The recent tragedy of the sinking of the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy brings home the element not only of human tragedy, but also of human failure.

On the fifteenth of April this year will be the centenary of the sinking of RMS Titanic. The Titanic was said to be unsinkable, but the tragedy still remains a poignant reminder of the danger of putting our faith in man or that which is man-made.

When the Titanic was sinking the ship's band carried on playing and reportedly the hymn "Nearer my God to Thee".  The band leader was Wallace Hartley who resided in West Park Street , Dewsbury, and who was the choir master at the former St.Mark Church , now Dewsbury Gospel Church where a picture of Wallace Hartley and members of the band can be seen along with other Titanic memorabilia.

What was it that enabled such testimony of faith and belief in the midst of such tragedy?

The hymn writer Horatio G. Spafford penned the lines ‘when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say it is well with my soul’. Spafford lost his four daughters in a sea tragedy in 1873.  He went on to write ‘Let this blest assurance control, that Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and has shed his own blood for my soul’.

The Bible records in Hebrews 6:19 ‘Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast’.

By Pastor Bob Ward, Pastor of Dewsbury Gospel Church .  Representing Churches Together in Dewsbury. To contact CTiD please ring 01924 454750 or 457057