Have you ever wondered what Jesus's death and resurrection must have been like for his closest followers? One moment their normal life and expectations were completely destroyed as they watched Jesus crucified, then within a few days there he was talking and eating with them - resurrected from the dead. It must have been the mother of all emotional roller coasters!
Yet, Jesus's resurrection did not mean that their normal life and expectations were simply restored. Far from it, his death and resurrection created a brand new reality that would transform their lives for eternity.
As we continue our rather painful journey through this Pandemic, we all travel along our own emotional roller coasters. It has taken away our normal life and expectations and although the vaccine roll out means that much will hopefully be restored in the coming weeks, we will never simply return to life as it was before.
The experience will of course have changed us as people and families. I hope for you that the change has included growth in faith as you have been forced to look to God for help and support in new ways. God can and does use even the hardest experiences for good.
Also, as we begin to meet with people we have not seen for a long time and return to activities that we have been away from for over a year we will notice changes that would normally happen over that time, but we haven't noticed because we have been away. A bit like when you see a child you haven't seen for a long time and you say, "Haven't you grown!"
One big change that is happening for St. Luke's is that we will be entering into a partnership with St. George's church where my ministry as vicar will be shared between the two churches. Please pray for my licensing service at St. George's on Tuesday 27th April and that the opportunities this new partnership presents will lead to growth across both churches.
In order to make this work I have had to make a decision about the timing of services at both churches. St. George’s main service will move to 9:30am and St. Luke’s service time will move to 11:00am from the start of May. This enables me to be at both services, but it also means I can be at St. George’s to prepare for their service and be ready to lead from the start, whereas at St. Luke’s as we have others who are happy to lead the services from the beginning I can afford to arrive just in time for the service. The other advantage is that I will have plenty of time to greet and talk to the congregation at St. Luke’s after the service, whereas since the congregation at St. George’s is smaller, I need less time after their service for that.
Change is never easy, but in a way this Pandemic has created a life of constant changes! We may fear what these changes may bring, but as Christians we can look back to the most important moment of change the world has ever seen, when Jesus died on the cross and so opened up the Way to God and the hope of eternal life to all who believe in him. Whatever other changes we face, this change created the one certainty that we can always depend on.
