Easter Podcasts: The Inside Story - 21 Mar 2013

This time last year we were blown away by the response to the lent podcasts as they battled with Ricky Gervais for the top of the iTunes podcast list and clocked up to 500,000 download hits, with every episode getting an average of 8,000 views.

It was wonderful hearing people's feedback as they shared about how the podcast have given them a way to devote time to Jesus through lent. The question was ‘could we do it again?’

Needless to say …. we had set ourselves a high bar coming into Lent 2013.

Unfortunately we didn’t have the resources to do another 40-day series this year – but through the incredible generosity of people like you we were able to find the budget to make 7 episodes …… So that’s what we did …… The series will go out over Easter week and will follow the journey of Jesus from the Lazarus story to the Cross and Resurrection. We are calling it LOVE:EASTER and every day will focus on another aspect of the love of Jesus displayed in the Easter story.

The series will feature some brand new hosts; including the internationally renowned artist Charlie Mackesy standing in front of his breathtaking painting of Jesus on the cross on display at St. Paul’s Hammersmith.

Having had the privilege to be involved in the production of this series, I am very excited about the launch on Monday. We went with a slightly different format and most of the hosts are sharing from very personal experiences in their own lives; heart wrenching stories of pain, disappointment and death but, as with Easter, stories of joy, hope, faith and Jesus!

I don't want to give the game away but both host and production team have been in tears more than once during the filming. My prayer (and quietly confident - my expectation) is that this series will connect deeply with people in the reality of their own lives and show them how Easter, the story of Jesus’ ultimate victory, can bring God’s hope into their everyday.

And this wouldn't have happened with the incredible generosity of people like you. It is hard to put that gratitude into words, so I will simply say this – You. Are. Awesome.

I hope that you enjoy the series! Give us a little tweet (#247pods) on Monday to get the word out ;)