I stood by the nursery desk, wondering why the nursery leader was late. I could not remember her being late before. A few minutes later, she flew in apologizing. "I'm so sorry I'm late," she said smiling. "But it is your fault, you know."
"What?" I questioned, wondering what her explanation would be.
"Easter," she explained breathlessly. "I was up before dawn this morning putting out the items for the treasure hunt. I awoke the children early and started them on the treasure hunt while I put the hot cross buns into the oven. You gave us so many good ideas for celebrating Easter that I just had to do some of them, and things took longer than I thought they would."
She was flustered, but her joy in helping her children celebrate this special day was contageous. She put down her things and began greeting all the parents with a beaming smile on her face.
Easter. It is the focal point of our faith. Without Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, our faith is in vain. We cannot begin to explain our own faith without pointing to Christ's work in that last week of his life. We owe everything to it. The assurance of our relationship to Christ rests in it. We have no hope without it. Yet in spite of this, Easter is often an overlooked holiday for many Christians.
Think about it. Do you look forward to Resurrection Sunday with the same excitement as Christmas? Do your children? Do they have reason to shout "The Lord is Risen!" on Sunday morning? Do they know that this is the most important holiday for Christians? Do they see your excitement as you prepare that special meal to celebrate with family and friends? Do they hear you singing precious songs about the suffering of Christ that week as you enter into His suffering, identifying with the Man of Sorrows? Do they sense from you that this day is more important to you than Christmas?
Let us make Easter a BIG deal for ourselves and for our children. I am not talking about Easter baskets and Easter bunnies and new clothes. I am talking about celebrating the week and the day in a way that makes a profound impression on the value of what Christ did for us. Here are just a few suggestions on things that will help children grasp the importance of this week.
"What?" I questioned, wondering what her explanation would be.
"Easter," she explained breathlessly. "I was up before dawn this morning putting out the items for the treasure hunt. I awoke the children early and started them on the treasure hunt while I put the hot cross buns into the oven. You gave us so many good ideas for celebrating Easter that I just had to do some of them, and things took longer than I thought they would."
She was flustered, but her joy in helping her children celebrate this special day was contageous. She put down her things and began greeting all the parents with a beaming smile on her face.
Easter. It is the focal point of our faith. Without Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, our faith is in vain. We cannot begin to explain our own faith without pointing to Christ's work in that last week of his life. We owe everything to it. The assurance of our relationship to Christ rests in it. We have no hope without it. Yet in spite of this, Easter is often an overlooked holiday for many Christians.
Think about it. Do you look forward to Resurrection Sunday with the same excitement as Christmas? Do your children? Do they have reason to shout "The Lord is Risen!" on Sunday morning? Do they know that this is the most important holiday for Christians? Do they see your excitement as you prepare that special meal to celebrate with family and friends? Do they hear you singing precious songs about the suffering of Christ that week as you enter into His suffering, identifying with the Man of Sorrows? Do they sense from you that this day is more important to you than Christmas?
Let us make Easter a BIG deal for ourselves and for our children. I am not talking about Easter baskets and Easter bunnies and new clothes. I am talking about celebrating the week and the day in a way that makes a profound impression on the value of what Christ did for us. Here are just a few suggestions on things that will help children grasp the importance of this week.
- On Palm Sunday, buy small palm branches or make them from construction paper and play out Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem. Let them re-enact going into town to get the donkey, bringing it back for Jesus, and then laying clothing and palm branches out for the donkey to ride. Shout "Hosanna to the Son of David together." Sing praise songs to Jesus, and talk about what it would be like if the stones had actually begun to praise Him.
- Make a picture poster of the events of Jesus' last week. Each day this week add one picture of what happened on that day.
- Celebrate the Passover Seder together as a family. There is information online that will help you celebrate this. Explain that Jesus and his disciples celebrate this together just before He died.
- If your church has a special service on Thursday or Friday, go together as a family.
- On Friday (or Thursday, if that is your tradition) read together one of the stories in the gospel of the crucifixion. Whenever a different person is mentioned, try to imagine what it was like for them that day.
- Find a devotional that you can use to focus your family's devotions on the sacrifice Jesus made.
- Invite people to church for Easter and then home to your house afterwards to eat together.
- Make cards together that celebrate the resurrection. Send them to friends or pass them out to neighbors.
- Have a special Easter dinner. Serve lamb and talk about Jesus being the Passover lamb. Make a cake in the shape of a cross or a lamb.
- Make a paper mache or bread dough tomb. Put together clothespin disciples for the children to reenact the events. Find a rock to cover the entrance to the tomb.
- Separate your celebration of Spring from Easter. Celebrate Spring on the first day of Spring. In your gift for your children, include colored eggs, bunnies, chicks, new clothes, and other special things.
- Attend the Easter Sunrise service, if your church has one.
- On Easter morning (or afternoon), send your children on a treasure hunt. Inside small paper or plastic bags or cloth bundles, put symbols of the events of the last week of Jesus' life. If it will make it more fun, add a small amount of candy to each one. When all the items are found, see if the children can identify each symbol and tell why it was included. Then, for older children, see if they can put the symbols in the correct order.
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