A very happy Easter week to you. Whether you are a church-going person or not, everyone looks forward to the Easter break. It is that lovely time between Autumn and Winter when we are neither too hot nor too cold, generally the weather is kind and we get a final sunshine break before the nights close in and Winter gets started. Work ceases for most of us for a few days and we catch our breath after the first weeks of the new working year.

For Christians we add to this the significance of remembering Jesus’ death and resurrection. Sombre Good Friday gives way to joyful Easter Sunday. Easter contains the essence of the Christian message beginning in the Garden of Eden when the first humans disobeyed God, suffered the consequences and God initiates his wonderful plan of redemption.

Easter only makes sense when you appreciate who God is and why disobeying Him is such a big deal. As a holy and pure God who created humankind, He cannot tolerate sin -  disobedience and a refusal to submit to His authority. The first humans determined to obey themselves rather than God and that has been the problem with the human race ever since.

As the righteous judge, God demands the ultimate penalty for sin – death. We are all under the sentence of death unless something happens to put us right with the Judge. The story of the Bible is the story of God’s unveiling of what this means and the way He was preparing for someone to bear the consequences for all who put their trust in Him. Not being able to find anyone good enough to be the perfect sacrifice a holy God requires, He sends his only son, Jesus to live on earth, to demonstrate to us what a fully human being should live like, and then to suffer and die in our place.

Being God, He then overcomes the power of sin and death and rises again so that anyone who turns from their sinful way, acknowledges their need of Him and accepts again His authority over their lives, is given a new life and promised that they will enjoy an eternity with Him in the new heaven and earth which God will bring about one day. Easter Friday reminds us of the cost of sin while Easter Sunday reminds us of the new life we have in Jesus.

All this may sound a bit fantastical to you if you are not familiar with Christian teaching, but this event is what has given millions of people a fresh start in life and a hope for a brighter future. If you would like to understand more of this story, we at GPCC would love to share it with you. You might like to start by getting along to Church on Easter Sunday and hearing the account of the resurrection and the new life found in it.

This week we celebrate this with our students at our Easter Thanksgiving Assembly and our focus this year is on the opportunity this Easter new life gives us to serve others as Jesus served the people of his day and the world through His sacrifice.

May this Easter break be a refreshing one for you and a chance to have family time. We look forward to welcoming our students back in Term 2.