There’s a special excitement leading into Easter and Lakepointe that’s different this year. In just the last two weeks…

• Attendance jumped by 2,000 people in a single week as people are coming back and hundreds of new people reached through church online worship in-person for the first time
• The online Easter invite has already been shared over 1,100 times and reached over 100,000 people on social media
• Over 800 new people volunteered to serve this weekend to meet the needs of guests
• I keep getting messages like this…

With THOUSANDS who need Christ gathering with us for Easter, a few words to Lakepointe heading into this weekend…

4 WORDS TO OUR CHURCH

1) Pray first. The Bible says, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against… the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Our problems are always far more spiritual than we think they are, and if we don’t “win the war in the spiritual” we will lose in the natural. We win that war through prayer. Pray specifically…

• For a sense of God’s presence to saturate our church, and that even as people drive onto our campuses they begin to sense the presence of God.
• Against the lies that Satan and demons use to blind the minds of unbelievers that keep them from receiving Jesus.
• For an outpouring of the Spirit and power that results in the salvation of the lost, the awakening of the sleepy Christians, and the healing of the hurting.

2) Be a 15,000-person greeting team. People would rather be loved than wowed. The quality of the service will be amazing, but loving people make a deeper impression than great lights. If you see someone you don’t know or who looks lost, consider yourself a part of a 15,000-person team of Greeters. Specifically, here’s what you can do…

• Get to know people by asking their name and introducing yourself
• If they’re new, ask them if you can help them find anything
• Invite people who seem alone to sit with you, or if a service runs out of seats and you see someone standing, offer your seat to them! After all, as a church we’re a spiritual FAMILY.

3) Audibly respond to the preaching. I’ll write more on this later as it may feel weird if you (like me) don’t come from an expressive church background, but not only does it help your preacher (It does!), but it leaves a lasting impression on guests when they see the church ALIVE in response to the preached Word of God. This is a text message someone sent me after a service where this happened…

“A lot of churches can have a great personality on stage, great worship, and even amazing media but there was an energy radiating from the congregation, not just the stage. This is unique because so many times people walk into a church and feel like they are being preached at or even just an audience. Today, the interaction wasn’t just one way, there was a flow of energy that can be noticed.”

GO NUTS when I welcome guests at the beginning of the message. “Amen!” “Preach, Pastor!” Break into applause when the great truths of the gospel are declared in the message. Let’s HAVE CHURCH this weekend, fam : )

4) Worship like you’ve been saved from something. Not only does God deserve from us in our worship every ounce of glory for what he’s accomplished in our midst, but the way a church worships is also evangelistic. 1 Corinthians 14 says that the worship of the church can cause outsiders to, “fall on their faces and declare that God is really among you.” This weekend, let’s worship with a passion and Biblical expressiveness that causes outsiders to look around and say, “God is really among these people.” Sing loud. Lift holy hands in worship. Shout. Clap. Guys, THE TOMB IS EMPTY! Our salvation is secure, and our future is guaranteed! Let’s worship like people who believe those things.