Easter Preparations

Easter is still two weeks away, and I'm already looking ahead.

That's because I love what comes after- the book of ACTS.

Acts quickly becomes a very special book to everyone planting a church. It literally picks up where the gospels leave off, immediately following Jesus' resurrection. Just when all looks lost, Jesus defeats death, and instead of his movement being wiped out, it just begins. The mantle is passed on to us, the followers of Jesus, and the church is born.

Acts chapter 1 ends where a lot of churches start, and end…a group of 120 people praying and seeking God. That's a great start to a church and a movement, but it's just the start. In the next chapter we see 3,000 people receiving Christ and being baptized. It's interesting that someone counted. But more interesting, and wonderful, is how it happened. It all began with people praying. Then they gathered a crowd. Then they shared the good news of Jesus. THen the Holy Spirit showed up and did his thing.

Prayer isn’t just a good idea when we can’t think of anything else to do. It isn’t something to tack on to every Christian meeting to make us feel better about ourselves. It should never take a backseat to anything…it should be THE THING that guides the people in the church on a personal basis.

Prayer works–we've already seen it at work at Connections. When we've really needed something, we've prayed, and when we've really prayed, God has provided. I believe that prayer is what's going to take us to the next level. And I hope we can get there this Easter.

So I invite you to pray with us, invite some friends, hear the good news, and watch as the Holy Spirit does his thing.