Religious leaders reflect on keeping the Easter message alive

The Easter story doesn’t change from year to year. Jesus was crucified on Good Friday. On the third day, he rose from the dead, and Resurrection Sunday is celebrated throughout Christian churches.

But how do pastors, fathers, reverends and others who speak to the churches’ congregations, often in several services, refresh the message of Easter Sunday every year?

For some area pastors, it’s the world around them that shapes the way they present the Easter message.

Sam Rainer, lead pastor at West Bradenton Baptist Church, said he is constantly working to keep the message fresh for new generations.

“When telling the resurrection story, you need to include stories about life, stories about change in your own church,” Rainer said. “You always have people that are being transformed into this new creature that is in Christ, so you need to tell those stories and need to share how those in your church are being positively affected by Jesus.”

Rainer said history can also be a useful tool, noting that “not a lot” of people know church or biblical history.

H. Clark Edwards, senior minister at First United Methodist Church of Bradenton, echoed Rainer’s sentiments that the Easter sermon is all about connecting with the congregation but also looking to bring them something positive.

“My message is about trying to bring hope to the world and to people,” Edwards said.

Edwards also wants to show his congregation that the story of Easter is “as valid today as it was 2,000 years ago” and how it brings hope to daily life. But when it comes to writing his sermons, he draws from his 35 years of experience in the ministry.

“As you journey through Lenten season, that experience of the journey during Lent helps you and informs you and you try to look around in the world and see what’s going on. How does the story speak to today’s concerns in our world,” Edwards said.

But one area pastor has found another way to tell the Easter story every year.

“Easter is tough. Everyone knows the end of the story,” said J. Phillip Hamm, senior pastor at the First Baptist Church of Palmetto. “The attention is gone. You know how it’s going to end.”

But Hamm believes that the essence of preaching is good storytelling. So he prays for guidance on his sermon and thinks about what message the people in the church need to hear.

“What I’ve been doing is, I haven’t been preaching the Easter story. Not directly, anyway. I’ve preached about Zacchaeus, the Woman at the Well ... people Jesus encountered,” Hamm said. “Some people appreciate it, some people don’t. But at least it eliminates the concept of, ‘This is not a rerun.’ ”

But one of the most important aspects of Easter Sunday, Rainer said, is celebrating.

“I have three children, and do their birthdays or the stories of the day they were born ever wear out? No. In the same way you get excited about your child’s birthday, you should get excited (about Easter),” Rainer said. “The way it doesn’t get old is they do celebrate those things.”

This story was originally published April 13, 2017 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Religious leaders reflect on keeping the Easter message alive."