4 things every 'non-church go-er' should know about going to church for Easter.

Easter Sunday, you go to church.  Everyone does. Even the person who hates church will suck it up for one hour on Easter Sunday. Its just what we do. I think it shows that America still cares about Jesus, even when we pretend not to. 

If you are one of those rare birds who avoid church on Easter, I totally understand.  However, there is no football, everyones March Madness bracket is completely ruined, so what else are you going to be doing...?

From a youth pastor to all you who aren't regular attendee's, you should know a couple of things...

(Note, I use "we" a lot like. I simply mean, we who regularly choose to hang out at church)


1. We couldn't be more excited that you came today!
            Everything we do, comes down to you.
 From planning songs, to sending out cards in the mail, and making sure that we have interactive messages and worship, to free coffee in the lobby. 
The countless hours and volunteers spent prepping what goes on the screens during the service and how to take care of the little children... 
Its all about you.  
If there is anything we can do in order to explain who Jesus is and what He did, we will.  
It's because we believe in Gospel, we believe in transforming lives. Not because we think we know better, but simple because, we have all been in a season of life that we needed someone to come along side us and say, 'no matter what is going on in your life, Jesus will always Love you, and I Love you too. Welcome to our broken community.'



2. We don't care about your money.
          Yes, we pass around offering baskets. Truth of the matter is it takes money to keep the lights on.  It takes money to involve the community. It takes money to run youth programs, and children's programs, etc.  But if you are just going to Easter service to please your mom or grandma and wanting to get out as soon as possible to go home for easter dinner, pass the bucket! God has all the money in the world. I'm not worried about it. Thank you for joining us today as we celebrate Jesus!


3. Ask.
        You have heard it before: There are no dumb questions.
        This is especially true in a church. Ask someone, ask anyone.
 "Where do I sit?" "Do I keep my kids with me?" "Why is it dark when there is music?" "Are we suppose to stand when we sing?"   
        Truth be told, Christians do a lot of weird things that we don't realize are weird. So, if/when something seems, uuhhh, weird, it probably is. Don't be afraid to ask the people around you.



4. Consider coming back.
          That's the goal we have here today.  We want you to know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, and if you're anything like me, it takes some time and guidance to understand what that means. So, next week, clear your schedule, we would love to see you again!

3 Thoughts on Cell Phones in Church

Couple Cell Phone Statistics before we being:

• Average number of texts sent by an American Teen each month: 3,339 Texts (566% increase in two years)
• 42% of teens say they can text message blindfolded
• Texting is the number 2 use of cellphones (Checking the time is #1)
• (2014) Americans spent about $42.8 million on mobile devices
• (2015), should be close to $1.8 BILLION.

*Information provided by: www.onlineitdegree.com

Consider 1 of the 3 "solutions"
      1. Tell everyone to turn them off as soon as they sit down.
      2. Accept everyone and allow them to do what they want. Let people be responsible.
      3. Jump into the hipster/techie movement and make cell phones part of the service.

There is no best answer, but I side with 3.

Use them to your advantage.

      One of the coolest churches I've been to put their notes on a free bible app. I download them every time. You can even comment which is amazing because then you can interact with other church attendees! And hey, that creates really cool conversations and interactions. Another church encourages members to take pictures of/in the service and post them online hoping this can be a non-threatening way of inviting friends.

People really take notes on them: I know, its crazy.
      During any given service, I'm jumping between my 'notes' app and my 'bible' app as well as looking up things I didn't quite understand. This is much easier than trying to have a desk of books and journals and a pen. Its just like when I sit in class, I have my laptop out trying to retain all the information I can.

Still, Students want structure.

       I use to be very relaxed when it came to cell phones during small group. And students would pull them out at times, probably texting each other. One of the students blurted out "Can't you guys put your phones away for just a few minutes!" Then the group asked for a box. Heck, they even made the box. Now we have a box that we can just throw all of our phones in.