04/05/2026
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed.
Beloved friends,
Easter morning begins in the dark—before the sun is fully up, before anyone quite understands what God is doing. And yet, by the time the garden comes into view, everything has changed. The stone is rolled away. The tomb is empty. And somehow, life is already breaking through.
When Mary mistakes Jesus for the gardener (John 20:15), it stands out to me. After all, a gardener specializes in new life, in nurturing the tiniest green sprout into something amazing. How like the Resurrection- a simple empty tomb starts the greatest story in creation.
We are seeing signs of that story among us here at Camp Ground. In the steady, faithful work that so many of you offer week after week, like those who worked to make our Easter services and Egg Hunt a success. In new faces and new members finding their place in this community. In the way we are learning how to be the church together in this season.
Scripture tells us, “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). That promise is not just for some distant future. It is unfolding here, even now.
And it is unfolding in each of you, too. For some, faith feels strong and steady, full of clarity and conviction. For others, it may feel quieter—more like a question than an answer. Some of you are carrying joy this season; others are carrying grief, uncertainty, or weariness that hasn’t lifted just because Easter has come.
Wherever you find yourself, this is the good news: the risen Christ meets you there. Not where you think you ought to be, but where you are. Calling you by name and claiming you as his own. Offering not only forgiveness, but hope and new life.
We are Easter people—not because everything is easy or certain, but because we trust that resurrection is still at work. That God is still bringing life out of what seemed finished. That no part of our story is beyond redemption.
There are still questions ahead of us. There is still work to do. But Easter reminds us that God’s work does not depend on perfect conditions or perfect people. It begins in unlikely places—gardens, empty tombs, ordinary lives—and it grows from there.
I believe we are in such a season. A time of tending, of growth, of becoming. My prayer for you this Easter is simple: that you would notice where new life is finding you. Where something long quiet is stirring again. Where Christ is meeting you with grace you did not expect, or joy you thought had passed you by.
And for us, together, that we would have the patience and the courage to follow where Christ leads next—trusting that the One who began this work among us will carry it forward (Philippians 1:6).
The tomb is empty. That is everything.
Grace and peace to you this Easter,
Pastor Bobby
