Happy Easter!

Christ is risen - he is risen indeed!

Because Jesus rose from the dead we can have new life in Christ.  That means a fresh start with God, hope for the future, and eternal life with God.

If you would like that new start with Jesus, or if you would like to find out more - please click on the link above on becoming a Christian.  

He is Risen!

Happy Easter!

Christians have a traditional greeting at Easter.  Someone says, "Christ is risen", to which the reply is, "He is risen indeed".  

Jesus' resurrection 2,000 years ago changed everything.  That was the morning when death was defeated, and a relationship with God was made possible.  Sin and evil have lost, love and God have won.

Whether you believe Jesus rose from the dead, or not, that morning changed everything.  The resurrection is a fact of history, as well attested to as other events in the ancient world.  

If you have never experienced the power of Jesus, start searching today.  Ask the question - what happened that first Easter Sunday? The answer will change your life.

Image: Google Images

Good Friday 2013

Today is Good Friday, the day we remember Jesus' death on the cross.  

Jesus willingly gave his life for us, taking our punishment so that we don't have to.  If you ever doubt God's love for you, look to the cross.  Whoever you are, whatever you have done, Jesus literally thinks you are to die for.  

In a world where people often play a blame game, or refuse to accept responsibility for our wrong thoughts, behaviours and lack of love, the cross calls us to face up to who we are.  We are not perfect.  We all sin.  But Jesus came to liberate us from the eternal consequences of our sin.  

Because of Jesus' death we can have forgiveness, all we have to do is receive it.  

Come Sunday we will remember Jesus resurrection, but today we remember his death.  Jesus died alone, forsaken by virtually all his followers.  If you are lonely, Jesus knows what that's like.  Jesus suffered intense physical, emotional and spiritual pain (the word excruciating comes from Latin - of the cross).  If you are suffering, he knows what you're going through.

We do not worship a God who is distant, but a God who knows what it is to be human, to live and to die.

Why not get to know Jesus today?

Image: Google Images

He is Risen!

Happy Easter!


Today is Easter Sunday - the day we remember Jesus resurrection.  


This was what persuaded me Jesus is who he says he is.  Whatever you make of Jesus you have to take seriously the resurrection narrative.  That was the turning point in the Christian story.  The one thing all the ancient evidence agrees on is that Jesus dies on Friday, was buried and the tomb was found empty on Sunday.


If Jesus is still dead, Christianity is a fraud.  But if he really did rise from the dead, then that changes everything.


There are broadly three options, and I know this is a gross simplification. 


1. Jesus enemies took the body
This is the least credible option.  They would simply have produced it to quash resurrection claims.  It also fails to account for the conversion of Paul a few years later.


2.  Jesus friends moved the body
This explanation fails on several counts.  The disciples were scared, scattered and wondering if they would be next.  Why didn't the burial site become a shrine?  What would explain the change in the disciples from terrified wimps to courageous proclaimers of the Gospel?  What would account for James, Jesus brother, converting?  


Above all, why were the followers of Jesus all willing to die for what they knew was a lie.  While people often die for what they believe, they do not die for what they know for sure is a lie.


3.  Jesus really did rise from the dead
This is the only explanation which accounts for all the facts.  Occam's Razor says that once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable must be the truth.


This explanation also explains why millions of people today claim to have met Jesus and been changed, healed and forgiven by him.  It explains my experience of him.


In the Bible God makes a promise.  In Jeremiah 29:13 God promises "If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me."  Jesus himself promised, "I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends." (Revelation 3:20)


Why not take him at his word?

Jesus' Death

Good Friday.  The day Jesus died. The day Jesus was punished for the sins of the world - the day Jesus said he had come for.


I find it ironic that we call today good.  What Jesus did for us is good, but it is also a tragedy.  Jesus didn't deserve to be tried by a kangaroo court, tortured and brutally murdered.  That breaks my heart.  We often see the innocent suffer, and today we see that in Jesus own experience.  


When we remember who Jesus is, God in the flesh, this is all the more amazing.  Jesus allowed this to happen, because he knew that only in this way could justice and mercy be satisfied.  There's a song that is often sung at Easter called "In Christ Alone".  One verse says,


This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.


That is what Good Friday is about.  Because Jesus died, we can have eternal life.  It's ours for the asking.  All we have to do is receive it.


The disciples were left scattered on Friday, lost and in mourning they didn't yet understand what had happened.  But Jesus' death is not the end of the story.  Sunday is coming...


Image: Google Images

Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week which is the central week in the Christian year. 


It was on the first Palm Sunday that Jesus was welcomed to Jerusalem by the people - but just a few days later, those same people would be calling for his blood.


