First, of course, is just the fact that it is my all time favorite day because of what it means. Jessica said yesterday that she wondered what the day really meant to unbelievers as they posted pics of Easter baskets and bunnies. How can that day possibly mean anything other than Christ arose?! As Eddie said yesterday in his sermon, if Jesus didn't die and rise, everything we do is pointless and he has wasted his life in ministry. Easter is Jesus and He alone is worthy of worship and celebrating.
This Easter was extra special because it was our first at fairview! Eddie and I had huge expectations of what God was going to do and as always He never disappoints! We had record numbers in both services. We would never have gotten everyone in one combined service. My man believed from the beginning in the need for 2 services that day, one so that visitors would see what they would get on a normal Sunday but also we just knew God was going to blow our mind with the number of people. As always, again, God exceeded the number we had in our brain. We were believing for 1000, He blew that out of the water!! For those of you who don't like the numbers talk, those numbers represent a lot. They represent, as Eddie says, souls who are going to spend eternity somewhere. They also represent the fact that people are excited. People don't invite people places they're not excited about so it tells us that people are excited about what God is doing and they are investing in people's lives and inviting them to church. It also means that our people care for people and want to see them saved and being discipled. That's real love for others!! Visitors who are new to the area came and were so excited saying they'd be back which just pumped us up even more. Word is getting out about all that God is doing. I just keep praying that we will stay out of His way and let Him have His way!!
The sermon yesterday was the gospel in a nutshell! Eddie challenged all, whether believers or unbelievers with a wake up call. The empty tomb is proof that when God intervenes, nothing is impossible. And the greatest news is that the resurrection is a proven fact!! Our band was unbelievable. They kicked it off in an amazing way, I was a big goosebump. I looked around and people were dancing and praising. Arms were raised and people singing. The worship through music was over the top, AGAIN!
It was also a great Easter because of family. My mom and dad spent the day with us. They loved the service. They always love Eddie but that my parents in their 70s loved the band and music just got my heart pumping. It was Stephens first Easter at home in 4 years thanks to the coach allowing them to leave the game Saturday with a parent and thanks to a local teammate for taking him back to charleston. We got Justin and Jessica after church for the day. Heard Justin preached a great word as well on Easter! John was here for the day, also thankful they don't play on Easter! Sure missed our Charlotte kids but the pics of them soothed my heart, a little bit.
We've had some great Easters. Actually, they've all been great thanks to Jesus. But this one was an all time fave. Of course the fam being together was great but the worship takes the cake. It was just different, in a not the typical kind of same old Easter way, if that makes sense! Thankful for our church. Thankful for the team that prays and prepares weekly for worship services just like we had yesterday. Praise God we get that every week. Check it out online!
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