Good Friday and Easter photos

It's been a busy, busy week... But now that we've got some breathing room, it's definitely time to post some photos from last weekend's events.

Every year for Good Friday and Easter (except last year, when Easter fell over spring break...), the evangelical fellowships on campus come together for a weekend of services commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's always such a beautiful weekend -- I love each and every one of these events.

Good Friday Service
On Friday night, we all gathered in the Rockefeller Common Room for the annual Good Friday service. It's a more somber service, focusing specifically on the crucifixion -- which is, honestly, something that I don't meditate on often enough.

The service is full of beautiful music...




...readings from scripture that walk you through the last hours leading up to the crucifixion...

...and a homily. This year, we had Ross Wagner, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and an elder at Westerly, who spoke on the shame that was borne by Jesus on the cross.

Tons of people came out to the service, including several grad students from our small groups -- it was so good to worship with all of you!





Easter Sunrise Service
At 6:30am on Easter Sunday morning, as the sun was rising over campus, about 50 of us gathered for a sunrise service on Frist South Lawn.

The service began with a trumpet call to worship...

...and continued with singing...

...readings from Scripture telling the story of Christ's resurrection and our resultant eternal hope...

...and communion.

A surprising number of students were there, despite the early hour, and a surprising number of women were wearing pretty Easter dresses, despite the chill of the morning!



And then we all headed away from the sunrise, on to the baptism service.

Easter Baptism Service
Eight of our brothers and sisters were baptized on Easter Sunday -- praise God!

Bill was giving final instructions to the eight about to be baptized as the rest of us filed in...

...and here's a shot of about half of the crowd that gathered to witness the baptisms. There were so many people there to support their brothers and sisters!

Bill led off with a short talk on the call to baptism, and the importance of this sacrament in the Christian life.

Then each of the eight being baptized gave testimony to the work God has done in their lives...

...the three leaders of PEF and Manna entered the pool...

...and each of the eight were baptized in turn.

Congratulations, Andrew, Alan, Ivy, Sumin, Jeff, Eric, Beza, and Karin!

Easter Luncheon at the Beesons'
And then, we capped off our weekend of Easter celebrations at the home of John and Angel Beeson. They invited tons of people from Westerly into their home for a fabulous luncheon spread, and for Easter egg fun!

We got to hang out with dear friends...


...and then filled plastic Easter eggs with candy and hid them for the little kids...

...who then had a blast running around the yard finding them all!




Thank you, Beesons, for a wonderful Easter afternoon!

So that was our Easter weekend! Hope yours was as blessed and refreshing!

Reflections on Good Friday

In David's church growing up, they never actually celebrated Good Friday or Easter. (Or Christmas, for that matter.) Their conviction is that every Sunday is the Lord's Day, so that each worship service celebrates the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus.

It's a good reminder that our brethren in the early days of the church started gathering on the first day of the week, calling it the Lord's Day, to worship the Christ who died and then rose from the grave on that very day.

But I do think that properly understood, one can still find value in the special reminder of the work of Christ on the cross found in Easter. Having a Good Friday and an Easter Sunday recognizes certain human frailties. Like how easy it is to grow complacent in our faith. And how quickly we forget how awesome the message of the gospel really is.

Think about it -- the holy and righteous God and creator of the whole universe, seeing His creation fallen in sin, provided the perfect solution. He sent His Son to earth to live a perfect life among us, being tempted in all the ways we are but being without sin. Jesus then died on the cross for us all, bearing the weight of our sin, and serving as the perfect sacrificial lamb to turn away God's wrath. He then conquered sin and death, rising again on the third day. By His grace alone, we can come before God forgiven, seeing His transformative work in our lives here on earth, and rest secure in our hope for a glorious eternity.

Too often, I forget just how amazing this gospel message truly is. What an incredible gift is offered to us all! So I appreciate having a time specifically set aside each year to remember.

And this weekend, we'll be remembering together. We've got the interfellowship Good Friday service tomorrow night, which is always my favorite service of the year -- a time of Scripture reading, music, testimony, and prayer as we all come together to remember Christ's death on the cross. And then we'll have a series of celebrations on Easter Sunday -- a sunrise service, a baptism, and a luncheon with dear friends.

This Easter, may we all remember the amazing wonders of the cross. And may we not so quickly forget.

But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed. [Isaiah 53:5, ESV]

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. [Hebrews 4:14-16, NIV]

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. [Romans 8:1-4, NIV]

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. [Ephesians 2:4-10, NIV]

Rob and Myun Hwa!

This past weekend, we went up to New Haven to celebrate the wedding of one of David's college roommates. It was a beautiful wedding, and a really fun reunion of the Princeton '01 crowd!

[Photos are thumbnails here -- just for you, Don! Click to enlarge.]

They had really beautiful flower arrangements for the ceremony:

And lots of beautiful music:

The ceremony used some of the language of the Book of Common Prayer, and was consciously Christ-centered -- I think it was the first wedding I'd been to where there was scripture and music devoted to confession of sins. It made for a very moving service, all beautifully done.

Cute flower girls; the littlest one didn't make it down the aisle,
but was still adorable in her refusal to do so. :)

Myun Hwa locking eyes with her groom

The ceremony was officiated by Jon Hinkson '85.

It was windy and somewhat rainy for much of the day in New Haven, but right at the end of the service, the sun broke through the clouds and shone through the windows on the couple -- always a good sign. :) And it made for pretty pictures of the couple on the steps of the church, with the wind gracefully lifting Myun Hwa's veil:

The reception was so much fun! The couple arrived at the reception in traditional Korean hanboks (Rob was really rocking the headdress!), and had a pae baek ceremony to honor their parents. Traditionally, the pae baek is done for the groom's parents -- the bride and groom bow deeply and serve tea, symbolizing their submission to the groom's parents and the bride's entry into her new family. But Rob and Myun Hwa chose to honor both sets of parents, and it turned out to be a really sweet symbol of family unity -- it's not that Myun Hwa has cut off ties with her family and is now living under the thumb of her mother-in-law (which, let's face it, is the traditional Korean way), but rather that the two families are coming together as one. Which was really sweet to see!

The drummer who announced the couple.

Myun Hwa and Rob in their hanboks

Placing a crown on Myun Hwa's head

Deep bows to their parents (with assistance for Myun Hwa -- her clothes
were too heavy for her to manage the bows on her own!)

Rob pouring juice for his new in-laws

Catching chestnuts and dates thrown by the parents --
chestnuts symbolize prosperity, and dates symbolize sons.

And, of course, the reception had all the other trappings of traditional Western weddings as well:

And did I mention old friends?

Jeff S. '98, Jon K. '01, Don L. '01, and Justin H. '01

Jared and Ling showing Justin and his fiancee Tiffany pictures of their baby boy

Steve tying the bow of the youngest Hinkson girl (Isabella?),
and meeting with her approval

Annie N. '01, with her 4-month-old son Josiah

Christina and Neil S., both '01, with their 3-week-old son Adrian

It was so good to see everyone, and to celebrate the new Mr. and Mrs. Dunlop!