The time to prepare for Easter is now

By Ted Traylor

Easter comes quickly this year: April 1, 2018. This is one of the five mountain-peak Sundays for a local church. Church leaders need to capture these days and make preparation for them. This year, the date helps us. Many are going to joke about Easter being on April Fool’s Day, but a local congregation can use that for good. Here are a few things I am doing at Olive Baptist Church as Easter approaches.

1. I have invited local pastors for a free lunch and prayerful time of preparation. We are doing that Monday, March 26, at our church. This will be a time to encourage each other. Sometimes Easter can overwhelm the pastor. My goal is to be a source of refreshment to these men before the big day.

2. Our tradition is to have a Lord’s Supper service on Good Friday evening. This helps prepare the church for Easter morning.

3. My goal is to make Easter a celebration of the most important day on the church calendar. Music, testimonies, baptisms, and Bible preaching are part of the day.

4. Make Easter a day to confess Jesus as Lord. However you give an invitation, give one this day. Then be ready to follow up.

He is risen!


Published May 30, 2018

Ted Traylor

Since 1990 Dr. Ted Traylor is the pastor of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. His weekly radio and television ministry, At the Heart of Things, reaches thousands of homes along the Gulf Coast and through weekly podcasts and streaming. Dr. Traylor’s bold and practical preaching brings people to a fresh understanding of God’s Word and challenges them to become bondservants for Christ. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Religion from Samford University in 1997 and a Master of Divinity (1981) and Doctor of Ministry (1986) degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition to serving as First Vice-President of the Southern Baptist Convention in 2000 and President of the Florida Baptist Convention in 1995, Dr. Traylor was President of the Southern Baptist Convention’s 2004 Pastors’ Conference, 2010 Pensacola Bay Baptist Association moderator, and was part of the 2010 Great Commission Resurgence Task force team. Currently Dr. Traylor is proud to serve on the Fellowship of Christian Athletes board for the University of Alabama (Roll Tide!).