The Epic Conclusion
Years ago Sarah and the boys and I watched all the Marvel cinematic movies. You know, The Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, etc…It was 22 movies over the course of 11 years spanning stories that take place over decades and decades…and we knocked it out in a few months during 2020. When the final movie of the original journey wrapped up with Endgame in 2019 there were lots of people that just assumed they could go see that movie without seeing 20 other films.
Yeah…you can…but that is like skipping to the end and watching the series finale of M*A*S*H or reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows or simply watching the Super Bowl without putting in the time to journey all the way there.
You can certainly enjoy it…but you miss all that happened leading up to those final moments. The highs and lows, the joy and sorrows, and the epic narrative and nuances of a beautiful story are all missed because you fast tracked to the end.
We are in the midst of that epic narrative, that beautiful story and we are just getting ready to ramp up to the conclusion that is good news of great joy for all people. We are in the midst of Holy Week.
Some of you may know that already or some of you may have just realized that. This past Sunday was Palm Sunday. It was Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem to remember the Passover. Jesus has been spending this week teaching and being confronted by people who aren’t sure about him. We are about to reach the most most difficult parts of Holy Week.
I get it.
Thursday and Friday can feel like leg day…nobody loves it, but you shouldn’t skip leg day.
If you so choose, you can skip to Easter. You can fast forward to his beautiful resurrection defeating sin and death, which is great. You can enjoy singing the Easter songs and wearing your pastel dress clothes on Sunday…but you will have missed all that led up to that moment making it so sweet.
So I want to invite you to join us as we journey to Easter morning.
Over the next few days there are some opportunities to worship with us as we remember the days leading up to Easter.
We know how this story ends, so we can see the silver lining in the midst of this week. As if when Jesus shares in his last supper or when he is betrayed and dies, we wink at Jesus knowing what is coming.
But what if we tried to really suspend ourselves in the weightiness of the days, the difficulties of the moment, the questions about the future, and with broken hearts and broken dreams we grieve with Jesus and his friends and family 2000 years ago.
This Thursday at 6pm, there is a service at The Chapel called Maundy Thursday. Maundy means mandate and is rooted in Jesus’ teaching in the upper room on that final night where he commanded his disciples to love. Our time together will be a communion service where we will remember Jesus sharing the bread and wine with his disciples as they remembered the Passover. This service will be less than an hour and will conclude with communion. We will have bread and juice and we will also have gluten free individual servings for those who would prefer that option. The table is open to all.
This Friday at 6pm, there is a Good Friday service at The Chapel. This is the dark and difficult day where we remember Jesus’ death. Our time together will be a weaving of songs and scripture to tell those final hours. It will be a beautiful and powerful service and I hope you can join us for it. This service will be about an hour or less as well.
At the conclusion of the Good Friday service, we will invite everyone to leave in silence. To take in the heaviness of the moment and sit in that grief until Sunday morning.
On Sunday morning we will have 3 services to celebrate Jesus and his resurrection.
A Sunrise Service at 6am on the beach in Seaside and Easter services at 8:30 and 10am at The Chapel.
The Sunrise Service on the beach is a wonderful services that starts in nearly darkness and concludes with the sun shining bright. To join us for this service, we will have access through the Coleman pavilion, this is the iconic white obelisk pavilion with the grand stairs. There is the most amount of room at this service, so if you are looking for space, this is your best bet. We will not have chairs and will have limited blankets, so bring whatever it is you need for the beach. A beach chair, a towel or beach blanket is great. The weather looks beautiful on Sunday, but dress for comfort. You can totally wear your pastel sundress or your 3 piece suit…but you can also roll up in your pjs or athleisure wear. We will have ushers and greeters that will help direct you that morning.
The two Easter services at The Chapel at 8:30am and 10am will be identical. We’ll have wonderful music and a message celebrating the resurrection. Seating will be limited inside The Chapel, but we’ll have lots of outdoor seating. The Grove to the east of the sanctuary will have the normal benches and screens. On the lawn we’ll have a tent with a screen out there as well so you can see and worship with us. Traditionally the 8:30 service is the lowest attended one, but it is still very full. The Chapel indoor seating will open on Easter morning at 8am for the 8:30 service and about 9:40 for the 10am service. But the outdoor seating will be open all morning.
Please note, we will not have Kids Church on Easter Sunday.
All of our services on Easter morning will be less than an hour to accommodate so many people. As well on Sunday morning, when we collect the offering, we follow in a tradition to give 50% of what comes in, back to transform the world around us. We use it in our community and beyond to help feed the hungry, clothe our neighbors, welcome the stranger, care for widows and orphans and more by proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ through word and action. We partner with great organizations and if you are interested in knowing more about our partners, or you choose to give online, just go to thechapelatseaside.com/give. On Sunday, you can bring a financial gift to the beach or to The Chapel, mail it in, or give online.
Parking around here can be a challenge, but here are a few thoughts to make it as easy as possible.
- Free parking is available at Seaside/Watercolor Public Parking Lot on the west end of Seaside and east end of Watercolor just off of 30A. 20 Western Lake Dr, Santa Rosa Beach, FL. It is just a short walk away from the beach or The Chapel.
- On 30A there are some free spots on the Northside of the road and likely will have room early in the day.
- In Seaside, around the Lyceum on Smolian Circle and a few other areas around town there are paid parking options.
- Seaside also offers a shuttle service that starts at 6am that picks up on 331 near The Bay restaurant. For more info on the shuttle, go to https://seasidefl.com/news/seaside-parking-shuttle-plan-for-2024/
- Of course walking, biking, riding with friends and family are all great options this Sunday if you can make those work.
There will be virtually no parking at The Chapel due to the tent for Sunday and making room for people. Please do not park in places that say “No Parking”, in front of people’s home, or in places that require a permit. We do not want you to get a ticket and we all want to be great neighbors in our community. Please try all the other parking options above.
If you are out of town, under the weather, or just need to worship from home, you can watch our live-stream here on our website, thechapelatseaside.com, on our Facebook page, Facebook.com/TheChapelAtSeaside and our Vimeo page, Vimeo.com/thechapelatseaside.
Seaside also has some other great things happening around town to celebrate Easter from 11am-2pm on Sunday. To get all the details, just go to https://seasidefl.com/event/easter-celebration/
We hope if you are in town this week, you are able to join us for the greatest week of the Christian calendar. We believe Easter is meant to be experienced and celebrated because it changes everything.
For more about Easter, please go to thechapelatseaside.com/easter to get all the information you need as well as a Lent Playlist curated by our worship leader Daniel Pratt.
No matter if you are in town visiting, you live here, from all of us who call The Chapel home, you are welcome here and we cannot wait to journey with you the rest of Holy Week and celebrate on Easter Sunday.
Let us know if you have any questions or need anything.
Blessings.
Andrew