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Easter is a Time to Celebrate Jesus’s Resurrection – Senator Malcolm Roberts
By ODMDaily Editorial Team | Easter · Faith · Culture
Editor’s Note: A Day in Parliament
On Wednesday, I (Warwick Marsh) spent the day in Parliament House in Canberra. It was a day of strategic engagement, prayer, and encouragement. I met with parliamentarians from the Labor Party, the Liberal Party, the National Party, and One Nation. It was a genuine joy to meet with them, in some cases to pray with them, and also to encourage them in their challenging roles.
Our main reason for going to Parliament House was to invite these leaders to the launch of the Australian Christian Freedom Index (ACFI) on 28 May 2026, and to brief them on the purpose and findings of the ACFI. The response was encouraging.
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It was a particular delight to officially meet Senator Malcolm Roberts. He is a family man, an Australian politician, and a man of conviction. He has a broad background in business and experience as a miner, a mining engineer, a General Manager, and a business owner. He has served as a Senator for Queensland since 2019 for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, having previously served from 2016 to 2017.
Malcolm is an outspoken critic of climate change science; he advocates for Queensland’s coal industry, national sovereignty, and limited government. He holds an engineering degree and an MBA. But more than that, Malcolm Roberts is a defender of Judeo-Christian values and a courageous advocate for the unborn.
It was fascinating to learn that the Senator had used figures — unasked — from a fact sheet about the resurgence of Christian faith that Samuel and Kurt had prepared, in his speech in Parliament. That speech is reprinted below in full.
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The Resurgence of Christian Faith in a Skeptical Age
Before we read Senator Roberts’ speech, it is worth pausing to consider the broader context. We live in a time when Christianity is under intense attack in the West. Secularism has advanced. Church attendance has declined in many nations. Public expressions of faith are often mocked or marginalized.
And yet, something unexpected is happening.
Young people are returning to Christianity. Not in a nostalgic, cultural way — but with genuine conviction, hunger for truth, and a desire for meaning that the secular world cannot satisfy.
Senator Roberts cites remarkable statistics in his speech:
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Bible sales rose 19% in the past year alone, with most of the growth in physical hardcover editions — quality Bibles being purchased to retain and hand down to the next generation.
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In the UK, the Catholic Church recorded a 21% rise in baptisms — the highest level in 11 years.
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Adult first holy communions increased 44% .
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Adult sacraments of initiation rose 60% .
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Baptists recorded the highest baptism rate in 10 years.
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57% of churches are reporting growth, averaging 13% .
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Alpha UK — a cross-denominational Christian course — grew 35% in 2025 to over 10,000 groups.
These are not the numbers of a dying faith. They are the numbers of a resurrection — not just the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but the resurrection of living, active, transformative Christianity in the Western world.
As Senator Roberts rightly notes, this is not an accident. It is the fulfillment of Scripture.
The Speech in Full: Senator Malcolm Roberts, Parliament House, Canberra
Senator ROBERTS (Queensland) (13:40):
“Easter is a time to celebrate Jesus’s resurrection and the joy of Christianity.
We live in a time when Christianity is under attack. I spoke of those world events earlier this week. Remember, though, John 10:10, which says:
‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I, Jesus, came that they may have life and have it abundantly.’
Our young are returning to Christianity’s message of hope and joy in God. Our scripture says exactly that in Romans 15:13. It reads:
‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him.’
Christianity is a world free of artificial separations — no cis white privilege. No one sees your skin colour. No one carries a diversity card, and the only pronouns are the ones God gave us. It’s the original world of real inclusion — values that characterise One Nation.
In the past year alone, Bible sales rose 19 per cent, with most of the growth in physical hardcover editions. These are quality bibles being purchased to retain and hand down. In the UK, the Catholic Church recorded a 21 per cent rise in baptisms to their highest level in 11 years.
*Adult first holy communions increased 44 per cent, and adult sacraments of initiation rose 60 per cent. Baptists recorded the highest baptism rate in 10 years. Fifty-seven per cent of churches are reporting growth averaging 13 per cent. Alpha UK are cross-denominational Christians. They run Welcome to Christianity courses, which grew 35 per cent in 2025, to over 10,000 groups.*
This Easter, I invite all Australians to visit their families, make a call that may be months or years overdue, contact a relative who has slipped out of touch and celebrate life and our beautiful country.
Happy, safe Easter to everyone.”
Analysis: What These Numbers Mean for the Future of Faith
Senator Roberts’ speech is remarkable not only because it was delivered on the floor of the Australian Parliament, but because it points to a trend that many secular commentators have missed.
For years, we have been told that religion is dying. That secularization is inevitable. That the future belongs to atheism, agnosticism, or vague spirituality.
But the data tells a different story.
1. The Bible Sales Surge
A 19% increase in Bible sales — especially in physical, hardcover editions — is not a statistical anomaly. It represents a hunger for something real, something tangible, something that can be held, underlined, and passed down. Young people, in particular, are rejecting the ephemeral nature of digital culture and reaching for the permanence of Scripture.
2. The Baptism and Communion Boom in the UK
The United Kingdom is one of the most secularized nations in the West. And yet, baptisms are up 21%. Adult first holy communions are up 44%. Adult sacraments of initiation are up 60%. These are not cultural Christians going through the motions. These are adults making a conscious, costly decision to follow Christ.
