Easter reflections

A couple thoughts and observations from this past Resurrection Sunday and weekend...

• Easter feels a little bit like Super Bowl weekend--lots of buildup/hype/attention, increased pressure and a clear sense that many more people than normal are tuning in.  I always want to keep that sense of pressure in check.  Christianity is not an event.  Its a life.  Events can open the door to a new life but they can't replace it.  My hope is that our Easter gatherings help invite people to exploring the life part more than the event part.
• That being said, it was great to see a second week at the new Lincoln Park location that was full of visitors and had a sense of expectation and celebration.  Thanks to God and the prayers of many, we seem to have good startup momentum.  Now the hard work of leading people toward deeper connections with God and with people is what stands in front of us.  Karen Carpenter is right:  "we've only just begun..."  (On second thought, maybe that's not what she meant...)
• My Easter highlight?  Our neighbor, Alice, spent the day with us.  (Alice lost her husband of 30+ years about 18 months ago.)  She attended worship in the morning (for the first time), had Easter dinner with us, then played Uno Attack! and then stayed the afternoon as Gil and the kids and her watched an episode of Planet Earth and Seventh Heaven.  She practically tucked the kids in.  Good times.
• I really appreciated Alan Attwood's drama presentation.  Funny, thoughtful, engaging with the text without being wooden and stuffy, emotionally connecting.  I hope we can work with him again in the future.  Favorite quotes from the drama:  "Drop your self-absorbed living, shoulder your cross and follow me," and from the Rich Man, "He says there's still something I can't count among my assets."  Great paraphrases of the text--powerful punch!
• Great to see a number of people indicating they trusted Christ on Easter Sunday.  That's a huge blessing on any Sunday.  Publicly expressing faith in Jesus is a big, big step.  Now on toward baptism!
• My favorite quote of the day?  I was talking with a first-time visitor (invited by his co-worker who's part of the church) from our morning gathering at LP.  He was enthusiastic in his recap of the experience:  "It was great!  I liked the music, the environment, the speech, man everything!"  The speech!  Awesome!  The best moments in ministry are when people are connecting with God and have no idea what the "Christian words" are for what they've experienced.  Hopefully he comes back for more "speeches", worship and transformation--the kind Jesus brings.

Comments

[Steph]

PK, I liked your "speech" too. =) ha! Loved the Alan Atwood drama too. I got his DVD, so if there's anyone that missed this drama, I'm happy to share this video--trust me, you'll want to see if. Great, real spin on the Gospel.