For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

We’re spending a few weeks in Easter looking at the resurrection of Jesus. Is it true? Why does it matter? What does it mean for us today?

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Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. … Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned towards him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’). (John 20:1, 16)

Mary Magdalene is the first person John records as having seen the empty tomb, and the first to see the risen Jesus. She is invited to believe that Jesus is alive, and invited to tell Jesus' other disciples.

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But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants for ever; his kingdom will never end.’ (Luke 1:30-33)

This Sunday is usually called ‘Palm Sunday’, and it is the day we recall Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. He arrives riding on a donkey, with people declaring that he is the king. This is nothing new to his mother, Mary, this is what had been promised would happen before Jesus was born. Is this it? Is this the moment where Jesus starts his reign on earth?

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Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ‘Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.’ (Esther 4:15-16)

This Sunday, as we continue our look at some of the women presented to us in the Bible, we reach Esther. It’s wonderful account of a faithful woman, in difficult circumstances, acting to rescue God’s people from their enemy. The odds are stacked against her: the enemy is powerful; she is relatively powerless. Will she prevail? How will that happen?

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Hannah said to Eli, ‘Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he shall be given over to the Lord.’ (1 Samuel 1:26-28)

This Sunday, we welcome Archdeacon Janet to preach at both of our morning services.

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