It is
hard to say much beyond “Wow.” We had
our Easter Sunrise Service along with a communion service yesterday. To say our expectations were vastly exceeded
by God would be a gross understatement.
Our
setup crew began at 4:30 a.m. getting things ready. They hauled chairs and sound system
paraphernalia out to the beach and did some arranging so that the most people
could hear effectively. The Jamaica
Beach fire department once again helped out with lights and a trailer and a generator
and fire department vehicles strategically parked to muffle the generator
sound. At least one police officer (who
is also a Seasider) was on hand to help with traffic and parking. Another crew was preparing the kitchen for
the onslaught of breakfast goodies that began to arrive well before our 6:30
start time. A third crew prepared the
baskets with song booklets and gifts (we give a small token of remembrance
every year to the folks who come). Cailyn
had spent the night with us, so she was alternating between napping on pews (with
her recently finished quilt that she did all by herself) and roaming among the
workers, giving a hand to anyone who would let her. Wow.
We finally
got the service started, even as more and more people made their way to the
beach. Golf carts lined the beach edge,
protecting the crowd from the effects of the wind off the Gulf, and giving a
warning buffer when the tide started rolling in. Families lined the sand dune bunkers on the other
side, with babies playing on blankets and older kids enjoying the sand. We set up around fifty chairs from the
church, and those filled up quickly. Behind
them row after row of lawn chairs of all shapes and sizes started to form as
more and more people arrived. Some folks
decided they would stand. One man told
me he would alternate knees. We printed
400 handouts, and they were soon gone, as were the gifts. And still people came. One of our newer Seasiders took it upon
himself to attempt a head count, moving from section to section. He came up with a number that astonished all
of us: “754 people and three dogs.” Wow.
The service
flowed really well. There was a bit of a
glitch with the sound at one point. Seems
some moisture got into one of the power connection points. Jim scientifically fixed the problem by
unplugging and plugging back in. Hey, it
worked. The Praise Team led out with
assurance and the people followed their lead, many spontaneously standing for
every song. Several of the selections
(or maybe the Holy Spirit) apparently hit home with lots of the folks. I saw more than a few tears as well as hands
in the air in praise. It was great to
see several of our Seaside kids who went to camp with us in years past, as well
as some families we haven’t seen in quite a while. As always, my favorite part of the service
came at the very end, when we did the baptisms.
I knew about two of them. Two
young girls. They were best friends, and
have come to Seaside several times with one of their Moms. Just before the service began a lady who has
been coming to Seaside for quite some time asked if she could be baptized. She vaguely remembered a baptism as a small
child, but she wanted to make a statement about her clear adult choice to
follow Jesus. Also just before the service
began, a strapping young man I had never seen before walked up. He looked to be in his late teens or early
twenties, and he, too, said he wanted to be baptized. We talked about his salvation, and one of the
things he said will stick with me for a long time. “I’m about to enter the armed forces, and I want
to stand with Jesus before I go in.” It didn’t
stop there. As we entered the water and
began our walk out to get deep enough, I noticed over my shoulder that another
young man was following us as well. As I
completed what I thought would be the last of the baptisms, he stepped right
into position next to me and said, “I guess I’m next.” Again, we talked briefly about his salvation,
and then continued on. I found out later
that he was a young Dad with three little kids.
He had been waiting to be baptized at just that moment, because his wife’s
Dad had been baptized here, and he wanted to honor him.” Wow.
After
the service we invited everyone over to the church for breakfast. I’m pretty sure all 750 of them didn’t come,
but there were several hundred who did. There
were six tables filled with fruit of all kinds, breakfast casseroles, breakfast
burritos, donuts, cinnamon rolls, and even cookies. We even had bags of pancake mix and syrup ready
to go if we ran short. But, again, there
was more than enough food. Chris and I
even took a dozen donuts over to one of the fire stations on our way home. I was able to walk around and talk to people
while they ate. I was introduced to one
grandmotherly lady by her son. Seems her
husband had just died about a week before, and this was her first outing since
then. She was incredibly animated as she
assured me that she would be back every Easter for “many years to come.” Wow.
After
breakfast came the kids’ Easter egg hunt.
We had around three hundred eggs strewn about the playground field. Somewhere around twenty kids lined up for the
big event, and all of them went away with plenty of candy and stickers. This year we included two of those oversized golden
eggs among the batch. The winners
received a brand new children’s Bible. As
it turned out, one of the visitor kids found a smaller egg that happened to be
painted … you guessed it … gold. We made
arrangements for all three winners to get a Bible. Then later Chris was talking to one of the Moms
who had three very little ones. Chris
paid attention to the Holy Spirit, and gave her a preschooler Bible that we had. The Mom was very excited to get it, and
immediately began thumbing through it.
And who did that Mom turn out to be?
The wife of the last guy who got baptized. Wow.
The clean-up/reset
crew (which consisted of many of the same folks who had been there since 4:30)
kicked into high gear. They swept and
carried chairs back up to the retreat center and took out trash and washed
dishes and set up the sound system and prepared the computer program. And then they shifted gears and started
welcoming the folks who were arriving for the communion service. The vast majority of these folks had not been
to the beach service, and many indicated that they regretted the decision. As more and more people kept arriving, Chris
went back into the kitchen and prepared some more communion cups just in
case. We ended up with a final count of
82 folks at this service. The Praise
Team bounced back from their incredible work at sunrise, and did an equally
impressive job of leading worship. This “traditional
Easter crowd” is usually a hard one to crack, but for some reason this year
they jumped right in. The singing went
well, and they even responded to the non-rhetorical questions in the teaching
and in the directed prayer time. Wow.
Let
me close with some of the comments I heard or that were related to me.
“It
was like a Billy Graham crusade.”
“You
told us … and I believed you … but you just couldn’t do it justice.”
And one
that was left on the Seaside FaceBook page:
“It
was so wonderful to attend the Easter Sunrise Service with over 700 other
people. Absolutely beautiful. Then, the pastor invited us all to the church
for breakfast and an egg hunt. My girls
were thrilled!! Delightful people, a well balanced meal and tons of eggs for
everyone. It was a soul refreshing time
for our family. Thank you Seaside for
opening up to strangers and making us feel loved.”
Matthew
28:5-7 says, “The angel said to the
women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was
crucified. He is not here; he has risen,
just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: “He
has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will
see him.” Now I have told you.’”
Father,
thank you for each of the ones who helped in so many ways yesterday. Thank you for all the ones who came to the services. Bless them all as you draw them closer to
yourself. Amen.
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