Dear friends

Over the past month the news has left me reeling. In the face of such human tragedy and suffering I have scoured the news for stories of hope. There are things that I hope for, then I read the news and that hope can disappear in a heartbeat. If you have too much hope, then people sometimes think you are delusional but with too little hope then you can feel you are drowning in despair.

I have been reading the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a prophet and a priest chosen by God. The Babylonians, led by King Nebuchadnezzar had removed the Judeans from their land. They had been taken into captivity and he had marched them hundreds of miles into exile. They were probably unprepared for the long journey. They were separated from loved ones, they had witnessed people dying. They had been removed from the Temple and so in their eyes had been removed from God`s presence. Then the Temple was destroyed. To them God was gone. They did not know when this would end. They were in despair and hope had died. Ezekiel was traumatised like the people around him and then he started to have strange visions and dreams. Ezekiel stood over a mass grave and God asked him “Can these bones live?” Of course not he probably thought.

God told Ezekiel to prophesy that God would resurrect the dead, restore a community, establish a Kingdom, build the temple and would put the bones back together – there was reason to hope. Ezekiel felt the bones rattling, then bodies reforming, being filled with the breath of God – the Valley of the Dry bones burst with life once again

God is not done yet. The restoration of Israel needed the participation of the people. The people of God would work alongside God to restore the land. In the final verse of Ezekiel, when Jerusalem had been rebuilt it says, “And the name of the City from that time on with be “The Lord is there”, not was there or will be there but is there. God is there when we can`t see it, feel it or believe it. God is always there.

On Good Friday, the disciples thought that all hope was lost. Jesus had been crucified, but there was hope even in the darkest of hours. When we look at our world, when we can see no hope, then we need to pray that God will give us new hearts to love what he loves, and eyes to have eyes to see as he sees. We need to pray that each of us will work towards bringing God`s kingdom of peace, gentleness, justice and love.

We are Easter People

On behalf of the Ministry Team I would like to pray that you draw close to Jesus as we proceed through Holy Week and that your Easter will be blessed.

With love Christina