2010 Letter No 02

Each month Bill writes a pastor's letter for our monthly church magazine called 'The Messenger'. Here is the letter for February 2010:

Over the past couple of months I have taken more funerals than usual. Several of our church members have lost people close to them, and most recently George Charlesworth has died – quite suddenly, albeit after about ten years of frailty and ill-health. It was a privilege to be with him at the end.

The deaths of those around us remind us that we ourselves are mortal – we will all face death one day, unless the Lord returns sooner than that. And death is a sad and cruel thing. Our bodies are subject to decay, and those left behind are robbed of those they love. The New Testament describes death as the last enemy – an enemy which has been defeated by Christ (1 Corinthians 15:26).

But while it is right that we grieve for those whom we have lost, we do not “grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Christians grieve, but our grief has a different character to the grief of those who do not know the hope we have in Christ. We know that death is an enemy, but it is not a victorious enemy. Death is not the end. We know that pain, decay and death do not have the final say. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus have changed everything. And on the final day of history, when Jesus does return, the living and the dead will rise together. This is our hope. And those who have placed their faith in Jesus are eternally secure because of the forgiveness of their sins, which is sure and certain in Jesus Christ. This is the good news we have in Jesus.

So we grieve, but even as we grieve we are reminded that for those who are in Christ the best is yet to be.

Thanks be to God!