Switch on the news and you'll be hard pushed to spot good news. They might throw in a line about a singing dog as a footnote, but alongside the cruelty of mankind, the cost of living and threats to our future, it's hard to find.

So when Christians talk about the Gospel, which means 'good news' and when thousands of people who would appear to be as far from good news as one could be, say that this good news has given them not just a reason for living, but life itself, it must be worth hearing.