Easter messages 2016

Posted on March 23, 2016 
Filed under Australian dioceses, Other denominations, Resources

gospel-message-outside-melbourne-cathedral-19-mar-2016-smEaster is a wonderful opportunity to speak with clarity about the meaning of the Lord Jesus’ death, and the implications of his Resurrection.

Please pray that church leaders will communicate that message as they should, that Christ will be honoured, and that men and women will turn to him in repentance and faith.

Here are some of the messages we’ve spotted so far.

Will our messages to the world this Easter be as simple and clear as the sign in the photo? –

Diocese of the Northern Territory, Bishop Greg Anderson –

“Political commentator Mungo MacCallum recently described Malcolm Turnbull’s performance in the top job as ‘a hugely disappointing resurrection’.

Maybe it is good that the word resurrection still has some place in today’s media. But the first resurrection sets the benchmark. All other so-called resurrections, including the PM’s, are inevitably hugely disappointing. They all, in the end, run out…”

Diocese of Armidale, Bishop Rick Lewers –

“What is surprising about Easter is that the death of Jesus on the cross is all about clemency. Not His, but ours. It is where God would take upon himself the sins of the whole world, accepting the blame for what we have done in preference to leaving us stranded in our blameworthiness with no hope of forgiveness…”

Presbyterian Moderator-General David Cook –

“Toplady’s hymn expresses it well:

‘Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling;
Naked turn to you for dress;
Helpless look to you for grace;
Foul I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Saviour, or I die.’

By dying on that cross, Jesus won our salvation…”

Diocese of Melbourne, Archbishop Philip Freier –

“What is the resurrection promise of Easter Day? – God’s love will endure and continue, no matter what. Christians look to Jesus’ rising from the dead as not just an historic action but as the promise of his presence with us today – even in the worst of circumstances…”

Australian Baptist Ministries, National Ministries Director Keith Jobberns –

“The Easter celebration is a reminder that humans have been given a second chance. The Easter narrative records that in Jesus, and through relationship with Him we can find freedom from the shackles of fear, acceptance despite our faults and the opportunity to begin anew with God and our fellow humans…”

Diocese of North Queensland, Bishop Bill Ray (PDF)–

“Yes, Christians believe that ‘on the third day Jesus rose from the dead’, but Christianity is more than just believing, it is living this new life in Christ and bringing it to others…”

(Photo: Bicycle bearing a gospel message, in Federation Square, Melbourne, with St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in the background, 19th March 2016.)