Easter is a busy time for churches. It is easy to make mistakes when you feel overwhelmed with all the extra work and preparation. To help make this Easter the best yet, here are five of the common mistakes pastors make on Easter that I have noticed.
- Not preaching with urgency.
Do you feel a sense of urgency about Easter? Do you feel the responsibility to make the most of every second you have?
You may only have one shot to introduce someone to Jesus. Don’t fall into the trap of believing that you will have another chance.
They may not come back. They are not guaranteed to live to see another Easter.
You, yourself, are not guaranteed to live to see another Easter. Jesus could come back any moment. This could be it.
In the early church, the disciples operated under the assumption that Jesus could come back at any moment. Because of this, they preached with a sense of urgency.
They knew that they may never have another chance to reach people with the good news of Jesus.
We should all live with the same sense of urgency for sharing the Gospel before it’s too late.
- Overcomplicated message.
Many Easter sermons are a boring list of bullet points or an ancient history lesson.
Don’t overcomplicate things.
Preach the simple, life-changing story of Jesus’ resurrection and what this means for all of us.
Follow the KISS method. Keep It Simple Stupid!
Have one simple, clear message that you want to communicate, and preach that message with everything you’ve got.
- No call to action.
You preached a great sermon…now what? What do you want the people sitting in front of you to actually do with what you just told them?
Many pastors preach a lot of information but forget to ask anyone to do anything with it.
It’s not enough to just know what you want them to do. Ask them.
Don’t assume that people will know what to do. What exactly would you like them to do?
If the goal of your message is for people to respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, what should that look like? How should they begin? Do you want them to come forward, stand, repeat a prayer, fill out a card…what?
If nobody responds to your sermon, maybe it’s because you never asked them to. Be clear, direct and unapologetic with what you want people to do.
- Assuming people will come.
A dangerous assumption that can hurt your church is assuming people will show up just because it’s Easter.
Yes, more people are likely to attend a church service on Easter than most other weekends. But don’t fall into a safe sense of security in thinking that people will automatically show up without any work on your part.
God alone brings the harvest, but He asks us to prepare the fields. What have you done to prepare the field?
How are you getting the word out about your church services?
How are you encouraging your congregation to invite others?
How are you personally reaching out?
- No follow-up plan.
New people showed up! Now what?
What is your plan to follow-up with them? What is your plan to encourage them to come back?
Many churches put all their eggs in the Easter-Sunday basket with no plan for the week after.
Will you start a new series that interests them? Will you personally call them? Will you send them a letter?
If the Holy Spirit moves and 25 or 100 people make the decision to give their lives to Jesus, are you prepared?
How will you follow up? It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but you need a strategy.
Those are five mistakes that I have noticed.
What about you? What other mistakes do pastors make on Easter?
By Brandon Hilgemann
http://churchleaders.com
