May 2025 Message from an Elder

Dear Friends

Our Church is so fortunate to have had some wonderful services during Holy Week.  We are thankful to Dave, Jill, Ian and all those who have helped make our services for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday so meaningful and inspiring.  I find the joyousness of Easter so exhilarating that I don’t want that feeling to go away.

What happens after the inspiring sermons and Easter activities? We greet each other at church with that wonderful salutation: “He is risen!” What happens next?  What about the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, after Easter, and all the days that follow? How long do we remember and hold onto the joy we felt on Easter morning? How long do we focus on and live the spirit of Jesus’s resurrection in our day-to-day lives?

Unfortunately, a week or two after Easter has come and gone, sometimes the very next day, we’re busy with all sorts of things that occupy our time, our actions, and the thoughts in our heart.  We get occupied with family activities, projects at work, planting the garden, planning a vacation. On reflection, these activities are generally good and needed. But honestly, how much do we continue to remember and be inspired by the resurrection two, three, or six months after Easter?

Whilst we may not be thinking specifically about the resurrection every day of the year, surely if we’re following Christ to the best of our ability, loving our neighbour as ourselves, loving people the way Jesus loved his disciples, and honouring and glorifying God, then maybe we are embracing the spirit of the resurrection.

This is what I’ve been thinking about over the last few days. I don’t want my life just to go back to normal, after Easter, as if nothing significant has happened.  I want to experience the power of the resurrection all year long. I want it to change me from the inside out, on a daily basis.

Yours in Christian love

Anne