Hey, church fam!
We are officially less than two weeks away from our biggest Sunday of the year! As you know, we don’t go out of our way to overhype our Sunday Gatherings. Our goal isn’t to blow your mind with dazzling lights, drop-the-mic sermons, or Hollywood-grade video production. Because as impressive as an event can be, our long-term goal is not to be entertained by a show, but to connect and become a certain kind of people. And so we think of our Sunday Gatherings as a well-balanced regular diet of gospel truth, community, and shaping. Many of our Sunday Gatherings are ordinary, but that doesn’t mean they’re insignificant.
Why is Easter is such a big deal?
That being said, we really enjoy making a big deal out of Easter. If there’s one Sunday we want to draw attention to, it should be the one that commemorates Jesus triumphing over sin, death and the grave.
On Easter, we sing loud.
We baptize people and we cheer loud.
We listen to people tell their stories of how Jesus has changed them and we rejoice loud.
And for all of these reasons, we often encourage you to invite people to the Easter Gathering who don’t normally come around church. Friends and family and neighbors and coworkers that you invite will hear the gospel proclaimed, one story after another, as people describe how Jesus saved them and why they’re getting baptized.
And for this year, we thought why don’t we up the ante on inviting people in? Because as impressive as an event can be, our long-term goal is not to be entertained by a show, but to connect and become a certain kind of people. So what we’re doing is asking you to do is take your invitation up a level.
Two easy steps to a successful Easter
Step 1: Pray about inviting anyone Jesus may want to come to the Easter Gathering
Take a few minutes right now to pray about who Jesus might want you to invite to the Easter Gathering. Personally, invite them. Pray for Jesus to use the Gathering to lead them towards Himself. And also, spread a broad net. Use word-of-mouth, the invites that we’ll have at our Gatherings this Sunday, share the link to our Easter page on Facebook–whatever it takes. But don’t just stop there:
Step 2: Host an Easter Meal with the express purpose of inviting in new friends to get to know you, your family, and your LifeGroup.
With Easter being what it is in our culture, countless people will show up to our Easter Gathering, and it’ll be one of if not the only time they attend a church service all year long. So let’s leverage the Easter Gathering as a bridge to help people relationally connect with our church family.
Our Easter Gatherings are conveniently placed right before meal times (10:00am & 5:00pm). And who doesn’t love a good Easter lunch or dinner? So don’t just invite your friends, neighbors, and co-workers to an Easter Gathering, invite them to an Easter Gathering, followed by an Easter meal! Get together with your LifeGroup and plan a feast at someone’s house or snag a reservation at a local restaurant. Use that time to treat that friend of yours to some free food. Ask them what they thought about the Gathering. “Did that stuff make sense?” “Did you relate to any of the stories on video?” “Did that raise any questions for you?” And listen well to their answers.
The best part is that as you eat together, your friends get a front-row seat to observe church family in the context of your LifeGroup. Which is exactly how Jesus said people would recognize us as His; based on how we love each other. So let your friends see how you and your LifeGroup relate to one another, how you speak to each other, how you serve and care for one another. Who knows–they might just ask questions about that later.
Make it count
So this Easter, if you can, don’t waste your Easter ham.
Leverage it for the gospel.
Leverage it as an open door for someone who needs Jesus and His family.
Have a feast, a party, a blast with your closest friends and invite someone else in to be part of the merriment.
Easter’s our biggest Sunday of the year. Let’s leverage it so that it could be a life-changing moment in some of our friend's, family member's, and coworkers live's.