De one with Easter Day

Hallelujah

In courtesy of "Go out and Play"

It's unclear why this excitement and glee whenever I greet "Happy Easter Day" to others! Perhaps its the connotation from "Happy" or exuberant images of chocolate easter-eggs and bunny rabbits that swirled in my mind.

I accepted my ex-colleague's invitation to her special easter service held by her church which recently relocated to their new-bought property at Suntec City. Was bewildered by the large seating capacity. The stage was longer (when compared to the previous)... way much longer with gigantic LED screens that laid across the entire length of the stage. Perhaps its a special service, perhaps a combined service, you should have seen the crowd, it's almost equivalent to a densely filled national stadium. No kidding.

In courtesy of Ed Unloaded

The people who introduced themselves (mostly cell-group members) were even more friendly and hospitable than expected. It puts me to shame. I guess, being in church really develop one's character and self-confidence, in turn, enables you to carry yourself well and expand your social life. What's more, it's a blessing to be involved as part of a large "family". A family that gathers every week to share a similar course. Charming. Look around, admirable people dress well, speak well and hold their poise well.

If you're to ask, I love the distinct service, particularly the play "Centurion" exclusively put up by the drama ministry. Really awesome. The plots intertwined stories of different timelines. Marcus who was betrayed by his comrade Titus, sabotaged and was left to die in the battlefield. The battled and seriously wounded Marcus was kept prison-of-war for 3 years before escaping and was discovered and saved by Jesus Christ. Upon recovery, Marcus sort to get back to his then-fiancee Aurelia who was convinced her lover was dead and married by the treacherous Titus. Devastated to learn of Titus' betrayal, Marcus sought revenge on Titus. The Emperor discovers this and puppet-ted Marcus to prosecute Jesus in exchange for his parol of his crime. Jesus was crucifixed and resurrected Devastated from being used by the Emperor, losing Aurelia and his child (who were sent away by Titus) and overwhelmed with remorse for turning his back on his savior, the berserk-ed Marcus decides to take his own life. Fortunately, Jesus prevented Marcus and healed him and reunited him with Aurelia and their child. Touching story filled with love I must say. Albeit the creative mix, I think the messages that the drama was bring across were:

1) do not unto others what others have hurt you
2) understand the grace of Jesus who died to purge our sins
3) the underlying story behind Easter Day

In courtesy of CityWideHarvestChurch.org

All in all, I felt really glad. It's not just the skit, or that they had performed my favourite upbeat Christian song "He's Alive", I guess, its the joy of being somewhere, doing something that bears meaning and appropriate for the occasion. I mean, what's more fulfilling to attend service on Easter holidays?! Haha!