Okay everybody...DO TELL! How was your Easter? So far, every friend that I have talked to says they had a dynamic Easter. I want to hear from you guys...what outreaches did you do...what happened?
We had an Easter Egg Hunt Outreach on Saturday before Easter. It went really awesome. Two of our people led praise & worship and also shared the true meaning of Easter at the event...we had several people saved. Then the kids hunted what looked like to be a few thousand eggs. We served lunch to everybody on the grounds...it was a really fun day, something I was so blessed to attend and work the crowd and just love on people tho' I didn't have any part in organizing it.
On Easter Sunday we had continental breakfast in our fellowship hall for everybody. I did head this up. I was wondering how it would go since it's never been done here before...and I figured...people would just want to sleep in. I prepared for 175 people and everything was eaten up! We had a full crowd, and lots of visitors who had seen it on our website and came. What a blessing. We followed with our service at 10:30 am. The presence of God was so awesome. The music was just incredible, and my dh preached a message, "The Case for the Resurrection." We had one person saved. Praise God!
After all this I was way too tired to cook although I LOVE to!!! So, I told dh, "we're going out." We went out with an awesome couple in our leadership group. Ate to our hearts content, then came home, took a colossal NAP, and then had another family in the church over to hang out, swim (remember, we're in Florida! ) and order pizza later at night.
It was such a wonderful day, just enjoying God's presence and His people. Don't you just LOVE IT when you have a day like that?
By the way, have you heard of the church that is making major headlines because of an outreach gone bad? I hate to say it but unfortuantely they are an A/G church (and I'm A/G so I was really embarrassed by it!) But they invited these kids to an egg hunt outreach, and then when the kids got there they had their youth pastor dressed up as the easter Bunny and they whipped and beat him and threw the Easter eggs at him. Evidently the kids went screaming and running and some toddlers were really traumatized! I couldn't believe it. Now that they are being interviewed about all this they are saying they did it to show the true meaning of Easter and that the media is "persecuting them for their faith." (What a bunch of bunk!) Anyway, if you are interested in the link to all the news reports, e-mail me and I'll give it to you. It's some interesting reading (yet embarrassing for those of us who are really genuinely trying to reach unbelievers and love them into the Kingdom!) Would you believe the media is calling this, "the Passion of the Bunny"?
What next?
Please tell me something good about what happened for you on Easter!
It sounds like churches are really in the media's eye this Easter. Two churches in our area of Ohio got front page billing on Thursday and Saturday. (I do have to say it was alot more complimentary than the AG church.) One of the churches gave away a car as the capstone to a 12 week series on Integrity. The other had their youth group highlighted in an article called, "Not Your Grandmother's Church Here".
We didn't do any real outreaches this year for Easter. But we did have an awesome service, but it was so different from a traditional Easter service. We had communion with the whole church forming a ring around the sanctuary. It was so neat to be able to see our whole church family as our senior pastor and my husband and I stood in the middle so we could see everyone. It was very special.
Our youth and children's department was in charge of the rest of the service. We had the children's choir and the adult choir sing. Our drama team did several skits and we have a live video team who did a very powerful video. It was awesome. There was not a dry eye in the house! Our senior pastor got up and did the alter call, but the children and youth prayed with those that came forward. We had several rededications. We really went out on a limb to turn it over the children, but it was so good! I think it might become an annual Easter event. Everyone enjoyed it and the children all looked so cute in their Easter outfits.
We had a family get together at our house for dinner. It was very relaxing with lots of food and games!
We had a great Easter!
Karen
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"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Our service on Easter Sunday was just awesome... But I must share that God did something so very special and heart-touching for us. The Lord relieved one of our teenagers of his battle with leukemia early Easter Sunday morning. It was heart-wrenching to lose him especially so quickly after his diagnosis but he was suffering so tremendously. Now you may wonder why this was so special, well at his funeral on Sunday (this week) my beloved talked about how Paul made the declaration that there will be a resurrection from the dead... God allowed us to be reminded through the death of this young man that because Jesus lives we can also have the assurance of eternal life! I can understand the perfect sacrifice better when I see it in the face of Chris.
Chris' sickness had been hard for our church family. Chris was diagnosed at the same time that I was suffering with my kidney stones which was only three weeks ago, the Lord allowed me to suffer those stones so that I could take a week off from work, during that week I was able to spend most of my time ministering to his mother and grandmother. Sometimes we think that we are sick to be punished but God used that sickness to allow me to be a blessing...
I reckon that the sufferings of this world are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us!
) and order pizza later at night. 
