An Easter Challenge

Let me begin with a question.  When I say the word ‘Easter’, what is the first thing that pops in your mind?  Here are a couple of options.

1. I need to make sure that I connect with the kids and relatives and figure out where and what the family Easter meal looks like.
    
2. I so enjoy this time of the year and I am so encouraged when I stop and ponder the resurrection and so looked forward to the praise and worship of Jesus.
    
3. My heart aches when I go to the store and I see people that are blinded and broken because of sin and so need to understand what the Easter weekend means.
    
4. I can’t wait to see those new people who will be attending the Easter services at GREFC so I can welcome them and make them feel so special that they might embrace our church as their church home with the goal of spiritual change in their lives. 
   
   Easter provides a great opportunity to see more people come to church but this opportunity to impact people can be lost. Let me remind you of a few things to stir our thinking when it comes to Easter and our Open House Celebration service the following Sunday.

• A great first Impression does matter.  How we welcome and treat Easter guests will go a long way towards them deciding to return and their willingness to give this church a chance to become "their" church.
   
• Go farther in your welcome beyond just saying “hi”. Take some time to think about how you would introduce yourself to someone when you're unsure if they are brand new or have been here for six months. How about something like this…"We are having lots of new people at our church, and I am not sure that I have met you.  My name is ________." Then take some time to think of a follow up question.
   
• Invite and Embrace. If you happen to know them from the community or somewhere else, what about inviting them to your family Easter gathering for the meal? This would apply to the single mom or dad that might be alone – realize broken families struggle to have an Easter family gathering. Many people don’t have a local family and don’t make Easter a special day for family. 
   
• Be intentional with a second welcome if they come back.  Sometimes a new family or person will try a church two weeks in a row. But that isn’t always the case. Realize some have to get up the courage to try church for a second and third time. What if you were the one that genuinely welcomed them on the third visit and that might become the reason that they decided to continue their spiritual journey with this gathered group of people called GREFC.
  
  So here is the final challenge - pray for Easter and our celebration service - ask that God would connect guests to Jesus and that we could be used in that process. Pray that we would open our eyes and love these special guests well!
  
  Praying for Easter and the Celebration service!
  
  ~Pastor Ken

Come celebrate the Risen Christ! 

Join us at either our 9:00 am service or our 10:30 am service. We’ll have special treats and drinks available all morning. Invite your family and friends to join us!

• Nursery is available for children ages birth to 36 months.
• Tables will be set up in the back of the worship center for families with young children.
• Activity booklets will be available for younger children to work on during the service.

We invite everyone to join us as we celebrate God’s faithfulness and thank Him for our beautiful new spaces!

Here’s what you can expect on that day:

• Community Brunch – 9:00-10:15 am:  Join us for a FREE brunch before our service starts.
• Celebration Service – 10:30-11:45 am: We’ll worship, we’ll hear stories of what God is doing in our church and community, and together we’ll dream of the ways God will change lives in our community through our church. Nursery will be available for children ages birth to 36 months.
• Cake and Tours – 11:45-1:00 pm: After the service we’ll celebrate some more with cake! Stick around to tour the entire facility and the new spaces.

Jr. and Sr. High school students will gather together with over 2500 students and draw close to Jesus. This high-impact discipleship retreat is offered by the Converge North Central and the Evangelical Free Church.

Students attend rallies, seminars/workshops, breakout sessions, concerts, and have other recreation opportunities.

After coming together for a life-changing weekend, students return home area ready to respond to what God has called them to do.  District Blitz is never over because we are always on mission for Christ.

Please pray for the students and leaders as they prepare for this fun and imactful weekend!

• One of the Hope Fellowship guys left right away due to a death back home and another became ill with a serious case of vertigo and spent 2 days in bed. 
• Luggage was lost (that contained needed prescription meds) and had to be tracked down and recovered.   
• The weather didn’t always cooperate and we were short one vehicle for the whole time.   

But, we adjusted and adapted and somehow got everything done on time. We really sensed that people were praying for us because as the challenges popped up, we saw them get worked out, sometimes in unexpected ways. 

The blessing of seeing the lives of our three families changed through the gift of safe housing was worth the effort. We got to see some friends we’d made on previous trips as we formed new friendships and strengthened existing ones among ourselves. It seemed like everyone in the community came and helped work on the houses at one time or another, especially concrete day which made it fun. The school ministry went great and our teams did a great job of interacting with the people (especially the kids) in the community."

Spread the Word!

• Share posts on social media. Did you know we have a Facebook Page, an Instagram account, a Twitter account, and a YouTube channel? Subscribe to these accounts, check them often, comment, share and like. Every interaction you make on the church's accounts spreads the word to every one of your followers and friends.
        
• Use the invite cards. When we include invite cards in the bulletins, use them! We also have business-card-sized invite cards at the Welcome Center that you can take at any time. Either hand them to people who you know or at the very least, stick it to your fridge or bathroom mirror to remind you to invite people to church.
• Forward emails. This newsletter, the Weekly Round-Up (which is an amazing, real-time wealth of information for our church attenders), and special event reminders are all easily forwarded to family and friends who have email. If you don't receive the newsletter or the round-up, subscribe here. Then forward this on to someone you know. :)
  
  
   
• Invite someone to your Community Group. Community groups are a non-threatening way to invite someone to get to know a few people from our church. Then when you get a chance to invite them to church, they will already know a few people which brings down the intimidation factor. Not in a community group? Join one!
• Point people to our website. There is so much information on our website, not only for those who already attend, but for anyone who might be interested in visiting. It's an easy one to remember, too:  grefc.org.
  
  
• Think like a church communicator. Attending a event at church? Meeting at GREFC for worship practice or a Bible Study? Snap a picture and text it to your friends or post on your Facebook page. Grab videos of your kids having a ball during Pathfinders on a Sunday morning or at Youth Group on Wednesday nights and share with your friends. Find ways to "talk up" your church because let's face it, we know Who it is that we're really bragging about and He's so worth it!