Easter Preparations

As we prepare for Easter I am trying to keep a few things in mind:

1. ITS ALL ABOUT JESUS ALL THE TIME.  As a pastor it is so easy to get caught up in the programming that we forget about the very people Jesus died on the cross to save!  As a pastor it is easy to forget about the fact that JESUS CHRIST WAS RAISED FROM THE GRAVE TO GIVE US NEW LIFE.  Jesus came back from the dead in order to tell you and your community how much God loves them!
2. Jesus did not roll back the stone and leave an empty tomb in order to make bad people better, Jesus came to make dead people ALIVE!  May we never grow tired of hearing the old, old story!
3. God’s resurrection power (the same power that raised Jesus from the dead) is available to us today, and yet we rely on ourselves to overcome.
4. People everyday are dying and going to hell all around us and we are worried about things that don’t really matter.  We are complaining about our own needs, instead of the needs of those around us.  We are griping about our preferences and our pride instead of submitting to His Word and His will within the local church!  Churches are full of people every week that are doing nothing with their faith, except KEEPING IT!
5. I NEED TO GROW IF GOD IS GOING TO GROW HIS CHURCH THROUGH ME!  May I be humble enough to put myself at the feet of another.  If we want to go to the next level in life then we must submit to those already at the next level in order to grow!  God wants to grow His church more than I do, but my job is to identify the growth barriers and lead our church to remove them, one by one!
6. This Sunday is all about making JESUS FAMOUS ONE LIFE AT A TIME.  Its easy to get caught up in the masses that will show up this Sunday (and don’t get me wrong, we want that), but if we don’t intentionally lead people to invite Christ into their life as their Forgiver & Leader then its all for nothing.  God is not interested in attracting a BIG CROWD if we don’t lead them to build up the Church; and that happens as we help those far from God cross the line of faith in Jesus Christ!  This Sunday we have one aim – to help people experience REAL & LASTING CHANGE by inviting the Grave-Conquering Christ into their life!
7. As a pastor I am not called to KEEP PEOPLE FROM LEAVING, I AM HERE TO CALL PEOPLE TO EXCELLENCE IN THE WAY OF JESUS!
8. My heart and soul bleed the local church! I love the Church! I love my Church!  I love Jesus’ Church! The Church is God’s Plan A for world-wide change and redemption! Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that!?!
9. WE MUST INVITE THOSE FAR FROM GOD TO THE TABLE (another way of saying the local church, because the church is like a table that serves up the bread of life – Jesus is the Bread of Life).  We must invite them via mass promotions, personal invites, and any other way possible!  But ultimately if we don’t lead them to invite Christ into their life and get involved with His world-wide movement of local churches then we are missing the whole point of the Easter Story!

Dear Jesus, Thy word, not my word brings life.  May you speak through us, your church, this Sunday.  Our city is listening.