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From the newsletter ... |
Death -> New LifeThe word "EASTER" for most people associates automatically with "EGGS" - foil wrapped chocolate, cream filled or sugar coated - but all symbols of new life. During the half-term the children of Blake School have enjoyed seeing the new life of baby chicks, hatching from eggs and growing fast. Spring is a time when we enjoy the new life so evident all around us. But at Easter we are not just celebrating the new life of Spring, but the new life given by our Father God - first to his Son, Jesus, by raising him from the dead, and then to those who are his people. For Jesus, that new life had to be preceded by an excruciatingly painful death. There was the physical pain of crucifixion, but even more significant, the pain of being separated from his Father as he took the punishment for our sin. Death -> New Life. As a family we have experienced the mixed emotions of death and new life deeply in the last few weeks. On the day of the funeral for my mother-in-law, the last of our parents, the death of that generation, our first grandchild was born - new life for our family. In the funeral we read from the Psalms "from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children - with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts." Death -> New Life. As the church in Cogges and South Leigh we are also experiencing the gift of new life. Last summer we said goodbye to Stephen Bessent and his family as they moved from Witney. Many of us have mourned their loss as we have missed the joy of our friendship with them, but with the induction of Andrew Sweeney as our new vicar, we anticipate the opportunities of new life and growth. Death -> New Life. But what about you? Have you experienced the joy of a real personal relationship with God, through the salvation from sin that Jesus made possible by his death that first Easter? Have you put to death the sinful life and embraced new life in Jesus? It's the most important life-changing thing you can do. Death -> New Life ....... in JESUS. Cogges Parish | Other articles | Previous issue | 
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© 2002; Published in Cogges Parish monthly newsletter, April 2002 | |