{"id":251097,"date":"2026-04-04T04:28:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T04:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/251097\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T04:28:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T04:28:36","slug":"i-hope-that-they-really-understand-what-god-did-for-them-bakersfield-churches-celebrate-resurrection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/251097\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I hope that they really understand what God did for them\u2019: Bakersfield churches celebrate resurrection"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 As people all over the world gather for services, the Easter season continues to be a time for celebration, gratitude and remembrance of the ultimate sacrifice.<\/p>\n

For the Bakersfield church community, it\u2019s far more than just a spring holiday. Staffers spent all weekend setting up their places of worship for an abundance of guests.<\/p>\n

Watch \u2018After Sunrise\u2019 on KGET+; Click to learn how to get KGET+ on your smart TV devices <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI am super excited to see everybody just come together with their families and their Easter best \u2014 those that maybe have not been to church in a long time, I\u2019m just excited to see them come and get to experience what Easter is all about,\u201d said Amanda Sanchez, who attends New Life Church.<\/p>\n

While the Easter bunny and egg hunts sometimes dominate the holiday, Bakersfield\u2019s Christian community is honoring the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who sacrificed his life so that the world might be saved.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gets me emotional because it\u2019s just the thought of how much someone loves us,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cAnd what he would do \u2014 pay the ultimate sacrifice for us to be able to live in freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Life Church in southwest Bakersfield is planning several services, just like Discovery Church.<\/p>\n

\"<em>Staff<\/p>\n

Staff at Discovery Church in Southwest Bakersfield prepare for a large crowd ahead of Easter Sunday. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have powerful worship, life-changing messages, engagement \u2014 and so it\u2019s just, you\u2019re going to hear the power of the resurrection,\u201d said Nick Gagliardi, a pastor at Discovery Church.<\/p>\n

He said the goal is to spread good news.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that they really understand what God did for them,\u201d Gagliardi said. \u201cHe sent his son to die on that cross for them so that they can have salvation \u2014 and that Jesus conquered that grave \u2014 and that we get to celebrate that resurrection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Easter Sunday is traditionally the biggest service of the year.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve been a part of this church for six years and each year we\u2019ve grown and grown and grown,\u201d said Jaisun Lyons, the youth director at Discovery. \u201cI think this year we\u2019re expecting 10,000-plus people to come to see our services.\u201d<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s a theory behind why many people who don\u2019t usually go to church will show up on Easter Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe power of Jesus dying on the cross on Friday and then resurrecting on Sunday, that\u2019s something that speaks for itself,\u201d said Nalleli Garcia, a member at Discovery Church.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so people, regardless of whether they come or they don\u2019t come for the entire year, that\u2019s something special that will nudge them to say, \u2018Hey, I can recognize that sacrifice, and for today, I want to remember, and I want to be there.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 As people all over the world gather for services, the Easter season continues to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[111629,151,153,152,111631,111630,111632],"class_list":["post-251097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-amanda-sanchez","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news","tag-church-community","tag-discovery-church","tag-nick-gagliardi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}