Why is it easier to talk about the virgin birth?
How do we talk to our Children about Easter?
It is so much easier talking to our children about Christmas, isn’t it? Especially when we rush over the virgin birth part ;) Talking about a little baby, the joy of Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and angels and wise men, is fun. But when we talk about Easter we can’t speak about it without speaking of death and that can be more nerve wracking.
Probably because of that, Easter, the key experience of the faith which is about new life, an empty tomb, forgiveness and resurrection so often becomes more about pastel colored eggs, Easter egg hunts and the Easter bunny. Don’t get me wrong, those are all fun, and to be perfectly honest, up until last year, we still had an Easter egg hunt before church at our house!
Here’s the thing, one of the most important responsibilities we have as Christian parents is to teach our children about Jesus.
Deuteronomy 6: 7-9 says, “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates”.
So after our big Easter egg hunt, when the children were little, we would talk about the eggs representing new life. Like the new life we have in Jesus. That talk was never as engaging as when we made Resurrection buns on Easter morning to illustrate the empty tomb. Check out the easy recipe below.
These yummy buns were a great way to talk about how the empty tomb was the ultimate victory of the good guys (God/Jesus) over the bad guys (Judas, the priests, Pilate, the soldiers). I would tell that kids that on Good Friday the bad guys thought they had won. They killed Jesus and sealed his body into a guarded tomb. On Easter morning God/Jesus blasted right out of that tomb and proved once and for all that God is more powerful than even the worst of the worst. And then we would cheer "Hooray for Jesus!". Easter is about celebrating that we belong to God who is the most powerful power in the universe!
As we talk about Easter with our children it’s important to remember that Easter is bigger and more complex than any of us can fully understand. And, we don't have to have all the answers. So pray, and then go ahead and talk about it with your children.
I think we probably do more harm when we don’t talk about it for fear that we’ll not get it right. Share the Easter story with your children.
Share your faith with your children.
As we enter into the Easter weekend, even though we will not gather together, know that this man of power and presence – Jesus the Christ – came not only for those in the crowed streets of Jerusalem, but He came for you and for me.
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Please check out the Butterfly Project on our Amberlea YouTube page or on our website. This is something we can all do together — young and old— while apart! I can’t wait to show you my creation!
Join us online for a very special Good Friday service and then again on Easter Sunday morning as we celebrate and honour the King of Kings! Join with an expectation of being blessed and being a blessing!
You can find us on:
Facebook: Amberlea Presbyterian Church
YouTube: Amberlea Church
See yaaaa!
Resurrection Buns Recipe
Ingredients:
1 pkg. refrigerated crescent dough
1 bag large marshmallows
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a muffin tin.
2. Prepare a small bowl of the melted butter (for dipping) and another small bowl with the cinnamon and sugar mixed (for dipping).
3. Separate crescent dough into triangles, and place a marshmallow on each one. The marshmallow represents the pure body of Jesus. As a teaching tool, children can dip a marshmallow in the butter and the cinnamon-sugar mixture to represent the burial oil and spices that were used on Jesus’ body. However, the seams of the crescent rolls seem to stay sealed better with plain marshmallows, so maybe just dip a few.
4. Seal the edges of the dough around each marshmallow, and explain that it represents that tomb of Jesus that was securely sealed after he was buried inside.
5. Roll the dough in your hands to form a smooth circle.
6. Dip the dough in the melted butter
7. Roll the dough in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
8. Place each roll in your greased muffin tin.
9. Bake for about 15 minutes.
10. Allow the “tombs” to cool slightly before children open them to see that they are empty (the marshmallow melts away and leaves an “empty tomb”)!
Read Matthew 28:1-6 for an excerpt of the resurrection story and repeat together, “He is not here; He has risen!”