Easter: Be Our Guest!

“During Easter a lot of people regret

not buying the clothing that was on sale.”

There aren’t many church or family traditions that I’m nostalgic about. One Easter tradition I’ve always enjoyed is when children got new clothes and dressed up for Easter. Today you’d be hard pressed to find a sport coat in a store for a young boy. We’ve become so practical and I understand, yet I always enjoyed seeing the girls in their Easter dresses with black patent shoes and the boys in sport coats and ties…for at least one Sunday.

  When I was a child, Easter was a highlight of the year. It meant new clothes. Our whole family dressed up. My Mom and sisters would even have Easter hats. My Dad, brothers and I had new suits or sport coats. And we’d all pose for a family photograph on the front steps of our home.

  Easter meant an Easter basket. On the Saturday before Easter we’d color hardboiled eggs. There might be an Easter egg hunt, though I never did figure out Easter egg hunts. Maybe the eggs they hunt today are better but the ones we hunted for were like rocks. Why someone wanted to “win” gathering the most of those repulsive things, I’ll never know. It seems to me the winner would be the one with the least Easter eggs.

  Easter means many things to different people. Probably for most it’s an opportunity to get together as a family. Those are some special times. Yet, it’s so much more. As believers, we know that, or at least, we should.

  I’ll never forget a lady many years ago telling me that she was going to have to skip church on Easter because her family was coming over and she had to make Easter dinner. Somehow she missed the point.

  So please don’t miss the point. Easter is about Jesus and His resurrection. It’s about the fact a just and holy God sacrificed His own Son for our sin to pay our debt. Jesus suffered and died a horrible death. But it’s not the end of the story. It looked like evil had won. Jesus was dead. There was no hope…

  But that was Friday and Sunday was coming. On Sunday, the One who was dead physically rose again and walked out of the tomb. It demonstrates that God was satisfied with His sacrifice. It gives us hope. Death is now a defeated foe. “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).  

  Easter is about forgiveness, eternal life, victory, hope BUT do your lost family members, friends and neighbors know that? Or, do they think Easter is about family get-togethers, bunnies and Easter egg hunts? Unless you tell them there is so much more, how will they know? Sometimes in the church we’re so enjoying the victory of the Easter Celebration, we forget the many who are just enjoying the “celebration,” yet have no idea what they’re celebrating. Easter is also a time when many who’d never consider going to church will attend because it’s tradition or even out of curiosity.

  So are you inviting guests to come with you to one of our Easter services? There are many people in your circle the Holy Spirit is already working on. They’re being drawn to the Lord. The Lord can use you—your words and courage—to bring someone within the sound of the gospel.

  According to Thom Ranier, 82% of the unchurched are at least “somewhat likely” to attend church if they’re invited. That means more than 8 out of 10 of the unchurched would come to church if they were simply invited. But Ranier sadly points out, “Only 2% of church members ever invite an unchurched person to church.” When was the last time you invited someone to come to church? Easter is one of the times when people are more open to attend church than nearly any other time of the year. So how can you invite folk for Easter?

  Pray for God’s help. Prayer is always the place to start. Creativity flows from God and so does the power to incline your neighbors toward Christ. Take some time with your family and ask the Father to help you with the ideas and the energy to do it. First, pray. Then, invite.

  Have a time and a plan. The Enemy does not want you to invite anyone, so he’ll pull out the best in his bag of tricks: busyness. Easter will come and go, and you’ll be buying discounted chocolate bunnies before you know it. So once you land on an idea, put your plans on the calendar.

  Ask if they’re planning to go to church this Easter. An easy place to start is with a casual conversation. Even in a passing chat about the weather, ask if they’re planning on attending an Easter service. Many are already thinking about it. Even if they’re not, going to church on Easter is still cultural enough to be an inoffensive topic. One of the most common hesitations potential visitors have is not knowing anyone at the church. Resolve that by offering to attend with them and to sit with them.

  Make cookies and deliver them. Who doesn’t like cookies? Making Easter eggs is fun too, but they don’t quite go down as well with a glass of milk. Your neighbors will not only enjoy it, they’ll be impressed that you took the time to make it and share it. If cooking isn’t your thing, there’s nothing wrong with buying some candy to share. Deliver the goodies and then invite them to an Easter Service.

  Take them some spring flowers. So candy isn’t your thing. After a hard winter, flowers are a breath of fresh air. Drop off a small bouquet. Send the kids. Who can resist a cute kid with a handful of flowers? Then, invite them to come as your guest.

  We have invitations that you can use to invite folk. The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter how you do it, it just matters that you do it! Will you?

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.