First Congregational Church UCC Harwich

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April Newsletter

March 23, 2016 by FCCH Staff

After a recent meeting of the Forum, several of us were standing around chatting. The subject of Easter came up.

Al Bradley, who works part-time driving a school bus, asked several of his “charges” what they thought of Easter. One child responded that he/she was part of a belief system that doesn’t celebrate holidays (or “holy days,” as I like to call them).

He then asked another student, originally from Jamaica, what the coming Sunday meant to her. “Easter!” she replied, without hesitation.

“And what does Easter mean to you?” Al inquired, eagerly.

“Chocolate!” she answered.

Well, yes, Easter is chocolate…and a whole lot more. Foundationally, it is the birth of a new kind of freedom, a freedom born of radical love.

In Bible Study we just finished reading Paul’s letter to the Galatians. In this closely argued epistle, Paul seeks to establish the unsurpassing value of the Cross. It is the Cross alone which had given him a new kind of freedom in God, one he’d never known before, even while he was serving as a Pharisee.

He contrasts this freedom of the Cross to the Law. Perhaps an easy way to understand it is to think of being in a relationship. The freedom born of a loving relationship is not the product of obeying a list of obligations to the other person, as if that alone constitutes love.

Rather, it is the love itself which compels us willingly to serve the other in freedom. One conceivably could do everything “right,” going down the list of duties and obligations, while betraying no love whatsoever for the other.

But true love introduces a new impetus to do the “good.” It is accomplished not by checking off a list of things we’re supposed to do, but by being moved to celebrate the joy of our love in action.

Paul’s detractors feared that a believer’s new relationship with God by means of the Cross would produce lawlessness and chaos. Paul’s argument is that the opposite is true. Knowing the existential power of God’s mercy and grace, born of God’s incomparable, inconceivable love, ushers forth the sweetest manifestations of selfless service.

The Cross frees us to see, in real terms, that love is the only real basis for life. Accepting the gift of God’s love thus frees us to new heights and new forms of blessedness and peace.

None of which, of course, precludes enjoying a chocolate bunny or two!

Grace and peace,

Thomas C. Leinbach, Pastor

Filed Under: Letter

Sunday Worship

We are an Open and Affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ.

During the health pandemic, we invite worshippers to join us on Sundays at 10:30 am. We meet in safety for a 45-minute service on our (encrypted) video-conference platform.

How to Find Us

Past Sermons

Sermon: Plan? What Plan?

December 27, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Worry, Be Happy

December 18, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Thoughts for 3 a.m.

December 11, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: The Moods of Christian Life

December 5, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Who Are We to Judge?

November 27, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Keeping One’s Marbles amid the Whistling Tree Frogs

November 20, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Interpreting the Bible

November 7, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Luther, Schmuther!

October 30, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: A Mechanistic God

October 16, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Knowing Who We Are

October 12, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: The Freedom of Constraint

October 2, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Daytime TV and Bonbons

September 25, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Mind Your Own Knitting

September 18, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Stasis, Novelty or Reform

September 11, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Decisions, Decisions

September 5, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Everyone’s Got One

August 28, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Self-Righteousness, Othering, and Violence

August 21, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Oh, This!

August 14, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: From Heel to Healer

August 8, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Unexpectedly

July 31, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Surviving Hope

July 25, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Prevenient Grace

July 17, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: The Strange Persistence of Guilt

July 11, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Freedom

July 3, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Looking for the Lord

June 26, 2017 By FCCH Staff

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