The Risen Christ, who is the way, longs to lead you out of your prison of fear.
Jesus Christ’s resurrection assures us of God’s help to know his presence, forgiveness and peace.
It assures us of God’s help to fulfil his wishes and to respond to the needs of others; and to become fulfilled, caring and loving people. It is also the assurance that God will one day transform this decaying and dying world into a completely new world.
But, like Mary, the broken-hearted disciple, and like the confused disciples on the road to Emmaus and like the frightened disciples behind locked doors, you must have a personal encounter and experience of the Risen Lord.
Christ has to be risen for each one of us. For the belief that Christ rose on the third day is based more on encountering Christ in experience than the discovery of the empty tomb. We have to be prepared for an encounter with the Risen Lord.
He will then lead us in the triumph of the resurrection wherever we are. And every day will become a celebration of his feat of victory. We are an Easter People and Alleluia is our song.
“The Risen Christ, who is the way, longs to lead you out of your prison of fear. Jesus Christ’s resurrection assures us of God’s help to know his presence, forgiveness and peace”.
Note to KJS: THIS is what Easter is about….not going green and kneeling before the MDGs. The Archbishop of York’s Easter Sermon: A+. KJS Easter Message: (Still in process of living into it, but I can’t figure it out. Probably will re-appear as a Rogation or Christmas Message).
Um, this was last year’s Easter sermon. Was this year’s as good?
#2. Well spotted. This year’s is not yet on his website. However try this. His Easter message in “The Mail on Sunday.”
[url=http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=542339&in_page_id=1770]Archbishop of York Easter Message[url]
It includes: The message of Easter rings out across our land this morning – in the words of the old hymn, Jesus Christ is risen today.
Later today I will stand waist-high in an open-air pool in the middle of York city centre where I will baptise into the faith those people who will newly confess that Jesus is the Lord of their lives.
These will join the often silent and overlooked majority of people in this country for whom today is a day of celebration and joy.
Also:For me, the vital issue facing the nation is the loss of this country’s long tradition of Christian wisdom which helped give birth to the English nation, and the loss of wonder and amazement that Jesus Christ has authority over every aspect of all our lives.
Nothing is needed more by humanity today than the recovery of a sense of “beyond-ness” in the whole of life to revive the spring of wonder and adoration.
This challenge is for each of us, not least for all those who bear the name of Christ and who are charged with spreading His message of an inclusive and generous friendship, where each person is affirmed as of infinite worth, dignity and influence.
Today’s call is for Christians to live and be good news to everyone – to be an “Easter people” as Augustine said.
It would be fantastic if people not only said of Jesus: “What sort of man is this” but said of us, his followers: “What sort of people are they? Their gracious actions, and the language on their lips, is of God’s goodness and love.
Yes, those adult baptisms happened on a very icy Easter Day outside St Michael le Belfry and close to York Minster.