Saturday, April 4, 2009

Resurrection Eggs

This afternoon at the Easter Egg hunt I'm going to use these Easter eggs to tell the Easter story. While some of the parents are outside hiding dozens of eggs, the children will be inside with me listening to the true Easter story. I'm getting very tired today, and I didn't sleep well last night. Physically, it's not the best day for a party for me. However, Easter is important, and before the children go hunting for eggs and chocolate, I definitely want to share about Jesus, His death, and His resurrection, and the salvation offered through Him. Here is a copy of my lesson plan. (If you are interested in using the Resurrection Eggs, there are longer versions of the lesson, but I wrote a shorter version because most of the children coming today are between the ages of 2 and 4.)


Resurrection Eggs Lesson Plan

Does anyone know what we celebrate at Easter? We celebrate Jesus rising from the dead! I have some eggs here in my basket that help to tell the story of how Jesus died on the cross and came back to life!

Dark blue egg: bread
Jesus was sharing a special meal to celebrate the Passover with His disciples. During the meal Jesus took some bread and said, “Take and eat. This is my body.” Then he took the cup of wine and said, “Drink. This is my blood which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Christians today still share the bread and the cup. It is a time to remember and proclaim the fact that Jesus gave His life and shed His blood on the cross so that we could be forgiven for our sins.

Do you know what sin is? Sin is anything that we say, think, or do that does not please God. Sin is anything that is naughty. The Bible says that “All have sinned” (Romans 3:23). That means that you have sinned, and I have sinned. But God has never sinned. His Son Jesus has never sinned. God is holy and perfect. Because God is holy, He can’t let sin go unpunished. We all deserve to be punished for our sin. But because God loves us so much, He sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross and take the punishment that you deserve and that I deserve!

Lime green egg: praying hands
After Jesus and His disciples finished their meal, they went to the garden of Gethsemane together. While Jesus was in the garden He prayed to God the Father. Jesus knew that He was going to be nailed to a cross, and He told God that He was willing to follow God’s plan and die to take the punishment for the sins of the world.

Green egg: 30 pieces of silver
Judas, who was one of Jesus’ disciples, decided to betray Jesus. Judas went to the priests and told them that he would help them get Jesus. They paid Judas 30 pieces of silver to do that. While Jesus was praying in the garden, Judas came with a bunch of armed men. Judas went and gave Jesus a kiss. That was the signal for the men to come and arrest Jesus.

Yellow egg: cross
There were many people who did not like Jesus. They did not want to believe that He was God’s Son, and they did not want obey Him. They mocked Jesus and laughed at Him. They beat Him and spit on Him. They placed a crown of thorns on His head, and they decided that they wanted to crucify Him. Jesus carried His cross to the top of a hill called Golgotha.

Pink egg: nail
Up on the hill the soldiers nailed Jesus’ wrists and feet to the cross and stood the cross up. Even while Jesus was on the cross people were still making fun of him. They said, “If you are the Son of God, come down off the cross and save yourself!” They didn’t know that Jesus was choosing to stay on the cross. He was God and He could have saved Himself, but Jesus chose to stay on the cross. He did it for you, and He did it for me. You and I both deserve to die because of our sins, but Jesus loves you so much that He died for you.

Romans 5:8 says, "God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Right before Jesus died he cried out, “It is finished!” That means that the price for sin had been paid.

Purple egg: cloth
Jesus’ friends took His body off of the cross. They wrapped His body in clean linen cloths for burial.

Orange egg: rock
They buried Jesus in a tomb. A tomb is kind of like a cave. They put Jesus’ body in there and then rolled a large stone over the front of it.

Light blue egg: empty
Three days after burying Jesus some women went to the tomb, but when they got there the stone was rolled away, and Jesus was not inside the tomb! There was an angel there who said to the women, “'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus. He is not here. He has risen!'” (Matthew 28:5b-6a). The women were filled with joy. They soon met Jesus and saw Him again with their own eyes. He truly was alive! And He is still alive today. Today Jesus is in heaven preparing a place for all those who believe in Him. Those who believe on the Lord Jesus will have their sins forgiven and will one day go to heaven. Those who choose to not believe on the Lord Jesus will one day have to take their own punishment for their sins.

Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If you have any questions about what it means to believe on the Lord Jesus and be forgiven for your sins, you can talk to me later, or you can talk to your parents. I know that they would love to tell you more about Jesus.

1 comment:

  1. Hi, it's a very great blog!
    I could tell how much efforts you've taken on it.
    Keep doing!

    ReplyDelete

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