The Bishop of Blackburn, Rt Rev. Philip North, speaks of joy overflowing this Easter because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, in his new Easter message to the people of Lancashire.

Bishop Philip’s message is available now in video format here on the Diocesan YouTube channel and in written form in the news section of the Diocesan website.

In the video Bishop Philip says: “Why is this Easter message such a message of joy? Because at Easter, we know we have a cast iron guarantee that God's love has triumphed over sin and death.

“When Jesus died on the cross on Calvary, he died your death and my death on our behalf, which means that as he comes to life again at Easter, death is overcome.”

Bishop Philip also encourages people to attend a church service this Easter weekend. For the nearest service to where you are visit www.achurchnearyou.com

The full text of Bishop Philip’s Easter message follows …

I wonder if you have ever been to a surprise birthday party? In my experience, surprise birthday parties always go wrong because somebody spills the beans in advance and the surprise is lost.

Just recently I started organizing a surprise birthday party for a friend. Almost at once his son gave the game away, and the surprise party was pointless. The surprise was out.

Maybe though we shouldn't be too shocked by that kind of thing because it's in the nature of joy that it spills out all over the place. Joy is incredibly infectious. When your football team wins a key game or when you book a great holiday, you just need to tell people; the joy spills over.

And really that's what Easter is all about. It's about an incredible joy spilling out all over.And what is that joy? Jesus is alive again. Jesus who died on the cross, is alive again. The moment the women see that truth, because they notice that the tomb is empty, the joy spills over. They tell the disciples, then the joy spills over more.

The disciples tell others and proclaim this message of good news. And still that message of joy is spilling over across the world, and that's why our churches will be such joyful places this Easter tide.

What's at the heart of it though? Why is this Easter message such a message of joy? Because at Easter, we know we have a cast iron guarantee that God's love has triumphed over sin and death. When Jesus died on the cross on Calvary, he died your death and my death on our behalf, which means that as he comes to life again at Easter, death is overcome.

Death has been swallowed up by the strength of God's love. You see, God loves you and me so much that he wants to be with us forever.

That means that those things that get in the way of that friendship are intolerable to him. He dies to destroy our death. He rises so that we can share in his life. So through this empty tomb, we know a joy that nothing can take away.

No matter what ups and downs we may go through in our lives, no matter what strains or struggles we may face, we know for sure that God's love, God's joy has triumphed.

I hope that this Easter tide, you can experience that joy, hope you have joyful times with your family and friends and the people you love. But I hope above all you can experience something of that joy that spills out from the empty tomb because Jesus is alive again.

Why not go to your local church this Easter tide and celebrate with Christians this wonderful good news? Jesus is alive. Death is defeated. God's love has triumphed over all things. Hallelujah. Christ is risen.

Have a very happy Easter.

Rt Rev. Philip North, Bishop of Blackburn

Ronnie Semley, March 2024