MINISTERS   MESSAGE

Things change, they always do! An Easter reflection.

We might not like change, we often resist it, but it is inevitable. For instance even my job title recently ‘changed.’ I am no longer your ‘Transition’ Minister, now I am your ‘Companion’ Minister. I don’t think change is always a bad thing, in fact sometimes things go stale, and the only answer is to change. Also change can also mean growth. I’m growing old, which can seem a negative, but I’d like to think that growing older also means I’m getting wiser, cough cough!

We live, like it or not, at a time when the pace of change is accelerating. I could have written this article with the help of AI, I didn’t, but the influence of AI is everywhere. Working out what is real, and what is ‘manufactured’ is becoming an art in itself.

So to our faith, surely nothing changes there! Well in one sense no. God’s love is the same yesterday, today and, forever! However the world in which God’s love is to be found is always changing. Jesus died on the cross, once for all people, but our appreciation of his struggle and blessing develops throughout our life.

God’s unchanging nature, and our fluctuating faith can seem confusing. In the past we might have compared, our faith to be like the weather, with constant fluctuations, whereas God's love is like the climate, unchanging! Most of us are now aware, that climate itself is changing, with deeply destabilising effects, and potentially even more change to come as a result. Climate change is real, and terrifying. On the other hand, God's love HAS NOT changed. Jesus still died on the cross, he was still raised from the dead and he still sends his promised Holy Spirit to comfort and support us and guide us through all of life's changing circumstances. In a world where everything else is changing, those deepest truths are still a foundation.

The story of Easter, will be presented in myriad different ways around the world. The foundation of truth that it offers is however the same. God loves the world so much that he gave his Son, so that whosoever believes in him should find life, in all its fullness.

Happy Easter... Jesus is alive....Hallelujah. And nothing is changing that!

Stephen Newell

Transition Companion Minister!