There are 52 big weekends a year! But this weekend is HUGE!! We gather to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior – we will celebrate newness of life, victory over the grave and the abundant life found in Christ.

We will probably have over 1,000 people in church this weekend. We will have our 4 normal service times, plus our sunrise service at Princess Place Preserve. We also have some huge programming elements! All in all, this is a very busy week!

I promise you that our staff has brought their A game. Pastor Derek has been working 14 hour days; the admin staff has a whatever it takes attiude; our other pastors are very busy contributing to the big picture. Everyone is giving their best and under the pressure there has been a whole lot of joy and laughter!

This weekend I know that a couple hundred volunteers are coming for a massive celebration of the risen Savior and one of the ways they will woship Him is by bringing their A game of service. Just check out the first impressions team – smiles from ear to ear, a contagious spirit, and the warmest of welcomes. A nursery team that portrays that their day has been made by the arrival of one of God’s little ones. A Son Zone team that is thrilled by a large amount of guests and in every way will recognize the holy moment God has given them to minister to all the children – over 100 of them! Watch our entre worship team and see if they don’t lift up God giving Him His total due! They will use song, drama and art to open the hearts of people and bring them to death’s Victor. I could go on and on, but just keep your eyes open and you will see people on their A game!

To all our volunteers – I am praying for you. Enjoy Easter weekend and bring the worship of your A game!

I throw out to you the same question I asked you yesterday – What is it about this Easter season (Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter) that you really enjoy? What has special meaning or significance to you this time of year?

• INVITE, INVITE, INVITE, INVITE
• Drama practice was 3 hours last night – 2 more practices this week – going to be awesome.
• One surprise artistic element that is going to be phenomenal.
• INVITE, INVITE!!
• All the staff participated in some audio work for our post-Easter series, Who are You?.
• That series is going to include a great fellowship component
• We are going to have a member services link (yellow pages for our church family) or call it whatever you want but I think you get the idea – on our church website. Beginning the week after Easter we will be collecting all the data. You will fill out a form in the bulletin if you would like your bussiness or service info included.
• Weather is looking really good for the sunrise service.
• How about these 30 mph winds – sure beats the snow in Michigan though!
• INVITE!!!
• I asked our staff this morning, What is it about this Easter season (Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter) that you really enjoy? What has special meaning or significance to you this time of year?
• Please share – I think it will be an encouragement to other readers and it will also keep us from breezing through this holiday without a proper focus or thought.

• Really looking forward to this weekend!
• Palm Sunday with a special twist!
• A never done before, very powerful element in each service
• A staffing announcement will be made. Change is coming.
• Small group sign-up begins this weekend but you can already go and sign up online.
• 26 small groups and classes to choose from!
• Every night of the week groups meet.
• Mens groups, womens groups, couples groups and a college and career group.
• Brand new groups
• Night groups and morning groups.
• You have no excuses!
• Easter is going to be phenomenal – invite everyone you know!
• Please pray right now for our 30,000 piece mailer that will go out by the end of this week.
• Can’t wait to see you this weekend!!

Today was a good day. It seems like the time just flies and there are not enough hours, yet I know God has given me all the time I need to accomplish what He wants me to accomplish. It is good to finish a day and know that not everything got done and that is just fine.

I would like to pass along an opportunity, but first let me share the story.  There is a young family in our church who has been attending for about a year.  They have 3 children and the oldest is 6 years old. I met with the husband today. He has been out of work for about a month, the bills are stacking up and he is daily trusting the Lord.  They have been selling everything possible on craigslist just to generate some cash.  He waited to the last minute to come see me because he is not looking for a handout. He told me today that their water has been shut off since last Thursday – yes you just read that right!  As a result of the Parkview Celebrate offering, we will be getting the families water turned back on tomorrow – PTL.  Thanks to the generosity of our church we loaded him up with groceries!  Here is what I want to give you an opportunity to do – hire him. He is not looking for a handout but is willing to work to earn some money. He does carpentry, dry wall, tile, carpet and a few other handyman type construction. He has volunteered work at the church in the past and done great work. He is willing to do anything. I have hired him to do some yard work for me – trimming trees, mulching etc. I have got him on Thursday and after that his calendar is wide open. Email me and I will put you in touch and get you his number. If you have anything he can do shoot me an email right now – greg@parkviewlife.com.

I just felt like the Lord would have me throw this out there – let’s see how we can help this family through a very difficult season of their life.