On Palm Sunday the people saw a Messianic figure and they welcomed him.  By Friday they took back the honour they'd given him, and called for his death.  Jesus knew what would happen.  On Palm Sunday he knew that the cross was ahead.  He came anyway, because, as he said, it was for this he came.  


Today we will receive a palm cross in Church to remind us of Palm Sunday.  But later each year we burn our palms to mark each others foreheads with ashes at the start of Lent.  Personally that reminds me that we often take back what we gave God, and can literally turn our lives into ashes compared to what God would have for us.  


But Jesus came to bring us to the cross. He came to lift us out of the ashes, to a freedom and forgiveness that is only possible in Jesus.  

Good Friday

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

- Jesus in John 15:13

This coming Friday is Good Friday, the day when Christians all over the world remember the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Why is this day so important? Why was Jesus crucified? Who was really responsible? What does Jesus death mean for you?

At some points in history, and sadly, in some places today, Jews are known as "Christ-Killers". Let's dispel that myth right now - the Jews are not responsible for Jesus' death. Jesus came here knowing what would happen. He chose that path. The Bible says, "...it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins." (Isaiah 53:10-11)

Do you see it? Jesus' death was God's plan! And it was for our benefit. So how can anyone blame the Jews, or the Romans for that matter? So who was responsible? Well, look at what Jesus came to do. He came to bear all our sins. If we never sinned, Jesus wouldn't have had to die. So in a real way, we are all responsible for Jesus' death.

How does Jesus' death affect our sins? The Bible says that "everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard" (Romans 3:23). It also says that, "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Death in the Bible can mean:

• Separation of body and soul - i.e. physical death


• Separation of you from God - i.e. spiritual death

On the cross Jesus experienced both of these things. As well as physical death he was cut off from the Father for the first time ever. That's why, "...at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”" (Mark 15:34) Shortly after, he died.

When Jesus was on the cross, God punished him for all the wrong things you and I have ever done. That's what Christians mean when we say that Jesus died for you. But that wasn't the end of the story. On the following Sunday morning, Jesus rose from the dead. He conquered death itself, and offers each of us a fresh start with God.

It's easy to have this fresh start with God. The Bible says that, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9). It's that simple. You could say a simple prayer to do this:

Jesus,

Thank you for dying for me on the cross to take the punishment I deserve. Please forgive me for all the wrong things I've ever done. Fill me with the Holy Spirit and help me to live as you would have me live. I want to put you at the centre of my life from now on. I give you my heart, my life, and my future. From now on I'm trusting you with it all.

Amen

If you said that prayer, here's what Jesus promises you:

"We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith." (Romans 3:22-28)

"Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God." (Romans 5:1-12)

This Easter, celebrate what Jesus has done for you! Give it all for the one who gave it all!

Image: Alberto Gomez/Google Images

Is Jesus God?

Lots of people claim that Jesus is just a good man, or that he's a prophet, a good teacher etc. They say the Bible doesn't claim Jesus was God - but is that true?

As an example, the Jehovah's Witnesses claim that Jesus was the first thing created by Jehovah. Jesus is not God, and so John 1:1 should be translated, "In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god" (New World Translation, published by Jehovah's Witnesses). They are right in that you can argue this translation from the Greek, but it can equally be translated, "In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God" (New Living Translation, cf. New International Version).

Who is right? The trick is to keep reading. In their own translation verse 3 says, "All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence". If Jesus is a created being, this makes no sense. How could he create himself?

Those who heard Jesus understood exactly what he was claiming to be. When Jesus claimed that "The Father and I are one" (John 10:30 NLT), his listeners responded with aggression. Jesus asks why they wanted to stone him, and "They replied, “We’re stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God" (John 10:33 NLT).

We see this again in John 5:18 which says, "So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God."  This is all the more significant as this is the Bible stating what Jesus was doing, as opposed to reporting what others understood.

Yes, Jesus claimed to be God. The Bible records those claims so that we can evaluate them. In a few weeks Christians around the world will be celebrating Easter. At Easter we remember why God came to the earth. He came to do something awesome - open the way for each of us to know him for ourselves, to be forgiven for everything wrong we've ever done, and to live with him forever.

In his own words: "When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”" (Luke 4:16-21 NLT)

I love that passage! Jesus tells us what he came here to do - and it's quite different to what many people think he's about! He is about Good News, not judgement. He's about freeing the oppressed, not beating us down! To quote the Newsboys, "I'm not following a God that's imagined - can't invent this deity!... I'm not following a God I can read about. I can't train this deity! And that's why Jesus is the final answer to who I want my God to be".

Image: spiritualmike.org/.../Jesus_Smiling-224x341.jpg (Google Images)
Updated 10 May 2014