HOPE is an appropriate theme for our Easter Reader this year.  Biblical hope is the antithesis of the uncertainty and hopelessness we may perceive in the broken, suffering and chaotic world we live in.  While circumstances appear to defy it, remain unchanged and even worsen in spite of it, Biblical hope should quell our anxieties with confidence and joy, and help us to persevere through the hardest of circumstances. 

The premise of the Hope Explored course defines hope as a “joyful expectation for the future, based on true events in the past, which changes everything about my present.”  A hope that accomplishes this in our lives has to be true, it has to deliver what it promises, and it has to be for something that will last.   As we reflect together on the Passion of Christ, endured for the joy that was set before Him (Hebrews 12:2), may we comprehend the true and lasting hope that it offers those who put their trust and faith in Him.  The forgiveness of our sins.  The certainty of our eternity with Him. A Saviour who has defeated death, and who reigns victorious, and who will one day return and make all things new. 

We are grateful to reflect on this hope in community with one another, with this Easter Reader comprising contributions from different people in our congregation.  Thank you to all of those who were able to make a contribution this year.  We trust we will experience blessing as we reflect together on the hope we have in the person of Jesus Christ.