Easter At New Life

It is hard to believe that we are a few short weeks away from Easter 2019! Together we have shared two Easter experiences in our brief history and those are filled with great memories. The first Easter that we shared I was serving as the interim pastor at New Life. A few weeks later you would give me the honor to become the lead pastor. During the Easter season however we were in the process of praying together concerning the potential merge between our two churches. ​

Both churches had many questions and there were several unknowns. Today we stand at a very different phase in the life of our church. I remember going into that first Easter with a high level of uncertainty. For years I have recognized that people are more likely to attend church on Easter Sunday than any week out of the year. That has certainly been the case at New Life. Our first Easter together with very little advertisement we had 102 in attendance. Our second year we had 127.

Simply stated, Easter is a great time to share the gospel with people that typically do not attend church on a regular basis. If history is correct April 21, 2019 is the one Sunday that people in our community are more likely to go to church. I want to seize this opportunity in a way that we have never dared before. On April 21, we will offer two
worship experiences at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Both will include the same format, worship set and message. This is an opportunity to invite family, friends and co-workers as we proclaim the Easter message of Redemption in Christ. The one change to our schedule is on Easter Sunday we will not have Sunday School.

As we prepare for Easter at New Life, here are 3 things I want to encourage you to do.

1. Pray for Sunday April, 21. Spend time praying that our worship gatherings on Easter Sunday honor Christ by clearly proclaim the redemption we have through His sacrifice. Pray that God will draw many people from our church and community to come and hear this message. Pray that God uses our church to spark many conversations about that ultimately leads people to the message of hope that can only be found in Christ. Pray that our Easter experience is a time that God deepens our faith and trust in Him.
   
   
2. Invite your friends to either the 9 a.m. or 11 a.m. gathering. People are more likely to attend a worship gathering on Easter than any other church service throughout the year. If you have people in your family or social network that do not attend church on a regular basis, Easter Sunday is a great time to give an invitation. The church will provide information that you can use to pass out to your family members and friends. In addition we are going to run announcements on our social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. When you see this info on your social-feed, help get the word out by “liking” and “sharing”. This helps populate the content and is also a great way to invite your friends on social media.
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3. Come to the Easter gathering ready to serve. I want to encourage our New Life community to come to the 9 a.m. gathering and make yourself available to serve during the 11 a.m. gathering. At the second service will need additional people to serve in First Impressions, Children’s Ministry, and the nursery. We are going to add parking attendants and a photo-booth for families to capture Easter at New Life. I would love to see a team praying during the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. gatherings. It would be great to have you serve on this special Sunday.

On Palm Sunday, April 14, we are going to begin our Easter Sermon Series. The series is called Easter at New Life. This is a 6-week series that defines the meaning of Easter. Each week we will study scripture to develop a clear understanding of everything Christ has accomplished and specifically what the Bible has to say about the meaning of the day we have labeled Easter. I am excited about this series and I look forward to working with you as we prepare for Easter Sunday.

Pastor Billy