He is risen!

Apr 17, 2022

Easter Sunday is here and we rejoice with the message of the angels that ‘He is not here, but has risen.’ (Luke 24:1-12) These words were spoken to the women who had come to the tomb expecting to anoint the body of their Lord. They had come ‘to bury with him their hopes of a new way of living, their dreams of a world which was governed by justice and mercy, a kingdom of righteousness and truth.’ (‘Sharing The Easter Story’, P 218) But as they arrived, musing how they were going to roll the stone away, they found that God had been before them and changed everything.

This is what Easter is all about: the God who died and rose again and changes everything. Phil Wickham, in the song ‘Christ Is Risen’, sings,

‘The prodigal is welcomed home,
The sinner now a saint,
For the God who died came back to life
And everything is changed.’

Everything is changed. We are changed. As we hear these words properly, take them into our hearts and live by them, we are changed. ‘And then we must share this wonderful story, because this news is too good to keep to ourselves!’ (‘Sharing The Easter Story’, P 219)

Good Friday

Apr 16, 2022

We celebrated our Good Friday service by eating a meal together, just as Jesus did at the Last Supper with His disciples.

After the meal, we shared Holy Communion and had a service where we focussed on our Lent theme of ‘changing.’

Change is possible because of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are daily being transformed and conformed to His image (see 2 Cor 3:17-18, Rom 8:29). On the one hand, this change is instantaneous when we believe on Him (see John 3:36), but on the other hand, this is an ongoing process of ‘being made holy’ (see Heb 10:10,14). Change can often seem to us painful and unpleasant (after all, the biggest change ever was only made possible through the painful reality of Good Friday), but we can be secure in God’s ability to change us, even though He himself remains unchanging. (Mal 3:16)
We remembered that Good Friday is not the end of the story. Even Easter Sunday is not the end of the story, for Jesus continues to work in our world today, saving and changing all who will believe in Him. Sally Welch says, ‘the wonder of the empty tomb must continue to send its echoes into our daily lives… as we share the story of God’s loving purposes for every one of his children.’ (‘Sharing The Easter Story’, P 220) This is our task now, to spread the good news of that first Easter to all.

 

Holy Saturday

Apr 16, 2022

As we said yesterday, life is rarely 100% happy. ‘The ancient biblical narratives about the resurrection of Jesus contain a mixture of ecstasy and despondency, an intermingling of delight and discouragement,’ Sally Welch writes. (‘Sharing The Easter Story’, P 215) Not surprisingly, this news, so alien to us all, caused confusion and doubt to some of the followers of Jesus, including those two disciples who walked on the road to Emmaus.

Matt 27:62-66 tells us how the tomb was sealed so that there could be no way Jesus’s disciples would ever be able to speak about a resurrection. Many of us live our lives in that Holy Saturday moment, trapped, held back by the lies of the world, unable to praise God. Yet Christ appears to us as He did to those two disciples, to the women who were grief-stricken; He appears ‘where two or three are gathered in his name.’ (Matt 18:20)

As we approach Easter Sunday, we are reminded that the gospel is indeed good news – but it can only be so if that news is shared. Sally Welch speaks of how we do this: through ‘simple conversations, cheerful sharing of hospitality, easy and sympathetic companionship.’ (‘Sharing The Easter Story’, P 216) Hope rises as we remind ourselves of the truth that Jesus is alive forever now.

Dancing In The Shadow Of The Cross

Apr 15, 2022

This thought-provoking article from Matt Jolley of LICC reminds us that ‘to be a Christian is to be well-acquainted with the tension between the now and the not yet, as we see both beauty and brokenness on our frontlines’, reminding us through the witness and testimony of Grammy-award-winning artist Jon Batiste that ‘Jesus, pioneer and perfecter of faith, endured the cross because of the joy set before him (Hebrews 12:1–3). As we fix our eyes on him, the same joy bleeds into us, giving us strength when we’re weary and hope when we’re losing heart. Through his sacrifice, we’re liberated from the darkness to dance to the music of the resurrection.’

Worth reading and dancing!

Dancing in the Shadow of the Cross

The Blessed Hope We Have

Apr 15, 2022

In last night’s Bible study, we continued looking at New Testament references to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians is a book with many references to this (see 2 Thess 1:5-10, 2 Thess 2:1-12), and it’s not always easy to interpret these passages (especially about the ‘man of lawlessness’, a phrase referring to Daniel’s prophecy in Daniel 11:21-33). There has been much speculation over the years about who this will be, with many historical figures identified with this man. What we can see, clearly, however, from these passages is that God is still in control and He is is just. However difficult circumstances may become before Jesus’s return, we see that for those who believe and obey the Gospel, this return is a blessed hope which motivates our current living (see Titus 2:11-14, 2 Peter 3:1-13).
The return of the Lord is something we should eagerly desire and expect (2 Pet 3:12). The Message version says, ‘Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival.’ (The Message) We should never treat this doctrine as something merely academic, but should allow the urgency of the gospel message to inform how we live and fill us with hope that God has a plan for our world which will be wonderful to behold.

Look Beyond

Apr 15, 2022

On Good Friday, we traditionally reflect on the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins. It is important to do this, but it is not the end of the story, despite what we may think. Death is usually seen as the end (and not a happy ending.) It speaks to us of tragedy, pain, loss, separation. I can imagine those who gathered at the crucifixion hoped for a different ending and went home that day saddened beyond words, and quite possibly confused and bewildered. They had hoped for a different ending.

That ‘different ending’ would indeed come, but not before the bitterness of death had had its moment. So it is for us. Our reading today (Mark 15:42-43, Mark 16:1-8) is not a traditional Good Friday reading, for it looks beyond that day. It’s a reminder that Christians are people who must learn to ‘look beyond.’ We must learn to look beyond sorrow, look beyond pain, look beyond suffering, persecution, doubt and despair to the God of hope, to the God of resurrection.

Even on Resurrection Day and beyond, there was fear and doubt, as the Gospel accounts make plain. We don’t easily or automatically adjust to hope and glory! But we can be sure, even as we stand at the cross on Good Friday, that this is not the end of the story and therefore there is hope.