St Andrew's Church
Your Community, Your Church
Happy Easter
By the time you read this, Easter may be just around the corner or it may have just passed and I wonder what you make of it. In many ways Easter is a bigger celebration in church than Christmas is – we have the buildup of Lent (when we strive to give something up or take up something new – in order to try and perhaps live a little better) – the highlight of Palm Sunday when we remember Jesus entering Jerusalem to the cheers and acclaim of the crowds followed by the roller coaster of Holy week during which we remember Jesus immortal words “do this in remembrance of me” at the last supper, followed quite suddenly by betrayal, unjust trial, torture and agonizing death.
The wonder of Easter is that it would have ended there, if Jesus were an ordinary man. Plenty of revolutionaries and rebels have lived and died throughout history yet none have changed the face of human history in quite the same way as this man. He didn’t have a great crowd of thousands of followers to continue the movement – many found his message too challenging, they were afraid to give up their old ways to live in his way of love and those that did follow him were generally uneducated, considered unimportant and not in the least bit influential, often timid and frequently got things wrong.
The events that were to follow have split opinion throughout the ages – on the third day (the jewish people of the time counted any part of a day as the day) some women went to tomb and found it empty, Angels spoke of him being “Risen”, Jesus appears to one of them and then later to the rest of the disciples; and then for a period of about 40 days he appears at different times and in different places – not a ghost, he’s there physically – yet somehow transformed. He teaches and inspires them and when he does eventually return to heaven he promises to send his spirit (which we think of at Pentecost).
Some think it fanciful to imagine a man raised from the dead for our sake – yet his small band of followers were so transformed and convinced by the events of surrounding Easter that they went on to continue his teaching, in his name. They set out against opposition from the religious and political powers, they faced torture and death daily, they performed miracles like his and when they prayed, things happened and they took his message to the world.
Easter is the only reason I write to you today, not just because I’m the vicar –were it not for Easter I wouldn’t be one! Were it not for the life, death and resurrection of Jesus there wouldn’t have been a church here in Cornard from before the compiling of the Doomsday book (AD 1086). Folk would not have been bringing children for Baptism or Christening in the present building for the last 700 years. Were it not for Easter many hospitals, schools, care homes and aid agencies simply would not exist; nor might we have seen such transformations as the abolition of slavery.
Easter is God’s gift to us – the gift of forgiveness, newness of life, eternal love – all found in the person of Jesus. Easter lies at the heart of Christianity and those events of 2000 years ago echo through the world today motivating millions to pray and work with compassion and conviction to bring God’s gift to the world.
You might just think about chocolate eggs and bunnies at Easter, you might think it’s a long weekend, whatever you think –might I encourage you to look again and perhaps discover something new about the message of Easter.
A very Happy Easter and may God bless you and keep you this Easter and Springtime.
Chris Ramsey
Upcoming Events
Fri 1st March 6pm Film showing – Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most wanted (Cert PG)
Mon 25th – Fri 29th 6.30pm Holy week Meditations and services
Fri 29th Mar 7.30pm Film showing: The Passion (cert 12)
Sun 30th Mar 6.30am Easter Sunrise Service
10am Family Easter Celebration
Sat 20th April 6pm Quiz night – Teams of 6, £4 per person (8-16’s £2, under 8’s free)
Sat 4th May 3pm Film showing: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Cert 12)
Film showings – free admission, refreshments available
For more details on all events or just to get in touch please contact Chris on 01787 376293, email vicar@standrews-gc.org.uk or check the website at www.standrews-gc.org.uk
