Easter+

Easter story powerpoint for younger children

2011-04-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

Easter Story (easy powerpoint version)
Easter Story ( standard powerpoint version)
Henry Martin's artwork available to download to retell the story of Easter.

Want to know the date of Easter?

2011-04-02T01:00:00.000-07:00

If you want to know the date of Easter check out this site. http://www.holidays.net/easter/eadates.htm

7 Days with the 7 Sayings from the Cross

2011-03-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

Suspended between heaven and earth on a rough wooden cross, amidst his agony, Jesus utters seven densely packed sayings. Dying words usually are important, all the more so when, as in this case, it takes colossal effort to hoist your body up to breathe and hence to speak. Each saying is a window on the crucifixion revealing it meaning and significance.

Pastor Mark Loughridge provides a brief reflection on each saying—one for each day of the week in the lead up to Easter.

Check out these recordings kindly made available by Milford Covenantor Church.

History of the Easter Egg

2010-03-30T21:14:00.000-07:00

As Christianity spread, more familiar traditions. symbols and celebrations of spring were associated with Easter -Christ coming back to life after death. One of the oldest spring symbols is the egg. The oval shape of the egg was the same shape for a raindrop and a seed. These two were important life-giving elements. the egg itself promises new life as in spring, birds, and many other animals are hatched from eggs. In fact, the Persians, Hindus and Egyptians believed that the world began with a single egg. In ancient China, Rome, and Greece, eggs were given as springtime gifts. In Poland and Russia, hours are spent on drawing intricate designs on Easter eggs. In England, members of the royal families gave each other gold covered eggs as Easter gifts in the Middle Ages. The most famous Easter egg decorator was Peter Carl Faberge. He designed eggs from gold, silver and other precious gems for the kings of Europe and czars of Russia. These eggs are priceless now and can only be found in museums and private collections. in early America, children decorated their eggs by using dyes made from fruit and leaf colouring.

Easter Prayer

2010-03-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

From the Gelasian Sacramentary, the oldest prayer book, compiled in about AD500 by Pope Gelasius:

'O God, we pray that the burden of sin which we carry in our souls may be dissolved for ever in the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And, free from this deadly weight, may our souls raise with him to eternal life... We beseech thee that those who have been redeemed by his passion may rejoice in his resurrection, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Easy Easter Crafts

2010-03-23T22:05:00.000-07:00

Check out these Easter Crafts for children from Kids Craft Weekly.

Passover Sweet

2010-03-14T21:50:00.000-07:00

Pretend Plavah

You will need: Cooked pastry base (or sponge flan, but that might not be unleavened!), 150 ml (5 oz) whipping cream, 150 ml (5 oz) Greek yoghurt, a tin of strawberries, strawberry jam, 2 or 3 meringue nests.

1. Whip the cream until thick. Fold in the yoghurt and strawberries (drained).

2. Spread the jam over the flan centre.

3. Turn the mixture into the flan case.

4. Crush the meringue nests and sprinkle on the top.

[For a simpler-and cheaper version try using a packet whip instead of the yogurt and cream.]

Also - Let the children try two Jewish specialities bagels and matzos. Which sort do they think have yeast in them? Which is most like the unleavened bread the Israelites would have eaten at the Passover

Thorns

2010-02-23T20:15:00.000-08:00

Thorns by Don Stott, 2010

Free Easter Clip Art

2010-02-15T20:45:00.000-08:00

Here's a great collection of free clip art to download to use in cards, powerpoints, or Sunday School material.
biblepicturegallery.com

Children's Easter Talk - The Good News

2010-02-10T19:56:00.000-08:00

Here's a short talk that I gave to some school groups ab out the meaning of Easter. It could easily be used in a worship setting as a children's sermon.
Don's Easter Talk- The Good News

Ash Wednesday Liturgy

2010-01-24T19:57:00.000-08:00

A liturgy for Ash Wednesday from Sacredise.com.

Ash Wednesday pdf

NOTE: This liturgy does not include a section for Communion. It is structured around the ritual of the ashes. It can easily be placed within another Communion Liturgy if this is desired

Easter Planning

2010-01-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

Easter planning resource links from the Evangelical Lutheran Church America.
http://www.elca.org/Growing-In-Faith/Worship/Planning/Easter.aspx

Questions about the Passover?

2009-03-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

Chosen People Ministries has an excellent page on common questions people ask about the Passover.
Check it out here : http://www.chosenpeople.com/main/page/passover_faq.html

Easter Chant

2009-03-04T20:21:00.000-08:00

Easter Chant

Hosanna ! Hosanna !

Hear the people cry.

