Easter in a small church

It's been nearly a week since Easter Sunday, and I've thought back several times at the services I attended. On Palm Sunday one association had their final Lenten service. Only one of the dozen or so churches in this association are led by fully-funded pastors; the rest are smaller bivocational churches. They had been meeting in different churches each Sunday evening during the Lenten season, and this was their final service. An association choir had been working on a Cantata for this evening. The service was going great until about half-way through the Cantata when the electricity went out. The entire sanctuary went dark, and the music stopped playing. The choir never stopped singing and completed their presentation although the lights never did come back on. It was comical watching the choir twist and turn trying to pick up whatever light they could find so they could read their music, but they finished the Cantata. Enough candles were brought into the sanctuary that we were able to share in Communion as well. I went home blessed by being there.

Easter morning my wife and I visited one of the churches in my Area that is also a small, rural congregation led by a bivocational pastor. He was a deacon in that church for many years, and a respected farmer in the community. When the church was looking for a new pastor a few years ago he asked my opinion about him stepping into that role. He did and has had a very good ministry there. Their choir performed a mini-Cantata and he preached a very clear message about the resurrection. My wife and talked all the way home how glad we were that we attended services in that church this year.

I have attended an Easter program in a mega-church that brought in donkeys, camels, and a cast of hundreds of people. It was an incredible experience, but I found these two simple services were just as meaningful. If you think about it, not much needs to be added to the resurrection story. It is a story of a God who loves us more than we often love ourselves. His Son was willing to die so that we might live, and He offers that life to each of us. It is a message that needs to be presented clearly and simply so that all who hear it can understand and respond.

Easter won't appear on our calendars now until next year, but that doesn't mean people won't need to hear that story until then. Every day you will encounter individuals who need the hope that the story of the resurrection brings. I encourage you to tell the story simply and clearly to all who need to hear it. May you pray each day for God to bring such people into your life.