06 Apr Easter Story: Byron Center, Mich.

From J. Michael Caley (right), senior pastor of Banner of Christ Church (Byron Center, Mich.)

On Palm Sunday I gave a report on my recent trip to Israel, along with slides and stories. It ended with a pictorial walk of Christ during Holy Week. Over 100 people attended.

On Tuesday, we celebrated a full Passover Dinner with families participating by bringing some of the food. We had 90 in attendance as we celebrated Jesus’ declaration that he was the lamb of God come to sacrifice himself for our sin.

On Saturday, April 3, we held our third annual free egg hunt with over 4000 candy-filled eggs spread throughout our back lawn. Over 200 showed up to gather the eggs, pick up special prizes, and hear the message of Easter.

Many new families came the following day for Easter Sunday, with a strong attendance of 275 even though many families had left for the beginning of Spring Break vacations. Banner has seen an attendance average increase of over 23% for the past two years.