Happy Easter! We made it – through 40 days of Lent, wrestling with our doubts, temptations and wilderness places, through the poignancy of the Last Supper, the agony of Jesus’ loneliness and despair in the garden of Gethsemane, the horror of the crucifixion, the desolation of Holy Saturday and arrived finally at the immensity of the Resurrection.

It certainly has been a rollercoaster of a journey. And now what do we do? The next great event in the church calendar is Pentecost – traditionally the birth of the Christian church. What do we do between now and then?

On Easter Sunday, MCC Newcastle launched its Twitter account with our Easter message:

“Jesus came out of the tomb, so you could come out of the closet”

Twitter is a way of sending short messages using the internet to potentially hundreds or even thousands of people. Our Twitter account is @mccnewcastle If you see a twitter message (called a “tweet”) that you like, you pass it on. We want to use modern technology to let people know the ancient and everlasting Good News – Jesus lived amongst us, died and rose again so that we could have life in ALL its fullness. This is what the disciples did between the resurrection and Pentecost. Little by little, they spread the Good News. Jesus kept appearing to them to reassure and comfort them, to let them know he was still around.

This Easter, we want the Good News to “go viral” – that is, to spread around the world. “Life in its fullness” will mean different things to each of us. “Coming out of the closet” might be about our sexuality, it might be about anything that is keeping us from being our true selves. Wouldn’t the world be an amazing place if everyone came out of their “self doubt” or “not good enough” closet and lived as the fabulous and beautiful people God created us to be?

Some of us will never quite get to grips with all the 21st century ways of communicating, but we can still just promise ourselves that we will pass on the Good News of God’s unconditional love to at least one other person this month.

Who do you know that needs to hear the Good News?

God bless,

Cecilia

We are in the middle of Holy Week, the week when everything changed for Jesus and his followers. Tomorrow is Maundy Thursday, when many Christians will gather to
remember how Jesus gathered with his friends and followers in the upper room for a meal. Some will re-enact the way Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. Others will share a meal to remember how Jesus made the simple basics of a meal – bread and wine – into a sacred act of remembrance, which has been passed down over the centuries.

At MCC Newcastle, we come from many different  Christian traditions and some of us do not have a Christian background at all. It is interesting to see how different people travel through Lent and Holy Week. Some of us try and have an active discipline during Lent – giving up or taking up something. For some, Lent passes us by unnoticed.

Similarly, there are a variety of attitudes towards Good Friday. Someone commented to me recently that she doesn’t come to the Good Friday service, because it is like Jesus’ funeral and she focuses on the joy of the resurrection and a living Christ. For someone else, it is vital that she attends the service, so that she can feel the depth of the pain of the suffering of Jesus and all that his death means to her in her faith journey.

For me, Jesus’ death remains a mystery. Did Jesus need to be murdered, or would he have been resurrected, whatever he died from? 

Why did he need to die for his message to get through – wasn’t his life powerful enough?

What is the meaning of his death, now, in the 21st century?

What does it mean to say “Jesus died for my sins?” I remember hearing this phrase as a small child and wondering what I could have done already that was so bad that Jesus had to die such a terrible death.

The rituals of any church season, including Lent, Holy Week and Easter, take on the personal meaning that we give them. Attending the Good Friday service gives me the opportunity to reflect on the ability of humans, including me, to be cruel, unjust and arbitrary. It offers a chance to think and pray about those areas of my life that I am not at ease with. It always enables me to tap into the fear and  desolation that the disciples must have felt and hold that feeling until the miracle of the resurrection.

What does Holy Week mean to you?

God bless,

Cecilia

Christ is risen Alleluia! This is the traditional greeting for Easter Day, as we celebrate the mystery of the
resurrection – one of the many mysteries of our faith.

Sometimes, when we read the gospels or other parts of scripture, we might struggle to understand or to believe what we read. Nevertheless, when people of faith gather together and share their journeys, most individuals are able to say “This is what helped me get through a difficult time”. People sometimes also say “This for me is a really important belief.”

At MCC Newcastle, we believe:
 
·  God is always present. God loves and accepts everyone
unconditionally.

 ·  Jesus offers everyone chances for new life and hope, especially to those on the edges ofsociety. His life is an important example to follow.

 ·  The Holy Spirit moves in different ways,such as inspiring, challenging and healing us, and deepening our relationship
with God.

 ·   Faith gives us strength, hope and meaning through good times and bad.

 ·   The Bible is there to inspire and guide. It is not a rule book and can be read with love, compassion and questioning.

 ·  Church should be a safe home for all people. We welcome diversity and believe it brings strength. We believe that ministry is open to everyone and through it, people
develop their gifts. 

·   Worship is a two-way communication between people and God, expressed in different ways. It should be inclusive and bring people together. 
 

Over the next few weeks, between Easter and Pentecost,
we are going to reflecting on these “Bedrock Beliefs” of our faith community, here at MCC Newcastle. These have been drawn up after the visioning days and housegroups all over the region. They are the statements that try to encapsulate
the key aspects of the seven different subjects that are most significant for us. Our personal beliefs may add more to these statements, but I think they sum up well what we hold dear as a church.

As we come out of the darkness of Lent into the joy and light of Eastertide,   I invite you to use one of these statements as a guide to your prayer and reflection each week.

God Bless,
,
Cecilia