What do you feel when you realize that Easter is right around the corner? I get excited, but I also get a little anxious. The reason for conflicting emotions is because I realize what's at stake. More people come through our church doors that weekend than any other weekend of the year. There's no better time to have a clear presentation of the gospel than on Easter, so we better bring our A- Game. Here are 5 ways to make sure your Easter experience is awesome this year.

1. GRAB THEIR ATTENTION

It's so important that you have something in the first few minutes of your service that will capture their attention. Something that will wow them or make them lean in. This doesn't always need to be up and flashy it can also be something very simple that makes them lean in. A few years back our opener was very high energy starting with five or six people on video retelling the story of the resurrection. Behind it, the band was playing the chords to Hillsong’s “Alive”. When they finished telling the story the band had built to a crescendo and we went right into the singing of that song.

On the other extreme, one Easter we started with a video that just had words telling the story of the crucifixion and then a single light came up on the stage with someone singing acappella the old Andre Crouch song, “I Don't Know Why Jesus Loved Me”. Both were powerful, both captured their attention but they were done in very different ways. It doesn't necessarily matter if the energy is up or down but it does matter that we capture their attention.

2. LIMIT CONGREGATIONAL MUSIC TO 10 MINUTES

This is one that, on occasion, I may get some pushback from people. I can just hear some of you as you're reading this saying, “How is 10 minutes enough worship time on Easter?”. I had an assistant years ago that felt this way. She would always say, "Two songs ain't enough for my Jesus on Easter”. Ha ha ha....now, thinking selfishly, I agree with her because I love to worship and I especially love to celebrate on Easter. But this goes back to asking ourselves the question: “Who is our target audience for that day?”. On this day, more than any other, we're going to have a lot of nonbelievers in our services, so we can't spend 30 minutes singing songs that they don't know or understand. So what I like to do is spend about 10 minutes in congregational singing and then use the other time that I have before the message to craft meaningful moments to inspire, to connect, and to challenge those that are in attendance.

3. HELP THEM FACE THE AGONY OF THE CROSS

I think so often on Easter we only focus on the resurrection but not on the cross. Yes Easter is about the resurrection but without the cross, without the death of Jesus, there is no resurrection there is no Easter. I always want people to have that moment of gravity when they come face-to-face with the facts of how Jesus took on our guilt and shame. I always like to find a creative way to tell the story of the cross and allow them to sense the pain Jesus faced, but then move them past the pain so that they recognize that it was temporary...that because of what Jesus did on the cross... because of the pain and agony that He suffered, we can be free. I want them to know that sin has lost its sting, death has been defeated, and that we can be raised to life just as Jesus was. Without The agony of the cross there is no celebration of the resurrection.

4. TELL STORIES OF LIFE CHANGE

This is a very important element to use on Easter. We want those that don't have a relationship with Jesus to hear stories of people who were broken, and to hear that when they found Jesus their lives were forever changed. It is very important that you have a game plan when you are interviewing people for their stories. We try and use these three questions to shape the interviews in the stories that we tell about life change: 1. What was your life like before you met Jesus? 2. How did you come to know Jesus? 3. What's your life like now after your encounter with Jesus?

Those three questions are a great template for you to use as you’re crafting your stories.

I realize that some of you don't have a person who can capture a story like that on video. I would encourage you tell the story in other ways. We've told those stories by reading them during the sermon or having the person script their story out with those three questions in mind and then having them read it. You could also do a live interview as long as that person is comfortable speaking in a live setting. There's all kinds of ways to tell people’s stories, and the method is not as important as making sure that we are telling them.

5. LET THEM LEAVE WITH THE HOPE OF THE RESURRECTION.

Make sure the message ends with bringing Hope. Let people know that no matter how far from God they think they are that because of the Resurrection they can be raised to live through Jesus. We will always end the message with an opportunity for people to receive Christ. After that prayer we will lead into the offering time where one of our pastors will give people their next step. If they received Christ, they will be asked to check the box marked “I received Christ today” on our worship guide and then drop it in the offering bag. We can then follow up with them and help them as they start their journey of faith. We will also share whatever series may be coming up next, so that we give people a reason to come back the next week. While receiving the offering we always like to end with a high energy, hope-filled song. I want to make sure people are leaving with the hope of the resurrection echoing in their hearts as they leave our time together.

