MT TABOR, EASTER, AND OUTREACH
MT TABOR, EASTER, AND OUTREACH I will start out with what may sound to be a strange quote, but it is not! “Mice die in mouse traps because they do not understand why the cheese is free.”
The people out there in our neighborhoods, so busily scurrying about, with whom we work and play certainly are not mice. They are made in the image of God. Jesus Christ died on a cross for each and every one. They are special. But most do not understand why the cheese is free. Some are happy, some are not. Most are heading well down the road of life interested in things unrelated to our faith. The cheese smells good, tastes good, satisfies for the moment. Of course, then comes the trap. The trap is to go through this life and beyond, never coming to know our Jesus. And so comes Easter. It is our greatest Christian holiday. It is that of which every Sunday in our church is a smaller picture. We at Mt. Tabor want the people around us to know our Jesus. Right? So with Easter worship we have the opportunity to introduce those who so deeply need- even though many do not completely realize their need- to Him! I am thoroughly convinced that most people who do not go to church, and may have never had a personal transformation experience, really have no problem with Jesus or our message of redemption. Simply they have never been invited, never been encouraged to explore. So this is Mt. Tabor’s project, really our number one responsibility- to introduce the people around us to Jesus Christ.
Our church Outreach Committee has a plan. And it will work if we as a church work it! Please read the previous sentence again and mull it over in your mind. You have to own it, you have to work it. You have to step outside your comfort zone and speak to people, and invite them to Easter at Mt. Tabor. In reality, this is your church- not mine! This will be the church that you build. If you want a dead church that does not reach its community and does not make a difference, then sit back and do nothing. Let your insecurities win. Let somebody else do it! Let the mice die in the mouse traps. But you want more, better. Right? Here’s the basics of our Easter outreach: -We mass-mail 5000 big, colorful postcards to the greater church community, inviting them to worship with us on Easter Sunday. -We take a Saturday to personally distribute door hangers. -Everyone of us puts 20 Invite Cards in our pocket or purse, and invite 20 people to Easter at Mt. Tabor. -We utilize social media- FaceBook, Twitter, church website- to get the message out. -We have a gospel concert the last Sunday of March, and get the word out to everybody. -We have a Maundy-Thursday service during Easter week. Not many churches do this! -We have an Easter Egg hunt after worship on Easter Sunday morning. -We have dynamic times of worship, celebrating our Savior, all through the Easter season. -We pray hard!
Trusting God, and every one of us holding nothing back, it will happen. This will be the best ever Easter at Mt. Tabor!
