Sunday's coming!

John 20: 19-31; 1 Peter 1: 3-9 In the run up to Christmas 2021 Marks & Spencer hit the headlines with a jumper in their women’s wear range : “Believe”. It became very popular with women ministers. Of course, it’s left to the wearer – and the observer  - to decide what you’re being encouraged to believe. It could be ‘believe in Santa Claus’; ‘believe in better times ahead’ (this was 2021, remember..); or for ministers – I guess something like ‘believe in the good news of Christmas’. Whatever we are being encouraged to believe, believing is not just an empty thinking that something is or is not true – believing is stronger than that – it has an element of consequence – I believe  ‘and so’. Believing is not just about head knowledge – it involves trust and faith and acting on your belief.   You might know that the new manse is on the Merlin’s Lane development in Haverfordwest, and they haven’t quite finished building yet, at the end of the road. This provides me with a range of intere

Easter Sunday  (Matthew 28: 1-10; Acts 10; 34-43)   I wonder what we see when we look at our world this Easter Sunday morning. Perhaps we see a world in which on the global political stage the war in Ukraine continues, and the Israeli Police attack Muslim worshippers at the Al Asqa mosque, causing attacks of retaliation on Israeli citizens. In our own country we see the jailing of a man for murdering his partner’s daughter, Lola James; and a young woman, Bethanie Booth has died of sepsis at just 24. And in our own lives I know some of us are facing questions about our health; families are struggling with the cost of living rises; and mental ill health and grief touch almost all of us. Although signs of Spring are all around us, we also face the signs of climate change, endangering the life of our world.   There is a lot we might feel sorrowful about. And so we come seeking hope on this Easter Sunday.     Matthew tells us that 2 women set off to see the tomb of Jesus as the first day of