The Day After Your Answer Dies

So here I sit on the day before Easter, thinking about what the disciples were doing on THAT Saturday some 2,000 years ago.  I know there is an historical argument for what day of the week Jesus was actually crucified on – but that’s not the subject or point of this post.  I’m simply putting myself in the place of that group of men (and women) and wondering what they were thinking.

The Gospels don’t give us much detail about what took place on that day.  We do know historically it was the day of preparation between Israel’s weekly Sabbath and the annual Sabbath that took place during Passover.  What does that tell us… it means there were normal things  they needed to do in the midst of their questions and grief.  It also tells me during those times we wonder where God is or what He is up to – yes, even in the darkest of hours – life still goes on.

Glimpses of the Cross

My wife and I pastored our own church for 6 years.  It was a wonderful experience, full of many unforgettable memories – many of which surrounded holidays or special services we held.  One of my favorite times was an Easter service we did one year at the local movie theater.  I didn’t like just doing the “normal” things churches do for holidays and wanted to reach out to people who might never come to the church itself, not even at Easter.  This was when the movie “The Passion” had just come out, so we rented the largest theater at our local AMC Theater and on Easter Sunday morning opened it up for free to whomever wanted to come. Our worship team brought all their instruments and we sang before the movie started. After the movie I summed up the Gospel message and invited people to respond.  Many lives were touched that morning, and I’m so glad we decided to step out of the norm.

One of the simpler things we did for Easter which became something our church really loved, is what I am about to share with you.  We didn’t have the congregation size, building, or finances to put on some elaborate production… so I pulled together a telling of the Easter story from Peter’s perspective, using readings from Max Lucado and Dawson McAllister along with a mixture of video clips and live songs our worship team sung.  It was simple, but powerful… and it had just as strong an impact as seeing “The Passion” did on the big screen.  I’ve updated it a bit since then.  Enjoy.