I'm so excited about what God is going to do through our churches this Easter season. I hope this post will be helpful to you as you are praying, dreaming and planning. I pray that this Easter will bring life change for many, and that you and your team will walk away refreshed after pouring into those looking for this hope that we have found! The hope of Jesus...the One who changes everything.

When I was in high school I played the trumpet in the school’s band program. This was my main instrument all the way through college and I loved it, and I was pretty good at it! I remember one day in band class, the band director passed out new music to a song and we all began to play. As we started playing, the part I was playing was not matching up with what the rest of the band was playing. Somehow I had gotten a different version of the song! Now let’s be clear… I was playing my version of the music beautifully! I just had the wrong sheet of music! Before I realized that though, I became really frustrated because I knew I was playing my part correctly. But, I also knew it was not matching what the rest of the band was playing. I think this is what happens so often in our churches between our lead pastors and our worship pastors. They both are playing really great pieces of music, but they just don’t go together. The pastor is playing one version of the song while the worship pastor is just rocking out on a completely different piece of music. So over the next few minutes I’m going to give you three ways to help ensure that you and your pastor stay on the same sheet of music.

Submit

The first thing you have to do is submit to the leadership of your lead pastor. This is really a non-negotiable. If you cannot support your pastor and his vision for the church, then you probably need to find another place to serve. God has placed that person as your leader at this particular time. The worst thing that you can do is not support the vision of your lead pastor. This will bring division and disharmony and it will severely damage the trajectory of your church. The enemy loves nothing more than having disunity between the pastor and the worship pastor. If you are having a hard time with this, I would encourage you to carve out some specific time of prayer and fasting so you can hear what God has for you. After you do that, you will have two choices.

The first choice is to suck it up and get behind the vision of the lead pastor. It’s really that simple. You have to figure out how to support your pastor. This might come through conversations about what he wants or asking him what kind of worship music he likes. Maybe listen for what kind of things in worship experiences he has liked or not liked. Get to know, from your lead pastor’s perspective what a successful time of worship would look like if achieved. Through these conversations maybe he would get an opportunity to hear your point of view, too, and hear your voice in a productive way.

The second choice is to ask God to open up another door to a church where you can serve. Many times this is the answer. My first opportunity as a worship pastor was at a great church with great people. I learned a lot in the year I was there but it was evident that I was not a fit. After I made this decision God opened up the door for me to come on staff at Stevens Creek Church and I’ve been here ever since. I believe if you are faithful and humble enough to really listen, God will open up the right door that you are to walk through.

2. Communicate

The second thing you need to do is communicate regularly with your lead pastor. Communication is one of the most important things that will happen between a pastor and a worship pastor. Make sure you have a consistent line of communication. I’ve been fortunate to have the same lead pastor for 25 years so we know each other pretty well. Even after all these years, we still try to connect several times a week. One of those times is intentionally on a Wednesday or Thursday. On these days I want to see how his message is going and to see if there’s anything that I can help with to enhance his message or to set up his message. The other key time for me is Sunday morning before the services start. I always try to catch him before the first service just to make sure we are both on the same page. We also try to connect after the first service to see if we need to adjust anything for the remaining two services.

3. Encourage

The third thing is to encourage your lead pastor. As a worship pastor you know more than anyone the pressures that come with pulling off Sunday services every week. It’s not easy coming up with new ways to say things week in and week out. Send him a text to see how he’s doing during the week and tell him you’re praying for him. Brag on him in front of people or post something on social media highlighting something he’s done. Just because they are the top leader doesn’t mean that they don’t need affirmation and encouragement from their team.

I’ve been very fortunate over the years to have good communication with my lead pastor. I really believe if you can put these three principles into practice you will be playing from the same sheet of music and making beautiful music together for years to come.

The Best Easter Experience Ever