There is something very appropriate about Easter always being in Spring in this part of the world. Trees are beginning to bud and colour is returning to the gardens. Last year at this time, while I was on Sabbatical in Teesdale, I watched spring lambs being born in the field outside where I was staying. Everything is bursting with new life. It all seems to proclaim the great resurrection truth, Christ is risen!

The reality is, however, that in a few months time the birdsong will quieten, the daffodils will be long gone and the leaves just in bud will lose their lush vitality and fall. Even the beautiful church flower arrangements which speak so us so eloquently of the Easter hope will soon fade. Everything living also dies.

But the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is not just for a season. His was no resuscitation that kept him alive until such time as death overtook him again, perhaps this time through natural causes. He did not, as some have tried to claim, have a deep and restful sleep in the tomb he was buried in and then, much refreshed after a couple of days, go about his business as if nothing much had happened. He died and rose never to die again.

From the earliest days following the resurrection of Jesus various theories have been put forward to try to explain it all away. ‘The disciples stole the body’, was one of the first. If that truly was the case, however, would several of the first disciples have been willing to die rather than deny Jesus had risen? How do we explain the remarkable change in them? Immediately after the death of Jesus they locked themselves away if fear. Soon they were proclaiming boldly in public and without fear that he was alive.

Another theory put forward is that Jesus never really died in the first place. He went in to a swoon and felt a little better after a kip. Jesus was crucified by hardened Roman soldiers who had seen death often enough to recognise it when they saw it. Just in case, however, one of the soldiers thrust his spear in to the side of Jesus to make sure. John, almost incidentally, tells us that this resulted in ‘a sudden flow of blood and water’. It may have been an indication that blood and serum had separated; something that only happens in a corpse.

‘The disciples made it all up’, is also an unlikely explanation for the resurrection accounts. If that was the case the authorities would have been quick to display the body of Jesus to prove the lie (in the same way as the slain bodies of notorious terrorists are displayed to the world’s media today).

The theory that the disciples had some kind of wish fulfilment hallucination when they ‘saw’ Jesus alive after his death does not hold water either. He was seen on many different occasions, in different circumstances by many different people, including over five hundred at one time. Today, and for the past twenty centuries, many people have claimed that, though they have never seen the risen Jesus, they still know him as a living reality in their lives.

It is almost two thousand years since the first Easter day and yet the risen Jesus who broke forth from the tomb on that morning is as alive now as ever. Indeed he is more alive than anything else that ever lived on this planet. His life is for ever new. It will never fade or perish.

Imagine a world in which the flowers never fade; they are always as vibrant and bright as they are at their peak. Imagine, too, trees that never lose their leaves but which yield fruit all year round. Imagine, if you are older, being more alive – much, much more alive – than you were in your prime. If you are younger imagine being indescribably more alive, more perceptive of colours, music and sounds than you are now. However wonderful your imaginings may be, they will be far surpassed by the reality of the new heaven and earth promised to those who put their trust in the risen Christ.

Spring, with its abundance of life, may provide us with a dim foretaste of what lies ahead when Christ returns in glory and we too are given new, resurrection, bodies – but it cannot give us the whole picture. Nothing can. ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard and what no human mind has conceived…these things God has prepared for those who love him.’

May the Lord fill you with his risen life and renew in you the hope of glory this Easter.

In his love,

Erik

Sunday 2nd March Mothering Sunday

Monday 3rd March PCC meets, 7.15 p.m. in the Reid Room

Wednesday 5th March Lent 5

Tuesday 11th March Men’s fellowship, 7.30 p.m. in the narthex

Wednesday 12th March Lent 6

Thursday 20th March Maundy Thursday Holy Communion, 7.30 p.m. in church

Friday 21st March Good Friday 10 a.m.—12 noon Family activities in the hall 2—3 p.m. An hour at the foot of the cross 7.30 p.m. Together at the cross

Sunday 23rd March Easter Sunday 8 a.m. Holy Communion 10.15 a.m. Holy Communion 6.30 p.m. Easter Praise

Tuesday 25th March Men’s fellowship, 7.30 p.m. in the narthex

17th February Thomas George Railton Bateman

7th February Joshua James Brudenell aged 16

Bob Parkin presented a report on recent work on the buildings. The Accounts for 2007 and budget for 2008 were presented to the PCC by the treasurer, Hugo Pollak.

A working party was set up to work out the details of employing a part-time schools worker.

Lent Reading

Various members of the congregation have suggested books for reading during Lent this year. All can be ordered through the bookstall.

Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict

Provocative Church by D Tomlinson

God is closer than you think by J Ortberg

Ten by J John

More ready than you think by B D McLaren

Showing of Love trans by JB Holloway

Person of Christ by D Macleod

Soul Survivor by P Yancey

Saturday 1st March, 10 a.m. to 12 noon at Barneys Shop

Vicki Watkinson is going to Ghana on placement as part of her medical training. She is spending a month in a remote health centre, 2 weeks on the hospital ship on Lake Volta, working with John Mills and 2 weeks at Jachie Clinic with Sister Aba. Vicki has been a volunteer in Barneys and was one of our hard-working volunteer decorators last summer. We at Barneys want to help Vicki with her living expenses whilst she is in Ghana. We are holding a coffee morning event in the shop on 1st March, 10 a.m.—12 noon with cake stall, quiz games and live music. Please come and support us if you can.

7.30 p.m. Holy Communion

2 p.m. An hour at the foot of the cross

7.30 p.m. Together at the cross

8 a.m. Holy Communion

10.15 a.m. Holy Communion

4.30 p.m. Evening Prayer

6.30 p.m. Easter Praise

The existing ‘GIFT AID DECLARATION’ form has been replaced by a ‘GIVING DECLARATION’ form. The new form is for the use of both tax-payers and non tax-payers who want to do at least one of the following :

● Make a declaration of being a taxpayer, so that the Church can reclaim tax

● Start giving by standing order or ‘Free Will Offering’ envelopes

● Change the method of giving.

On the reverse of the form can be found some guidelines on methods of giving.

The lowering of the basic rate of income tax from 6^th April means that from that date the church will be able to reclaim less money from the Inland Revenue. The Church expects to receive approximately £2500 less from tax reclaims in 2008 than it would have done without the change.

The Annual Parochial Church Meeting is on Monday 31^st March at 7.30 p.m. in the church. All are welcome, but in order to vote at the meeting you must be on the electoral roll by Sunday 16^th March. If you are a regular attender at St Barnabas and not yet on the electoral roll, pick up a form from the narthex or speak to one of the church wardens.

The annual meeting will elect 2 church wardens to serve for 1 year, 8 PCC members for three years and 4 Deanery Synod representatives for three years. To stand for election you must have been on the electoral roll for at least 6 months. Nomination lists will be in the narthex from Sunday 9^th March. Please be thinking and praying about whom you might nominate.

Canon John Sutton is trying to organise a trip to Peru to spend time with Alejandro Mesco, probably the last two weeks of July and the first week of August this year. The provisional cost of this is around £1,700. The geographical location where Alejandro works is at a high altitude and therefore very challenging physically for those who may make the visit. Contact Val Hill for further details if you are interested.

Offerings

Offerings in December £9941

Restricted (for specific purposes) £3889

Offerings in January £14,033

Restricted (for specific purposes) £596