To Live Oak – Easter!

I am P-U-M-P-E-D about Easter at Live Oak this Sunday! Last Sunday we pealed the curtain back on Palm Sunday to look beyond the surface and into the depth of the day. Sunday we will do the same thing for Easter.

Live Oak, this is your chance to make a HUGE impact in the lives of the people around you, and NO, I’m not overstating that. Easter is HUGE. It is the event that changed EVERYTHING in, with, and around humanity. It is the moment that life, death, and everything else was redeemed. And it is a moment that we will celebrate and proclaim this Sunday. Simply put, it is the best worship service to invite people to; it is also one of the easiest services to bring people to. Here’s what you can do:

PRAY about Easter. Pray about who needs to hear the message and who you can invite.
INVITE people. I know it is way out of some of your comfort zones, but YOU are the marketing plan for Live Oak. Even bigger and more importantly you are the advertisement for Christ! You (we) are His ambassadors. It isn’t too hard to simply ask someone if they want to come to church with you on Easter Sunday. You never know, they might say, “yes!”
TELL THEM TO COME BAREFOOT on Easter! Once again we will be collecting shoes for Souls4Soles. Bring as many pairs of shoes as you can to donate, and ask your friends to bring them with them!
GO THE EXTRA MILE with your friends. Offer to give them a ride. Offer to take them to breakfast before or lunch after. Offer to help them pick out their clothes if you have to! Now, don’t be overbearing about it, but don’t shy away from offering to help! Christ lives in you, is with you, and will empower and help you!
FOLLOW UP after Easter. Ask if they have any questions. Ask if they want to talk about anything. Ask if they want to come back to church with you.
DID I MENTION PRAYING? Seriously, keep praying throughout. Pray before you ask. Pray during the service. Pray after the service. Pray. Pray. Pray.
DON’T BE SURPRISED when God hears and answers you! Instead, expect Him to! He promises to hear and answer!

But here’s the kicker, and I’m DEEPLY SERIOUS on this one …

ASK PEOPLE TO COME BECAUSE YOU LOVE THEM,
NOT BECAUSE I TOLD YOU TO!

The Easter story is not a fairytale to be kept to ourselves; it is the story of ultimate love, ultimate sacrifice, ultimate victory, and ultimate life! It’s too good not to share! But inviting people to a church service is shoddy and cheap as opposed to living this story in front of people.

Invite them because Jesus’ story has changed your life and you can’t keep it to yourself.
Invite them because you are compelled to live the Gospel and tell others about it.
Invite them because you know Jesus’ story can and will change and redeem lives.
Invite them because you love them.