Easter Eggstravaganza

Coming up on Saturday, March 27th, I will be co-leading our church's annual Easter Eggstravaganza at the Coffman YMCA in Springboro, Ohio. This is my third year of doing this massive egg hunt, and it is always well worth the effort! Last year we had somewhere around 1,000 people attend, half of which were children participating in the activities. This year we expect just as big of a crowd. It's a great way for us to share God's love with the community through providing a FREE and fun family event. Oftentimes, we'll see families come to Southwest Church to check us out after the event is over. It is an awesome experience!

Most people do not realize all the details that go into making this event happen. The Eggstravaganza is always on a Saturday one week before Easter, which means we start prepping the plastic eggs mid-January. Yep, that's right. When there are inches and sometimes feet of snow on the ground, we are pulling the eggs out from the shed, scraping off last year's tape, throwing away broken eggs pieces and year-old candy, and sorting thousands of eggs! After we prep the eggs, then we have "egg stuffing parties" in which people from the church help fill the plastic eggs with pre-wrapped candy and tape them shut so the eggs don't bust open when we lay them out in the field. All those hours of work boil down to 45 minutes of activities and, maybe, 5 minutes of scrambling for eggs. Many hours of work for just a few minutes of fun.

Who would be crazy enough to do that year after year? Well, apparently I am...and the person who started this event before me...and the people who faithfully volunteer each year. See, for us it's more than just an egg hunt. It's an invitation to those who might have a bad taste in their mouth in regards to church. Because maybe, just maybe, through this event they might see that we, as Christians, genuinely care about them, and we're really not as scary as they may have thought.

Last year at one of our "egg stuffing parties" a volunteer, who is both a mom and serves in the church, asked why we have an egg hunt if it is a pagan tradition, not a Christian tradition. She didn't expect a response; she was just bringing it up in conversation. However, I thought about her question and my response because it's important for us to know the purpose behind what we do as a church. And if we're not sure why we do things, we should, I believe, get rid of it. So, after thinking about it for a few minutes, I remembered a Bible passage written by the apostle Paul to the church in Corinth. Here is what he said:

"Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings." --1 Corinthians 9:19-23, NLT (bold and italics mine)

Our annual egg hunt is not just an event we plan every year so people can simply have fun. We purposely host the Easter Eggstravaganza each year because we want to find a common ground with the people in the community so that we might open doors for opportunities to share the message of Jesus with them. It's plain and simple. We are not hiding anything. And because of this singular purpose, we will continue to do the Eggstravaganza each year unless the Lord directs us elsewhere.