by Josh Tovey
GRANDVILLE, MI – Easter is the most important Sunday of the year! It’s the day when many people who don't attend church regularly go to church. When I was a kid, I can remember going out the Saturday before Easter to buy new clothes, because on Easter Sunday everyone dressed up. It was important to look good on Easter, and for some reason wearing a tie equalled “best.” It was the only Sunday I wore a tie as a kid to church. I remember singing songs and people being more excited about being together. I remember hearing more “Amens” on that day than any other Sunday the rest of the year. I remember it was very clear who we were worshipping as well. We were all gathered together, dressed in our best, to worship the Resurrected King! Why did we make sure we were in church that day? Why were we dressed in what we thought was our best? Why were we more excited to worship and gather together? Because it was the Superbowl of Sundays’… It was Easter Sunday!
Now, as I am in the process of leading a Church plant, which will be six years old this Easter, I have a different view than I did when I was a kid. We wrestled with these questions when embracing the prompting of the Spirit to plant Redemption Church in Grandville, Michigan. Even though we go all out at Easter… What if what we celebrated on Easter, we celebrated every single time we gathered as a church?
What if Jesus' resurrection was not just celebrated once a year, but celebrated every week? What if we realized that Jesus is the point of our existence? What if every message brought people into a deeper understanding of all that is ours in Christ? What if we understood that the Gospel is the most profound message the world has ever heard? What if we understood the great depths of the Gospel and had a commitment to never move past it? What if we recognized that if we move past the Gospel, then our message would turn into moralism? What if we realized that Hell will be full of really good moral people? What if we never told our people what to do without first reminding them of what Jesus has done? What if we were convinced of this important biblical truth-that we would never give a message where Jesus wasn’t the point? What if we understood that the person and work of Jesus is the greatest motivation in our obedience to him? What if we understood that God has you where he has you to advance the Gospel through you? What if we embraced the reality that everybody around me has been intentionally placed there by the Lord? What if we understood that everything we do is because Jesus is the point? What if we believed that Jesus changes everything?
How would this change everything? Whether you're reading this right before Easter Sunday, or two weeks after Easter Sunday, know that this coming Sunday is another HUGE opportunity to celebrate the glorious truths of the Gospel, the reality that Jesus is alive, and that HE changes everything! What if we never missed the main point and we realized that Jesus is the main point, and further, realize that Jesus wasn’t joking when He said…
John 5:39, “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lead Pastor of Redemption Church in Grandville, Michigan. Redemption will be six years old in April 2021. Redemption has been blessed to see God move in mighty ways in their short history. We are currently praying through what God is calling us to do next to reach greater Grand Rapids for Jesus. He and his wife Stephanie have 3 beautiful children.
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