Resurrection Sunday is always an exciting day for us. We have a sunrise service on the beach that has been going on for eighteen years now. And the thing almost has a mind of its own as far as getting people to come. We do very little advertising, just simple announcements along with all the others in the paper. Oh, and we put it on our outdoor sign. Other than that it has been word of mouth and reputation. And every year, this one included, hundreds of people show up. People fill up the 50 or so folding chairs we bring over, but most bring their own beach chairs or blankets to spread on the sand. I noticed quite a few golf carts this year. That's the preferred mode of transportation among West End of the Island inhabitants. I heard estimates of around 400 this year, but it is hard to say. This year we gave everyone who attended a nail. That's right, just a nail. The theme of the day was "Keep it simple: Love, not nails, held Jesus on the cross." A good friend of Seaside's and mine, Joe DiCecco, shared a testimony. He did a great job. This year was special to him because one of his sons was among those to be baptized.
Speaking of baptisms, we had two youngsters scheduled this year: Joe's son Michael and the son of a Galveston firefighter, Aidan. Both boys survived the chilly waters like a couple of champs as they proclaimed to the shoreline full of onlookers that they had faith in Jesus. But they weren't alone. As we walked into the surf we were joined by some others who I talked to as we waded out. One young couple said they decided at the sunrise service last year that they would do it this year. He is a member of the Jamaica Beach volunteer fire department as well as the grown son of a dear lady who has attended Seaside over the years whenever she is in town. Her son surprised her as well. Another young man wanted to be baptized again as an expression of his desire to have a renewed life with Christ. The third guy was the one that got to me. He was a very big, burly man. He stepped over next to me and announced, "I promised my Mama 20 years ago that I would do this." The only response I could come up with was, "Well, it's about time." He told me he would just take a knee to help me out, but Joe came over and helped, and we got the job done. Very exciting stuff.
Several hundred of the beach service attenders joined us at the church for breakfast. It was great to get to talk face to face with some of the folks who have supported the service year after year. Some look forward to the drive in from Katy or Baytown or Houston just to be there. I met a family from San Antonio that kind of stumbled upon the service and loved it. After breakfast we had an egg hunt planned. Hundreds and hundreds of eggs were strewn all over the grounds around the church. Funny thing was, only a few kids were still around to search for them. Needless to say those few got quite a stash of candy this year. Word has it that there were sightings of a very large rabbit out there. One of the older students wore a costume so parents could have some photo ops. It made for a great tie-in to one of the points of the teaching to come later – keep the cultural Spring celebrations separate from the more exciting of the day's celebrations – The Resurrection. It was only our second year to do the egg hunt, so word hasn't gotten around yet about it. Usually takes a few years for things like that to take off.
The day wasn't over yet, though. We still had our regular communion service at 10:00. And many of the people who came for that one were guests from out of town who hadn't heard about the sunrise service. We had lots of food left over from the sunrise crowd, so we were able to offer them breakfast as well. They were a rousing bunch, too. They loved the Visual Verse. And their singing was amazing. The Praise Team was even energized by the praising taking place. And after being awake since 4:30 or 5:00, they needed some energizing. Our bass player Cory made the comment that "we should have Easter every week. The singing was awesome." Nice thought, Cory. The early church agreed with you. That's why we worship on Sundays now … Easter every week.
Psalms 95:6-7 says, "Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care."
Father, thank you for an incredible Resurrection Sunday experience once again. Awaken us to the truth that you want us to experience you like that every Sunday – no, every day of our lives. Amen.
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