Churches across the United States, many now more technologically equipped than ever before, are set to make their Easter services and celebrations this weekend collectively perhaps the most watched Christian event in history.
As churches of all sizes ramp up their webcast and livestream capabilities, no longer is television and radio the top component to spreading the Gospel message of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, and reaching those beyond the church walls.
"To pull this off we had to install satellite and Internet equipment at each of our churches, as well as broadcasting equipment at downtown Seattle," Mars Hill Church Communications Director Justin Dean told The Christian Post. The church, led by the media savvy Pastor Mark Driscoll, will be broadcasting online all six of the Easter services led by Driscoll from their downtown Seattle church. more >>
As American entertainment continues to delve into television and books featuring zombies, one Texas church has opted to have a sermon series with themes about the undead.
CrossPoint Community Church of Katy has featured a message series titled "CrossPoint vs. Zombies," which began on Sunday, March 3, and will culminate on Easter Sunday. Frank Hart, director of Creative Arts at CrossPoint, told The Christian Post that he believed usage of contemporary cultural trends is "provocative and attractional."
"The zombie series basically comes from two big ideas; the first is that zombie fiction is a huge cultural thing right now. From video games to "The Walking Dead" TV series, people can't get enough human flesh eating monsters," said Hart. more >>
Prison Fellowship, the world's largest Christian outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families, is partnering with the producers of "Unconditional," and plans to show screenings of the inspirational movie inside two Florida correctional facilities during Easter weekend.
The events also feature Prison Fellowship CEO Jim Liske and "Papa Joe" Bradford, a former maximum security inmate now working to improve the lives of Nashville's at-risk kids. His life is the inspiration behind the film.
"To help 'Papa Joe' share his message of God's life-changing, unconditional love is an honor," Liske said. "And this Easter weekend screening is just the beginning, as Prison Fellowship programs have the potential to connect or reconnect inmates in 1,200 prisons across the country to God's love and their purpose in life through this inspiring film." more >>
LAKE FOREST, Calif. – Pastor Rick Warren highlighted parts of his sermon on how the resurrection of Jesus Christ "changed everything" with scenes from the popular docudrama series "The Bible" during a lunchtime worship service at Saddleback Church on Good Friday. The message will be given again several more times before the weekend ends.
"How did 12 peasant fishermen, tax collectors, farmers – how in the world did they multiply – 12 followers of Jesus to one out of every three people on the planet [identifying as Christian]? The answer is the Resurrection," said Warren to about 2,000 people in attendance and an online viewing audience. "The resurrection of Jesus changed everything. It split our calendar to the A.D. and the B.C.
"No other event has impacted the world so much as the resurrection of Jesus Christ," he said. more >>
A Texas megachurch will soon be opening up a new 500,000 square-foot campus for its congregation to worship.
First Baptist Church of Dallas, which is headed by Dr. Robert Jeffress, will open the campus located in Downtown Dallas on Sunday.
In a statement released back in February, Jeffress explained that the main purpose of the new campus was to reach out to areas usually untouched by the megachurch movement. more >>
A new Saginaw, Mich., church targeting the under 40 demographic will be hosting a massive drop of 50,000 plastic Easter Eggs filled with candy and miniature toys on Saturday.
Founding Pastor of Life Church Michigan Jonathan Herron told The Christian Post the drop will be hosted on the campus of the Saginaw Valley State University where his new church has been meeting for services since March 17.
"Things are going fantastic. The whole idea was we are a new church and we love children, we love families, so we are throwing a free party because Jesus loved to connect with people at parties," said Herron. more >>