If you are not already doing so, begin to plan for Resurrection Sunday. Below are 14 suggestions to prompt ideas to make this a tremendous season in the life of your church:

1. Pray Evangelistically. 

Lead your church in focused prayer for the lost. Pray the church is ready for this celebration. Pray that God draws people to you and your church. Pray for everyone to experience the manifest presence of Christ on this day.

2. Pray Over. 

Pray over your community by walking (or driving) the area. Pray in and over your worship area for this celebration. I like to pray over every chair/pew. Pray over your entire campus, from bed babies to senior adults. 

3. Fast and pray. 

Easter is a little less than a month away. Challenge your people to deny themselves something specific in order to spend more time seeking the face of God these next few weeks.

4. Promote. 

Let people know your service times. Have banners. Put your schedule on your Facebook, website, Twitter (X), etc. You may want to place door hangers in neighborhoods, sharing about your exciting Easter services.

5. Invite members. 

Don’t assume people will come for the Easter services. Invite them! Contact everyone on your Sunday School/ small group roles and share how you would love for them to come to celebrate the Resurrection as a church family. Some people have not attended recently and want an invitation from you.

6. Invite others. 

Go into the highways and byways and compel people to come in (Luke 14:23). Encourage every member to bring a prospect! 

7. Community involvement. 

Get into the community! Have a community celebration with hot dogs, inflatables, face paintings, baskets with invitations and goodies, and so forth. Some churches use an Easter Egg hunt to draw lost people to their church. Ensure you pass out invitations to your Resurrection services and Gospel tracks (I will give you 200 tracks at no charge). This event often takes place on another day other than Easter Sunday.

8. Special Services. 

Host either a Maundy Thursday or Good Friday service. Encourage church members to invite others. Make sure to hand out cards to invite attendees back for Resurrection Sunday.

9. Evangelistic appeal. 

Prayerfully plan and preach with an expectancy that God will draw men and women, boys and girls, to Himself on this special day. Again, encourage your church to pray!

10. Embrace guests. 

Make everyone feel welcome and special. Cook a little extra food or plan to take a guest out to eat with you after Easter Service. 

11. Get info. 

Make every effort to get information from every attendee. A QR code is a fantastic and easy way to capture their contact information. Or perhaps, have a lovely giveaway for guests to receive. As they come and meet the staff, let each person fill out a card and turn it in before you give the gift.

12. Follow up.

I recommend following up within 24 hours. You must strike while the iron is hot!

13. Baptize.

April 7 is “baptism day” for the SBC. Pray and plan to baptize on this day. You do not want a “letdown” after Easter. Instead, plan a big day to follow a big day.

14. Strategy.

Commit to an evangelistic strategy. If your church does not have an ongoing evangelistic strategy, I encourage you to visit our website and sign up for our evangelism training by Lawrence Phipps. His LIFE process works! Mark your calendar for March 12! 

Remember, pray, pray, and then pray some more (see 1 John 5:14-15), To Christ alone receive the glory!

This article was written by state missionary Rob Jackson.