Local church makes preparations for upcoming Easter Sunday

In the Christian church, Easter Sunday is the most important holiday of the year, and celebrates the day that the Lord Jesus Christ rose again after being crucified on Good Friday.

“We worship and serve the risen Savior, Jesus Christ, who stands ready to grant new spiritual life to those who come to him in faith based on the facts of His resurrection,” senior pastor Marty Baker at Burke Community Church said in a statement regarding Burke Community Church and Easter Sunday.

Months of unseen preparation go into making sure a single service is perfected with the goal of the right message being delivered to the congregation.

“Before I do a series, like the book of Daniel, I lay out its thematic/literary structure, meaning I isolate how all of the various chapters and paragraphs hang together to support the overall thesis,” Baker said. “I will typically do this step a few months before I actually preach/teach the book in question. To prepare for a stand-alone sermon, like Easter, I will work on isolating the Biblical text and topic a few months before the actual delivery in sermonic form. My overall goal is to demonstrate that it is logical and reasonable to believe in the historical resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. It is the most important event in human history and provides the only means whereby we, as sinners, can secure divine forgiveness, spiritual transformation, and eternal life.”

As well as a sermon, worship and decor around the church are changed to provide a welcoming environment that symbolizes the Easter resurrection.

“Since we know we will usually have between 300 to 400 new people with us for our five services, we will add more musical variety, like having a large choir,” Baker said. “We have [a] more focused prayer for those who will attend. Beautiful lilies adorn the stage to remind us of divine purity and resurrection. Appropriate videos and graphics are fine-tuned. We make sure the grounds (inside and out) are truly top notch, and we check and cross-check to verify that everything/everyone is in place with our shuttle service located at the Park N Ride lot on Old Keene Mill.”

Outside of the Church’s staff, students are also looking forward to Easter Sunday. Sophomore Tyler Deering and junior Maddy Tippet both currently attend Burke Community Church and recognize the importance of the upcoming holiday.

“Unlike other holidays, Easter represents the fundamentals of the Christian faith,” Deering said. “…It’s a great time to reflect on my faith.”

Tippet agrees with Deering and said that Easter is unique in comparison to other Christian holidays.

“The reason for Easter makes it unique,” Tippet said. “Although people try to commercialize it, like Christmas, it still means a lot to Christians. It’s a time to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. And it’s a time to remember His great power and how He conquered the grave.”

Burke Community Church, BCC, is a non-denominational Christian church located off of Old Keene Mill Road in Burke. In addition to a sunrise service at Burke Lake beginning at 6:45 a.m., Burke Community will have four services on Easter at 8:15 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. More information can be found on their website, www.burkecommunity.com.