“Welcome to McDonald’s, can I help you?” When you hear those words, does it take you back to being a kid? Remember standing in line and being able to ask for whatever it was that you wanted, and people would hustle and bustle around getting it for you? You were The Customer and their job was to see to your satisfaction. They were there for YOU.

In a sad way, Christianity has become like this. “Welcome to Heaven, can I help you?” is what we think God is saying to us, but it should be the other way around. We should be asking God what he wants from us? We should be hustling and bustling to meet his needs. So, what is the central desire God has for his people?

An answer to this is found in the book of Micah. God shares his heart with humanity as to how they can “help” him.

Micah 6:8 (The Message)

But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously—take God seriously.

When asked what God’s heart for humanity is, he says to treat our neighbors well, be compassionate to others and take him seriously. This should be the pursuit of anyone after God’s heart. This verse shows that our relationship with God has everything to do with our relationship with others. We are his tools to reach the world. The problem is that we “take ourselves too seriously”, and God’s desire not seriously enough. However, by focusing on God’s heart instead of our own desires, we have the opportunity to encounter Jesus’ resurrection in an all new manner.

Today is the first day of a month-long encounter with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are calling it Resurrection Encounter. Our first week is focused on preparing ourselves to be used by God this Easter season. As we PREPARE for Easter it is important to ask what God’s desire is for us as followers of his son. We are taking this first week to prepare our hearts for the desire of God’s heart: to share him with others. It is our hope that this all-church missional experience will be used to 1) deepen our understanding of the resurrection and 2) create in us a daily missional mindset. We can use this four-week experience as an opportunity to grow in our faith, and in our appreciation of what God has done for us.

KEY QUESTION: What do you think God’s desire for you is this Easter season?