Kindred in Christ,

Christ is risen! And yet, even in this season of resurrection, we know that the world is still aching. Wars continue. Injustice persists. Grief lingers. Resurrection doesn’t erase pain—it works to redeem it. That’s the kind of Easter faith we’re embracing this season.

This Sunday, we begin a new sermon series for the Easter season called “Signs of New Creation.” Following the Lectionary, each week, we’ll hear from the Book of Acts and the Gospel of John—two bold witnesses to what resurrection looks like in motion. Not as a one-time miracle confined to a tomb in ancient Jerusalem, but as a Spirit-led movement disrupting the world as we know it and opening us to the world as God intends it to be.

Throughout the series we will be guided by the insights of theologian Willie James Jennings, who reminds us that, “The Book of Acts is not a story of the church getting organized—it’s the story of the Spirit breaking through human boundaries, drawing people into unexpected community, and planting signs of new creation in unlikely places.” Jennings reminds us that resurrection is not neat. It’s not tame. It’s not private. It’s disruptive to the status quo—and that’s good news especially for the disenfranchised.

This Sunday, our theme is “A Peace That Disrupts.” We’ll read from Acts 5, where the apostles stand before authorities, accused of stirring up trouble. Why? Because they won’t stop talking about Jesus—the one they say was “hung on a tree” by the powers of this world. Their message isn’t just personal—it’s political. It’s public. It challenges the very systems that tried to silence justice and love.

We’ll also read from John 20, where the risen Christ shows up to his disciples behind locked doors. He speaks words we say every week: “Peace be with you.” But this isn’t a peace that maintains the status quo. This is a peace that disrupts our fear, our comfort, and our complicity. It’s the peace of scars, still visible. It’s the peace that sends us out.

This week, we also mark the passing of Pope Francis—a humble, courageous follower of Jesus who reminded us that faith must stand with the poor, the outcast, and the suffering. Toward the end of this life, he made nightly phone calls to a parish in Gaza, listening, grieving, and praying with people under siege. His witness was not about preserving religious power, but about disrupting injustice with love.

May his memory stir something in us.
May the Spirit breathe on us again.
And may we have the courage to follow the Risen Christ into the world still being made new.

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz