It’s On My Heart...April 2009

Easter is about God coming to us in the person of Jesus to redeem us. It is God reaching out to mankind with His love and grace. It is Jesus dying in our place, that we might truly live with God. It is Jesus rising from the dead so that we know His promises and our hope are true. It is all about God reaching out to us.

God didn’t wait for us to reach out to Him. During his ministry, Jesus had people seek Him out and come to where He was. But Jesus also went to where the people were. As he passed through Samaria, he stopped at the well, the place that everyone comes for water. He met Zacheus under a tree and went to eat dinner in his home. He was often in the company of "sinners" as well as with the "saints" in the temple. He went to where the people were. When Saul was on his way to Damascus, Jesus reached out to him. That encounter changed Saul, from the inside out. He no longer was Saul, but now Paul.

Easter is one of the biggest opportunities of connecting with our community. As we plan Easter events, we expect people to come to us. And some will come and hear the good news of Jesus. Some will respond like Paul who contemplated for 3 days and then met Ananias who laid hands on him and gave him a prophetic message from God. Our Easter service may be the first encounter of several, that will ultimate lead a person to faith in Christ. It may be the final encounter of many that God uses to draw someone to Himself, so please pray for our Easter service.

In our reaching out, we often plan and prepare great and wonderful events with the expectation that people will come to us. What if we looked for ways to connect with people outside of the church service? What if we were in the market place and went where people gathered for "water"? We have several opportunities to do just that. The first is our involvement with the Apple Blossom Parade and Fair. Our school, Pleasant Hill Christian School, will have a float in the parade. Following the parade is the Fair at Ives Park. Both PHCS and our church will have booths in the children’s area. The booths will offer a "make and take" craft for kids at the fair. What an opportunity to meet the people of our area as well as an opportunity reach out. We’ll have our school and church names on the booths. We’ll have materials ready to hand out, such as our VBS flyer. The fair is like the well. It is where the people gather. Perhaps like Saul who had an unexpected encounter with Jesus, the people of West County will encounter Jesus through us.

The second opportunity will begin later this year. We’re planning to have a booth once a month at the Occidental Friday Night Market. We’ll have to decide what to have at our booth, but the point is that we are going to where the people are and not expecting the people to come to us.
That’s exactly what God did for us. John 3.16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." God reached out to us. Could we, in His name, reach out to our community?

Have a blessed Easter and remember: He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Blessings,
Pastor Pete