Happy Easter

When João described our Resurrection sunday morning service, his comment was apt: "Only in Heaven will it get any better." It really was such a great blessing for us today. There were so many highlights, it's hard to know where to start!
Everyone seemed to especially enjoy the "flowering cross" that we did as a part of our children's message. We took the "old rugged cross" as the emblem of "suffering" and transformed it into a beautiful object of joy by covering it in flowers. The adults liked participating with the children. You can see the line-up to add their flowers. Then below, the finished cross. This very simple gesture seem to make tangible the meaning of the cross.

The music in the worship service was also beautiful and uplifting. The sermon about the resurrection was exciting as well. Then the worship service closed with the baptism of six new Christians. That was an emotional high, as the true symbolism of the resurrection was physically acted out by the baptisms. Between each one we sang "He is Lord... He is Risen from the dead and He is Lord." We really felt his Lordship!

After the very full worship service (By the way we had a crowd of 100 people!), we gathered downstairs for an Easter dinner. Wow, was the food ever delicious, the fellowship even better. There were many visitors to chat with. One of our newly baptized ladies had a special cake made with her fellow "baptizees'" (I just made up the word, as I didn't know what else to call them) names on it. It was lovely. One gentlemen had a family dinner and couldn't stay, but you can see the other five who were baptized.

Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed!

And now you know why it was such a great Lord's Day for us. We do feel that we completely celebrated our Lord's resurrection.