We had our first April birthday to celebrate tonight.

Our quiz tonight looked at different kinds of eggs and we had to identify the creature hatched from those eggs – these included not only chickens, but penguins, sea horses and other weird and wonderful creatures!

Then we had to ‘wrap up’ people rather as Lazarus was bound by the grave clothes…

There was a variety of prizes and all children received a book/ comic about Easter and a chocolate egg.

I am loving the ‘so what?’ of preaching lately! Jesus is alive! So what? Rend Collective’s song ‘Resurrection Day’ (now known in our house as the ‘oh-oh’ song, because this is what Esther sings when she hears the song start on CD – listen to the video and you’ll know why!) captures the ‘so what’ perfectly and summed up our service tonight:

‘Because You’re risen, I can rise.

Because You’re living, I’m alive.

Because Your cross is powerful,

Because You rose invincible,

I can get up off the floor.

Because You rolled my stone away,

Because my debt has all been paid,

Because You stand in victory,

Because You crushed the enemy,

I can get up off the floor.

This is my resurrection day.

Nothing’s gonna hold me in the grave.

This is my resurrection day.

Nothing’s gonna hold me down.

Say goodbye to my yesterdays,

Ever since I met You, I am changed,

This is my resurrection day.

Nothing’s gonna hold me down.

The good news is the good news,

‘Cause You chose the rugged cross.

The good news is the good news,

‘Cause You rose up from the dust.

Your gospel is the power that is saving all of us,

So I can get up off the floor,

Get up off the floor.’ (‘Resurrection Day’, Rend Collective)

Because Jesus is alive, we can live too. It’s as simple – and as profound – as that.

Tonight’s family service had the theme ‘Resurrection!’ (what else could we talk about on Easter Sunday?!), and there is a sense in which it’s perfect to have Easter Sunday on April Fool’s Day as we contemplate the foolishness of God being wiser than human wisdom! (see 1 Cor 1:18-25) The resurrection is no hoax, though, and is the basis of the confidence and hope we have as Christians that Christ’s sacrificial death has been accepted by God and we are now reconciled to God, our sins forgiven and new life given to us.

The amazing thing about the resurrection is that Jesus proclaimed he was ‘the resurrection and the life’ (John 11:25) long before He was raised from the dead. The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44) gives us a demonstration of His power during His lifetime, but also shows us how to live with doubt, uncertainty and unbelief, because Jesus was not daunted by the situation of Lazarus dying in the way that everyone else was. He knows all about suffering and sorrow (see Is 53:3, Heb 4:15-16) and His own experience on the cross shows us clearly that there is no escape from these in this world. However, Good Friday is not the end of the story. Jesus rose from the grave to demonstrate His complete mastery over death, sin and the devil, and we can therefore have hope in the darkest of situations, for we serve a risen Saviour. ‘I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.’ (Rev 1:18)

So what? What difference does it make that Jesus is alive?

1. It reminds us that God is powerful – if He is strong enough to raise Jesus from the dead, He is strong enough to sort out all the chaos in our lives.
2. It gives us hope that whilst we might be lost in the mystery of life at the moment, unable to see what God is doing or how things can possibly be worked out for good, He is able to make a way where there is no way, since to Him the future is already a memory because He’s already there. (‘Already There’)
3. It provides us with an anchor for our souls, giving us stability and security in an ever-shifting world of uncertainty and doubt.
4. It gives us purpose because Jesus has entrusted us with a job to do, going into all the world and making disciples of all nations. (Matt 28:18-20)
5. It gives us access to life – life that overflows with joy and hope (John 10:10), life that is everlasting (John 3:16).

The gospel accounts of the Resurrection are all the more powerful for not being a neatly packaged narrative. They tell the story as it was: confused, fearful disciples who were not expecting Jesus to rise from the dead (despite His many predictions!), faithful women who were nonetheless weighed down with worry (how on earth were they going to move that stone away?!), erratic behaviour, joy mingled with doubt and uncertainty. As we read the Easter story, we can’t help but reflect that this is often how we are too. Doubt, fear, uncertainty and worry are mingled with faith, joy, hope and security in so many aspects of our lives.

In John 20:1-18, we see three followers (Peter and John, and Mary Magdalene) learn of the stupendous news of Jesus’s resurrection. Mary is heartbroken to find the tomb empty, believing that someone has stolen the body of her Lord. She certainly doesn’t see the empty tomb as a proof of resurretion, and even though Peter and John see and believe, they return home without that belief apparently filtering through to their behaviour in any way. Even when Mary subsequently encounters two angels and Jesus Himself, she is not reassured, taking Jesus to be the gardener or caretaker. It takes the personal touch – Jesus calling her by name – before she realises who He is.

Jesus appeared to groups of people after the resurrection (see 1 Cor 15:6), but many of the gospel narratives focus on the individual approach: Jesus speaking to Mary, Jesus speaking restoration to Peter, Jesus walking with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus taking the time to come back to reassure Thomas of His resurrection. There is much encouragement for us in realising that Jesus cares about the strugglers and the stragglers! We can also be reassured that God knows each one of us by name and is able to speak to us with that personal touch which makes all the difference. When Jesus speaks our name, He deals with doubt and despair, with the shame of sin and the weight of condemnation. He provides a real and living encounter with a real and living Saviour.

Easter Sunday reminds us that we serve a risen Saviour who is on the loose and who knows our name! Don’t settle for anything less than that personal encounter with Jesus.

We walked from Sacred Heart church across Phoenix Park to arrive at Thurnscoe Pentecostal Church for ‘Messy Church’ craft activities:

We then moved on to St Helen’s Church Hall to watch ‘So On & So 4th’ from 4FrontTheatre, a very funny series of sketches which looked at the life of Jesus, His death and how the church is made up of imperfect people who are all loved and valued by God.