Easter Sunday

Do you remember all the excitement over Easter Sunday when you were a child? I remember all the little white hats and gloves and new dresses and shoes. It was a huge taboo to wear white shoes before Easter. We probably all have at least one picture similar to this either of us as girls or maybe one of our own children dressed in their Easter finery.

Easter is the holiday that we have established to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In the history of the Churches of Christ we celebrate the resurrection every Sunday with the Lord's Supper. 

The Lord's Supper came out of the Jewish celebration of the Passover. The Passover was the last of the 10 plagues that God sent to the Egyptians before the Pharaoh finally let them go. Moses gave the people specific instructions for the Passover as God had given them to him. Each family took a lamb and sacrificed it to be eaten and then to take some of the blood and paint it on the tops and sides of the door frames of their houses. The blood was a sign for the houses where the Jewish families were so that the angel of death would "passover" their houses and not kill their firstborn. 

This celebration was is still celebrated by our Jewish friends today and our calendar dating for Easter coincides with the Jewish calendar for Passover. This feast/celebration has been happening every year (except when the law was lost) since it was created and it was during this feast that Jesus "institued" his last supper. As Christians we celebrate every week because from scriptures it looks like that is what the early church did. "And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight" (Acts 20:7) 

Now, about the bunny and the eggs. Where did that come from? I cannot speak for the bunny but the eggs were a part of the Passover. They are on the traditional Seder plate.

 On the Passover Seder plate lies a roasted Egg, or Beitzah in Hebrew. The egg symbolizes many different things.

• The roundness of the egg resembles the earth and life which is constantly moving in a circle.
• Life - We are all born from an egg.
• An egg is the traditional food for mourners and was brought to Jerusalem after the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.
• The egg symbolizes new life and the spring time since the Passover is celebrated during the season of spring.

While we all know that Easter is about the resurrection, today it has come to mean the beginning of Spring and we all like to get our new shoes, dresses and finery to celebrate the warmth of spring and the colors that come with it. I look forward to seeing everyone all dressed up for Easter! I hope to see you!

Wonderful Wednesday - Creation’s Easter Backdrop

Creation’s Easter Backdrop

Awake! all nature from your winter slumber.

Arise! to see the dawn of a new season's wonder.

Bring forth your hope-filled garlands of spring;

Newborn blooms for a joyous Easter morning.

The fragrance of new life remind us of God's promise;

Immanuel  returned to walk among us.

God's joy is splashed on a canvas of colors;

Poised as a backdrop for our rejoicing cantors.

He lives! He lives! Our Savior lives again!

Let eternal praise and worship begin!

by: Debbra Stephens

Palm Sunday

As I post today I realize that today is Palm Sunday. It is not a "holiday" that we traditionally teach or talk about but it occurred on the last Sunday that Jesus was living before his death, burial and resurrection. The Sunday before Easter is known as "Palm Sunday." It celebrates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. Great crowds of people thronged in the streets and waved palm branches to welcome him. They shouted "Hosanna" and laid their cloaks and palm branches from nearby trees in his path. They were receiving Jesus as their "king." The people thought that Jesus would restore the earthly kingdom of David and clear the Romans from Jerusalem. 

1 As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. 2 "Go into the village over there," he said, "and you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them here. 3 If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will immediately send them." 4This was done to fulfill the prophecy, 5 "Tell the people of Israel, 'Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey -- even on a donkey's colt.'" 6 The two disciples did as Jesus said. 7 They brought the animals to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it. 8 Most of the crowd spread their coats on the road ahead of Jesus, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 He was in the center of the procession, and the crowds all around him were shouting, "Praise God for the Son of David! Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!" 10 The entire city of Jerusalem was stirred as he entered. "Who is this?" they asked. 11 And the crowds replied, "It's Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee." 
14 The blind and the lame came to him, and he healed them there in the Temple. 15 The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the little children in the Temple shouting, "Praise God for the Son of David." But they were indignant 16 and asked Jesus, "Do you hear what these children are saying?" "Yes," Jesus replied. "Haven't you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, 'You have taught children and infants to give you praise.' " NLT

As I read the passage I had to ask myself...If I had been there would I have been with the 'indignant' or the children? Would I be praising Jesus or trying to quiet down the crowds. This week as we contemplate and get ready for Easter Sunday, think about how we can still praise Jesus with our lives and what hinders us from doing so. Let us pray for boldness to always be ready to give a "shout out" for Jesus!