Riding on a donkey

The King is passing by.

Riding to Jerusalem

Wave those palms and cheer -

Jesus the Messiah

The “Promised One” is here.

Crucify ! Crucify !

Hear the people shout !

Tell governor Pilate

To bring Jesus out.

Crucify ! Crucify !

Hear the people cry -

“He claimed to be our king,

Now he must die !”

“Forgive them ! Forgive them !

They don’t know what they do

I’m willing to die

On this cross for you.

I’m your king, Lord, Messiah.

It is finished ! I cry -

For your sins to be forgiven

God’s Son must die “

He’s risen ! He’s risen !

See the joy on Mary’s face.

She came to the tomb

And now she must race

To tell the disciples -

“We don’t need to fear,

Jesus has been raised to life .

He’s alive ! He’s here ! “

This chant could be presented by different groups with a Powerpoint backing with a slide for each verse. You may use this chant in a worship setting but please attach the copyright attribution.

See more Easter Chants, stories and Easter Puppet skits at http://eliab.com

Willing to die

2009-03-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

A story to share at Easter

He died for another

Over two hundred years ago, the French Revolution brought fear and terror to France. Rich and powerful people - even the king and queen -were killed by the revolutionaries. Every day, hundreds of people were arrested, dragged from their homes and flung into horrible prisons. They were given hardly any chance to defend themselves, but were sent off to the guillotine to be killed.

Some of those who died probably deserved to be punished, for they had been cruelly thoughtless of the poor and hungry peasants and city workers. But in those terrible days, many good and honest people suffered, too.

Francois-Simon Liozerolles was a young man of twenty two when he and his father, General Loizerolles, were arrested.

First, young Liozerolles was tried. The case went against him and every morning he wondered if it would be his last.

One afternoon, tired and miserable, he flung himself on a couch to rest. His father sat beside him and talked calmly till he fell asleep. When he awoke he looked around for his father and excitedly asked some friends what had become of him. They told him.

While he slept, the tumbrils* had arrived and the warder entered with the list of those who were to die. The name of Francois-Simon Loizerolles was called. The General promptly stepped forward, saying, “I am Loizerolles”. He walked out and climbed in to the cart and was carried away to die.

It was then too late to correct the error. Within a week the reign of terror came to an end and young Loizerolles walked out free!

But he was a changed man and for him the world was a changed world. Everything seemed different after that awakening. He went to sleep, unwilling to die and longing to live. We awoke to love life less and understand it more, because by dying in his place, his father had shown him how to live. All his days he lives as a man for whom another gave his life.

(*Tumbrils were carts used to take prisoners to be executed.)

Easter Explorer

2009-02-24T17:50:00.000-08:00

Easter Explorer- an intergenerational worship service for Easter.
This worship service is a celebration of the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection.
It provides an opportunity for people to explore what they believe
and it encourages interaction between children and older people.
Download the PDF here scroll down and click on Easter Explorer.

Looking for an Easter Family Service idea?

2009-02-23T21:20:00.000-08:00

A Family Service address with considerable involvement is as follows:
Worship leader begins telling a story (let’s say about a lost rabbit) only to be interrupted by two young folk offering a chocolate Easter Egg (as a thank-you or whatever).

Worship leader thanks young folk, notices that it is an Easter Egg with sweets (say, chocolate buttons) inside, and asks children (and adults) if they would like to open it in church so that the egg and the sweets inside could be shared.

Invite a child out to open the egg but youngster finds out that the egg is empty.

The shocked congregation soon grasp the surprise of the disciples who found an empty tomb. Opportunity for details to be offered by worship leader.

On a pre-arranged cue the original two young folk come forward with an apology and with the bag of chocolate buttons. They thought that they would eat them themselves and that worship leader would never notice they were missing. They didn’t think it would be opened in church!

Those in the congregation particularly the children - who had been hoping for a sweet are pleased at the discovery of the chocolates. As they are shared, the congregation is in a receptive mood to reflect on the joy of the disciples when they discovered that Jesus was alive again.

This idea is from The Church of Scotland website. Prepared by Rev Douglas Nicol .
Other Easter resources are also available to download.

Easter Talk- The Good News

2009-02-23T21:05:00.000-08:00

Last Easter I wrote a short children's talk which I used in a school setting to tell the Easter story. This was presented using a newspaper. You can find the talk outline here - Easter Talk- The Good News.

