Making an Impact

Our church puts a lot of value on our Holiday Services. Instead of putting effort into a pre-Christmas "pagaent" or a pre-Easter celebration as some churches do, our leadership has found that the greatest impact for reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ is to focus on the "day" itself (i.e. Christmas Eve, and Easter Morning). The people who show up to pre-holiday "events" tend to be those who are already involved in the church. On the other hand, a lot of people who may not go to church will come on the actual holidays. The number of people who attend NWH weekly services during the school year is usually in the 470 to 570 range. Compare that to Christmas Eve services, which had attendance of 740 and 853 for the last two years (respectively), and Easter, which had 986 in '06, and 1080 in '07. As many of you know, we tend to put a lot of effort into Christmas Eve and Easter Morning services, and this is why. We consider this a "built-in" evangelistic opportunity. We try to put together a service that allows believers to celebrate the greatness of those days, while also delivering a clear gospel message. My reason for sharing this is to let you know that the sacrifices you've made for those services (time and effort) is well worth it. Also, I hope that you will catch the vision that leadership has for the opportunities created by those holiday services. Have you been involved in any of the holiday services? I know many (most) of you have, and I hope you have noticed the number of people - regular attenders and visitors - who have attended those services and been blessed. I hope some people have told you just how much they appreciate it. Many have told me, so I'll just pass that along to you now: you are appreciated! We may never know how many lives have been impacted directly, but be confident that your commitment to giving your best has helped the message of hope in Jesus Christ be communicated.

I'm looking forward to serving with many of you again at Easter. Our goal this year is to approach the services much like our last Christmas Eve service, with a combination of music, singing, and concise messages conveying the life-change that God offers through His son. Please add Easter to your list of things to be praying about. Consider if-and-how you'd like to be involved with your time and talents this year to make Easter an offering of our best, for His glory.