Season 3 Blog 25
1 Corinthians 15:1-7, NLT
“Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you… I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles.”
This month we celebrate Easter. Easter for Christians focuses on the death and resurrection of Jesus. I was recently reminded that this is the climax of celebrating what we believe about Jesus. Do we make it the biggest celebration in our homes? Do our children know that this is a super exciting and meaningful time for us?
Sometimes the cultural aspects of Easter can take over as our children see all of the candy and toys available. These aren’t bad things but are they put into perspective? Are there other ways that we are reflecting on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus so that our children really know who Jesus is and what he’s done for us?
As I was thinking of ways that we can do this as parents, we have a lot of opportunities to use examples from real life to help us out. This year Easter happens one week after the beginning of spring (on the calendar). The change of seasons from winter to spring can make us take notice of what’s happening around us – do we notice the signs that a new season is about to arrive – what do we see? Hear? Smell? What could be going on that we don’t see (new life beginning underground)? Is spring just something we wish for or can we really put our hope in it happening?
Jesus was teaching his disciples to notice the way God works and he told them about his own death and resurrection ahead of time, although they couldn’t quite understand it until after he had risen from the dead. What can we notice about Jesus’ life? What were some things about his life that gave the disciples real hope that he was God?
Consider reading through one of the gospels this month as a family (the gospel of Mark is the shortest). Use a child-friendly version like NLT or NIrV or a favorite children’s Bible and see if you can discover together some of the things about Jesus that point to him really being God.
The idea of resurrection and our hope for new resurrection bodies can be a difficult concept for children (let’s face it – for adults, too!) Paul says this about it, “When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed” -1 Corinthians 15:36-38.
You can make this a real example with seeds at home. Get a variety of seeds and plant them together in small pots or even clear cups so they can see the roots starting to grow. Talk about what happens to a seed: when they are cut off from their parent plant they essentially die – unless something happens to change that. If the seed is put in the right conditions – the right kind of soil with nutrition (from the soil and water and eventually sunlight as well) – it will become something new and not at all what it was before. When we choose to follow Jesus, his “new life” is now in us and we become who God intended us to be. We still need to grow, like the seed, with the proper nutrition (growing in our relationship with Jesus and learning to love God, ourselves, and others). Jesus was the first “seed” to die and come to life and now we can experience that in our lives as well. Check out this interesting blog on seeds
There are many creative things we can do to teach the story of Jesus and why we celebrate Easter and make it memorable and interactive. Here are some alternative “hunts” that you might want to try. And there’s the popular resurrection eggs kits that were always a hit at my house. You can find lots of DIY options online like this one.
Finally, make Easter a big celebration, I mean a REALLY BIG CELEBRATION, to show your children just how special it is to remember what Jesus has done. Just be sure to connect the celebration to who we are celebrating.
Sarah has been Pastor of Children & Families at The Journey Church for seven years. Her passion is to see families growing in their faith with Jesus together and living it out in their homes, neighborhoods, and schools, as well as being deeply connected with their church family. To find out more about The Journey Church ministries go to onthejourney.ca. To contact Sarah you can email her at sarah@onthejourney.ca.