We stood in a sea of people. They looked more like tiny specs than people, really. Every spec, though? Every spec represented a life. Every spec was a wife, a husband, a sister, a brother, a neighbor, a friend. Someone’s daughter. Someone’s son. A teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, a coach. A parent. A co-worker. Business owners and students. Teenagers and grandparents. Every spec came with their own struggles. Their own hopes. Their own dreams. Every spec had a story.
And as we stood together as two little specs in that sea of over 55,000 this weekend, this incredible feeling washed over us. To know that every life in that stadium was there not for a celebrity, not there for a football team or a concert, but there because their life had been changed forever by Jesus Christ. To know that we all came from different backgrounds and had different stories, but one thing united us all. The worship team started to play and our voices vanished into the crowd, and it felt so good to feel so small.
This weekend our church, CCV, decided to bring all six of our campuses together in one place for the first time ever this Easter in the only place that could hold all of us: University of Phoenix Stadium. The home of 2015’s Super Bowl. The goal was to pack the stadium for Jesus. No football team, no celebrity. Only a celebration of what Easter is really all about. Christ’s love for us. As our campus pastor, Travis Brown explained, “We wanted an opportunity to all come together, and what better day to come together than the resurrection of Jesus? It’s kind of the super bowl of our faith.” It was a huge celebration and such a powerful visual reminder that God is alive in this city. It was an Easter we will never forget.
We woke up early and caravanned down to the stadium with 25 of our friends from our church neighborhood small group that meets every week for a big breakfast tailgate. The turn-out was bigger than anyone ever expected, and we kept reminding ourselves the bumper-t0-bumper traffic was something to celebrate!
We set up a huge table full of muffins, donuts, bagels, fruit, juice and coffee and spent the morning tailgating Sunday-morning-style with our neighborhood group and friends.
Nothing makes us happier than attending church with our #ajbrides (and their #ajguys, of course) so it was extra fun to have Nikki & Paul tailgating with us for such a special service! You probably remember them from their beautiful destination beach wedding or their emotional gondola proposal. If you haven’t seen either of those posts before, stop what you’re doing right now, grab some tissues and prepare yourself for some serious cuteness! We just love these two!
Also, donuts. We love us some donuts! Amy channels her inner-five-year-old whenever donuts are involved and always requests the old fashioned cake kind with icing and sprinkles, while Jordan will quickly devour anything glazed or anything with coconut. Jordan tried to snap a photo of Amy with her donut, but by the time he got to her, there was only enough left for a mouse.
The whole crew! This is one massive #demossandwich!!
Heading into the stadium was such a surreal experience. It was so cool seeing so many impacted lives packed into one place.
As the service began and the worship started, we were overcome with emotion. The stadium echoed with praise for Jesus, and as we looked out at the sea of specs, we knew we were looking at a sea of lives that have been forever changed. It was one of the coolest Easter services we’ve ever attended and a memory we know we will never forget.
If you’d like to visit a CCV campus, you can find more information here.
If you don’t live in Arizona, but want to experience a service, you can watch all past services online! With our crazy travel schedule, a lot of times we’re out of town on the weekends, and this free resource has been HUGE for us!
Here are a few that made a strong impact on us:
The Light of the World (Heaven > Earth)
The Hunger Games (The Bowl of Stew)
Accept No Substitutes (Boundaries)
P.S. If you liked this post, you might also like reading about The Time We Failed Pre-Marital Counseling.