Welcome to our Easter page introducing the Easter services at Enderby Parish Church as well as offering some reflections on the momentous events we remember at Easter.

Isaiah 53 Who has believed what they heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

In Britain you could get the impression that Christmas is the main Christian event in the year's calendar. But this is wrong. At the heart of the Christian faith are the events that are remembered at Easter. The Old Testament contains many prophecies concerning the coming of Jesus Christ and events that we remember at Easter. The most graphic was written over 700 years before Christ in the book of Isaiah in chapter 53 (see left). In these verses Isaiah foresaw the arrival of one who would suffer, be rejected and be "led to the slaughter" to bear "the sin of many". The Easter story tells us of historical events that fulfilled these prophesies. This is real history. For during that week, Jesus took God's punishment for our sin on Himself on the cross even though He was pure and innocent (see below for these events in Mark's Gospel). In the Palm Sunday service Christians traditionally remember Jesus's entrance into Jerusalem at the start of that fateful week, to the acclamation of the crowds (waving palm leaves to salute Him). These crowds would soon turn against Him, with some preferring to save a criminal instead of saving Jesus when they were asked. The Good Friday service focuses our attention on the horrendous death of Jesus Christ. Jesus was betrayed, whipped, mocked, forced to drag the instrument of His torture to the place where He was nailed to the cross, and died one of the most agonising deaths devised by mankind. Whilst Jesus was on the cross God poured out His anger against all our sin and rebellion on Himself (Jesus). Jesus made Himself a sacrifice for us, taking our punishment on Himself, so that if we trust and believe in Jesus, we can claim forgiveness through Christ's blood because the punishment we deserve has been already dealt with by Jesus. On Easter Day (Sunday) we can then move to joyously remember that Jesus has gained the victory over sin and the devil through the events of Good Friday. And this is gloriously witnessed by Jesus's resurrection (Jesus rising from the dead to take his position at the right hand of God the Father) remembered on this special day. Christians know that through their faith in Jesus they can die to a life of sin and find a new and eternal life in Jesus, just as Jesus rose from death to rise to eternal life. Through celebrating together on Easter Day we can give thanks and praise to God for the salvation each Christian can have through the events of Easter. We at Enderby Parish Church warmly invite you to join us at any of the Easter services listed in the column on the right hand side. Through our services we hope you can join us to thankfully remember the good news of Jesus’s life, death and resurrection, that brings new and eternal life to all who believe in him, and work out what this may mean for you.

April 1st Palm Sunday 9.30am & 6.00pm April 6th Good Friday 9.30am April 7th Saturday 9.30am & 6.00pm The final victory of the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:50-58) April 8th Easter Day 9.30am & 6.00pm Thursdays February & March Lent Course "City on a Hill" 7.30pm to 9.00pm

All at Enderby Parish Church wish you a very happy and joyful Easter We warmly invite you to join us at our special services listed here. The Palm Sunday service remembers Jesus's entry into Jerusalem, when the crowd waved palm leaves in celebration. The Good Friday service reflects on the torture and death of Jesus on the cross, through which we can gain undeserved forgiveness from God. Christ faced God's anger and justice for our sins. By trusting in Jesus we can claim the forgiveness achieved through Jesus's sacrifice. On Easter Day we remember that Jesus rose again to be with God and that truth is a glorious assurance that Jesus had victory over death and sin. Christians can claim a new and eternal life through their faith in Jesus Christ and through all that was achieved on the cross.

Mark 15& 16

And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole Council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" And he answered him, "You have said so." And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, "Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you." But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, "Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?" And they cried out again, "Crucify him." And Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify him." So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.
And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!"

So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And some of the bystanders hearing it said, "Behold, he is calling Elijah." And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down." And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"

There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus saw where he was laid.

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back--it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you." And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.