Category Archives: Easter, Season

Like Christmas, Easter itself is a period of time rather than just a day. It is actually a seven-week season of the church year called Eastertide, the Great Fifty Days that begins at sundown the evening before Easter Sunday (the Easter Vigil) and lasts for six more Sundays until Pentecost Sunday.

Easter 7C

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Day: Easter 7C

Lectionary Passage: John 17:20-26

Scripture Focus: John 17:20-21

Object: Paper Chain People

Preparation: You will need scissors and a piece of butcher paper. First, fold paper accordion-fashion so that all sections are equal. The number of folds determines the number of people in the chain. Then on the top section, draw a person whose hands extend the folds of the paper. Third, carefully cut around your person. Finally, open out the paper and reveal your paper chain people. TIP: Don’t try to fold the large paper while you’re talking with the kids. Instead, have the paper folds done in advance and just make the cuts to create the people chain.

(Begin making the paper chain people) I don’t know about you, but one of the things I love most about coming to church is that I get to see some friends. And you know we’re not just friends because we like the same tv shows or cheer for the same teams or play the same games. Even though that stuff is cool, we’re friends because of something even greater. We’re friends because we all love Jesus.

In our Bible story for today, Jesus says that he wants us all to be one. I think that means that Jesus wants everyone who loves him to be stuck together with other people who love him (reveal paper chain people). By sticking together, we are one. So together we can learn about following Jesus, we can teach others about Jesus, and we do a lot of other cool stuff that we couldn’t do on our own. So, I’m glad that we are one big group all stuck together!

Let’s pray: God, thank you for sticking us together so that we can all grow closer to you through Jesus. Amen.

Easter 6C

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Day: Easter 6C

Lectionary Passage: John 14:23-29

Scripture Focus: John 14:25-26

Object: String tied around your finger

You know, it is really hard to remember things sometimes. That’s why I have a fool proof system for remembering stuff. You see, I also remember to tie a piece of string around my finger to remind me there’s something important I need to remember. The only problem is that I can’t always remember what that something important is. I guess my system for remembering things isn’t very good.

Luckily, Jesus gave us something much better than a piece of string to remember what he taught us. In our Bible story for today, Jesus tells us that God sent the Holy Spirit to help us remember all that Jesus said. The Holy Spirit does that in a lot of different ways, like helping teachers and preachers and each of us whenever we read the Bible. I don’t know about you, but I sure am glad we have the Holy Spirit instead of a silly string to help us remember about Jesus.

Let’s pray: God, we give you thanks for the Holy Spirit who helps us remember the really important stuff like Jesus and what he taught us. Amen.

Easter 4C

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Day: Easter 4C

Lectionary Passage: John 10:22-30

Scripture Focus: John 10:27

Object: Cell phone with various ring tones

I’ve got my cell phone with me today. One of the things that I love about my phone is that I can have a different ring tone for everyone who calls. So, I don’t even have to pick up the phone to know who is calling. Like this one… (give two or three examples of callers and play the ring tone – have fun with it!). Having different ring tones for different people makes it really easy to know who’s calling!

Jesus says kind of the same thing in our story today. He’s not talking about cell phone, but he does say that his followers know his voice and follow him. And that’s good news because Jesus gives all his followers eternal life. That means that Jesus wants to save us and bring us up to Heaven with him one day. It’s a good thing we know the voice of Jesus!

Let’s pray: God, thanks for sending your Son Jesus Christ. He calls us all to follow him and when we hear his voice and follow then we get amazing blessings from you. Amen.

Easter 3C

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Day: Easter 3C

Lectionary Passage: John 21:1-19

Scripture Focus: John 21:17

Object: Big Spoon

You know we have a lot of great cooks in our church. And I bet you have a great cook at home who makes all your favorite meals. One thing I love about cooking is that there’s a job for everyone. Even if your small, you can still help by stirring the pot (make a stirring motion with the big spoon). That way everyone helps make a great meal.

In our story for today, Jesus meets up with the disciples on the shore where they’ve been fishing. The disciples had been fishing all night but they didn’t catch anything until Jesus told them where to cast their nets. The next thing you know, they have a huge catch of fish! When they get back to shore, Jesus has cooked a meal for them. It was pretty simple: just bread and fish but I bet it tasted really good after their long day of fishing. After the meal was over, Jesus said to them: “Feed my sheep.” Jesus wanted to make sure that his followers would always know to take care of other people. And that includes feeding them when they’re hungry.

So next time your helping in the kitchen or eating your favorite food, remember that you can help feed others too. One of the ways we can do this in our church is… (elaborate on ways kids can help at your church, like bringing can goods to a church food pantry, or helping at community meals by setting the table or making fun place mats, etc.)

Let’s pray: God, help us remember to care for other people by feeding them. Amen.

Easter 2C

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Day: Easter 2C

Lectionary Passage: John 20:19-31

Scripture Focus: John 20:22

Object: None

One of my favorite superheroes of all time is Superman. He has all kinds of amazing powers, like superhuman strength, flying, and x-ray vision. But the one that always catches my attention is Superman’s super breath. Superman has the ability to inhale and exhale huge volumes of air with great force, so he can put out fires and move heavy objects like cars. He can also freeze stuff with his breath!

As cool as Superman’s breath is, it still isn’t as powerful as Jesus’ breath. You see, in our story today, Jesus finds the disciples hiding out in a house. After Jesus greets them, he does something really strange: He breathes on them. And when he does, the Holy Spirit comes! That’s how powerful Jesus’ breath is! It gives us the Holy Spirit. And with the Holy Spirit we can do amazing things like pray to God in Heaven. Now, that’s some powerful breath Jesus’ got.

