“The Lord is risen!” we proclaimed last Sunday, as another Easter grasped us with its joyous message. But today is another Sunday, and other issues emerge. What are we to do we do when Easter seems a lifetime away, a world away? Today we enter the world of a fictional person who supposedly lived three and a half millennia ago, whose story is as current as the headlines or the lead stories which confront us every day. Looking through the telescope of time, let us, with sober confidence, worship God.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Easter is by far the most important Sunday in the year. On that day the priest always begins the service by saying, “The Lord is risen!” Then the people say in response, “He is risen indeed!” Three times the Easter proclamation is made, and three times the congregation responds, repeating the same glorious exclamation. Let us, with our sisters and brothers in the Orthodox Church, join into the joyous news.

Palm Sunday was the most glorious day in Jesus’ life. When he entered Jerusalem with his disciples, a large crowd followed him, waving palm branches and singing “Hosanna: Salvation Now!” But as triumphant as that day was, it also was short-lived. Within a couple days Jesus was in serious trouble, by Thursday evening he was arrested, and on Friday he died by crucifixion. All the disciples, and we as well, are shocked beyond description. But that is not the last word. Let us now worship the God who always has the last word.

The time grows shorter for Jesus to live. Events and trends and people seem to conspire against him, and soon he will be entirely alone, nailed to a cross. What does it mean? Who is responsible? What, if anything, can we do in response to his crucifixion? The Lenten drama continues, and we contemplate yet another of the principal characters in the passion of the one we call the Messiah. In the midst of it all, with us God watches and waits and wonders. Therefore let us turn to worship the God who leads us to Golgatha.

Some people are greatly blessed by when and where they were born, and others find their lives inevitably much harder because of when and where they were born. Today we are thinking about what it means to have been born as Americans in the twentieth century, when our nation became the most powerful state in the history of humanity. God is with everyone born anywhere at any time, but How can we best be with him in our place and time? With that goal in mind, we gather to worship the God of all peoples and nations.

Christianity has evolved through twenty centuries and through the leading of millions of many different kinds of Christians. Today we continue to examine the thinking of the apostle Paul, who, more perhaps than anyone else, laid the foundation for what Christianity was to become. He wrote about the freedom which Jesus Christ made possible for us, and we extol God for that freedom. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship the God who ultimately sets all of His children free.

In Psalm 24 David wrote, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” On a beautiful sunny day, when it appears as though spring may actually spring once again, we are reminded of how good the earth is, and how everything in it, including us, belongs to God. We join together in praise of a God who gives us life in abundance, and who makes it possible for everyone to share in that abundance, if we will but agree politically and economically on how to make that happen. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship the God of wondrous plenty.

On this day which falls five days before the day on which traditionally a particular kind of love is celebrated and exalted, we gather in praise of a God who loves all of us with a love which never fails, and who engenders many kinds of love in us for one another. We gather in the hope that love will truly make the world go round, and that we may be made partners in that great and noble endeavor. Now let us, with loving confidence, worship God.

The old hymn declares, “How beautiful the march of days, as seasons come and go.” Living in southern South Carolina, we normally don’t see much winter. But this winter seems like winter again. Whatever comes our way, God is with us every step of the way. We gather to praise Him for His constancy, His grace, and His love. He is the God of never-failing goodness. Therefore with joyful hearts we unite with confidence to worship the God who goes with us throughout the beautiful march of days.

People of faith vary enormously in the strength or weakness of their faith, but all are integral parts of the faith community. Blest indeed are the ties that bind our hearts in Christian love. When we worship, we do so as people who need one another to grow in grace and to deepen our commitment to God and to one another. Therefore let us, with the confidence we have been given as members of the faith community of Christians, worship God.

Ten years ago, on January 4, 2004, The Chapel Without Walls held its first service of worship in the Hilton Head Middle School. Now, ten years and three locations later, we are gathered in Congregation Beth Yam to celebrate our tenth anniversary. We thank God for His guidance of our congregation during the past decade, and we praise Him for His grace and love for everyone who has ever participated in the life of our church. Therefore, let us with new confidence in a new year, worship God.