THEOLOGICAL CLUE

The method of counting the Sundays between Easter Sunday and Pentecost provides the theological clue to worship and preaching during the Easter season. Easter, as a unitive event, which combines the death and resurrection of Jesus in its celebration, is the pivotal Sunday of the church year; the resurrection is imperative in the gospels and in the life of the church and the lives of its members. The resurrection assures believers of something that is entirely new, something beyond the experience of living in this world, life in a new type of existence, the everlasting realm over which God reigns. The "newness" begins in this life as people, through God's grace, believe that Jesus is the risen Lord, but that "new life" continues beyond the grave; it is not for this life on…