Easter is right around the corner. For far too many Evangelical churches that means pulling out all the bells, whistles, gimmicks, and tricks of the trade to try and attract as many outsiders as possible. Everything from Easter egg hunts, to pictures with an Easter rabbit, or the usual helicopter egg drop – it’s all super lame. A church of Jesus Christ should have nothing to with these out-of-date bait and switch tactics.<\/p>\n
Before anyone gets too upset with me, just know, I still love my Christian brothers who disagree with me and participate in the Easter games.<\/p>\n
However, if you would, just think with me a moment longer – why in the world do we need Easter gimmicks when we follow a man who rose from the dead? Seriously ask yourself that. I don’t know about you, but a true story about a dead man who was buried, and three days later came back to life and walked through walls is far more compelling than taking pictures with a creepy man in an Easter bunny costume.<\/p>\n
Christianity is a religion of resurrection. For in it, dead people come to life. Our Lord Jesus Christ, after He was crucified for the sins of the world, was buried, then resurrected three days later. More than that, when Jesus now saves a man, He does it through resurrection. “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loves us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…” (Ephesians 2v1&4). And even more, all the dead in Christ shall rise.<\/p>\n
Now you tell me: Easter eggs or resurrection from the dead?<\/p>\n
To me, the choice seems easy. If it is, then why is it that so many churches have traded a resurrected Lord for dead plastic eggs? Maybe it’s because we don’t trust the that the gospel of Jesus Christ is enough. Maybe it’s because we think that outsiders think bunny rabbits are more cool. Maybe it’s because we’ve lost our own fascination with the gospel. Maybe it’s because we are still dead in our sins. Or maybe something else altogether.<\/p>\n
I know that many say we must do these attractional things in order to get people into the church so we can then tell them about Jesus. Well, that’s a bit sneaky and dishonest. It also violates the regulative principle ( subject for another time). But what if all of our efforts to attract outsiders actually gets in the way of the gospel, instead of helping it? I know God makes straight lines with crooked sticks and can work through our getting in the way; but what if we got out of the way of the gospel and let it do it’s work? What if?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Easter is right around the corner. For far too many Evangelical churches that means pulling out all the bells, whistles, gimmicks, and tricks of the trade to try and attract as many outsiders as possible. Everything from Easter egg hunts, to pictures with an Easter rabbit, or the usual helicopter egg drop – it’s all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":685,"featured_media":1384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[123,161,243,274,281,352,415,423,557,562,612,678,679,699,765,945,1011,1049,1050],"class_list":{"0":"post-1324","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-alive","9":"tag-attraction","10":"tag-bunny","11":"tag-christ","12":"tag-church","13":"tag-dead","14":"tag-easter","15":"tag-egg","16":"tag-god","17":"tag-gospel","18":"tag-holiday","19":"tag-jenkins","20":"tag-jesus","21":"tag-joshua","22":"tag-lord","23":"tag-plastic","24":"tag-rabbitt","25":"tag-resurrected","26":"tag-resurrection","27":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2017\/04\/265244.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4804,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/jesus-appears-to-his-disciples\/","url_meta":{"origin":1324,"position":0},"title":"Jesus Appears to His Disciples","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"March 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"19\u00a0On the evening\u00a0of that day, the first day of the week,\u00a0the doors being locked where the disciples were\u00a0for fear of the Jews,[a]\u00a0Jesus came and stood among them and said to them,\u00a0\u201cPeace be with you.\u201d\u00a020\u00a0When he had said this,\u00a0he showed them his hands and his side. Then\u00a0the disciples were glad when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/kelly-sikkema-Wni6RtcNhU8-unsplash.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/kelly-sikkema-Wni6RtcNhU8-unsplash.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/kelly-sikkema-Wni6RtcNhU8-unsplash.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/kelly-sikkema-Wni6RtcNhU8-unsplash.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/kelly-sikkema-Wni6RtcNhU8-unsplash.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/kelly-sikkema-Wni6RtcNhU8-unsplash.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4711,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/the-resurrection-of-christ-and-historical-progress\/","url_meta":{"origin":1324,"position":1},"title":"The Resurrection of Christ and Historical Progress","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"January 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Introduction It is good to be with you here on this first Lord\u2019s Day of the new year, 2022. I have been asked to speak to you today about the resurrection of Christ and the continuing ministry or continuing work of Christ. 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