Holly Grove Lutheran Church

04/09/2026

Risen Christ, the Easter story is a reminder that nothing could contain you—no tomb, no body, no violent act. You are alive in the world, unfettered and beckoning us to follow. Lead me to the places you have called me to be. Show me where you’re headed. I want to be there, too. Amen.

—prayer by Rev. Sarah A. Speed |

04/08/2026

04/08/2026

Every morning the sun rises,
majestic and steady.
She is greeted
in all her strength
with the joyous cacophony of birdsong.
I like to believe
this holy chorus
is the birds telling each other—
I’m here.
We made it through the night.
You’re not alone.
What good, good news.

—excerpt from the poem “Birdsong” by Rev. Sarah A. Speed |

04/07/2026

Living God, there is so much to be grateful for. Even in the midst of death, new life emerges. Thank you for the flowers that push up through the snow. Thank you for the sun that rises each morning. Thank you for young people who bring energy to tired places. Thank you for hope on the horizon. Thank you for birdsong and new friends and the old, old story of your endless love. Thank you for all the things that help me feel full to the brim with life. Amen.

—prayer by Rev. Sarah A. Speed |

04/06/2026

“How can we trust resurrection when death is on the world’s throne?

Because Jesus knows what we will always need to be reminded of: the good news is greater than any tyrant. The good news of God is more alive than anything that tries to kill God, more alive than anything that tries to kill the imago dei in all of us. Kings come and kings go, and we may tremble still—but God? God shakes the earth with power and might so tender and so fresh it can make a tomb bloom with new life.

Amen, alleluia.”

—Rev. Lizzie McManus-Dail (.mcmizzie), from her commentary on Matthew 28:1-10 |

04/05/2026

“The good news is alive in the world. Do not be afraid. Go back to Galilee. Go back to Galilee where it all started. Go back to Galilee and celebrate like we did at the beginning when we were not afraid, when these words of liberation had not yet drawn the trappings of imperial ex*****on.

Here in this artwork, the crowd is celebrating. Figures are dancing and dancing and dancing. Doves fly among the dancers, breaking borders, Holy Spirit. This throng is in the vacant space of the empty cross.… Around the dancing figures in Galilee, patterns of doves disperse outward. The good news, the euaggelion, is alive in the world.”

—from the artist’s statement for “Meet Me in Galilee” by Hannah Garrity |