Written by John Hughes, Church Elder.

Everywhere we look, the signs of spring are appearing: leaves are beginning to bud on the trees and hedgerows; lambs are finding their feet in the fields; the larger of our feathered friends are beginning to gather nesting materials.  In addition to this, the sun is peeking over the horizon a few minutes earlier each morning and dipping back below it a few minutes later in the evenings.  Easter eggs have been bursting from the shelves in almost every shop you enter (something they’ve been doing since early February!).

As we say farewell to the winter months, as our small corner of the world becomes ever-more bedecked in all it’s verdant splendour, and as we prepare to enter the Easter period, our thoughts turn to the final days of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  As the events leading up to Jesus’ betrayal, trial, and crucifixion unfolded, we see so many different emotions writ large in the lives of Jesus’ closest friends, his followers, his persecutors, and of course in that of Jesus Himself.  We read about experiences of fear, doubt and disbelief; we read of deceit, selfish ambition and bitter denial.  And of Jesus, we read of his love, grace and assurance that what seems like the darkest of defeats is in fact the planting of the seeds of victory, seeds that would lie unseen for three days in the belly of the earth before dismantling the schemes of the devil and defeating death and hell.  I would encourage you to revisit the accounts in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John over the coming days, and to thank God anew for His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Our days here on earth are marked with highs and lows – mountaintop experiences as well as days in life’s valleys (see Ecclesiastes 3).  Through it all, though, we share the disciples’ experiences of closeness with Jesus as we travel through our days with Him.  We know that no matter the storms we experience, we are already on the winning side.  As we approach Easter then, we do so with confidence and with joy because we know, as the disciples did, that Jesus arose from the grave and intercedes on our behalf at the right hand of God.  As Christians, we have that blessed assurance that our souls are purchased by His blood, and our lives are hid with Christ on high.

Wishing you all a very happy Easter.