An Easter Letter to your Congregation

Author: Rick Warren

We offer this as an idea generator for a possible letter of your own.

Dear Saddleback Family,

Can you believe it? Easter is only a few days away!

I’m looking forward to the Resurrection Celebration we have planned for you and the friends you’ll bring with you this year. The message, “Come Alive at Easter, Living the Better Life,” offers hope that we were made for more than “the good life.” God created us for the BETTER life!

Here are four specific things that you can do as we prepare to celebrate Easter this next weekend:

1. Invite your friends!

It’s always amazed me that although I know many of my friends are LOOKING for a church to attend on Easter, I still feel nervous when inviting them. Maybe it’s the fact that we all feel a bit nervous when talking about things that are important to us. The truth is, when you invite a friend to join you for church on Easter they very often will come, and even if they cannot, they’ll appreciate the fact that you thought of them.

Hopefully, you have a few of the Easter invitations that we’ve given out at church the last few weeks that you can hand out or send to your friends. Also, you’ll find an e-mail invitation that you can easily send out on our website. The website also has the times of the Easter services – which are listed for you at the end of this e-mail.

Additionally, we’ve mailed out Easter invitations in the form of little seed packets to many of your neighbors. I encourage you to ask around your office and neighborhood, “Did you get a seed packet in the mail from my church?”

2. Come to ANY service other than 9:30 or 11:30am on Sunday!

Those services will be filled with many who are coming for the first time, without a friend bringing them. One of the things I love about Saddleback is the way that our regular attenders selflessly attend one of our other services to make room for new people at these times. (5:00 p.m. Saturday will also likely be very full – if you’re planning to come on Saturday and could come at 3:00 or 7:00pm that would be great!).

3. Help out in any way that you can.

If you see ANYTHING that needs to be done – a piece of paper that needs to be picked up, a person who needs a question answered, a restroom that needs to be cleaned – I encourage you to “just do it.” Another of the great things about Easter at Saddleback is the way that we all pull together to meet whatever is needed.

4. Personally celebrate the good news of Easter starting today.

Just think of it: because of Easter our past is forgiven, our life is worth living and we have a future in heaven! Romans 3:22 says, “We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.” (NLT)

I’m looking forward to seeing you this weekend!

Pastor Rick

Easter Service Times:

– Thursday: 7:00 p.m.
– Friday: 12:00 noon, 6:00 and 8:00 p.m.
– Saturday: 3:00, 5:00 and 7:00 p.m.
– Sunday: 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

(Easter programming for children will not be available Friday noon and Sunday at 7:30 – ASL interpreted Sunday at 9:30.)