Shame about the weather though...
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I don’t know if you watch breakfast TV, but one of the BBC’s most appreciated weather forecasters, Carol Kirkwood, retired from the BBC after 28 years last week.
Now if
you are not familiar with Carol, she has a warm lilting Scottish accent and for
nearly 3 decades has not only provided the weather but also reported from
events like Wimbledon, Chelsea Flower show and has even featured on Strictly. Click
on the BBC weather or the Christ Church Huntingdon Blog for a link (here) to some of
her funniest moments.
Well it must
have been quite emotional for her as she did her last forecast, and glowing
reports from various journalists flooded in from people she had worked with.
I wonder
if you’ve done something lately that could have been for the last time. Perhaps
it’s chatting to an old friend who is no longer with us. Perhaps it’s being
able to open a jam jar. Perhaps it’s more light hearted like running the 100m in well, under 1 minute.
None of
us are getting younger, and as one lady from our church used to tell me,
getting old is not for the faint hearted. But as another couple in our church
tell me, while growing old is compulsory, growing up is optional.
Christians
can face their frailty and old age, even their mortality, with confidence. This
world is not all there is.
Last
Sunday we celebrated Easter Sunday. Did you know that up to 500 people saw
Jesus Christ alive from the dead. I know it might sound like wishful thinking,
but Jesus really did rise from the dead. There’s evidence. A seal on the tomb
that proved he really was buried and the body wasn’t stolen. An empty tomb that
proves that he really is no longer there, and resurrection experiences recorded
in history that prove that he really rose. Jesus IS the King that we have been
waiting for. And that means that death is not the end. If you put your hand in
Jesus’ hand he will take you through death and out the other side, ransomed,
healed, restored, forgiven.
So even if you will never run, sing, sew, play sport, or tell the weather like you used to…. with Jesus, there’s a new world to look forward to where we get new bodies and life to the full. When Carol Kirkwood did her last weather forecast, one of her colleagues thanked her saying “that was perfect”, but then Jon Kay added “shame about the weather though”. Today’s forecast on the other hand is due to be good, so enjoy! Thanks so much for listening. Have a great day.
ADVERT. Put Sunday 14th June 2pm in your diary.
The day after the Riverside Gala, we’ll be having a church service for 500
people down on the Riverside Park, called “A Passion for Life”. Come and join
us. Even if you don’t normally go to church, you’d be most welcome.
Charlie Newcombe 07APR26