Celebrating Easter Victories 2019

Celebrating Easter Victories 2019

The Easter stories coming back from the churches we work with are incredible, and we have to stop and celebrate!  These stories represent the redeeming work of Christ and illustrate the beautiful fruit produced from intentional vision work by church teams all over the country. Thousands of people heard the Gospel of Christ, many for the first time. And eternity has changed forever, not only for those who began their spiritual journey with Jesus this Easter, but for those in these churches’ sphere of influence who will come after. As our friend and leader Bryan Jarrett says, “Numbers matter to God . . . every number has a name…every name has a story…and every story matters to God.” Imagine the stories that will come out of the numbers this Easter - families united, marriages healed, communities transformed.  Each one of us has a part to play in this movement – we plant and water, and the Lord does the real work! What a privilege it is to join Him in this work.  Congratulations to hundreds of IGP churches for being courageous and intentional about reaching the lost and making it easier for someone to take a first step toward Christ. Let’s thank the Lord for His work and celebrate just a few of these churches below.

• Pathway Church, Wichita, KS had their largest Easter attendance ever at 6,750 with 76 decisions for Christ and 128 identified first-time guests - record attendance at campuses, Goddard (1500) and Valley (338) as well.  They've clarified their vision with 10,000 in weekend attendance in 5 years. Way to go Pathway!
• Eastside Church, Anaheim, CA with 5 campuses had a great weekend. The timing of a late Easter helped them launch a new campus just 3 weeks prior. They offered video viewing on the broadcast campus for 2 of the 8 services with over 800 attending the video venue. They celebrated 325 Baptisms! And attendance of 17,004, up 15% year over year.
• Harvest Church, Byron, GA celebrated Easter with 7 service times, 4,621 guests, 61 first time professions of faith and over 20,000 eggs!  God is on the move in Central Georgia!
• Northplace Church, Sachse, TX shared a clear presentation of the gospel with over 8,000 souls Easter weekend and 100+ new believers taking their next step from salvation to showing up at a next steps meeting with Pastor to learn about baptism. This kind of response is a first. They had a record number of volunteers serving with incredible passion - more than any in their 98-year history.  We can’t wait for the stories that will come out of Northplace!
• Salty Church, Ormond Beach, FL had an incredible Easter on 3 campuses along the FL east coast. God provided a perfect sunrise over the Atlantic for sunrise service, and 68 people took their next step and were baptized in the Atlantic Ocean. With over 4,100 people, it was the best Easter ever.
• First Baptist Horizon West, Orlando, FL focused their team on praying and planning strategically to double attendance this Easter weekend at this new campus with a goal of 600 in attendance. 587 were there for their first Easter weekend with close to 100% increase in adults and kids reached!
• Church.at, Broken Arrow, OK  Every number has a name and every name has a story, and Church.at is excited to be part of the story for the 11,410 people who attended one of their 7 campuses this past Easter. And the best part, 28 people made a decision for Jesus!
• Heartland Church, Sun Prairie, WI celebrated Jesus this Easter with 1,850 in attendance. Go Heartland!
• Center Pointe Christian Church Liberty Township, OH planned Easter around their “Unfinished” generosity initiative that will fund construction of a new worship center and renovation of existing children’s and student ministry space. The vision for this expansion is part of their strategic plan to double their impact in reaching “the One” in their community. This focus led to a record total attendance of 2,308, exceeding Easter 2018 by 400 and the current weekly average attendance by nearly 1000. We are celebrating all God is doing there and excited to see movement toward fulfillment of the vision He’s provided at Center Pointe!
• Christ’s Church of the Valley Royersford, PA celebrated an incredible end to Easter weekend as 33 people found new life in Christ and were baptized!
• LifePoint Church, Lake Stevens, WA celebrated Easter with 6 services, over 3,000 in attendance and 80 decisions for Christ! Overall, they saw a 35.5% increase from last year’s Easter services. Go God!
• Plum Creek, Butler, KY had an Easter like no other with 1,009 in attendance exceeding their goal of 1,000, AND celebrating new life with baptisms during service! Their teams celebrated a lot of firsts, too - Guest Services Team met before service (a first), the Worship Team installed new lighting for the Easter theme, the new Parking Team ‘hid’ eggs for the kids to find on the way out, a new ‘patio-styled’ setup for students provided donuts, guests rec’d a free shirt (and provided their info), and they intentionally invited guests to next week’s service.
• Crossroads Christian Church, Corona, CA had their best Easter ever!  In March they began a new ‘weekend’ service on Wednesday nights increasing their number of English Easter services to 8 over 5 days along with their Spanish service. They concluded each service with an invitation and spontaneous baptism. Awesome Crossroads!
• New Hope Church, Effingham, IL celebrated Easter with 4 services! It was an amazing weekend with powerful testimonies and 9 baptisms. They shared a challenging message with 1,656 people focused on the daily decision to die to themselves and to grow in Christ
• Grace Church, Roseville, MN launched its second campus this past February for a total of over 1700 in attendance. Their new site has great potential and Grace continues to track with their 5-year goals to double their kingdom impact. Go Grace - we look forward to it!
• Cross Tower Church of Christ, West Jordan, UT intentionally focused on inviting their reach zone and had an incredible Easter!  They ran a Facebook ad for their reach zone reaching almost 2,000 people inviting them to service and a community Easter egg hunt. They are celebrating one baptism and a total of 320 people Easter Sunday almost ⅓ of whom were first time guests. Wow, way to go Cross Tower!