AS a child one of the joys of Easter was being able to get my hands on a delicious chocolate egg.

There was a delightful naughtiness in being able to sample a chocolate treat ahead of breakfast on Easter Sunday morning.

As an adult I am aware that not all children get to enjoy that type of treat so I was delighted to have been invited to the Warrington Foodbank warehouse the other week where I saw the start of a distribution of hundreds of eggs to families in need across the country.

It reminded me that when we think of people in poverty we need to consider their needs go beyond the basic.

The gift of a chocolate egg at Easter is not an indulgence.

It is a sign of love and hope.

It speaks of an understanding that we all need a little bit more.

We all need someone to show that they care.

We all need someone to show them love.

The heart of the story millions of Christians celebrate at Easter is one of love.

When we tell of Jesus’s death on the cross and his rising in glory on Easter Sunday we are telling a story of God’s love.

We will often say God so loved the world because in our hearts we know that to be true.

We see that love in Jesus.

In his life, in his stories, in his actions. All acts of love.

It’s a love that continues.

A love that resonates through the centuries.

It’s a love that inspires the Christian church to do so much to fight injustice.

It’s the love that encourages so many to volunteer at foodbanks, debt centres, homeless shelters, luncheons clubs and places where the lonely need to know they are loved.

You can experience that love.

It will be shown across Warrington this Easter in any place where a group of Christians come together to worship.

It will be shown to the people who receive one of the eggs I saw being delivered form the foodbank.

It can be shown to the lonely, the bereaved, the stressed and the joyous.

You can receive that love.

For I believe that God wants you to know you and to show that love to you.

So my prayer for the whole town of Warrington is that you show love to one another this Easter as you come to know the love and peace of the Risen Christ

Have a happy Easter.