Preparing your soul & family for Easter

Easter is the highest day on the Christian calendar, so make the most of it!

Three practical ways to prepare for Easter (Resurrection Sunday):

1. You need a personal plan. If you aren’t already having personal devotion / quiet time with the Lord you aren’t likely to follow through with any other plans either. Walk with Jesus!
2. You need a family plan. Parents/grandparents, use this “natural” rhythm of the year to point to Jesus. I was at a city Easter Egg hunt today at the park meeting people and I overheard a grandmotherly lady say “this is what Easter is all about”, referring to kids gleefully hunting eggs. Hey, it was cute to see them scurrying around…but that is NOT what its all about. How will your the children in your life know what its all about? Answer: by your actions.
3. You need a church plan. If your church already has special Easter plans your family can assist with- fantastic. If not, here there are practical ways you could help (listed below).

Highlights:

• In this podcast I quoted research that 72% of the unchurched are likely to attend church if a friend, co-worker, neighbor or family member invites them. Well, I made a mistake… I mis-spoke. It’s actually 82%. Sorry about that. Here is an interesting article about church invites.
• Some practical ways your family could roll into your “church plan”:
  1. Invite specific people. If 8 of of 10 spiritually unconnected family/friends would attend if invited (see above stat & article) this is huge! If you church has invite cards with your address & service times- use them. If they don’t, make some. It doesn’t have to be fancy because it really your invite that counts. The card is just a reminder of the times.
  2. Easter morning at your church…be in the parking lot before services. This might mean you need to duck out of your small group early. If so, do it! Tons of new people will be trying to find their way in for worship so help them. If you talk with your small group / Sunday school class in advance they might help as well. Meet people in the parking lot. Introduce yourself. Show them where to go. If its raining, meet people with umbrellas. Invite people to sit with you . Introduce them to others. Help wrangle their kids. If you want to be really swanky set up a place near the front door (but not in the way of traffic) to take family pictures of folks (use their phones). Most moms love this! And the vast majority of folks have a camera/phone, but just not someone offering to take the pic.

Some Jesus/resurrection movies:

• Risen (2016)- This is an interesting movie because it starts with the resurrection and the storyline after is a Roman soldier trying to come to grips with what happened. It is a great conversation starter.
• The Passion of the Christ (2004)- This is a beautifully filmed movie- very realistic…which also means quite gruesome in the crucifixion. Parents, beware…personally, I’m not rolling this one out until my children are in their teens. There is also some odd scenes that push artistic license, but all in all it captures the culture of the time and the weight of the crucifixion. The original version of the movie received an R rating for violence…& no doubt it is brutal. Director Mel Gibson came back and made a slightly less gory version called “The Passion Recut”. In this DVD package it seems that both versions are included, but I’m not positive. I have not seen the “recut” version myself.
• The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
• King of Kings (1961)
• The Robe (1953)
• Son of God (2014)
• The Jesus Film (1979)

More resources:

Resurrection Eggs
Chronological Bible
Episode #2 Bible Reading Help
Episode #6 Spiritual Awakening
Episode #4 Church Chat- Does the church really matter?