March 31 Easter Highlights
What a great day! Could the weather have been more incredible? I love Easter for obvious reasons, but when the sun shines and ends a long, rainy winter, it just makes the whole holiday perfect!
Church was fun all around! We preached the value of the resurrection and were thrilled to have all of our services well attended to hear the good news. We love guests at the Coffee Church and are always ready to welcome anybody in for the message of Jesus. We had 450 people into our churches for this amazing weekend and look forward to the Stories of Changed Lives we will hear for months and years to come.
Our worship teams knocked it out of the park! Thank you to Matt and Alissa for leading us well. We appreciate your faithful teams who serve week in and week out with amazing talent!
I also want to thank all of our volunteers who served yesterday. We had plenty of hands of deck and it was just a smooth morning all around. We appreciate all that you do to help lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus.
We gave all of the kids candy-filled eggs on the way out the door. ‘Cause that’s what my kids needed on Easter….more candy. At 4:30 am my oldest daughter called me in to her room with a stomach ache and proclaimed, “I think I ate too much candy!” No kidding.
We served free lattes at Battle Ground, which just meant that everybody at Hazel Dell came in the door saying they considered swinging by Battle Ground on the way to Hazel Dell…I reminded them that there at THOUSANDS of places to get a latte in the Vancouver area and they will be just fine.
Eddie apparently did something cool on his guitar at Hazel Dell. I miss these things as I have an amazing inability to understand music. I did however enjoy worship, so they are doing something right!
I came home to a house filled with 30 people…the more the merrier! We had a massive egg hunt in my back yard, which means that we’ll be finding eggs until winter. I am surrounded by the best people in my life! Then we invited my in-laws to a smoked turkey dinner, compliments of our friends John and Kari! We loved it and were excited to have Grandma and Grandpa with us to end our Easter celebrations.
Pastors – whatever we thought was so important to do for Easter Sunday, we should probably do every week. That’s how we try to go about church at North Creek, but even I found myself doing things that probably should have been done months before. Our job is a matter of life and death all 52 weeks a year. No pressure…
We have some good things to tell you coming soon. We always have good things to tell you. The favor of God is with us and we know He is moving us where He wants us to be!
Next week will mark our one year anniversary of the launch of North Creek Battle Ground via a merge with Maple Grove Church. Best. Adventure. Ever. And so much of our gratitude goes to the Hazel Dell folks who put the mission of God in front of their own desires and needs. We are humbled by your hearts!
Let’s make Easter a year-round point in our lives. He’s alive, which means you are too! What better news could I possibly put in my blog? On that note, live free today! Free of addiction, anger, pain, doubt, fear…all of it! Be blessed!