First English Lutheran Church | Austin, Texas
God Loves. We Love. Everyone!
Get ready for some fun and fellowship with BBQ chicken and all the fixings. Bring your favorite beverage if you wish and an appetite. Fun and live music starts at 5 pm with serving around 6 pm when the chicken comes off the grill. All are welcome!
This Sunday is called “Good Shepherd Sunday.” Jesus is called the “gate” of the sheep in the gospel story. The risen Christ is abundant life now. Christ anoints our heads with oil and guides us beside the waters of our baptism. Each Sunday Christ spreads a feast before us amid the world’s violence and war. We live as signs of the resurrection and extend God’s tender care in all creation. Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!
The gospel story on the third Sunday of Easter begins with two disciples walking to the town of Emmaus, overcome with sadness, loss, and disappointment. They had hoped Jesus, who was crucified, would be the one to redeem them! Yet the risen Christ walks with them and then opens their eyes in the breaking of the bread. Each Sunday our hearts burn within us as the scriptures are proclaimed and Christ appears as bread is broken and wine is poured. The story of Emmaus becomes the pattern of our worship each Lord’s Day. Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Henry Purcell is deservedly known as England’s greatest composer before Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughan Williams. His music is used often in movie soundtracks and his operas are revived frequently on international stages. Join our music partner, Texas Early Music Project, as they end their 2025-2026 season with music from Purcell’s eclectic repertoire for the theater, the opera, the court, the sanctuary, and the pub. Saturday, April 18 at 7:30 PM or Sunday, April 19 at 3:00 PM at Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Ave., 78722. To purchase tickets, visit www.early-music.org.
Christ is risen! It is often hard to believe, to actually trust. Because believing is challenging, we will invest ourselves in the Easter mystery for fifty days (a week of weeks). Faith is an investment. The stories of John the Evangelist provide sign after sign celebrating Jesus’ victory over death. We are invited to recognize Christ’s presence all around us, and then serving Christ’s life-changing peace in all the world. Christ’s mind, hands, feet, and body in the world come to life through us and through all creation. Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
We are grateful to God for all in this community, including those that enlivened worship, learning, witness, and service in Lent, Holy Week, and on Easter Day:
– for those who welcomed everyone who visited this community, including for the first time;
– for Terry Porter, who fashioned the Easter Cross from a previous Christmas tree;
– for Teresa Ringness, for the gift of Easter Lilies in memory of her son, Jeffrey David Tice;
– for JP Northcutt-Benson, who produced 14 worship services on livestream in this season;
– for those who steward God’s creation, this campus, & God’s resources;
– for those who prepared & shared Easter bags, hospitality time, & the Easter Egg Hunt;
– for those who prepared & served food for the hungry through Micah 6 & LuMin;
– for those who donated to the mission, engagement, & benevolence of this congregation;
– for those who offered the gifts of art, music, poetry, preaching, & planning to glorify God;
– for the gifts of wisdom & wonder from children to elders;
– for those who advocate, heal, teach, protect, care, & serve in & through this congregation;
– for those who work, pray, & protest for peace & justice;
– for every blessing of life.
The Easter season is the church’s fifty day celebration of the resurrection of Christ. It is the time of greatest joy as we gather in the good news of Christ’s victory over death and the power of God to renew our lives. In the tradition of the whole church, it was also the time for the newly baptized to deepen their connection to Christ and to experience the mystery of new life as a gift of grace. With women at the empty tomb of Jesus, we are astonished, elated, and grateful. God’s steadfast love is forever! Alleluia!
“Hosanna” or “Hoshana” (הושענא) is a Hebrew word meaning save us now. Saint Augustine, fourth century bishop of the church, called Holy Week, the “Great Week” because of the great things that were accomplished during these days. Augustine said, “Unless the church can learn to identify itself with Christ in his death and resurrection, unless it can, on Palm Sunday, approach Jerusalem with Jesus, die with him on Holy Friday, and rise with him at the culmination of the Easter feast, the church cannot accomplish its mission, which is not only to proclaim the good news but to embody it in the world.” Many in the church recently celebrate Palm Sunday in two parts – the entry into Jerusalem and then the Passion of Jesus. FELC chooses to observe a more ancient custom and celebrate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and reserve the Passion for Good Friday. We celebrate the Lord of heaven and earth riding on a donkey – and we, too, join the procession of people – whoever we are and from wherever. Jesus welcomes all.
We approach the days of the passion of our Lord. In the gospel story for the fifth Sunday in Lent, Jesus reveals his power over death by raising Lazarus from the dead. The Hebrew prophet Ezekiel prophesies God breathing new life into dry bones. To those in exile or living in the shadows of war, violence, and death, these stories proclaim God’s promise of resurrection. God is very near, and as near as our breath – and even beyond our breathing. We are never alone.