Superintendent’s 2024 Easter Message to the Circuit

CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED – ALLELUIA!

Here we are, at the end of March, the end of Lent and in Holy Week as I write this, coming into the second quarter of the year again. I believe we are particularly thinking Easter as the days become brighter and summer approaches. But before we get there, please let’s stop and think about what it means to be living in Easter time, such as it is with wars, rumour of wars, political instability, economic turmoil, declining Church membership, injustices etc, the list goes on engulfing our world.
In spite of all that is mentioned above, it’s Holy week again. I will like to take this opportunity to encourage us all to stop think about what we are doing for the church and world, what we have been, how we are going to face the world in future beyond Easter. In the
midst the world’s trail and difficulties it is worth noting that Lent and Easter inescapably hang together.
So, for me, the journey of Lent leads us to the unveiling of the exciting paschal mysteries. We become in awe of the Son of Man’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and as we are taken through the events of Holy Week, the “fall of the ‘shadows’” represented in Maundy Thursday which vividly echoes the pain, the anguish and the ultimate sacrifice Jesus makes on Good Friday. Therefore, embodying the passion and His death. ‘It is finished’ cries Jesus!
(c.f. John 19:30) Or is it?
Easter Sunday is a time that gives us a chance to reflect on the considerable contribution Christian communities make to our national life, offering support and a sense of belonging to so many across our town and the country. Christianity and its values of tolerance, compassion and charity are embedded in our history and national fabric.
As we look forward in great hope and expectation, may we stand in faith and not be fearful of shut churches. God’s love is still open, all embracing and a great comfort to the sorrowful. At the heart of the Gospel is that Christ has been raised form the dead. Whether you believe it or not, the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the most significant event in history, and through the ages of the Churches practices and history the Bible has addressed some the commonly asked questions about the resurrection of Jesus.

1. Did the resurrection really happen?
2. Why does the resurrection matter?
3. Why does the resurrection matter to you?
   My friends, holding on the this believe, no wonder why on the 31st of March most of us will be attending services in Churches across the Circuit to celebrate this wonderful story and
   victory of Easter Sunday! A stone was rolled and out rose Jesus, the Great Saviour who died and rose again for our sake.
   In Matthew 28::6, it says it best: “He is not here; he has risen!” As your superintendent, I invite you on behalf of all my ministerial colleagues and Churches to please join us in one of
   our Easter Sunday services as we celebrate this great truth! The Son of God, is risen and alive, so that we may find joy in relationship with God. Let me also, wish you all a spirit filled and inspiring morning on Easter Day as we join together in worship services across the Circuit.
4. Finally, as we join together and reflect on Jesus’s great sacrifice and as we put the difficulties of our time aside for the moment, let us also endeavour to join together in thanking the Good Lord who created us and the God who sacrificed his one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins. John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

A Prayer for Easter Day
Lord, we come with all our doubts and fears to be touched with the truth of your resurrection.
We come will all our sorrows and pain to be held with the hope of your resurrection.
We come with our disappointments and failures to be strengthened by your resurrection.
We come as we are. We come for we must. We come to celebrate your resurrection. Amen
(David Clowes- 500 Prayers for All Occasions (pg. 22))

Wishing you a Happy and Blessed Easter.

Yours in His Service,
PATRICK