And just like that, Easter week is here.

I hope you’ve been preparing over the past few weeks, so that you won’t have to be scrambling to get everything done this week. Hopefully you’ve had your congregation preparing as well.

It takes a lot of the pressure off of you, when you know your congregation has been praying, they’ve been inviting, and they’re ready to serve on Sunday.

When that happens it allows you to focus on what’s most important. So, let’s talk about what’s most important this week.

Pray

I know you’ve already been praying, but it doesn’t hurt to mention it again. Pray for the service, pray for the volunteers, pray for those who will be visiting, and pray for those who need to surrender their lives to Christ.

I love putting plans together, but our plans are worth nothing if we haven’t prayed.

Finish Preparing the Sermon

If you’re just now starting on your sermon this may take some time, but hopefully you started working on the sermon a couple weeks ago and you’ll just need to make some final tweaks.

Let me share a few thoughts on the sermon. With it being Easter, people will have shorter attention spans. They’ve dressed uncomfortably, their kids want to hunt eggs, and they have places to be. The longer you preach the better chance you’re going to lose them, so keep it shorter than normal.

Don’t go crazy, but get creative. Consider using pictures or a prop to help illustrate your point. Getting creative will help you keep their attention just a little bit longer.

Start your sermon with a story. Don’t talk about the weather or say turn to the Gospel of John. Instead share a story that’s going to get people leaning in from the beginning. Most of the time, that’s how Jesus taught.

Have a Follow Up Plan

We’ve already talked about this, but let’s make sure we’re on the same page. We’re going to get contact information from guests, so we can write them thank you cards and invite them back.

More importantly, we want to have a plan to follow up with anyone who makes a decision to follow Christ. You may want to give them a Bible or devotional, and you definitely want their contact information. Because, the most vulnerable Christians are brand new Christians. So, we want to get them connected to the church, and for that to happen best, they probably need to get connected with someone in the church who’s checking in on them.

Promote the Next Series or Event

NorthPoint Church’s goal for Sunday services is to get guests to come back for another service. I love that. They realize that if you can get guests to continue to come back to church, there’s a very high likelihood they’ll commit their lives to Christ.

That’s why throughout this series of posts I’ve asked you to think about what you’re doing after Easter. You want to plan a series or event that’s going to interest the people you’re trying to reach. And on Easter, you need to promote that series or event.

There’s two places in the service where you can do that. During the welcome or at the very end of service. Do not start your sermon by promoting the event. That’s a terrible place for it. During the welcome or at the very end.

Then after Easter promote like crazy through social media and your other communication channels.

Thanks

If you’ve taken the time to read this post or this entire series of Easter Planning posts, I want to say thank you. I hope they’ve been helpful to you. You’re doing an incredible work, and I’m honored to be a tiny part of it.

I’m probably going to take some time away from writing to focus on some other areas of my life, but if I can ever serve you, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I love serving small town church pastors. Have a great Easter!