Easter...

Spring is my favorite season; I love the chilly mornings and warm afternoons. The smell of my jasmine blooming and all of the new growth on the trees sets off a feeling of great anticipation within me. Growing up, I loved this time of year because the countdown to school being out is ON... I think all those years of excitement to finish classes must have ingrained something in me that will never go away. I just get excited when it's Spring!

This weekend is Easter weekend, or "Superbowl weekend" in the church-world. We have been preparing for some time now. Spring cleaning, budgets, fresh paint and wood chips, decor, service planning, etc. Why do we do this? Why all the fuss about one weekend every year?

Well... the facts are more people come to church on Easter weekend than any other weekend all year. I have been pondering this phenomenon and I can't seem to put my finger on it. Tradition? Easter dresses and bonnets? Egg hunts? Why is it that so many people come to church on Easter when "Bedside Baptist" was much more popular most of the year?

The fact is, Easter is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christianity is the only religion where God came out of heaven to earth, paid the ultimate sacrifice and then conquered death and the grave after 3 days! All of this for YOU and ME so that we can have eternal life with God in heaven. Hmmmm... sounds like something worth celebrating to me.

I find myself so moved this time of year... thinking about the hope of what's to come because of the sacrifice of Christ. For us, Easter is about celebrating this hope. Because we work in ministry, Easter is also about laying down our lives to prepare for the thousands of people who will come to the "hill" at Celebration Church to experience a taste of this new life that's available to them in Christ. We want to put our best foot forward... have the MOST FUN services... make parking a breeze... serve coffee and doughnuts so no one gets a headache... we are opening the doors for lives to be changed forever.

My prayer this year is that the people who come b/c of the helicopter candy drop, to show off their new bonnets, or because grandma's tradition says to come or Easter lunch will be tense will experience something so life-changing that they will be compelled to come back! Christ rose from the dead so that we could experience a real relationship with Him and spend eternity with Him. This spring motivates me to do more to get to know Him. I'm excited about Easter weekend, yes. But, I am more excited about the weekend after that and the weekend after that. I really believe in what happened on Resurrection Day. I am compelled to come back to church every weekend to find out more!