Do you ever feel like you’ve missed out on something in life and find yourself thinking, “what if”? Thomas knew that feeling. He missed seeing the risen Jesus when He first appeared to the other disciples, and doubt settled in.

But Thomas’ what ifs weren’t the end of the story, and neither are ours.

A week later, Jesus came back just for him and revealed himself to Thomas directly. What looked like doubt was turned into devotion!

In the middle of both the joys and difficulties of life, God knows exactly what we need. Through His grace and love, Jesus meets us there.

The resurrection reminds us that we haven’t missed Him. And when we invite His Spirit into our lives, we are redeemed and renewed and sent out to share that same good news with others.

On Easter Sunday, Rebecca reflects on how we often encounter Jesus in the midst of the darkness. The resurrection itself happened in the darkness, reminding us that death and darkness are not the end—they’re actually the beginning of God’s light and life entering into our lives.

The risen Jesus is our hope, and we know this isn’t the end of the story because we already know how it will end. God will dwell with His people and make all things new, restoring things to how they were meant to be from the very beginning—before the fall of man—where there will be no sin, no suffering, and our relationship with God will be fully reconciled.

Easter reminds us that all things have been, and will be, made new through Jesus. Through His sacrifice, He took on all of humanity’s sin and death and conquered it. Victory was won on that first Easter, and it will be fully realised when God returns at the end of the story.

This Palm Sunday, Colin led us in the final week of our Lenten series, Wisdom in the Wilderness. Reflecting on Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem, he reminded us that while the crowds were expecting a tyrannical king, Jesus came bringing peace—and wept over the city's expectations.

We often act the same way, publicly welcoming Jesus, while privately resisting him. Like the crowds, we often seek the Kingdom without the King.

The desert mothers and fathers we’ve been learning from this Lent devoted themselves fully to Jesus and were transformed in his presence.

So the question is: what areas of our lives are we keeping Jesus at a distance? If we want God to be at work in us, we need to surrender every part of our lives to him—because his peace, joy, and life are found when we bring our whole selves to him.