Easter is the biggest day of the year for most churches in terms of attendance. Churches all see a spike in attendance and new guests coming through the doors. It is an exciting time for the Church because it celebrates the most important event in human history–the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. However, there are obstacles to making this day very special and properly preparing your Easter sermon.
For instance, a pastor has to preach the same basic theme every year. The resurrection is central to the Christian faith, but preaching the same story of this historical event can become redundant for many pastors. This becomes even more of a problem the longer they are at a church because they have to try to think of a fresh way to approach teaching on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The key for pastors to keep their Easter message fresh is in the preparation. They all know Easter is coming, but very few prepare well for this big day, especially regarding the sermon itself. According to Rich Birch from the Unseminary Podcast, 76% of people choose a church based on the sermon. The sermon isn’t the only thing that happens on a Sunday, but it is very important to the people who choose to attend. The same is true for Easter.
So, if a pastor wants to keep their Easter message fresh, here are 6 keys to preparing your Easter sermon:
1. Prepare Well in Advance
January is the best time for the pastor and team to prepare for Easter. A larger church may also need even more preparation time, so the time could move back as far as December. But a good rule of thumb is to start working on the Easter strategy and message in January. This allows the pastor and team to implement creative ideas that may accompany the message.
Preparing 90-100 days out gives the pastor plenty of time to think about how to deliver a fresh message on an old topic, such as the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It would also behoove a pastor to listen to or review top-notch sermons on the resurrection to help them generate fresh ideas.
2. Survey Previous Easter Messages
The pastor can do a few things by surveying previous Easter messages. First, they can find out if they are preaching the same theme each year. When preparation is lacking, this causes the leader to go into default mode. Every communicator has a default theme on which they fall back. To keep the Easter message fresh, the pastor must make sure they are not repeating themselves. Secondly, if the pastor has been at the church for a considerable amount of time, then they can rebrand a previous Easter message. They may not rebrand the same exact message, but they should be able to take some points or ideas from the current Easter message.
3. Prepare with the Unchurched in Mind
Easter and Christmas are the two high times of the year when church attendees are most likely to invite their unchurched friends and family. These are people with questions, objections, doubts, and fears. Many pastors craft sermons just for the attendees and never consider the unchurched who will be there. The pastor should think through the various types of unchurched people who will be listening that day and craft a message to help them with their objections and fears. Preparing your Easter Sermon with this in mind will be a blessing to many.
4. Get Creative
This may be the single hardest thing for a pastor to do with the same message year in and year out. But this will be very important in preparing for Easter. Getting creative will not only keep a timeless message fresh, but it will help the attendees retain the information better. Creativity for Easter would include creative elements within the message as well as themed environments. The pastor should think through how to make the message creative with props and illustrations.
Once the message’s creative part is complete, the pastor can work with a creative team for the stage design and media elements. One year, I had a theme of hope. So, to kick off the service, we used a spoken word about hope, and our creative team put just the words on the screen. It started with complete darkness and no words, and as the spoken word went on, the words got brighter and brighter until all the words were white at the very end; all the stage lights turned white while the worship team welcomed everyone to sing the song, “You Keep Hope Alive.”
Another creative element is the children’s environment. Children are one of the main reasons people choose to return to a church, so this should be part of the creative planning.
5. Involve Feedback from the Team
Feedback is key when preparing the Easter sermon. The pastor should have a few trusted people on their team to bounce off the Easter thematic idea. They should help expound upon the idea or help the pastor with a better idea. The pastor should find the most creative people and the best critical thinkers to share ideas with to ensure that they have the best creative plan going into Easter.
6. Close the Deal
Most pastors do not give a proper call for people to respond to the Gospel at the end of the message. This is a huge mistake when it comes to Easter. The message is so focused on the Gospel that a pastor should give an invitation to respond to the most powerful message on planet Earth.
Pastors sometimes give a very watered-down response or none at all. But the Gospel message is true for all Christian churches. The message is that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, was raised from the dead by God the Father, ascended to heaven, and is at the right hand of the Father. Jesus is Lord and the only way to heaven. One is saved by confessing this with the mouth and believing with the heart, according to Romans 10:9-10.
And it does not matter what the tradition of response is for the church. Some have the people who made a decision come up front, and others have them go to a room. There are churches that just ask for hands to be raised, and others may not ask for anything. But the most important part for any of these traditions is to get a connection card from them to make a follow-up. This will help the person who made a decision for Christ better understand their decision, get the proper resources, and get scheduled for water baptism and the next steps.
Preparation Is Key
Easter is one of the biggest times of the year, but many pastors just don’t prepare enough for it. A church can see so much fruit from Easter if more preparation is put into the sermon and the day itself. The sermon is the highlight of the day and should be prepared like a home-cooked meal. There should be plenty of time for pastors to prepare, and it should be customized for their particular context.
Was this article helpful? You might also enjoy:
- Easter Brush Collection (Shift Worship)
- This Is the Cross (Easter Intro) (Shift Worship)
- It’s Just Begun (After Easter) (Shift Worship)
- 17 Encouraging Bible Verses to Give Pastors Strength
