Berea Update for April 11, 2025
Easter week is here! What a wonderful week it is as we consider all that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has done, and continues to do, for each of us. There are a lot of events planned for this week at the church. Each serves a distinct purpose in drawing us to reflect on Christ, and His death, burial, and resurrection. I would encourage you to participate in as many events as possible to focus your hearts and minds on the things above. Here is a schedule of events for the week:
On Sunday, an Easter week devotional will be made available to each family to take and use throughout the week. These devotions follow Jesus through the events leading up to the cross and empty tomb, and each day is connected to events happening at the church. For each day, there are passages to read, activities to do, and song suggestions to listen to. A digital version of the devotion is available further down in the blog, if you'd rather that. The devotions start on Palm Sunday and go through Easter.
Wednesday, April 16- "Day of Prayer" We will be having a prayer service in the Resurrection Garden at 6:30 PM. We'll focus on the seven different types of prayer as a part of this event. There is no AWANA that night due to Easter week. We are also encouraging the church family to begin a day long fast that evening at 6:30 PM. During the fast, we encourage you to pray, and spend time in God's Word.
Thursday, April 17- Communion Service 6:30 PM in the Family Life Center. We will break our fast together that evening by partaking in the Lord's Supper in the Family Life Center.
Friday, April 18- Good Friday Service 6:30 PM at the crosses near Resurrection Garden. Each of our pastors/elders will be sharing a brief message about the various characters in the crucifixion account. You are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, but chairs will be provided.
Sunday, April 20- Sunrise Service 7:00 AM at Resurrection Garden; 8:00 AM Breakfast; 10:00 AM Regular Worship Service (No Sunday School)
**We have cards prepared with all of these events listed for you to take with you this Sunday, if you'd like. Additionally, we have cards made up that you can use to invite family and friends to attend Good Friday or Easter Sunday. Look for those at the Welcome Center.
Other Upcoming Events
1. This Sunday, as we celebrate Palm Sunday, I will be preaching a message from the promises of God series called "More Than Conquerors: The Promise of Victory." Don't forget, the youth group will once again be doing a bake sale this Sunday to raise funds for their upcoming mission trip to Cleveland. The tables will be set up in the Gathering Area and donations will be accepted for a variety of baked goods, including: cinnamon rolls, cookies, cupcakes, and Oreo truffles. There are no pre-orders. Items will be first-come, first-served.
2. Tomorrow (Saturday) is important workday beginning at 9:00 AM. We have a LOT of tasks to complete to prepare the building for Easter, and make sure everything looks great outside as well. There are jobs for all ages! Tomorrow we'll be moving a lot of mulch outside, so if you have wheelbarrows or buckets, you are encouraged to bring them along! If you'd prefer to work indoors, we have a lot of cleaning tasks to do. You are encouraged to bring cleaning gloves, buckets, and rags.
3. This summer, we are planning on offering something new and different for kids ages 7-13. Rather than doing a sports camp, we are planning to do a four day Adventure Camp (like VBS) from June 9-12 and we need your help! If all of the plans come together, we plan to have kids outdoors learning a variety of skills from fishing, to canoeing, to how to tie knots, and set up camp sites. There are a lot of other fun activities planned as well! If you are interested in helping in ANY capacity—and that includes helping with outdoor tasks, teaching how to do different outdoor activities, or helping serve lunch each day, we’d like you to stay after church this Sunday, April 13 to have a very quick meeting in the Family Life Center to learn initial interest in helping. This will help us finalize different activities we’d like to do!
4. April is "soccer ball month" for our OCC collection and we would love to be able to include a soccer ball in 400 boy boxes this year! Rather than having you purchase the soccer balls, we are asking for donations to cover the cost ($6 per ball--includes pump). Throughout the month of April, you will find a soccer net in the Gathering Area with commitment tags hanging from it, where you can choose to sponsor one, three, five, or ten soccer balls. Donations can be given by check or cash in the offering (please mark it as "OCC Soccer Balls") by the end of April. Donations can also be given through Berea's online giving system.
Also, as mentioned last month, we are trying to get any small filler items you can find at great prices. We put together an Amazon Wish List to give ideas that you can view throughout April. To view that wish list, click here:
OCC Amazon Wishlist Items aren't limited to just that Wish List though! Anything small will work!
Finally, to help cover the shipping for our OCC boxes we are collecting change as we've done in the past. Containers are available at the Welcome Center in the foyer, and can be returned to the church office.
It is amazing to see how God is blessing the OCC ministry here at Berea through each of you who are involved. Thank you for all your support!!
Ways You Can Pray This Week
1. Pray for Pastor Miller and Jeannette as they will be traveling back from North Carolina on Saturday.
2. Continue to pray for those who do not know Christ. Easter season provides many opportunities to share the Gospel. Be praying for opportunities to reach those in your circle who need to hear the "Good News!" Pray for each of the activities planned this week!
***Please know that there are many individuals who need prayer this week due to health concerns and other events going on in their lives. Out of sensitivity to each individual's situation, these requests may not appear in this weekly blog. We have a "Prayer Team" at the church who receives more detailed information, and commits to praying for individuals in our church family.
This Week's Devotions
As mentioned above, a week-long devotion has been created for you to walk through the Easter week. I would love for each of you to commit to working through this during the week, all for the glory of God!
Hard copies will be available for each family on Sunday.
Kids (and Kids At Heart) Korner
I am encouraging families to do the activities provided in the Easter Week Devotional this week!
Let us know if there is something we can pray for you about! Have a good week! See you Sunday!
With Hope,
Mark