating that God’s kingdom really has been launched on earth as it is in heaven.” Easter, then, is the celebration not only of our risen Savior, but also of our conquering king who defeated hell and the grave. Easter installs the kingdom of God, a kingdom of hope, peace, and life for all who would enter. The same Jesus who spoke that first line is now the “first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20). This is significant, because while other stories may start with an iconic first line, they all inevitably end. This gospel story, though, is one that doesn’t end but, as C. S. Lewis quips, “goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”
-Written by Ashley Williams, Ministry Coordinator of Grace Mosaic and co-director of the Daily Prayer Project. Adapting and updated from the introduction from the Easter 2023 Living Prayer Periodical of the Daily Prayer Project, a publication of Grace Mosaic.
“Easter is the highest feast of the Christian year and the central celebration of the story of our faith as Christians. In addition to fifty days of celebrating Jesus’s resurrection, the church also celebrates the ascension of Jesus on Ascension Day, which occurs forty days after Easter (Acts 1:3).”
Resources for the Season
EASTER LIVING PRAYER PERIODICAL
The Daily Prayer Project is a publication ministry of Grace Mosaic that supplies a holistic resource for spiritual formation to thousands across North America and the globe. You can access the Advent Living Prayer Periodical at the members-only section of the website, outside the sanctuary on Sunday mornings, or purchase at The Daily Prayer Project.
GRACE MOSAIC FORMATION RESOURCES
Practices for the Season
PRAYER
Use the season of Easter as a time to renew and reimagine rhythms of prayer in your life and in the life of your household. Consider establishing a steady rhythm of 20-30 minutes of prayer each morning and evening using the Daily Prayer Project.
FEASTING
The Easter season is the highest feast of the Christian year. So, throw feasts and parties! Practice hospitality and hosting in regular rhythms that allow for the practice to mature and spread. In the midst of this practice, remember our Lord’s words: “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:12–14). As Gregory Thompson writes in the article linked above: “We too are called to take on the role of Host in the name and power of the risen Jesus. And there is no better time to do this than the high feast of the Christian year: Easter.”
CREATION CARE
The resurrection of Jesus is the Creator’s renewed proclamation to the world that the Creation “is very good” and will all be healed (Rev. 21:5). Use this season to experience God’s creation more deeply and learn how to be better stewards of it. This begins with the care of our neighbors, image-bearers of God. Consider ways to work towards the flourishing of your neighbors in this season. Also, consider starting your own garden, or volunteering at community gardens, farms, or forest patches. Or, simply, pick up trash around your neighborhood. Read the Practices article “Creation Care As Kingdom Action” or listen to Pastor Joel’s sermon on the doctrine of creation.
ESTABLISH AND NURTURE RITUALS
Keeping time through formative rituals and practices has always been at the life of the people of God. Consider establishing meaningful rituals and traditions in the life of your home. Start times of household worship using passages or prayers from the Daily Prayer Project, establish a day where you serve other people, plan annual outings, etc. Use your imagination.
“...while other stories may start with an iconic first line, they all inevitably end. This gospel story, though, is one that doesn’t end but, as C. S. Lewis quips, “goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”
Music For The Season
Other Sermons, Articles, and Videos
Watch: "Dawn Of The New Day " by Bishop GE Patterson (Classic Easter Sermon)
Enjoy this classic Easter sermon from Bishop G.E. Patterson, recorded in 1992 at the Temple of Deliverance Church of God in Christ-Memphis, Tennessee
Read: Easter Sermon of St. John Chrysostom
The Easter sermon of John Chrysostom, an ancient Turkish church father, has remained a classic text for over 1700 years. Click and see why. “No one need grieve over sins; forgiveness has dawned from the tomb. No one need fear death; the Savior's death has freed us from it.”
Watch: N.T. Wright on the Resurrection of Jesus: Fact or Ancient Fiction?
N.T. Wright, a foremost scholar of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, answers the common and obvious question: “Isn’t the resurrection just an ancient religious myth?” Additionally, his lecture entitled “Resurrection and the Renewal of Creation” is highly recommended.
Books
Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright
"Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian’s future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright asserts that Christianity’s most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection, and provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus. Wright then explores our expectation of "new heavens and a new earth," revealing what happens to the dead until then and what will happen with the "second coming" of Jesus. For many, including many Christians, it will come as a great surprise to learn that heaven comes to earth instead of us going to heaven.
Wright convincingly argues that what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death. For if God intends to renew the whole creation—and if this has already begun in Jesus’s resurrection—the church cannot stop at "saving souls" but must anticipate the eventual renewal by working for God’s kingdom in the wider world, bringing healing and hope in the present life.”
Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair by Duke Kwon and Gregory Thompson
“Christians are awakening to the legacy of racism in America like never before. Reparations explores the church's responsibility for the deep racial brokenness at the heart of American culture, investigates the Bible's call to repair it, and offers a vision for the work of reparation at the local level. The authors lead readers toward a moral imagination that views reparations as a long-overdue and necessary step in our collective journey toward healing and wholeness.”
Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes by Shauna Niequist
“Bread & Wine is a literary feast about the moments and meals that bring us together. With beautiful and evocative writing, Shauna celebrates the sweet and savory moments that happen when family and friends sit down together. She invites us to see how God teaches and feeds us even as we nourish the people around us, and she explores the ways that hunger, loneliness, and restlessness lead us back to the table again.”
Resources for Families with Young Children
The Apostles Creed: For All God’s Children by Ben Myers, Ill. Natasha Kennedy
Historically, Lent was a period where newcomers to the faith would be instructed through the use of the Apostles’ Creed. This is a great children’s book adaptation of the creed!
Illustrated Ministries Easter Material
Illustrated Ministries creates coloring and craft materials for children and families for use during each season of the Christian Year. The material is lovely and cross-culturally accessible.