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Any Sunday, including Easter, is big at Willow Creek.  But the times I’ve attended the nation’s third largest church, I always find that while the production value of worship service is high, the things they are doing can be practical for a church of any size.  It’s true.  I honestly believe that.  And this Easter was no different.

Willow told a great story from beginning to end and you can, too.  For me, the brilliance of the Easter service at Willow was the way a story was consistently told, with emotional highs and lows—using all sorts of elements from beginning to end.  There were moments in the service where it became clear to me just how completely this consistent story flowed though the service—even down to the simplest detail.

The theme throughout the service was time.  The stage set was comprised of all sorts of clocks and gears.  And like many Easter services around the world, the music kicked off with lots of joy and praise.  It was the time to celebrate the resurrection.  But even in times of joy, for some of us there are still moments of hurt.  The third song into the service was more soulful.  It felt like there was some hurt.  And after a verse and chorus, there would be a testimonial from someone in the church.  One woman talked about the moment she picked up the phone to lean her husband was in the hospital after suffering a brain aneurism—something that often takes a life or leaves someone severely damaged.  While there was sorrow in her re-telling of the incident, she related how her family used Facebook and email to schedule times for friends and family to pray for her husband’s healing.  Her testimonial ended with her introducing her husband who came up on stage nearly completely healed.  The same soulful song continued with a little more praise in it.

Another testimonial was given from an attender who’d been attested for fraud and embezzlement.  A terrible economy tempted him to make unethical financial decisions that ruined his business and landed him in jail.  It’s in his cell where he first read the bible cover-to-cover and committed his life to Christ.  And while he’d pleaded guilty to the charges against him and will most likely end up in jail again, he says at this time he’s never felt freer.  Again, music that started with soulful pain amped up to full-out praise.

Then the service transitioned into a video showing people who were getting bad news that changed their lives in an instant.  An unexpected phone call with bad news or watching a natural disaster unfold.  As the voice over in the video started out saying, “Perhaps it is true that in just one instant everything can break apart.”  The video was taking the theme of time into the next stage of single moments of change.

Here's the video:

Bill Hybels started his sermon with the idea of how things can change as quickly as you can snap your fingers.  Throughout his message, there was the theme that in a moment, life can change for better or for worse.  And there are moments where can make a decision to change things in our own lives, just like Jesus did in his leading up to his crucifixion and resurrection. 

The sermon ended with the continuation of the video, where people who were in crisis started making the decision to live a fuller life.  One woman ran with color streaks, almost like flames, trailing behind her.  Another man who’d be free falling throughout the video, landed in pile of colorful confetti.  Not only was the video powerful, but lots of things started to come clear to me. 

At first, I had not really understood the graphics for the Easter service.  As you can see from the picture above, it was fairly colorful, but non-descript.  I didn’t think much of it until the moment I saw the man fall into the colorful confetti.  The graphics matched that pinnacle moment.  Throughout the pre-service announcement slides on the screens, there were these animated streaks and splotches of various colors.  It looked cool, but didn’t say much to me at the time—until I realized those steaks of color were the same ones trailing the woman running  though the video.  The planning and storytelling of this service became clearer and clearer.

The service ended with a challenge from Hybels.  A screen in the back of the stage lit up with a digital clock giving the current time – 10:20.   And for the next ten minutes, Hybels made an argument for why now might be the exact time for you to have a pivotal moment of change in your life.  (You can fast forward to the end of this video to hear him.)  He would say things like maybe your marriage is in trouble.  It’s 10:23.  How about you say this is the moment to try to make it work.  If you’re not a believer, maybe now—10:27 on resurrection Sunday—is the time to decide to give your life to Christ.  It was more than an alter call, but a challenge to everyone in the sanctuary to find an aspect of their life where there needed to be a change. This, Hybels preached, could be the moment to make that change.

I know this is a longer-than-normal post.  And I know I’m not giving this Easter service justice in my explanation.  But I hope you can see the point I’m trying to make.  Every aspect of this Easter experience—from the music, to the graphics, to the videos, to the message—was thought out.  There was a consistent story being told.  It developed and became more refined as the service moved forward.  There were highs, where the music matched the mood and there were lows where the music matched, too.  The theme of time and moments of change showed up everywhere.   The graphics make sense and tied into the experience.  A rich story was being told.

That’s my challenge to you.  Be a thoughtful story teller.  Most of our churches don’t have the financial resources of Willow Creek, but it’s no excuse.  Good stories can be told on a shoe-string budget.  You can use the gifts of people in your church to create a meaningful experience.  We see it all the time in today’s culture.  A good story can trump a glitzy production that’s lacking storytelling.  Viral videos are a prime example.  Use the creativeness God has given your church to tell thoughtful stories that let His glory shine through.  Weave a story that leaves an impact on your congregation instead of just going through the motions.

(Juice on the Loose is a feature where we visit a church and share what we learn from the communication stuff they’re doing.  To read other posts in the series, click here.)