Easter March

2009-02-16T16:40:00.000-08:00

Easter March

(American military style march)

Let me tell you what Easter means. (echo)
It's more than bunnies and chocolate beans.(echo)
God's Son was born and lived on earth. (echo)
Special child, miracle birth. (echo)
He healed and taught and lived God's way.(echo)
Till he was killed on Good Friday.(echo)

Not scared. (echo)
Blood shed. (echo)
Dead. Dead! (echo)

Not scared. Blood shed. Dead. Dead! (echo)

Placed into a tomb, he lay.
But Jesus rose up Easter day.
Alive! He lives. He's conquered sin.
Calls us all to follow him.
The offer's here for me and you
To put your faith in Jesus too.

Died for-me.
Set free.
Whoopee!

Died for-me. Set free. Whoopee!

(C)Don Stott, http://eliab.com, 2005

Easter Acrostic

2009-02-15T19:52:00.000-08:00

The following outline was used as the basis for a talk about "What does Easter mean?"
Bible Reading: Matthew 28:1-10
Each letter was held up on a large card but you could use powerpoint slides as well.

E = Empty tomb. Stone rolled away.
A= Angel. "He's alive!"
S= Surprise! "He isn't here."
T= Tell. "Don't be afraid! Tell my followers to go to Galilee. They'll see me there."
E= Excitement. "Suddenly Jesus met them and greeted them. They...worshiped him."
R= Resurrection. "God has raised him to life." v.6

Don Stott , http://eliab.com, 2009

Easter Craft

2009-02-11T16:21:00.001-08:00

Easter Pass the Parcel

2009-02-08T17:48:00.000-08:00

A variation on the well known game.

This is played in the same way as at children's parties except you have a number of parcels circulating according to the size of your group (say one parcel per ten children).

Get everyone into a large circle and give out the parcels with an even number of people between each. Then as the music is played, the parcels are passed around the room from one person to the next as quickly as possible.
When the music stops the people holding the parcel can unwrap one layer of paper. Make sure each parcel is unwrapped to exactly the same point. This way the game will finish with the three or four people getting to the centre at the same time.

For Easter - Between the layers place: a palm cross (talk about why we have a cross on the top on hot cross buns or why people wear crosses around their necks) , an Easter card( What would you write about Easter in a card to a friend ?), a large nail (Jesus didn't deserve to die -crucifixion), an easter egg (tomb), a clean sheet of paper (nothing on it- Jesus forgave our sins) . The gift could be a a small box of chocolates (celebrate that Jesus is alive).

Use the items to recap the Easter story.

An Easter Rose

2009-02-08T17:43:00.000-08:00

The young boy came home after Sunday School on Easter Sunday and told his mother he could understand about Christ but not about the roses. So he asked his mum, "Why was Christ a rose?"

Hot Cross Buns

2009-02-08T17:25:00.000-08:00

Hold up a hot cross bun and ask the group if they like to eat these buns at Easter. Say that many people all around the world like to eat these buns at Easter time and those that are Christians are reminded of Jesus death on a cross by the cross we find on the top of the bun.

"Let's think about the ingredients needed to make these buns. What are some of the things you think might be used? Flour? Water? Fruit? One thing that's very important in making hot cross buns is yeast. What do we use yeast for? It helps the bun to rise otherwise they might be called "flat cross buns". The yeast also might remind us that Jesus rose from the grave. He didn't stay dead after he was crucified and put in to the tomb - he rose again. Dried fruits are also added to the mixture in making hot cross buns. These might remind us of the good things that come from Jesus' death. Without his death on the cross we wouldn't be able to enjoy new life.

As you pass around some buttered hot cross buns for the children to eat. Invite everyone just to pause for a few moments and silently thank Jesus for being willing to die a slow and painful death so that we might have eternal life with him.

Just in case you wondered about the history of the hot cross bun : We get the word "bun" from the Teutonic equivalent, "boun", which was an archaic description of a sacrificial ox. The practice of offering animal sacrifices at the vernal equinox became frowned upon. Instead, the goddess in question was honoured with a cake, a sacred ox bun. Imprinted on the cake were the crossed horns of a ox. Christians reinterpreted this as the cross of Christ.

Puppet script from Eliab.com "Hot Cross Buns"

Easter+

Easter story powerpoint for younger children

Want to know the date of Easter?

7 Days with the 7 Sayings from the Cross

History of the Easter Egg

Easter Prayer

Easy Easter Crafts

Passover Sweet

Thorns

Free Easter Clip Art

Children's Easter Talk - The Good News

Ash Wednesday Liturgy

Easter Planning

Popular Easter Videos

Questions about the Passover?

Easter Chant

Willing to die

Easter Explorer

Looking for an Easter Family Service idea?

Easter Talk- The Good News

Easter March

Easter Acrostic

Easter Craft

Easter Pass the Parcel

An Easter Rose

Hot Cross Buns