When I was a young pastor, I dreaded preaching Easter. It felt like people were only there to show off their new clothes. It seemed like I didn’t have the congregation’s full attention. And I saw people who I hadn’t seen since last Easter and would not see until the next.
At some point, I changed my mind about preaching holidays in general and Easter in particular. If you can’t beat them, join them, I concluded. It is a matter of the stewardship of opportunity. If Easter is the Sunday the most people will come to church and sinners will be open to hearing the gospel, we should give God our best as we prepare and preach our Easter sermons.
How should you approach preaching Easter?
Preach a sermon. For most of us, Easter Sunday will be our largest attendance of the year. With the potential to reach so many people, it is good and right to think that you should plan something big in the service. However, do not plan something big in the place of the regular ministry of the word. Faith does not come by seeing a play, production, or presentation. Faith comes by hearing the saving message of Christ (Romans 10:17). The call to preach the word in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2) includes the Easter season.
Preach a well-prepared message. Over the course of the year, there are weeks when time gets away from you and you go to the pulpit on Sunday morning not as prepared as you would like. Do whatever you can to make sure Holy Week is not one of those weeks. Start early – early in the week, and early in the day. Guard your sermon preparation time. Others can get other elements of your Easter service ready. No one can get your sermon ready for you. Stay in the seat until the hard work on your Easter sermon is done.
Preach Jesus. I know this seems to be the most obvious piece of advice ever. Yet it is still worth saying that your Easter sermon should be about Jesus. Of all the Sundays to talk about Jesus, make sure you preach the crucified and risen Savior on Easter. There are many faces around the cross and the empty tomb. You may be tempted to build your sermon around one of these actors in a supporting role. For God’s sake, don’t succumb to that temptation. Make sure the spotlight is clearly and brightly on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Preach the old, old story. When these church calendar holidays come along, we tend to think that we have to find something new or novel to say. Concluding that our people have heard it all before, we strive to be as creative as we can be to keep the congregation’s attention. I think this is a bad assumption. May know about the Passion Narrative. But they have not read or studied what the various Gospel writers were saying and doing. Preach the old, old story and watch people’s eyes light up with a sense of wonder.
Preach the gospel. The Bible is one great story of redeeming love that centers, continues, and climaxes with Jesus Christ. Adam and Eve’s sin created a problem that no one could solve – not Abraham, not Moses, not David. God sovereignly and graciously solved our sin problem through the blood and righteousness of Christ. Tells that story! Should you preach the gospel in every message? There is some debate about that question. Let there be no debate that preaching Easter should involve preaching the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Preach for a verdict. You very well may have people in your Easter service who have never been to church. More likely, you may have regular attenders or longtime members who walk in a false presumption of salvation. As you preach the way of salvation through faith in Christ, call for a verdict. It may be that person’s first time hearing the gospel. It may be that person’s last time hearing the gospel. Call on your hearers to repent of their sins and trust the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
Preach as a witness. Some preachers choose to play Jesus’ lawyer in the Easter sermon. Jesus has called us, however, to be his witnesses, not his attorneys. Faithful preaching is invariably apologetic. But don’t spend so much time defending Jesus that you fail to proclaim him. That’s how the apostles preached in the book of Acts. In hostile circles, they simply declared the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. As you preach Easter, be a bold, confident, and passionate witness for the crucified but risen Savior.
HBC2 RESOURCES:
- On Preaching by H.B. Charles Jr.
- On Pastoring by H.B. Charles Jr.
- On Worship by H.B. Charles Jr.
- It Happens After Prayer by H.B. Charles Jr.
- The Difference Jesus Makes by H.B. Charles Jr.
- Treasures of Truth by H.B. Charles Jr.
