Christians believe that physical death opens the way to a new life in God’s presence. We can have confidence in a bigger story, because Jesus has gone through it before us. John’s vision in the book of Revelation points us towards God’s new heaven and earth, where death and mourning, crying and pain will be no more (Revelation 21:1-4). The confusion, sorrow and even anger which we feel in response to death will not be part of our new life in God’s presence. In the midst of grief our Christian faith gives us hope and assurance that this is not the end. Through Jesus, God promises us life beyond our earthly experience. All of us will have experienced the death of a loved one and experienced the pain of grief first-hand or in supporting others close to us. For a long time our society has somehow conspired to silence talk about death or about dying; it has been a closed subject which many are frightened to broach but long to talk about. Currently, there are a variety of ways to reach out with prayer to our loved ones completely online: Time to Pray - The Church of England App 'Time to Pray' presents everything you need for prayer during the day, with variations according to the day of the week and the season of the Church’s year. You can use app on its own, as your sole act of prayer and praise, or you can use it alongside Night Prayer in a pattern of prayer at the beginning and end of the day. Time to Pray is free to use and available to download here. For further informationSchools bereavement support | Weblink Lastwords.uk | Weblink Suffolk Cruse | Weblink - Suffolk Cruse offers a Bereavement Care Line available on 01473 230888 or email: helpline@cruse.org.uk Grave Tending by Jo | Weblink - Jo offers a bespoke service tending graves in Suffolk to those who may not be able to visit their loved one's grave themselves.
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