R.I.P.
In my role as Pastor of a church I get to share life with many people. It can be the joy of somebody becoming a Christian, or the wonder of a new baby being born. I have conducted many weddings, and that is always a fantastic celebration!
At other times I stand with people when life is tough. The loss of a job, a difficult medical diagnosis , long term illness or the death of a loved one.
The last few weeks have been tough. I took a funeral for an elderly man in our church, and then heard of two more deaths. One was a lady in our church and the other a man in our partner church.
Such sadness at the loss of these beautiful people for their family and friends. The simple reality is, we will all face death at some point. We all know of somebody close to us who has died.
It’s one of those subjects we don’t really talk about much! I remember how morbid I felt when my wife and I did our Will. It’s just not nice thinking about death.
However, as a Christian, death is viewed not as the end of the book, rather the end of a chapter. Just take a look at these words from Jesus...
“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
Jesus said this to a woman whose brother (called Lazarus) had recently died. Jesus arrived at the burial site and brought Lazarus back from the dead!
The Bible says that Jesus himself was raised back to life and is now based in heaven. This has been the cornerstone of the Christian faith for 2000 years!
At the funeral last week, I said to the congregation that we mourn the loss of the gentleman as he was no longer here, but as a Christian believer he was very much alive in a new heavenly body.
The message of hope that Jesus offers is if we believe in him, then death is not the end, it is a door into a new ‘heavenly’ life. Do you believe that?
God bless
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader