The Newsletter

Dear Brunswick Street Baptist Church Family,

Grace and peace to you in the name of our risen Lord Jesus Christ! As we approach Easter, we come again to the heart of our faith, the reason we even gather here at Brunswick Street Baptist Church: the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hope it brings not only to each one of us, but to the world! Easter reminds us that God’s work in Christ is not just a story we can read about, but a living reality that continues to shape our lives in every way, even today. It is a story of hope: a hope that endures through hardship and a hope that often surprises us when we least expect it. A hope that transforms, is alive, and shapes everything about who we are as His followers.

The first followers of Jesus knew something about endurance and how surprising hope can be! The days between Good Friday and Easter morning were filled with grief, confusion, and fear. The disciples had watched the one they believed to be the Messiah suffer and die. The hopes they had carried seemed to collapse with the closing of the tomb. The person they had gone ‘all in’ on was no longer with them. They had no ‘normal’ life to go back to, they had given up everything to follow, and now, not only is that person no longer with them, but their entire life is also in pieces. On the road to Emmaus, two disciples confessed their deep disappointment and despair, saying,

“We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21)

Mary Magdalene stood weeping outside the tomb, unable to imagine that anything good could come from such loss (John 20:11–16). Those two reactions are so easy to understand and relate to. We had hoped, but hope is no more. You can hear the desolation, loneliness, hopelessness and despair in that statement. You can imagine the weeping outside the tomb, confusion, struggling to understand why things have gone this way. That feeling that there is no more hope. I’m sure we can all think of times we have felt in such a place. However, the wonderful news we are constantly reminded of at Easter is, as Pastor and Theologian Frederick Buechner tells us, “Resurrection means that the worst thing is never the last thing.” A humorous, yet profound reminder that no matter how bad the news, how difficult the situation, how tense or hopeless life may feel, as followers of Jesus we have a real and living hope that says we are not alone and, even if the very worst happens, we will find ourselves in the very presence of our Saviour where we long to be. This is why Paul can write the words,

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55)

We know that even in those very real moments of sorrow, like the first followers of Jesus, God has not abandoned us. The resurrection reminds us that God is often at work in ways we cannot yet see. As the apostle Paul also writes:

“We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5: 3 – 4)

Christian hope is not a shallow optimism that ignores pain, or a crutch to support the week, instead, it is a deeper hope that learns to endure suffering in ways that astonish, because it trusts in the faithfulness of God and the goodness of His character and presence of His Spirit, even with the realities we are facing. What makes the Easter story even more remarkable is, in spite of Jesus warning the disciples what was ahead, how surprising they found it. None of the disciples arrived at the tomb expecting resurrection. The women who went early on the first day of the week carried spices for burial, not songs of celebration (Mark 16:1–6). Even after hearing the news, many struggled to believe it. Thomas famously said he would not believe unless he saw the risen Lord with his own eyes (John 20:24–29).

The resurrection was not something the disciples invented or anticipated—it was something God did that blew them away! Two beautiful lines shared by American Pastor Robert Farrar Capon about the surprising beauty and depth of God’s grace are: “Grace doesn’t seem fair. That’s because it isn’t. It’s better than fair,” and “Grace is the celebration of life, relentlessly hounding all the non-celebrants in the world.”

This is so often how God seems to work. When we are tempted to move into hopelessness, or find ourselves in a place of deep desolation and despair, or give in to cynicism, the Good News of the Gospel, the Kingdom of God, the beauty of grace, all that Jesus is and all that He has done, the Holy Spirit at work in the depths of our very being, ‘hounds’ us back to a place of hope and gratitude for what we have already been given. This has to recenter us on celebration, because as we remember with gratitude who God is and His love for us, how could our response be anything else?

Through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord reminds us:

“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8)

The God who raised Jesus from the dead continues to bring life where we see only endings and to open doors where we see none. Easter reveals a God who surprises us with grace, renewal, and new beginnings. The God who continually works out His purposes in this world and whose Kingdom is here and is coming in completion one day! We cannot stay stuck in seasons of hopelessness. We cannot be defined by the darkness of the world, but instead by His grace, His Spirit and His power. We must be renewed by the Spirit and return to the light! Whether we think we deserve it, or not, whether we think God could use us, or not, we must persevere. We must continue to grow on our journey of discipleship and Sanctification. Even as we take up our cross daily and follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24), we are a people of resurrection hope and power!

Because Christ is risen, this hope is not limited to the past; it speaks powerfully into our present. Many among us carry burdens—illness, grief, uncertainty, or the quiet struggles of daily life. Yet the resurrection assures us that these things do not have the final word. As we reflected on earlier, Paul declares that death itself will ultimately be swallowed up in victory through Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:54–57). The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is at work among us, bringing life, strength, and renewal (Romans 8:11). So, this means that hope is not only something we hold in our hearts, but also something we live out in the world, because Christ is risen, our labour in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). We continue to love, to serve, and to share the Good News, trusting that God is still at work in ways both quiet and extraordinary. We are not defined by anything in our past but continually moving forward in hope to the resurrection life to which we are called. As we know, His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). Or as author Brennan Manning said: “Grace means that all of your mistakes now serve a purpose instead of serving shame.”

This line about grace must be so central in our understanding of our own faith. A serious question I think many followers of Jesus need to ask themselves is, when people observe my life as a Christian do they see a person full of fear, defined by mistakes and shame of the past, living without freedom, afraid of making any more? Or do they see a person living in the freedom provided by grace, living without fear, living and speaking with love? What people perceive in us will reveal either a God of oppressive judgement who expects a perfection we cannot ever attain, or a God who rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17), who redeems us and forgives us of all our sins (Colossians 1:13-14) and sets us free from condemnation and fear (Romans 8:1-2). The God revealed in the Bible we love and follow is indeed the second God presented and you will notice there were only Scripture references for those answers!

My prayer for each of you this Easter is that the Lord would fill your hearts with joy, peace, and a deep confidence in the hope we have through Christ. May the resurrection remind us that God’s grace is stronger than despair and that new life is always possible in him. That life can be full of change, struggle and real reasons for concern, yet because of resurrection hope and power, we will never be defined by such things.

May the risen Christ renew our faith, strengthen our endurance, and continue to surprise us with the wonderful and powerful hope of His Kingdom and His presence.

Grace, peace, and blessings of this Easter Season,

Rev. Ross Watters

Lead Pastor