News from the Team  

 

Revd Joth Hunt

SEBA Regional Minister Team Leader
 

His Incomparably Great Power 

As I prepare this April update, I find myself with mixed emotions and thoughts. Part of me is celebrating and excited by the appointment of Andy Twilley as Regional Minister for SEBA, who will enable us to begin to implement a strategy of missional support across our association. Part of me is silently reflecting following the consultation and decision made by Council on 20th March, as we seek to support every church and minister and how this decision might affect them in the future. Another part of me is optimistic as I ponder on the mysteries of Easter, our Lord’s suffering and death, the power of the resurrection and what that means for the church. 

Whatever we might feel or think at this point in time it seems to me that the new life offered by the resurrection must not be lost. It is because I am convinced of the resurrection that I am a disciple of Jesus. It is this miraculous event that transforms everything. Without the resurrection Jesus would have been just another good man, who said and did good things. Yet everything changes when we experience and meet with the risen Lord. When Jesus stands before us in his risen glory nothing can be the same again.  

Yet there are moments when there can be a sense that ministry can get stuck in the suffering of Good Friday and never enter into the fullness of the power of God seen and experienced in the resurrection. In Ephesians 1v18-21, Paul prays that they might know the “incomparably great power”, which is the same power “exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly realms”. 

I wonder what that ‘incomparably great power’ looks like in the Church today. I think there are some helpful hints in the encounters with the resurrected Jesus recorded in the gospels for us. First, I think we need to be reminded of the presence of Christ. If Christ is risen, we are not alone! However vulnerable, small, weak we might feel ourselves to be the Lord is with us and if the Lord is with us, what or who can be against us. May His Church know the “incomparably great power” of the presence of Christ.  

Second, we have the peace of Christ. I am always struck that when Jesus appears before his disciples his first words are ‘peace be with you’ (shalom). The transformation of the resurrection brings a peace that could never be experienced without the resurrection. Even death is not to be feared. It seems to me that this incomparable peace is a peace that the world craves and one that powerfully transforms our lives and remarkably changes our expectations. May His Church know the “incomparably great power” of the peace of Christ. 

Finally, we have the hope of Christ. If we remain at the cross, we have no hope. It is only when we visit the empty tomb that endless hope fills the life of the Church. We the people of the resurrected Lord Jesus surely must be the most hopeful people to exist. If God raised Jesus from the dead, he came bringing hope into the hopeless, health into the sick, forgiveness to those who are unforgiven, joy into the tears and even life among the dead! It seems to me that it is because of this great hope that we are called to “Go and make disciples of all nations.” May His Church know the “incomparably great power” of the hope of Christ.  

Many blessings and prayers this Easter from the whole team at SEBA. 

Joth