Easter Prayer Vigil and Celebration

[Henry Wen]

Dear Pastors,

We're a week away from Easter and I wanted to update you on the plans for Easter on campus. 

Prayer Vigil: Similar to previous year we will again be having a 3-day, 3-night prayer vigil on the arts Quad. We've started an online sign up. (https://spreadsheets0.google.com/ccc?authkey=CPvUw4gN&hl=en&key=tXL5gi4-CLUyQUXSdctlGbw&hl=en&authkey=CPvUw4gN#gid=0). The prayer vigil will have  special emphasis on praying for world disasters and distresses like Japan and North Africa. 

Please also visit the Facebook events page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=141144152623062

I have also attached a copy of the event flyer. 

Sunday Morning will have 3 components:

1. Songs and Testimonies. We will start off the program performing several secular/non-explicitly-Christian songs that raise questions of life, purpose and suffering and interweave them with testimonies from two students and a professor. We will be performing 1. Where is the Love (Black Eye Peas) and 2. Bridge Over Troubled Waters (Simon & Garfunkel) and one more to be decided. We take our motivation from Paul in Acts 17 where he quotes the pagan poets of the Athenians to build common ground about the nature of God and humanity. Each song will be followed by a testimony. The song and testimony will have related themes. One student will be speaking about coming to Jesus out of a Muslim background, and the other will speak about how God saved and cleansed her from being abused by her gymnastic coach. Prof Fick will be speaking about a time in graduate school when he was suicidal. 

2. We have confirmed J.W. Betts as our speaker. He will be giving a message on the historical reality of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and how the Gospel is the source of true goodness in this world. 

3. The final portion will be a time of praise of worship. We have invited Measureless, the Christian A Capella, and Chosen Generation Gospel Choir to help us perform the songs and also to join us in worship. Larry Lin will be leading a band and backed up by a group called Fire and Fragrance (a YWAM DTS tranining/worship group). We will have both contemporary and classic hymns. 

Seating is prepared for 500. Staging will be set up in front of the Ezra Cornell Statue and the audience will be seated looking west. We will have a large group of ushers and helpers on site. A follow-up team will begin engaging people at the event and follow-up with them afterwards. We expect to start at 11:30am and end everything by 1pm. We will have light refreshments afterwards and encourage Christians to go out to lunch with their friends. We are praying for more than 500 people. Please pray with us for a large turn out of our non-Christian friends. Please also pray with us for good weather the morning of the service. We have decide to NOT prepare a rain location and to trust the service entirely into God's hands. 

Please pray with us as we expect GREAT things from him. We have obtained a generous grant from Christian Union which will pay for the majority of this event but if your church or anyone from your church would like to partner with us financially we would welcome that. I believe we will go over budget by a few hundred dollars. We have also obtained the necessary school and city permits for tent and sound. 

If you would like to highlight this event among the church announcements tomorrow morning we would be very thankful.

in Him,

Henry

on behalf of the Easter Prayer and Celebration Planning Committee:

 

[Larry Lin]

A few updates.

Our set will be...

Better Days - Goo Goo Dolls

Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel

Where is the Love - Black Eyed Peas

Sweetly Broken - Jeremy Riddle

Oh Happy Day - from Sister Act 2

Amazing Grace - John Newton

We will be having a guitar, a keyboard, a bass, drums, a violin, and a cello.

Our testimonies will be given by...

Zia Rahaman

Gary Fick

Esther Kim

We have decided that Fire and Fragrance will in fact not be playing in the service, but they will be playing right after the service. We're thinking about saying something like, "Thank you for coming out to Easter on the Quad. Make sure you turn in those cards. If you want to stay for an extended time of worship, feel free to do so. We have invited a group called Fire and Fragrance to lead us.

There are a few reasons we're doing this.

1) We won't have any time to actually practice with them, so it's hard to coordinate anything at all with them.

2) I have the feeling that Fire and Fragrance lead a very throw-your-hands-into-the-air-and-close-your-eyes type of musical worship, and they often throw in half prayers throughout their songs. There's nothing wrong at all with this kind of worship, and I myself do it too sometimes, but I'm not sure if this is the right setting to do that.

- Larry

[Henry Wen]

Is that the set order as well. When I listened to all the songs it seems to flow well if it went: 

Where is the love, bridge, better days. 

Y. Henry Wen

Graduate Research Asst.

Quantum & Nonlinear Optics Grp

"Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." - John 8:12

[Larry Lin]

Yeah I think that's a good plan too. "Where is the Love?" paints a picture of human depravity and desperation. And "Better Days" paints a picture of a day when everything will be made right. Here's a tentative detailed schedule of the service. What do you guys think?

Welcome

Esther Kim Testimony

Comment on "Where is the Love?"

- This song that we're about to sing shows the depravity of the human condition. Wars, corruption, etc.

- It almost causes us to cry out to the supernatural, because we feel that problem is supernatural.

"Where is the Love"

Gary Fick Testimony

"Bridge Over Troubled Water"

Comment on "Bridge Over Troubled Water"

- What is the answer to human depravity? Where exactly is the love?

- God did send us guidance from above. And not only that, he sent us a bridge over troubled water, a man who actually laid himself down, etc.

Zia Rahaman Testimony

Comment on "Better Days"

- What is our hope in all of this? How will we know that one day things will get better? The resurrection.

- The resurrection is the first installment of the time when everything will be right, a time when the world will begin again.

"Better Days"

JW Betts Message

"Sweetly Broken"

Comment on "Oh Happy Day"

- The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us joy.

- Worship is the response to who God is and what He has done. One of the ways we worship is through music. Please sing with us if you would like to.

"Oh Happy Day"

"Amazing Grace"

Closing Words

[stan matusz]

This looks good! -Stan

On Apr 17, 2011 2:12 AM, "Larry Lin" <the.la...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Yeah I think that's a good plan too. "Where is the Love?" paints a picture
> of human depravity and desperation. And "Better Days" paints a picture of a
> day when everything will be made right. Here's a tentative detailed schedule
> of the service. What do you guys think?
>
> Welcome

> *Esther Kim Testimony*

> Comment on "Where is the Love?"
> - This song that we're about to sing shows the depravity of the human
> condition. Wars, corruption, etc.
> - It almost causes us to cry out to the supernatural, because we feel that
> problem is supernatural.

> *"Where is the Love"*
> *Gary Fick Testimony*
> *"Bridge Over Troubled Water"*

> Comment on "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
> - What is the answer to human depravity? Where exactly is the love?
> - God did send us guidance from above. And not only that, he sent us a
> bridge over troubled water, a man who actually laid himself down, etc.

> *Zia Rahaman Testimony*

> Comment on "Better Days"
> - What is our hope in all of this? How will we know that one day things will
> get better? The resurrection.
> - The resurrection is the first installment of the time when everything will
> be right, a time when the world will begin again.

> *"Better Days"*
> *JW Betts Message*
> *"Sweetly Broken"*

> Comment on "Oh Happy Day"
> - The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us joy.
> - Worship is the response to who God is and what He has done. One of the
> ways we worship is through music. Please sing with us if you would like to.

> *"Oh Happy Day"*
> *"Amazing Grace"*
> Closing Words
> ***
> *