A great Easter service (actually two) in our church this morning. It is great to hear the Easter music, sing along, and worship the risen Christ on this special Sunday.
One part of the service was especially moving to me today. We had done this in the past, but today was just special. The object is to show, visually, how Jesus has changed lives, and this is accomplished by having men and women come to center stage with a large piece of cardboard. As they turn and face the audience the words appear stating how they were before Jesus changed them, then they flip the board over and the words are shown as to how they are today. Lives with problems, additions, conflicts and hurts are all represented on the front side, then the results of an encounter with the Risen Savior on the back.
Now our church is pretty large, and I do not know a lot of the congregation at all, so I began to think, as the people came to the front and went and stood in a long line facing us, that this was a good representation of the many ills that beset all of us on our way. It was a good way to categorize the various problems that are out there that can be overcome with Jesus' help. I might have seen the faces of the people before, but I sure did not know their life stories.
Then I saw a man that I knew come out from the side and walk to the center, turn around and show his cardboard. I knew his problems and realized that he was truly holding "his" life in his hands. He was admitting to his need and telling the world that Jesus had done a special work in his life. As I continued to view others as they came, acknowledging what their life had been and now was, my heart was truly stirred.
Changed Lives was not just an idle phrase, it was sitting right on my row.
Thank God for Easter
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