Easter is less than three weeks away. This holiday is my absolute favorite because we get to celebrate the most surprising, unexpected and world-changing event in human history — the resurrection of Jesus! Because Jesus is alive we can know that death is defeated, our sins are forgiven, and we have been given eternal life. Christians should party on Easter!
In addition to celebrating, we have an opportunity this time of the year. Many people who are not Christians will go to church on Easter, maybe as their one time for the whole year. Maybe they feel obligated to go because of tradition. Maybe they have guilt and want to feel better for a little while. Whatever their motivation, we want to use this opportunity to meet people with the love of Jesus and the good news of the gospel!
The job of evangelism is given to every single person who is a follower of Jesus.
You Can Make a Difference
Many church folk think that the job of evangelism (sharing the good news) is solely the job of the preacher. While there is certainly a great responsibility on a preacher to talk about Jesus, the job of evangelism is given to every single person who is a follower of Jesus. Before his ascension, Jesus told his disciples to make more disciples (Matt. 28:19-20). And the Apostle Paul wrote to "average Christians" in Corinth that they were given the job of being Christ's ambassadors with this message (2 Cor. 5:20). Dear Christian, you can make a difference—an eternal difference—in someone's life.
How To Help
Some people want to help, but they're not sure how to. Let me offer you four ways that you can make good use of the opportunity that we have this Easter season.
1. Pray
Never forget the importance of prayer. Before we get to action, we must first seek to have our hearts aligned with God's. Ask God to bring to mind people that you should invite. Pray for the non-Christians in your life to have receptive hearts. Pray for courage to talk to them about Jesus.
2. Personal Invite
While posters and social media posts are certainly helpful (see below), there is nothing more powerful than a personal invite. The significant majority of people who are Christians today are so because somebody in their life invited them to consider Jesus. In fact, there are many people who want to go to church and learn about Jesus but they don't know where to start. Invite somebody!
3. Share on Social Media
People are more connected on social media than ever before, and each person has a unique set of connections. Share the event, send a private message, "like" the posts from the Sound City page. You never know when somebody might be scrolling through their news feed and have something about Easter pop up in their news feed that ends up changing their life forever.
4. Hang Up Posters
This past Sunday, we handed out posters and invite cards. These are not intended to live on your dashboard or refrigerator, but out in public. Where do people gather in your neighborhood? Is there a bulletin board or a community events wall? This Sunday, grab a few posters and go hang them up! If the bulletin board has room, grab two posters—one for Good Friday and one for Easter. But if not, just hang up the Easter one.
Easter is a time of great excitement for Christians. My prayer is that we would all channel that excitement and enthusiasm into inviting friends and family to Easter at Sound City to hear about our amazing Savior!