AN Easter message from the Bishop of Warrington, Rt Rev Richard Blackburn.

We all want a better future.

Our lives, our culture our thinking are often built around the notion of how do we achieve a better future.

We may have different visions of what that future might be but it is important to dream that dream.. It gives us hope.

It works on so many levels.

A vision for a better future for us as individuals, for our families and for the ones we love.

We all want our children to live in a better world, to have a better education, to achieve more than we have.

I have recently become a grandfather for the first time.

Holding my granddaughter in my arms is a stark reminder that I want hope not just for myself but for her and the world she will be growing into.

In his life, death and resurrection Jesus offers us that hope.

The story we read in the gospels offers us a challenge to how we live our lives – the call to look after the poor, to stand Full Square against injustice, to protect the whole of creation and to do this with the utmost humility. That is a challenge that all should be able to accept whether you are a believer or not.

But the profound message contained within the Easter story is that because of his sacrifice and because of God’s love and forgiveness we have the hope of a new kingdom.

Not a far off hope that seems unreachable, or is only unreachable when we die. But a living, active hope that affects how I and millions of Christians around the globe view the world and the challenges that we face.

I believe we can make a difference. I believe the church can, and does make a big difference.

In parishes and schools in and around Warrington we have Christians helping others and serving communities because they believe in that same hope.

A hope that will last far longer than any chocolate egg I give my granddaughter. A hope I would want the whole town to share.

Happy Easter.