Do you know what an idiom is? It’s a phrase or
expression that has a meaning different from the
literal meaning. Examples: To kick the bucket; It
cost an arm and a leg; It’s a piece of cake; Hit the
books; Let the cat out of the bag; Can’t judge a
book by the cover; Cat got your tongue; A bird in
the hand is worth two in the bush; Between a rock
and a hard place; Bit off more than I can chew; and
finally, To give someone a cold shoulder. And my
favorite, you scratch my back and I scratch yours.
When we say that, we’re not actually talking about
scratching backs, are we?
Most of us understand—including urban people who
never lived on a farm—the old saying, "Don't put all
your eggs in one basket." Usually, this idiom is
used in regards to money: If you're going to invest,
my advice would be, don't put all your eggs in one
basket. Usually, that is good advice.
Christians, however, do put all our eggs in one
basket—an Easter basket. If Christ DID NOT rise from
the dead, then all that is Christianity is lost. If
He DID rise from the dead, then all that is
Christianity is true and valid.
Easter is still the most attended Sunday of the year
for churches. Why is this so? Believe it or not, the
vast majority of Americans believe that Jesus died
on the cross and rose on the third day: Sun-day. I
rather doubt that is why these people
attend on Easter.
If the truth be known, most are attending because of
tradition. You see, we Americans are heavy in
tradition. We do things because,”that’s the way it’s
always been done.” So I guess you could say some
attend as a sort of Gospel insurance renewal. “Oops,
our policy is running out at midnight Saturday. We
better go to church on Easter.”
But since this is our best opportunity to win some
of these people, we’re going all out this year
casting one of the biggest nets into our community I
can ever remember. We’re putting all our eggs in one
basket. How?
First, we’re going BIG this year with two services
at the LCU chapel (8:30 and 10:30 a.m.). We’re
going to make sure there is enough room for everyone
and anyone to attend. Need to leave for grandma’s
house early? No problem: come to our early service.
Want to sleep in on Easter? No problem: come to our
later service. We want to meet your need for a
service time.
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Second, we’re doing a mass mailing of an attractive
Easter invitation that will go to 7,500 homes in and
around Lincoln. It could be a great conversation
starter between you and your neighbors: “Hey, I go
that church,” as they hold our invitation in their
hand.
Third, we are asking our people to hand out plastic
Easter eggs with invitations in them to their
friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, and such. We
want you to go out and “egg” someone. Everything you
will need for building an attractive egg invitation
will be at one of the egg stations in our facility.
Fourth, since our 2016 Easter theme is “We’re
Put-ting All Our Eggs in One Basket,” the Easter
sermon will also have the same title because we have
placed our hope in the resurrection of Jesus (I
Corinthians 15). It seems like the perfect way to
finish our series on I Corinthians.
As you can see, we’re going all out this Easter.
Why? Because we want to see more people saved. There
are around 14,000 people in Lincoln. There are only
around 3,500 people in church on any given Sunday.
That leaves over 10,000 people we can reach out to
and save. It’s time to “egg” someone. It’s time to
share why we put all our eggs in one basket.
[Ron Otto, Preaching minister of Lincoln
Christian Church in Lincoln] |
