A time focused on Salvation during the Easter service may not be exciting for some of the kids, but is the most exciting thing for Heaven!
This weekend, you will most likely have more visitors than normal, and we all plan on that happening every year. We have our “ChrEaster” itinerary, that we pour tons of time, energy and finances into attracting those who feel they need to do their duty and show up at church during these times of the year. But are we doing what glorifies God and grows His Kingdom?
As a parent, I know I seem to have this inner conviction that I need to restate my hopes for my kids every time I leave them with the babysitter. “Okay, boys, mom and I are leaving, so play nice with each other and choose to obey the first time the Babysitter tells you to do anything!”
Jesus did the same thing, before He went to heaven:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20, NIV).
There were a lot of other things that we may have filled our services with, or are very important to us, but Jesus’ last words before leaving were “go and make disciples”.
Now don’t get me wrong – we have our elementary kids hiding eggs for the preschoolers this Sunday, but if those who only come to our church on Christmas and Easter only have fun at our church and never hear the gospel or have an focused, purposeful aspect of the service to introduce them to the REAL Lord and Savior, then are we really influencing them for His Kingdom, or are we just another fun place to go, that’s competing with places like Dave and Busters, Nickelodeon, and Disney World?
(It’s a horrible thought, but I wonder how many unsaved people think of Easter as “Church Halloween – the kids get loads of candy, we all dress up in clothes that we almost never wear, special baskets filled with goodies… but I won’t go there. 🙂 )
I know this is the week before Easter, with lots of prep, but let’s not forget to carve out some targeted time for asking the Lord of the Harvest to send out His harvesters into the harvest field, make space in our services to walk kids into Salvation, and equip the kids with some tools to walk out their salvation, even if you don’t see them again until Christmas.