CLC, the Christian bookshop in Sheffield, is moving!

The shop is currently based on West Street in Sheffield but is moving on 1st May to 2 Church Street, which is close to the cathedral. This is a much more central location (the blue corner building just to the left of the Cathedral as you look from the tramlines) and is therefore a real answer to prayer for the charity.

If you’re in Sheffield, do call in to view their impressive range of Christian literature, CDs, DVDs and gifts.

Here are some more photographs from the Good Friday Church Crawl, when we were at the Salvation Army. Good to tell Stacey took these – they are all about the people!

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).