This weekend was truly amazing. Trust me, I know that Easter is every church’s Super Bowl and I also know that your attendance is usually about half of that the following week, but it still exceeded every expectation I had.

Eggapalooza 2011
I want to thank the almost 100 volunteers that sacrificed so much time Saturday (and many of them Friday) for our Egg Hunt. It was still a downpour an hour before we started, but I was impressed with the crowd that came out (a few hundred people) and almost every person there that I talked to said there kids loved it! I honestly believe we were prepared to handle thousands this year. Let me just thank a few groups:

1. The South Point Volunteer Fire Department. You guys did a great job and we can’t wait to partner with you again next year for the biggest egg hunt in the history of the Midwest. Did somebody say “Easter Bunny in a helicopter?”
2. Team Leaders. You guys did a great job. Parking seemed to be really smooth while several of those attractive greeters did their thing. Registration was good and organized while moving people through quickly. Security was great. I thought that would be our biggest problem, but we safely and securely checked kids back faster than I could have imagined. The inflatables also helped keep things running smoothly. The prize redemption area in the concession stand was perfect. I also thought it was cool to have most volunteers come back to the school to eat and relax. The food looked awesome.
3. Volunteers. I looked out from the press box once and it was literally a sea of orange shirts everywhere. You guys are what makes C3 the greatest group of people in the world (even if I am a little biased). Be ready though, because we are hoping next year is 30,000 eggs, a helicopter and even more bigger prizes!
4. Donations. To so many of you that donated Nintendo DSes, bikes, baskets, etc., you made Eggapalooza legendary. I have already heard a story from one boy that loves his new bike and how excited the family that won the Nintendo Wii was. Thanks for your generosity.

Easter at C3 2011
We don’t talk much about numbers at C3. Not because I don’t think they’re important, they are! Every number represents one life that can be changed by the Gospel. I just don’t feel like a weekly attendance update is that important in the grand scheme of things, but I do like to focus on how many gave their lives to Christ (Salvation) and how many first time guest we had (Evangelism) along with how many people are reading Cross Training (the daily devotional at C3) and serving or in small groups, etc. (Discipleship). However, I asked the church to pray that we would have 300 people in attendance this Easter. We have never broken the 300 barrier before and I figured that would require about 75% of our average weekly attenders to invite at least one person.
I know that seating was extremely chaotic. Trust me, when you look out 5 minutes before we are supposed to start and we are out of chairs with about 50+ people standing in the back, you start to freak out a little. However, our volunteers stepped up with chairs and moving people into the hallway and parking people as quickly as possible. When it was all said and done, we had almost 450 total in attendance with over 100 kids birth through 12 in attendance. We had 39 first time guest while guessing that there was probably another 20 or more that didn’t fill out a card. Most important, we had four people raise their hands to receive Jesus as Savior during the invitation. That TRULY NEVER GETS OLD and reminds me of exactly why we do what we do every single week.
This picture isn’t the best quality, but it’s the only one I have so far.

Here are a few highlights:
- The band was bringing their A game. Those guys put in a ton of practice the last two weeks and it really showed. If you get a chance, thank them for the sacrifice they make each and every week.

- I thought the overall flow was a good as it’s ever been. Jimmy put in a ton of work to make sure things went off smoothly and it really helped during the worship time and before the message. I also appreciate Erron Archer and Brian Hayton learning the lights in 10 minutes and then running them Sunday.

- Rob Porter and Dan Curd have put in about 80 hours or more for the stage, projectors, lights, etc. and it made a huge difference. I appreciate both of those guys working 10-12 hour days and helping us out in the evening for several hours (several nights).

- Jeff and Bob Marks and Company did an amazing job with parking. That is one job I would not have taken yesterday for a million bucks, but they had it streamlined (and looked pretty awesome in those orange vests).

- To everyone that brought the 25,000 doughnuts required, thanks for having all of that setup and ready to go. It makes a huge difference for hospitality.

- Johnda, Dustee, Brad Carpenter and Michelle West (who filled in). Thanks for handling so many kids and sacrificing not being in the worship area so others could hear the message. You guys did an amazing job with the kids. I want to give a special thank you to Angel Perkins who had her mother back for the first time along with several other family members and stayed to help with the nursery. We really appreciate you doing that for C3 (more than you know).

- Pallbearers. If you missed it, I rode out in a casket for the opener. I thought I’d try to lighten the mood for a message that can be kind of dark or depressing (except for the Good News of the Gospel). Anyways, I’ve had several people tell me we needed more pallbearers because they looked like they were struggling. I tried to lose some weight for you guys!

- I had several great friends show up for the first time and I was truly honored they came. To everyone else who invited someone or had a friend or family member show up, thank you!
To all guest, we were truly honored to have each and every one of you yesterday.

I’d also like to add that we’d love to have you return anytime (or even better next week), but if C3 wasn’t for you, please don’t hesitate to let us know. We will do anything we can to help you get plugged into another church that you feel can help you learn and grow more as a follower of Jesus. I promise we won’t be offended or hurt. We truly believe that all the churches in the Tri-State are on the same team anyways. You can email staff@aroundc3.com and let us know if you need help.

I can’t wait for what’s to come!