Easter Sunday! Nothing better in my opinion. I still remember Easter from my childhood and I remember them when my own children were little. The fun of new outfits and Easter baskets, the egg hunt in the afternoon after the big family lunch. One of my great memories as a child was not actually Easter but Good Friday. We would go to the church service at noon and every single year our pastor would do the same sermon The Walk to the Cross. I don't know why I remember it so well but he would start at one end of the stage and as he preached he was walking to the other end where there was a cross and he was talking about those few days and hours that led to that cross. It impacted me in such a way that the meaning of the entire Easter weekend has always been tremendously meaningful to me and overwhelming when I consider all that Jesus did for us.
Well yesterday's message was another one that left a mark on me. It was the final message in the Life on Mission series and it was perfect for Easter entitled Go Tell. That's our mission. That's our purpose. Go tell!
Eddie stated, and it's so true, that when the resurrection becomes a reality in our life, that's when the greatest journey begins. He kicked off with a beautiful portrayal of the gospel and how the disciples fled in fear until they had seen the risen Lord. The resurrection is what made the difference in their life.
We looked in Matthew 28 at three things the angel said to the women at the tomb:
1: Do not be afraid. Whatever we fear, Jesus has taken care of it.
2: Come and see. Investigate the gospel for yourself. Don't listen to others who say it's foolish. Don't listen to others who criticize churches. Check it out for yourself.
3: Go tell. What do I say? I couple my story with His story. When Jesus told people not to tell things, for whatever reason in scripture, they told everyone. Sadly today He tells us to go and tell and many times we don't.
It was a great day to be at Fairview. It's always good when someone has to get up and ask for people to slide closely together to make room for those still coming in. We had three services which is so exciting when you think about a few years back there was one combined Easter service. Is God not doing something incredible among us?! We had visitors at every service and hearing "we'll be back" still gives me chills. People were introducing us to their neighbors and coworkers and family that they had brought. People came to night church saying that their neighbor comes to another one of the services but had invited them. Their neighbor is 95 years old. YES, still working her neighborhood!! We celebrated believer baptism! Worship was amazing! Don't let anyone tell you Fairview doesn't know how to worship. I have eyes in the back of my head (I'm a mom you know) and I have great peripheral vision and I saw lots of hands and lots of jumping and swaying (dancing even shhhhhh). All I have to say to that is bring it again next week!!
Next week we start a new series out of Ecclesiastes on the purpose of life. Get in on the beginning of it and bring others so that they can too. Everyone is searching for purpose, let's share with them how they can find it. Have a blessed week! It's HOPE Week for us at Fairview. We will be all over the area spreading the hope of Jesus. It's going to be the greatest week ever!
A few pics to enjoy...
I'm so sad we didn't get an entire family picture yesterday! A total mom fail! When I thought of it at church we were all scattered serving different areas and then at home I cooked and everyone was starving and exhausted and no one thought of it. I'll get over it though at least by next Easter. And Michael had even set up a photo booth perfect for family pics in the lobby. But as Jessica said, "3 services, we tired!" Ministry fam probs for sure. Tired yet totally exhilarated!
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