From The Bishop April 14, 2017
Good morning beloved 34th Street Church family,
Let me take this opportunity to wish you a Blessed and Happy Good Friday. When you look at all that happened during Holy Week only God could make this day “good.” When one looks at the events of Thursday night and Friday itself there is nothing that seems to be good. What we see is blood, gore, pain, suffering and death but what God saw was life, power, forgiveness, salvation, hope and love and in the end, those are the things that won. Good Friday tells us that life, love and the Lord always win and that is what makes it good.
Good Friday and Easter are monumental days in the Christian faith, and I can’t stress enough how crucial it is we take time, together, to reflect on the gift of Christ’s love for us. Today, I pray that you walk in the confidence and assurance that after three hours on the Cross, when Jesus cried it is finished, it was a shout of victory and you and I live triumphant over the grave and all that the grave represents.
Tonight, we gather at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church for our annual Seven Sayings of Jesus from the Cross at 7:00 p.m. The address is 3410 E. Wilder Avenue, Tampa, FL 33610. This service is dedicated to assist the needs of Potter Elementary School. Each person is requested to bring school supplies. On Saturday, April 15, 2017 in the parking lot of the church we will host our Annual Spring Festival from 10 to 1:00 p.m. for the children of our church and community. On Sunday, we will celebrate The Glorious Service of Resurrection in two powerful services @ 6:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. The 6:30 a.m. Sunrise service will be in the heart of downtown Tampa in Joe Chillura Park, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd. Following our Sunrise service, we will have breakfast at 8:00 a.m. in the fellowship hall of our church. 9:00 a.m. will be our annual Easter Program with our children.
Our Easter celebrations offer us the opportunity to invite family and friends to our church. Make calls, send emails—just reach out to those close to you and take the risk of asking them to join you at a service. You can change a life, and you will never regret taking this leap of faith.
I look forward to seeing you tonight as we worship on this Good Friday. In preparation for the word and worship on Resurrection Sunday, let me encourage you to read Luke chapter 24:1-6 (NLT) and let us pray for a powerful move of God on this Lord’s day. Also, pray for our church, our members and our ministry that we will be all God is calling us to be.
In closing know that I love you and pray for you and that I am glad to be your pastor