Since the day we arrived back at Crossroads in 1999, we have attempted to use the draw of Easter weekend to reach as many as we can with the gospel. As I often remind our church, people will come to church on Easter when they won't come any other time of the year, so we pull out all the stops and attempt to monopolize on this golden opportunity.
Ten years ago we did a production called "Proof." When deciding what to do with Easter this year, I suggested we revisit that idea and take it up a notch. Our media team ran with it and produced a short film that sets a new watermark for our church. It came with an extremely well-written screen play by Grant Robin and featured some remarkable local acting talent from the Lafayette, Baton Rouge and New Orleans market. The film follows the story of a young boy growing up in the shadow of an intellectual giant who frequently reminds him of his inferior cognizant capabilities - especially when it comes to the issue of faith.
The story-line goes back and forth between scenes of a young Alex, struggling with daddy issues that threaten to leave him embittered to the now grown Alex who has joined a debate team at his local university only to find himself challenged by familiar resistance to his faith in Christ. Through the classroom debates we are presented with historic evidence of the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth and the more significant proof of changed and transformed lives. The film segued into what we dubbed 'film strip testimonies' as one-by-one, members of Crossroads came out to present enlarged photos that represented their former lives before Christ and who they are today by the grace of God.
All of this, combined with incredible music and strong, fun-filled ministry for kids drew over 4,500 in attendance this year with a remarkable 80 decisions for Christ! Each Easter, our church distributes thousands of Easter Invites that help us attract the unchurched to our services so we can introduce them to God's love and grace. This kind of intentionality is PROOF that ours is a church with Kingdom priorities! I'm so thankful to pastor a group of people who want to see people reached with the gospel!
