For The Youth Pastor This Easter

Easter is right around the corner with a whirlwind of candy, plastic eggs, and fake grass. As one of the “big two” times of year people think about church, it’s natural for it to also be a time of outreach. Some ministries will go to extremes to launch their Easter egg hunt out of a helicopter, while others will go to lengths to ensure that Sunday is one of the most inviting of the year. I understand the goal. We want to get families in the door (who don’t usually come to church) and reward them a great experience so they will see the Lord and want to follow Him. I get it. Some traditions have been following Lent and therefore it has been natural to think through the lead up to Resurrection Day. No matter where we are coming from let’s not get caught up in so much programming that we forget who we are worshipping.

This is why it’s vital to ask ourselves some questions:

Are you in love with Jesus?

I didn’t ask if you love Jesus. I didn’t ask if you know a lot about him. I asked if you were “in love” with him. Do you remember your first boyfriend/girlfriend? All you wanted to do was lay your head on their shoulder, hold their hand and talk to them 24 hours a day. Is this how you feel about Christ? Be honest with where you are at your relationship with your Lord. It isn’t about the fluff of that “new love.” True love is an action. It is a choice of faithfulness and a fierce tenacity to be close. The days get hard. Yet, the longer your love affair, the deeper and richer it becomes. Do you need to rediscover your “first love”?

Are you in wonder?

I once heard a pastor speak on the overuse of the word “awesome.” “Ice cream, iPhones, and movies are not awesome. Only God is Awesome,” he said. Take time to sit in wonder at what Christ has done for you, for each of us. He causes reconciliation in the most broken of relationships. He breathed life into death. His birth, death, and resurrection are the reason we are free. Think about that baby in a stable around August. Think about the empty tomb in October. When we ponder these momentous occasions often there is nothing less that we can do than tell the world how in awe of him we all ought to be.

Can you be still and know he is God?

When is the last time you stole away for true alone time, just you and your Savior? Were you able to just sit and be quiet? Did you let him love you? Before even a word was spoken did you take a moment to thank him for WHO he is? Start with five minutes today. Then set time aside in the next week to make it longer.

Have you dwelt on him?

Today look around you and think on who the Lord is. He hasn’t only done much for us, he IS much for us. The sun is shining on us so that we are warmed. There is rain so the land doesn’t dry up, and we can have food. He knows the names of each star in the sky and the number of hairs on your head. When we dwell on all of this we ought to be overwhelmed. Then we want to grab a generation by the shoulders and tell them there is so much more, even when life is difficult there is one bigger that really does love us.

Be honest with the Lord. If your heart is heavy tell him. However, this day called Easter restored our relationship with the Living God. It should be an event we celebrate without ceasing. The weight of His glory should leave us speechless… always. The pressure of this Sunday fades away when we realize we carry this resurrection with us. Daily.

“He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.” Ephesians 1:7

Do something today to be reminded of who the Savior is. Something.

How do you keep your eyes on Jesus?