Celebrating Easter Victories from the Front Lines

Celebrating Easter Victories from the Front Lines

The Easter stories coming back from this small list of Intentional Churches below paint a beautiful tapestry of the goodness of God and the fruit of intentional vision work by church teams over the past year. Through these 19 churches alone, almost 90,000 people heard the Gospel of Jesus, many for the very first time. Can you imagine the Kingdom impact that represents?  Eternity has changed forever, not only for the thousands of people who began their spiritual journey with Jesus this Easter, but for those in their sphere of influence who will come after. For the families who will hear, the marriages that will heal, the communities that will be transformed.This reminds us of two things. First, each ministry is an outpost of the Gospel with a set of relational connections where eternity hangs in the balance. It also reminds us that we have a part to play in the advancement of the Lord’s work - 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 IC System churches for being intentional about reaching the lost and making it easier for someone to take a first step toward Christ.  You’ve clarified the vision, focused on the ‘one’, leaned into the Holy Spirit and now you’re bearing the fruit! We can’t wait to see what the next five years hold!

• Christ Church of Flagstaff Flagstaff, AZ welcomed more than 2,300 adults into a spiritual journey this Easter, impacting families and transforming lives. We’re celebrating a 44% increase over last Easter and can’t wait to see what God does here!
• Southeast Christian Church Murray, UT was running a little under 200 people on most weekends and had 225 last Easter.  After a year of working on communication, developing simple steps, and designing a first step class, their 2018 Easter attendance grew to 375 people - up 60%!.   We are rejoicing in this amazing news, and look forward to seeing greater things at Southeast.
• First Baptist Orlando, FL is celebrating the fruits of their focused and intentional vision work this Easter, a 15% increase in the number of people reached! That’s over 16,000 people who heard the good news of Christ. Go God!
• Church.at Broken Arrow, OK is praising God for a record number of families impacted for the Kingdom this Easter. A 42% increase in Easter attendance with 11,048 people and 16 baptisms.
• First Christian Church Florissant, MO is celebrating the power of Jesus, impacting the community with hope and healing. Congratulations on an amazing 1,106 at Easter, a 38% increase over 2017.
• The Springs Ocala, FL with 3 campuses saw the results of an intentional focus on the ‘’One’ and nurturing an invite culture. This Easter, almost 7,000 people worshiped at The Springs with a packed lobby of over 200 people. We’re celebrating with them, up 15% from last Easter, and we’re excited about their Kingdom impact!
• Mission Church Ventura, CA continues to share the Hope of Jesus in and around Ventura celebrating Easter with 2,377. Congratulations Mission Ventura!
• California Community Church Agoura Hills, CA is celebrating life change and the beginning of a spiritual journey for 51 adults who made a decision for Christ this Easter! Excited that California Community worshipped with a record 754 people.
• Salty Church Ormond Beach, FL with 3 campuses spent the last year intentionally focused on the drivers that lead to engagement, growth, baptisms, and service. Easter morning 50 people were baptized in the Atlantic Ocean following packed sunrise services over 2 counties with a record 3,387 in attendance, up over 20% from Easter 2017.
• Heartland Church Sun Prairie, WI celebrated Jesus this Easter with 1,850. Go Heartland!
• Center Pointe Christian Church Liberty Township, OH put an intentional strategic plan in the works leading up to Easter that resulted in attendance of over 1,900 surpassing weekends by 700 and the previous record attendance for any service or program ever held at Center Pointe by 200 people. God has done amazing restoration work through a desert season and we can’t wait to see what’s next as they gain momentum around the vision.
• Christ’s Church of the Valley Royersford, PA celebrated Easter with 3,472 worshipers in 3 services! Go God!
• ONE* Spokane, WA experienced record Easter attendance of 2,188 with 140 responding to Christ compared with 25 last year, a 40% increase in attendance and 460% increase in responses to Christ!
• Eastside Anaheim, CA is rejoicing at all God has done. Easter weekend, 324 people began their spiritual journey with baptism, 99 more than last year! Eastside’s 4 locations celebrated Easter with 14,813, up 22% over 2017.
• Crossroads Church Corona, CA celebrated Easter with six powerful services, 82 decisions for Christ and 44 baptisms! Another 68 people were baptized on Palm Sunday!  Excited to engage the 10,579 people who participated at Crossroads.
• Cross Tower Church of Christ West Jordan, UT was running under 200 people. Over the last year, they’ve focused on communication, an invite culture toward their reach zone, and improving their facility and worship service. They celebrated their best Easter in 10 years with over 250 and 35 first-time guests. Way to go Cross Tower team!
• M1 Church McLeansboro, IL was up over 40% this Easter with 700 in attendance and 8 baptisms across 3 services! Up from 484 last year. Go M1 Church team!
• Grace Church Roseville, MN was overwhelmed by the 1,424 people in attendance celebrating Easter - 300+ more than last Easter and the largest weekend in years! In fact it’s the 6th time this year Grace surpassed 1,000 on a weekend. At 650 when they installed the IC System, they’re planning their first multisite in 2019. God is on the move!
• Faithbridge Spring, TX intentionally placed an emphasis on their invite culture and engagement pathway over the past year. The Faithbridge team’s hard work paid off with 7,200 celebrating Christ this Easter, up from 6500 last year. Way to go Faithbridge!