Shaking Things Up This Easter

February 10, 2018 by Staff of The Upper Room

After 42 years in pastoral ministry, James Harnish has something to say about earthquakes, the kind that shake our most basic assumptions: that the ground will remain steady beneath your feet, that the world's current existence is the way it will always be. In his latest book and online course, Easter Earthquake (Upper Room, 2018), Harnish reminds us that Good Friday and Easter rattle the bedrock assumptions on which we build our lives.

In Easter Earthquake, the retired United Methodist preacher invites us to shake things up as we place the resurrection at the center of our Lenten journey.

Harnish served Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa, Florida from 1992 to 2014 and now ministers through his writing. Asked how he would spend his days during retirement, he says, "I'm going to spend a lot of time being a husband, father and grandfather. I'll also be doing some writing." And so today, he serves a new congregation of book readers and people who gather online to grow and explore together from anywhere at anytime.

During Lent 2018, The Upper Room is offering the six-week Easter Earthquake online course, beginning Wednesday, February 14, with Harnish guiding online participants to ponder something earth moving.

Harnish leads us to explore how Christ's resurrection shakes some of our basic assumptions about ourselves and God. Easter Earthquake reverses the usual focus of Lenten studies by starting at the empty tomb and seeing the entire journey in light of the resurrection.

"The earth-shaking promise of Easter is that God has not forsaken any of us," Harnish writes. "The risen Christ will meet us along the confused, chaotic, fearful paths of our lives and speak the same words the women hear at the tomb: 'Do not be afraid.'"

Join James Harnish in this energizing exploration that will inspire you to live as a more faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.

______

James Harnish

Online course FEATURES include:

- Daily: A guide for daily meditation and prayer (with daily email reminders)

- Weekly: Video introductions with author James Harnish, 5 readings, a prayer focus, questions for group discussion, and a hymn focus with accompanying audio recording

- All essential content from the book, Easter Earthquake, is included in the classroom.

- The six-week experience launches on Ash Wednesday, February 14 but is accessible anytime during Lent.

- Private classrooms for congregations or groups are available at a discounted rate.

- An open classroom for all participants includes lively discussion and interaction with new friends. 

- Cost: $19 for individual enrollment. Discounts available for groups of 5 or more.

You don't have to be tech savvy to take an Upper Room eCourse. We want this experience to be a good, fulfilling one for all participants who join us from far and wide, during breaks at work or late at night after the kids have gone to bed. Join us for easy-to-access materials: videos, reading materials, and engagement with other participants.


For more information Easter Earthquake, click here.


Read a Q & A interview with James Harnish here.


0 Comments
Log In to leave a comment