Easter Sunday Message 12th April

Easter Sunday Message 12th April
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April 12, 2020
in Minister's Daily Message
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Dear Reader
As we continue with the necessary restrictions which have, and still, continue to affect just about every aspect of our lives we ‘join’ in celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.
For me, today feels just like every other day in these unfamiliar times. It doesn’t feel like Sunday, it doesn’t feel like Easter it doesn’t feel like any day. That said, it is Sunday and it is Easter.
When you consider many of the great events in the bible, for example, Jesus’ birth, his death and resurrection, before there is any sense of joy there is genuine fear and dread.
Many people today find it very distressing at the loss of their loved ones. The emotional pain at not being able to be with them in their last moments, not being able to attend their funeral and that genuine sense of loss and helplessness.
It bothers me sometimes that there should be an expected, automatic and overwhelming joy in every situation by simply sticking the name of Jesus into the mix. At least that’s the impression I get when listening to some folk speak. Where is all this joy, are we not suppose to be happy all the time? When you read some of the words of some hymns and songs you would think we should.
The women at the tomb were afraid. The shepherds at Jesus’ birth were scared out of their wits and so would we if we were there. The disciples too were afraid and huddled up behind closed doors. Some of them thought of going back to fishing again. Back to the reality, they knew.
It took the first folk on the scene who witnessed the resurrection of Jesus quite a while to come to terms at what had happened. It took time to ‘sink in’. The mystery and wonder of it all wasn’t instant.
For many people, faith is a challenge and it is tested by the cut and thrust events of everyday living. The highs and lows. Some folk experience more highs than lows and life is a constant battle. Money, work, relationships and health are just a few of the battlegrounds.
The resurrection cannot be simply explained. It is outwith the realms of known human physicality and science. Our rational minds struggle with the concept but our hearts know something of the reality, truth and mystery of it all.
Forgiveness, reconciliation, eternal hope and a deep awareness of a loving God in Jesus Christ make known the truth of that first Easter morning. Jesus said ‘I am the resurrection and the life’. Ponder the wonder and the mystery of it all
Today I ask you to think/meditate on these things.
A very happy Easter to you and your loved ones.
God Bless you!
LUKE 24: 1-12

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”Then they remembered his words.

When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

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