This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Pastors Try to Keep Easter Message Fresh While Also Reassuring Congregation

Easter is a good time to reach the "unchurched" as well.

As Christians celebrate Easter and Christ’s resurrection, pastors who have discussed this story year after year try to find ways to keep it fresh and relevant for their congregations.

"It’s hard to beat just retelling the story and trying to help people frame it, or maybe look at it in a different way," said the Rev. David Conley of . "Sometimes, I think those stories are like a prism. You hold them up to the light, and you turn it just a bit, you get a whole different view. A whole different kaleidoscope of colors come through. So Easter is a good time to try and turn the prism a little bit and see if there’s a different way of looking at things."

Pastor Mark Ford with in Wentzville said the Easter message can depend on who the audience is.

Find out what's happening in Wentzvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"If I'm thinking about the unconvinced, I may do a message that is more of a ‘case’ for Easter," he said. "Apologetics--defending the faith--is a very valid exercise, especially on a Sunday when many in attendance are probably not committed believers. Many years I do this type of message, but it does get old, at least for me. I probably do this type of message about every other year. When making the case for Easter, some of the material of necessity must be the same, but it is helps to use fresh stories, illustrations, etc. In addition, our congregation understands the importance of potentially helping someone new come to faith in Christ. This is more important to us than necessarily hearing something new every year. It is more important that a powerful and persuasive case is made."

While keeping the uncommitted believers in mind, will focus this year on Easter’s personal impact on Christians.

Find out what's happening in Wentzvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Many people casually believe in the Resurrection, but have not fully understood or embraced what that means for their real life," he said. "Some have never applied the Gospel personally in the first place. Others simply forget the power of it all, leading to a watering down of convictions and weak living. Still others just need a fresh reminder of the specific hopes that we have only because of the Resurrection. In short, if we are going to adequately celebrate the most important event of history, we need to understand what we're celebrating and how it affects us personally."

At , the congregation tries to remember the personal side of Christ’s sacrifice on a daily basis, said.

"The message itself is not difficult," he said. "It is a subject each born-again Christian lives every day of their lives. Jesus is alive in us, and at the right hand of God, making intercession for us. It is exciting to focus on the most important day of the year for Christians. I prepare all year long just by living and being around other people and preaching and praying with people. I find each day that Jesus is real, and he is alive. Is it just theology, or is it reality? For me, it is reality."

Ford uses the Sunday before Easter to focus on the cross.

"In order to properly celebrate the Resurrection, we need to have recently grappled with the cross," he said. "Conversely, I don't believe Easter Sunday should focus on the cross. That's why we do it the week before. Sometimes we have a Good Friday service, but so few will come to such a service, therefore, I have felt the need to spend Palm Sunday almost exclusively on (Christ’s) death and burial. This helps our entire church get ready for the big party on Easter Sunday."

will also use this Easter to kick off May’s "Dying to Know" sermon series.

"It’s about what the Bible teaches about heaven and hell and the afterlife," he said.

As he did with the last sermon series, Conley will invite the congregation to submit questions it would like to see addressed.

"What kind of questions do you have? What do you think about when you hear about life after death? Just to see how folks respond to that," he said. "Paul talks about the resurrection of Christ as ‘The first fruit.’ If you’re looking at an entire field planted, when the first plant comes through, then you have hope that all the rest of them will. That’s kind of the image he uses with Christ’s resurrection. So, what do those first fruits look like, and what does it mean? What difference does it make how we think about what comes next? So that’s what I’m going to be working with as well."

Conley recently read a couple of books that point out that the Bible makes no promise of anyone other than Christ rising again.

"It’s more the idea of ‘OK, Christ has risen, and we don’t have to obsess about death So now we’re free to do in this world what God calls us to do.’ So sometimes, for people, they think the problem that Easter solves, if you will, is life beyond death, or proof of or hope for life beyond death. And it seems that the way the Gospel writers experienced the risen Jesus, it was about getting to work in this life--helping to build the kingdom on this side of the grave."

Conley recalled a phrase from the Episcopal prayer book for funerals that says, "You are called to live as those prepared to die, and then you die as those prepared to go forth and live."

That idea, he said, "is a very good way of living. In some ways, it frees us to invest ourselves fully in this life, knowing that the good things that we love here, and all that, are not going to be lost. So it keeps you from giving in to the temptation to pull back and hold back."

To keep in mind the celebration aspect, First Assembly will follow worship service today with dinner in the Fellowship Hall followed by games such as egg toss and egg roll and a pie-eating contest. Ordinarily, the church also presents an Easter drama. Because of ongoing restoration work on the sanctuary, however, that isn’t on the agenda, McNees said.

"Because of the remodel and all the time and money we have put into it, we thought it best to scale back this year," he said. "We will combine music and message this weekend."

Above all else at River Oaks, Ford knows that people want reassurance and a certain degree of familiarity.

"I have found that regardless of repetition, people want an Easter message just like they want Christmas messages around Christmas," he said. "That's what they expect when they come. So, there's a certain level of understanding about repetition. Easter does stand out in one regard, though. More ‘unchurched’ people show up on Easter than any other Sunday out of the year. We are silly if we do not consider this as pastors. This is our chance to help people see what they are missing."

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Wentzville