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 Village News Magazine |
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This page was last updated on
Sunday March 25, 2007
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| Marchwood Gospel Church |
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In the divided world in which we live, the Christian Faith is often seen as just preserve of the West. Of course nothing is further from the truth, because its earliest adherents all came from the East with their great message of hope for all mankind. That message of hope centred around Jesus Christ, and especially the events of the first Easter.
This universal nature of Christianity was bought home to me in a minor incident in which I was involved on a Good Friday many years ago when taking recreational leave on a small island off the Malayan coast. On a jungle path I met a very old woman, her teeth coloured red from the chewing of the betel ‘nut’. As she passed by she said, “This is the day that Jesus died”. Taken by surprise, I blurted out, “Do you love Jesus? I love him too”. And that was the sum total of our conversation. The moment passed, but the memory and the significance of the meeting have never left me. For it, and those two people involved, represented the many divides that the Christian Faith is able to cross.
One was man: one was woman. She was old; I was young. She was so poor; I was comparatively rich. She was dressed in a white sari that reached to the ground; I wore swimming trunks and plastic sandals. She was from the East; I was from the West. She was a subject of a colonial power, I was a member of the armed forces of that colonial power. I had the prospect of an interesting and rewarding career ahead of me; she materially, had no hope whatsoever. AND YET we had the most important thing in common. We both know the Saviour who died and rose again on that Easter weekend long, long ago.
In a few weeks’ time, Easter will once again be celebrated worldwide. Yet Easter is more than a weekend. It is a way of life, its effect permeates all we do, and especially in the social and religious life of any church. So whether it is our young people going ten pin bowling, the children playing
rag hockey, the ladies chin-wagging over a cup of coffee, the solemnity of a Good Friday service or our regular praise meetings, everything is done in the confidence and comfort of knowing the man that was God, who 2000 years ago came to bring us life in all its fullness.
Our pastor, David, will be glad to tell you more about our church activities and what we believe. So why not give him a call at the church office on 023 8066 7901. |
Roland Drake |
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