Christ the Lord is risen today!
Saints and angels say:
Raise your joys and triumphs high;
Sing ye heavens and earth reply.
(LSB #469, st. 1)

I am so happy!  It’s April!  Congratulations, we  made it through Season, Winter, Day Light Savings Time Change, and Lent.  In one of these rare circumstances, we celebrated Easter on the last day of March 2024.  Throughout last month, we spent 40 days concentrating upon repentance and recognition of our sin as we traveled through the places of the Passion of Jesus.

But now, we celebrate the Victory of the Resurrection!  April brings this joy, that can not be matched by anything else.  As Christians, we now have the assurance of being delivered from Sin, Death, and Satan because of the Victory of Jesus Christ with the sign of an empty Tomb.

Throughout the month of April during the Sundays of Easter, we will come to realize what it means to be God’s forgiven people.

We can now look at our lives and the future of Faith Lutheran Church, Naples, Florida with God’s “big picture” view. It is true we are saved right now in Christ and enjoy that in Christ right now, but we are still waiting for the wonderful fulfillment of all things in Christ.  And as God has promised, that day will come!  Heavenly glory truly does await us.  We yearn for it, we may long for it, sometimes we may even be impatient and want it right now.  The Day of the Lord is coming.

During one of our Lenten services, I was moved deeply by the final stanza of “O Lord, Throughout These Forty Days (which included my 63^rd  birthday this year) as God’s comfort and reassurance flowed over my heart:

Be with us through this season, Lord,
And all our earthly days,
That when the final Easter dawns,
We join in heaven’s praise. 
(LSB #418, st. 4)

Enjoy April
Praise the Risen Lord
Pastor Don Treglown