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A crowd gathers at Jimmie Cannon Theater for the Performing Arts for the Easter service held Sunday morning. (April 8, 2012) |
Esteban Hernandez, 19, grew up in a Catholic family, but he said that he didn’t really felt a connection.
Three years ago friends invited him to go with them to a service at the Christ Community Church and since that moment he said he felt changed.
“It was eye-opening,” Hernandez said. “The message was awesome.”
Hernandez, like many Christians around the world, celebrated the true meaning of Easter by attending a service.
On Easter, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from death. Pastor Walter Colace, who officiated the service at Jimmie Cannon Theater for the Performing Arts, said that the resurrection of Jesus is the biggest difference between Christianity and all other religions.
“It is the cornerstone of the Christian faith,” Colace said.
The Jimmie Cannon Theater for the Performing Arts was almost at capacity. Colace estimated that approximately 900 people were inside the theater. He said that Easter Sunday and Mother’s Day are the days of the year when most people come to church.
The church also had a place for parents to leave their children while they were at the service, just like they do every Sunday. They called it “Discipleland.” They had Bible study and worship games for the children. Everything was based on Christian teachings.
“Our goal is to teach children to spend the rest of their lives following Jesus,” Associate Pastor Chris Nunn said.
All children received a plastic egg with colored jelly beans inside. Each egg contained black, red, white, green and gold jelly beans, which represented the sin in people’s hearts, the blood of Christ, the need to grow in Christ and the streets of gold that await people in heaven, respectively.
Imperial resident Mechelle Malane said that Easter is a day for Christians to get together to thank God for dying for them.
“In our culture, there is a lot of people that don’t recognize the spiritual side of the holiday,” Malane said.
She also said that the church is open to anyone who wants to come and see what they are all about.
At the end of the ceremony, Colace invited people who had decided to accept Jesus into their lives to go to a room where they got some materials to help them on their journey.
Colace said that there are many people that go to church, but they miss the message. It is not enough to be baptized; accepting the message needs to be a personal decision and has to come from within, Colace said.
“It’s about repenting and believing,” Colace said.
Multimedia Producer Laura Gonzalez can be reached at 760-337-3440 or lgonzalez@ivpressonline.com
To comment on this story click here to be directed to Facebook.
Three years ago friends invited him to go with them to a service at the Christ Community Church and since that moment he said he felt changed.
“It was eye-opening,” Hernandez said. “The message was awesome.”
Hernandez, like many Christians around the world, celebrated the true meaning of Easter by attending a service.
On Easter, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from death. Pastor Walter Colace, who officiated the service at Jimmie Cannon Theater for the Performing Arts, said that the resurrection of Jesus is the biggest difference between Christianity and all other religions.
“It is the cornerstone of the Christian faith,” Colace said.
The Jimmie Cannon Theater for the Performing Arts was almost at capacity. Colace estimated that approximately 900 people were inside the theater. He said that Easter Sunday and Mother’s Day are the days of the year when most people come to church.
The church also had a place for parents to leave their children while they were at the service, just like they do every Sunday. They called it “Discipleland.” They had Bible study and worship games for the children. Everything was based on Christian teachings.
“Our goal is to teach children to spend the rest of their lives following Jesus,” Associate Pastor Chris Nunn said.
All children received a plastic egg with colored jelly beans inside. Each egg contained black, red, white, green and gold jelly beans, which represented the sin in people’s hearts, the blood of Christ, the need to grow in Christ and the streets of gold that await people in heaven, respectively.
Imperial resident Mechelle Malane said that Easter is a day for Christians to get together to thank God for dying for them.
“In our culture, there is a lot of people that don’t recognize the spiritual side of the holiday,” Malane said.
She also said that the church is open to anyone who wants to come and see what they are all about.
At the end of the ceremony, Colace invited people who had decided to accept Jesus into their lives to go to a room where they got some materials to help them on their journey.
Colace said that there are many people that go to church, but they miss the message. It is not enough to be baptized; accepting the message needs to be a personal decision and has to come from within, Colace said.
“It’s about repenting and believing,” Colace said.
Multimedia Producer Laura Gonzalez can be reached at 760-337-3440 or lgonzalez@ivpressonline.com
To comment on this story click here to be directed to Facebook.
