Between Sundays – “Easter in October”
Every year when Easter rolls around, we proclaim it with trumpets, lilies, and joyful shouts: “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” But what I love about the Easter story is that it doesn’t end with an empty tomb. It begins there. Easter is not meant to be a single day on the church calendar, it’s meant to be a way of life.
This week, I’m living that truth alongside our Volunteers in Mission team in Ashe County, North Carolina. This community is still recovering from the devastating flooding and hurricane damage that swept through last year. Over the next week we’ll spend our days repairing homes, hammering nails, rebuilding floors, mending walls, sharing meals, and listening to stories of both deep loss and resilient hope.
On these mission trips, what always strikes me most isn’t the work itself, it’s the people. It’s the homeowners who, despite everything, still smile when someone shows up. It’s our team, young and old, working side by side, laughing, sweating, praying. It’s the quiet, holy moments when I can almost feel Christ breathing new life into tired spaces.
This is Easter. Not pastel-colored, not wrapped in lilies, but resurrection all the same.
Easter is Jesus showing up in the broken places, the tired places, the places where hope dares to rise again.
And that is who we are called to be as the church: Easter people, every day.
We are witnesses to resurrection in the way we love, serve, and show up for our neighbors near and far. Calvary lives out that call in so many ways, through your prayers, your giving, your service, your hospitality, and your willingness to go where Christ leads.
Though I’m not in the office this week, I look forward to being back with you in worship on Sunday as we close out The Message of Jesus sermon series. Together, we’ll celebrate the power of resurrection hope and be reminded once again: the story of Easter is still being written through us.
Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Hallelujah.
With hope and gratitude,
Dr. Hutton