Wonderful Wednesday - My Soul's Symphony

If you got to attend our Ladies Retreat this year you got to hear a sampling from some of Hasandra's poetry. She has her book for FREE for 3 days only from Kindle! You don't have a Kindle...well, you can download the Kindle app for free also! Hurry to the link under the picture and click it or sign on to your own Kindle account to get this wonderful new book. Please note: that we are only advertising this because it is FREE. We will not be using this site as an advertisement for anyone to make money.

This book is FREE today - 3/21 from Amazon. Click here for you Kindle edition.

Poetry that frees the spirit, calms the emotions, and heals the heart.
The poetry in this book explore universal themes of forgiveness, love, friendship, the awakening of awe and the courage to live life authentically. Readers are invited to contemplate each piece and its relevance to their lives. Hasandra's poetry has been used in counseling sessions to help drug addicted mothers and daughters communicate with each other, National Women's Lectureships, Youth Conferences, Marriage Retreats and On-demand writing assignments. She says that "life informs my writing" and the truth of that is heard in the many testimonies of the lives she touch:

"A chance meeting in a bookstore led me to "My Soul's Symphony." Heyward's powerful images of compassion, love and what it means to care took me beyond that chance meeting. Her poems heal old wounds, move us to reach out to others, and strive for our potential. As a nursing instructor struggling to teach compassion and caring, this book is a valuable tool. Heyward's poetry has found its way into my heart and into my classroom."
B. Hultquist (Texas)

"We hope that all creative women who read this book will be inspired to find the Hasandra Heyward inside themselves, ready to write their own stories."
Jennifer Schneider, AROHO FOUNDATION (Mexico)

"Your beautiful gift "My Soul's Symphony" has truly been a blessing and an inspiration to me during a very low point in my life. I love all your poems, but "Quiet Place" has touched my heart in a very special way."
P. Bacon (Georgia)

The TWIG - A new resource for women

Welcome to our first blog post for the TWIG. What is the TWIG? It is intended to be a resource for our women at Burnt Hickory. We will strive to keep it positive and informative at all times. We would love to hear from you as we post to you on a weekly basis. This is an open blog to the women of the church...if you have an article you would like to share please feel free to submit it to us for review. 

Coming off of our annual Women’s Retreat at Burnt Hickory, we can truly say that we are a blessed church. We enjoyed a wonderful weekend at the beautiful facility Cohutta Springs Conference Center,  in the N. Georgia mountains and so many women were touched by what Peg Fewell had to say and all the hard work that Waleska White, Ann Ashley and Myrna Chapple put into planning and implementing this event…Thank you ladies!

Looking back at where we have been with our women’s ministry and the rich history we have, Janice, Tracie and myself are looking forward to continuing to grow our ministry and build it into a ministry that will truly bless women of all ages and walks of life as we strive to teach Bible, make disciples and experience community.

Our theme for this year will be taken from Jeremiah 29:11-13, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

We have so many great ideas going through our hearts that we may have to narrow them down a bit but please know that we are working hard to build a ministry that will speak well of our female saints at Burnt Hickory.

We ask that you will keep us in your prayers through the next few years as we try to best lead us all in a stronger and closer relationship to the Lord and one another. Feel free to come to us with your ideas and dreams and we look forward to hearing from you.

Made in His Image,

Tracie Shields, Judi Sparks and Janice Stroud