To Be...Prepared
These beautiful photos were taken at an Easter sunrise service by a neighbor of mine.
April 4
My husband works at our church on a very part time basis. In an email to our connect group leaders he shared a recap of what happened Easter Sunday. Such a good message, I wanted to share it with you.
He wrote:
"Although the 8:30am service had a good group, but certainly not as many in attendance, God moved in a mighty but different way. After a time of worship and praise, the video of Pastor Stan's recored message began to play... with NO sound. Immediate attempts to restart were made but to no avail.
Although it was an "uh oh, what now" moment, without hesitation, our campus pastor, Mark, jumped up on stage, pulled over the pulpit and simply said open your bibles to John 20 and we'll look at the account of the resurrection. He then began to share a remarkable sermon.
In retrospect, I am absolutely convinced it was a providential appointment. There were at least three profound biblical truths that we saw that morning.
1) The reality of spiritual warfare.
This was indeed the quintessential dart; Satan attempting to interrupt God's plan. The sound tech later said that the sound was working before the service and worked after... they weren't sure what happened in between.
Consider the time and effort that went into making this happen, and at precisely the most inopportune time, it happens. Almost inexplicable!
2) We were able see a perfect picture of the resurrection.
At the cross, Satan must have thought he had won, the Savior was dead. Little did he know of God's plan to resurrect his Son to show the world the triumph over sin and death.
Sunday, the enemy thought he had thwarted God's word, preventing those in attendance from hearing the path to salvation. However, God had a different plan and Mark was ready and able to share God's word. Undoubtedly, and for whatever reason, God knew that Mark's message was just what this particular group needed to hear!
3) Always be prepared to share God's word.
2 Tim 4:2 and 1 Pet 3:15 both challenge all believers to be prepared to share God's word when the need arises. Mark was prepared on the spot to share an entire message! We are not all called to share a sermon, but at the very least to give an account of what we believe and why.
It was indeed a glorious day all the way around.
