Easter Offers Opportunities to Share Christ

The stores are full of brightly colored Easter baskets, chocolate bunnies, marshmallow eggs, and beautiful clothes! Lenten services are being held at congregations. Easter is near. How can we use traditional Easter activities to share our faith with those in our family? Although most Christians understand that Easter is about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, the secular world promotes it as just another holiday. Yet, the Bible tells us to take every opportunity to share tell others about our Savior. The following are suggestions for using Easter activities to share Christ.

Devotional Resurrection Eggs

Twelve large, plastic, colored eggs can be used as a teaching tool for children and adults of all ages. Inside each egg put a small item that will remind them of the Passion story. You may also wish to include a Bible verse along with each item. Parents should prepare by reading the Easter story. Items that you might consider could include an empty communion cup or small piece of unleavened bread to remind them of the Passover meal (Luke 22:17-19). In another egg you could put a small sponge and the Bible verse about how the Roman soldier gave Jesus a sponge filled with vinegar when He was on the cross. In two other eggs you might put a piece of wood to symbolize the cross and a nail to explain how Jesus was nailed to the cross and that the nail reminds us of how Jesus suffered for our sins. In still another egg you might put a toothpick that represents the spear that pierced Jesus’ side after His death. An eraser would be a good item to put in an egg to help children understand that with faith in Christ their sins are forgiven and washed away (or erased). Still another egg might include a coin to remind them of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. A small chain can be used to explain how we were in bondage to sin before Jesus broke the chains by His life, death, and resurrection. A piece of linen can be used to remind us that they stripped Jesus and beat Him. A thorn can remind us of the beating He took for our sins. Bring up the number of eggs. Tell them how the twelve eggs should remind us that Jesus selected twelve disciples or apostles. The final egg that you open should be empty because the disciples found an empty tomb! Once you’ve decided on what to put inside the eggs and the appropriate Bible verse, then arrange the eggs in the order of the Gospel story and open one egg each day for twelve days before Easter.

Die Eggs with Natural Items

When my children were young, one year we died Easter eggs using a variety of natural items. Eggs boiled in onion skins turn yellow/orange. Eggs boiled with blueberries make a beautiful blue color. Beets also make a great red color. After boiling the eggs, you can fix the beets as a vegetable. Spinach leaves are another option. Experiment with various vegetables and fruits. Use this time to talk about the wonderful world God created and how nature can be used to show us a rainbow of colors…a rainbow which God created after the Flood.

Hunt for the Easter Basket

Do you hide Easter baskets for the children to find on Easter morning? Why not adapt this tradition and allow the children to hunt for baskets on Easter morning? After they have ample time to find their basket and look at what’s inside, invite them to sit with you as you read a portion of the Easter story together. You might purchase a book about the Easter story that is age appropriate or read it from their Bible. One of my favorite stories after hunting for the basket was to read the story of the women running to tell the disciples that Jesus was not there and the story of the two disciples that ran to the tomb looking for Jesus. Jesus was no longer in the tomb. He had risen from the grave!

Act Out the Easter Story

Another good activity is to act out the Easter story. You can do this with your children or involve the extended family at your gathering. Stories from the Bible can come alive as children and adults act them out and discuss them together.

Easter Egg Hunts

Many congregations organize an Easter Egg Hunt and invite their community. Use this opportunity to extend an invitation to those who come to join you for services. Make sure they receive something in print about the times of services.

Before you send the children to hunt for the eggs, share the Easter story. Make it a mini-children’s sermon. Explain that after the resurrection the disciples hunted for Jesus. But, He was no longer in the grave. He had risen from the dead! Tell them that when we have faith in Jesus, our sins are forgiven. When we die we will go to heaven to be with Jesus.

Easter Cookies

Making special Easter cookies can become a family tradition. You need: one cup of whole pecans, one tsp. of vinegar, three egg whites, a pinch of salt, one cup of sugar, a zipper baggie, a wooden spoon, tape, and a Bible. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Place pecans in a zipper baggie and allow each member of the family to beat them with the wooden spoon. Soon they will break into small pieces. Remind them that when Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the soldiers. Make sure you tell them that He was beaten for their sins and your sins!

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put it into the mixing bowl. Tell them the story of when Jesus was on the cross and was thirsty He was given vinegar to drink from a sponge. Read John 19:28-30 together.

Add egg whites to the vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us forgiveness and life everlasting. Read John 10:10-11 together.

Sprinkle a little salt into each person’s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this can represent the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27 together.

Now add one cup of sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the Easter story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and love Him. Read John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high for 13 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Explain that the color white represents purity. Our sins are washed away and we are clean because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Read John 3:1-3.

Fold in the broken nuts. Drop the dough onto wax paper on a cookie sheet. Explain that each cookie represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid after His death. Read Matt. 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet into the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give everyone a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed. Read Matt. 27:65-66.

GO TO BED! Explain that we might be sad to leave the cookies in the oven just as the disciples were sad when they put Jesus into the tomb. Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus’ followers found the tomb open and empty! Read Matt. 28:19 together.

Family Gatherings

Extended families gather together for food and fellowship on Easter. If your family is like ours, some of your relatives are not Christians or have fallen away from the Church over the years. Use these opportunities to be light and salt to your loved ones. Talk about the sermon your pastor preached that morning. Talk about the resurrection and Christ.

Jesus said to him (Thomas), “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see and yet believed” (John 20:29).

Kay Meyer is the president of Family Shield Ministries based in St. Louis, Missouri. Its mission is to: educate and equip people through the power of the Gospel to know Christ, grow in His Word, and strengthen individuals and their families. You can tune in to Family Shield on Saturday’s from 11 a.m. – 12 noon on AM 850 KFUO. Learn more at Family Shield by visiting www.familyshieldministries.com or calling (314) 772-6070.