The Best Easter Ever! (Part 1)

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Mar 14, 2009 by Randy Chestnut | Category: Easter 2009 | 0 Comments

This past week, I had the opportunity to sit in on a tele-conference conducted by Nelson Searcy, the Lead Pastor of the Journey in Manhattan, New York.  The Journey launched on Easter Sunday 2002.  The church has now grown to having six Sunday services with a weekly attendance of over 1,100 people.

  The purpose of the tele-conference was to think about how to make this Easter the best Easter ever at our churches.  We have had only one other Easter at COTH, and it was awesome!  But, I believe this year can be even better.

  Nelson said one of the reasons he believes this Easter can be the greatest Easter ever in our churches is the openness that exists in people's hearts to God.  He said people tend to be open to God when, 

 

  • They are in transition
  • They are under tension
  • They are in trouble

 

  That sounds like today! So, how do we move towards having the best Easter ever.  Easter Sunday is just 4 weeks away, but it is not too late for personally and corporately planning for the best Easter ever.  In this post, I want to talk about personal and corporate spiritual preparation.  

  What would it be like this year if, instead of rushing right up to Easter, we took time for personal preparation? What would that mean?  Here are a few ideas to challenge us all...

 

  1. Take time to read the Gospel accounts of Jesus last week on earth leading up to and including His crucifixion and resurrection.  Here are those sections, Matthew 21:1- 28:20; Mark 11:1- 16:20; Luke 19:28- 24:53; John 12:1- 21:25.  As you are reading these passages, have a pen and notebook to journal what God speaks into your heart through His word.
  2. Spend one day a week in fasting and prayer.  If you are not familiar with the concept of fasting, it means to give up something in order to focus more time on God.  For many folks, it means giving up a meal(s) to spend time in Scripture and prayer.  For others, it means giving up time they spend watching television or on the computer.  For instance, some folks are fasting from Facebook!  But remember, the idea is not just to give up something, but to fill that time with prayer and personal worship and renewal.
  3. Begin now to pray for our Easter Sunday services.  Pray about every aspect of that day, from set-up to tear down and everything in-between!  We start our set-up time at 7am and are normally finished by 1pm.  So that is 6 hours or 360 minutes.  Here is a suggestion... spend 6 minutes a day praying exclusively for the Sunday, April 12 Easter service.  You could spend one day praying for the set-up and tear-down team, another day praying for Connection Cafe, another day praying for KidsKonnect, another for Life Groups, one day for the Worship and Technical Support Team, another for Greeters, and, don't forget, pray for me and the message that day!

 

Over the next several days, I will be posting some other thoughts on making this the best Easter ever for ourselves personally, and together at Church of the Hills.

 

BLESSINGS!

Pastor Randy