Easter is now a distant memory for many. Kids are back at school, parents are back at work and the world goes on, except it doesn\u2019t for 300+ people who lost their lives in Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Easter is a time for Christians to celebrate. It is a time when we remember that death is no longer a barrier to us. Christ died on the cross and rose again so that we could live forever. This is what makes Easter a joy and time to celebrate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A colleague of mine posted on Facebook on Easter Sunday\u00a0 morning \u201cHe is risen \u2013 and the world changed for good\u201d.\u00a0 A moment that was meant to reflect the joy of the risen Christ.\u00a0 We were in a good mood and joyful until the news hit us full on. \u00a0Celebration turns into shock and the shock turns in to anger and frustration.\u00a0 Why do some people feel that the way they believe is the only way and that all who have a different opinion, are not only wrong, but deserving of death\u00a0because of it?\u00a0 On a day when the people of Sri Lanka were celebrating the Christian message of faith and resurrection (or simply enjoying a holiday in the sun) the lives of thousands of people are changed forever. \u00a0Those who lost a loved one during the bombings know only pain and suffering.\u00a0 Those who escaped the destruction feel blessed for a moment and then begin to share the pain of others.\u00a0 The rest of the world acts with outrage and anger and justifiably so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The very reason why Jesus gave his life on the cross was so that the world could know change and change that was good. Many people lost their lives on Easter Sunday; many more lives are now changed; but God is still at the centre even during death and destruction. It can be hard for people to believe when such atrocities happen: how can there be a God when he allows things like this? But we all know the truth: God isn\u2019t part of the cause of suffering but is with all who suffer. Why people do what they do is hard to fathom but God is always the same today, tomorrow and forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Rev David Teece, St Peter\u2019s church<\/em><\/em>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u0014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Easter is now a distant memory for many. Kids are back at school, parents are back at work and the world goes on, except it doesn\u2019t for 300+ people who lost their lives in Sri Lanka. Easter is a time for Christians to celebrate. It is a time when we remember that death is no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"Phone_number(s)":"","email_address":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-letters","category-more-pages"],"mb":[],"mfb_rest_fields":["title"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nwbchurches.org.uk\/stanley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nwbchurches.org.uk\/stanley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nwbchurches.org.uk\/stanley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwbchurches.org.uk\/stanley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwbchurches.org.uk\/stanley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1243"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nwbchurches.org.uk\/stanley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1244,"href":"https:\/\/nwbchurches.org.uk\/stanley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243\/revisions\/1244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwbchurches.org.uk\/stanley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nwbchurches.org.uk\/stanley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwbchurches.org.uk\/stanley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwbchurches.org.uk\/stanley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}