You are in the throughs of your Easter prep right now. You are probably so stressed and have so much going on that you should not even be reading this blog post. Congrats on taking a break because breaks help you do better work. Second, I won’t tell anyone you are reading this short post.
My very first year at Cross Point Church I ruined Easter.
Yep. I didn’t think it was possible, but I found a way.
I wanted it to be the BEST! Our team worked together, and I felt like I was pushing some new things. We hired a Grammy-nominated rapper to write & perform a spoken word. We picked a song we thought was perfect for the close it was a Phil Wickham song, how do you go wrong with that? Also, if you don’t have your set done for this year, Phil has written another fantastic song you can check out right here! We had designed our stages strategically. Everything felt fresh and full of great art. We created videos and promotional tools that we really believed were going to work. We thought this was going to be the best Easter since the first Easter. 🙂
It wasn’t even close!
The pieces all came together for run-thru, and it was time to see the entire program for the first time.
It was wrong. WAY wrong. We didn’t create an excellent Easter service, we created a decently cool Good Friday service and executed it as an Easter “celebration.” It is tough to celebrate the resurrection when you are focused on the crucifixion!
I remember standing in the booth bummed. I was upset, embarrassed, and wanted to die. The thoughts that this could keep people from experiencing the excitement and hope of Easter was haunting me. I went home Saturday night discouraged and entirely exhausted by the idea of having to go back and live through another day of services.
And I learned a few things.
Context matters. It matters the most so make sure you have created what was intended!
Make the correct thing for the right date! Duh.
Monday is coming, and it is going to be ok. When we fail, we have to get up and keep going. Failure helps teach us. The truth is we learn a lot more from collapsing than we do from succeeding.
Easter is big. It is in front of us right now, and we are about to be overwhelmed. Pray. Give your best. Test things and manage your risk-taking (that’s what the summer is for).
You got this! If you don’t believe me, sorry, but I am a living example that even when you ruin the biggest day of the church year, the day that is the cornerstone of our faith, you can get up and keep going.
This week can be fun! Enjoy it. Support your teams and encourage your volunteers! You #GET2 do this you don’t have to, and it is an honor to serve your city on a day more people will visit your church than any other day of the year. I believe in you!