3. Church Growth Across Denominations
Fifty-seven percent of churches reporting growth — averaging 13% — is a stunning reversal of decades of decline. This is not a fringe movement. It is a broad, cross-denominational revival.
4. Alpha UK’s Explosive Growth
Alpha UK — a course designed to introduce people to the basics of the Christian faith — grew 35% in 2025 to over 10,000 groups. That means tens of thousands of ordinary people are voluntarily gathering in homes, cafes, and churches to ask questions about Jesus, life, and meaning. They are not being coerced. They are coming because they are hungry.
What Is Driving This Resurgence?
Several factors appear to be at work:
1. The Emptiness of Secularism. For decades, the West has been told that meaning can be found in material prosperity, sexual freedom, career success, and political activism. For many, these promises have proven hollow. Anxiety, depression, loneliness, and suicide rates have skyrocketed — even as wealth and “freedom” have increased. People are realizing that the secular worldview cannot answer the deepest questions of the human heart: Why am I here? Is there more than this? What happens when I die?
2. The Failure of Identity Politics. Senator Roberts touches on this when he says Christianity offers a world “free of artificial separations — no cis white privilege. No one sees your skin colour. No one carries a diversity card, and the only pronouns are the ones God gave us.” In an age of division, tribalism, and endless categories of victimhood, the gospel proclaims that in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female — for all are one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). That message of genuine, supernatural unity is deeply attractive to a generation exhausted by conflict.
3. The Power of Hope. Romans 15:13 — which Senator Roberts quotes — speaks of “the God of hope” who fills believers “with all joy and peace as you trust in Him.” In a world of climate panic, political instability, economic uncertainty, and global conflict, hope is in short supply. Christianity offers not a naive optimism, but a grounded hope — because Jesus rose from the dead. If the resurrection is true, then nothing is impossible. No problem is final. No grave is permanent.
4. The Role of Persecution. Ironically, as Christianity has come under increasing attack in the West, it has become more attractive. When following Christ carries a cost — social ostracism, career limitations, media mockery — then those who choose to follow do so out of genuine conviction, not cultural habit. Shallow, nominal Christianity is dying. Deep, costly, committed Christianity is rising.
The Deeper Truth Behind the Statistics
Numbers are important. They tell us what is happening. But they do not tell us why it is happening at the deepest level.
The ultimate reason for the resurgence of Christian faith is not sociological or psychological. It is spiritual.
Jesus Christ is alive. He promised to build His church, and the gates of hell would not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). For two thousand years, empires have risen and fallen, ideologies have come and gone, and every enemy of the gospel has been defeated or dissolved. The church remains.
Why? Because the resurrection is not a metaphor. It is not a feel-good story. It is a historical fact with ongoing, world-changing power.
The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is at work today — drawing people to faith, opening blind eyes, breaking chains of addiction, healing broken hearts, and giving hope to the hopeless.
That is why Bible sales are up. That is why baptisms are rising. That is why churches are growing.
Not because Christians have better marketing or more political power — but because Jesus is alive, and He is calling people to Himself.
A Call to Action This Easter
Senator Roberts ends his speech with a beautiful, pastoral invitation:
“This Easter, I invite all Australians to visit their families, make a call that may be months or years overdue, contact a relative who has slipped out of touch and celebrate life and our beautiful country.”
This is wise counsel for every reader.
Easter is not just about attending a church service or eating chocolate eggs. It is about reconciliation — with God and with one another.
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Is there a family member you have not spoken to in months or years? Easter is the time to reach out. The resurrection breaks down walls.
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Is there a friend you have wronged? Make the call. Seek forgiveness. The cross makes reconciliation possible.
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Is there a relationship that has slipped out of touch? Send the message. Rebuild the bridge. The empty tomb is proof that nothing is beyond repair.
A Prayer for the Resurrection of Faith in Your Nation
Lord Jesus, we thank You that You are alive. You conquered death. You rose from the grave. And You are still building Your church. We pray for a fresh outpouring of Your Spirit in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and every nation. Raise up leaders like Senator Malcolm Roberts — men and women who will speak Your truth in the public square without fear. Let the statistics of revival become the reality of transformed lives. Let the numbers we see — rising Bible sales, rising baptisms, rising church attendance — be signs of a deeper work: hearts turned to You, families restored, and nations awakened. We ask this in the name of the risen King. Amen.
Final Encouragement for ODMDaily Readers
Do not be discouraged by the headlines. Do not believe the narrative that Christianity is dying. The evidence — both statistical and spiritual — points in the opposite direction.
God is on the move. The resurrection is real. And Easter is not just a day on the calendar — it is the central truth of the universe.
So celebrate. Rejoice. Reach out to someone who needs hope. And live this Easter season as someone who knows that the tomb is empty and the King is alive.
About the Author:
This reflection is adapted from the Editor’s Note and speech content originally published on dailydeclaration.org.au, republished with permission for ODMDaily.com. Our mission is to declare biblical truth for the public square with clarity, courage, and hope.
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Suggested Discussion Questions for Small Groups:
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Before reading this article, did you believe Christianity was growing or declining in the West? Why?
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Which statistic surprised you the most (e.g., 19% Bible sales increase, 21% baptism rise in the UK)? Why?
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Senator Roberts says Christianity offers a world “free of artificial separations.” How have you seen the gospel unite people across racial, economic, and national divides?
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What practical steps can you take this Easter to reach out to a relative or friend you have lost touch with?
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How can you share the hope of the resurrection with someone who is skeptical or struggling?
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