Hey, guys! I hope you are having a good week. Here’s what I know about most of us: the adrenaline of the Coronavirus stockpile/armageddon/quarantine is wearing off and the reality is setting in. The way things have been is the way they’re going to be for a minute.

I think in the midst of that dreary, Groundhog Day reality, for a lot of us it’s easy to lose some motivation, especially to think creatively about how to be the church. But as Easter draws near, the time is ripe for us to be the church, celebrating our great King and extending hope and help to people around us.

So I want to encourage you with two things:

We have a living hope

1 Peter 1.3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Easter is, in some ways, the perfect time for all this to happen. It is a perfect season for us to be reminded that, in his great mercy, God has given us a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead! Our hope is alive and well, and it goes with us everyday into whatever circumstance we face. And that hope rests on the incredible reality that Jesus rose from the dead to defeat sin and death.

So church, rejoice in hope!

Extend your hope in Jesus

The Easter season is usually a time when we are ramping up to celebrate together, and that includes inviting friends and neighbors to hear the good news with us. Unfortunately, that is not going to be the case this year. God, in his sovereign wisdom, has chosen to scatter us for this season.

While we have put together some ways that we are going to celebrate the entire week together, I want to encourage you to think creatively about how you can love and serve those around you, and make plans to do it.

To help jumpstart your creativity, here are a few ideas:

  • Pray specifically for your Top 5 every day between now and Easter.
  • Prayer-walk your neighborhood > mention Easter and ask people you meet for specific requests. (Read our post on prayer-walking for ideas.)
  • Write an encouraging and gospel-filled message for your neighbors in sidewalk chalk.
  • Take a gift basket with simple, individually wrapped goodies or supplies.
  • Share our Easter resources on social media as they come out.
  • Share things from the Jesus page on our website. (There are a couple of good, short videos you can share easily.)
  • Personally invite friends and neighbors to join you in watching our Good Friday and Easter livestreams.

Even though we’re separated physically, we’re in this together, church. God is with us, and his plans and purposes go right through Coronavirus. Hope in that and in our Living Hope!

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