Let’s pray: God, thank you for sending Jesus who breathed into us the power of the Holy Spirit so that we can do amazing things!

Easter C

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Day: Easter C

Lectionary Passage: Luke 24:1-12

Scripture Focus: Luke 24:6

Object: Basket with several plastic eggs, jelly beans, and a rubber band

Preparation: Fill the basket with several plastic eggs with jelly beans inside, you may want to have enough for each child to take one home. Place one empty plastic egg in the basket – be sure you can easily identify this egg. Fill a small plastic egg with jelly beans and attach it to a rubber band. It is very important that this egg fit up your sleeve and is fully concealed. The key to the trick is simple: when you shake the empty egg with one hand, it will sound like it’s full of jelly beans because you have the egg up your sleeve. But when you shake it with the other hand, it will not make any sound, which allows you to reveal the empty egg.

Good morning everyone! Well, as you can see I’ve got a basket full of Easter eggs. I love Easter eggs, especially the surprise inside. (Pick up an egg with jelly beans inside and shake it) It sounds like this one is full of jelly beans. (Open the egg to reveal the jelly beans to everyone before putting it aside). 

(Pick up your empty egg) Of course, Easter isn’t really about eggs and and jelly beans (shake with the appropriate hand to make the jelly beans rattle). It’s about Jesus. It’s about the amazing truth that God became human just like me and you in order to save us (rattle the egg). On Good Friday, Jesus died on the cross and was buried in a tomb (rattle the egg). Some people probably thought that was the end of the story, but it wasn’t. (Transfer the egg to your other hand) On Easter morning, some of Jesus’ friends went to the tomb and discovered (shake the empty egg) it was empty. The stone was rolled away and Jesus was not there (open the empty egg). 

Jesus wasn’t there because God had raised him from the dead! On Easter we celebrate God’s amazing power and love. The empty tomb proves God wins!

Let’s pray together: Thank you God for sending Jesus Christ to love us. We are so glad the tomb was empty on Easter because that means your love wins! Amen.

Easter 4B

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Day: Easter 4B

Lectionary Passage: 1 John 3:16-24

Scripture Focus: 1 John 3:18

Object: None

Good morning everyone! Valentine’s Day was a long time ago, but that’s not the only day in the year when we tell someone they are loved. We could tell a special person we love them any day of the year. Or we could write it in a letter or make a pretty card that says “I love you.”

But, you know, speaking and writing aren’t the only ways to let people know that you love them. There are a ton of other ways! You could give them a hug. You could smile at them or maybe even hold their hand.

It’s easy for most of us to show love to our family and friends, but God wants us to love everyone. That doesn’t mean you have to hug everyone you meet. But it does mean that God wants us to be ready to help others.

In our Bible story for today, we learn that loving others means that we’re willing to help when they are in real need. Like, when we… (this is a great opportunity to list tangible ways children and/or your church in general reach out to people in need).

I hope we will all remember to show our love by our actions!

Let’s pray: God of love, help us tell others that we love them by using our words and our deeds. Amen.

Earth Day B

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Day: Earth Day B (Easter 3B)

Lectionary Passage: Not Applicable

Scripture Focus: Genesis 1:26

Object: Bathtub fish toy

Preparation: You will need a gallon milk jug, permanent marker, and a box cutter. Begin by turning the milk jug onto its side so that the handle is at the top. Then, with the marker draw a mouth shape on the base of the jug and extending it part way up the sides. With the box cutters, cut along the lines creating a wide mouthed scoop. Finish by adding eyes and a fin. TIP: If you find sharp edges where the mouth was cut, then use an emery board to file them down.

In the very beginning of the Bible, we learn that God choose us to be caretakers of the earth. Just like good moms and dads take care of you (the kids) we should take care of the earth. That means we need to love God’s creation and not hurt it.

One thing we can do is to recycle. Recycling means taking things you have finished using and making brand new stuff with them.

See here, I’ve got an empty plastic milk jug. Now, I could throw in the garbage and send it to a landfill someplace. But that wouldn’t be taking care of God’s creation. Instead, I decided to recycle it…

(very dramatic presentation)… to make a cool new bathtub toy!

You see instead of throwing this away and hurting God’s wonderful earth, I made something brand new out of it. And it’s super fun to play with!

When we recycle we are helping God take care of the earth.

Let’s pray: Creator God, thank you for this beautiful earth. Help us each day remember to take care of creation. Amen.

Easter 2B

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Day: Easter 2B

Lectionary Passage: Acts 4:32-35

Scripture Focus: Acts 4:32

Object: Candy (or stickers) to share

Good morning boys and girls! I’ve brought this gigantic bowl of candy with me this morning. I love candy. Raise your hand if you like candy (let the kids raise their hands). You do?! Well. I bet you are wondering if I will share with you… hmmm… hmmm… of course I will share with you! It’s good to share with others.

In fact, in our Bible story for today, we learn that the very first believers in the early church shared everything they had. They didn’t just share candy, they shared everything!! They were so good at sharing what they had that there wasn’t a needy person among them. Because everyone shared, everyone had what was needed. If we ask, God will help us become great at sharing, too. And the more we practice sharing, the better we become at it! So, I want us to remember to share with others.

Let’s pray: God, help us to share all the gifts you have given us. Amen.

Easter 6A

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Day: Easter 6

Lectionary Passage: John 14:15-21

Scripture Focus: John 14:15-17

Object: “A Spirit Detector” (A Mirror with Glitter)

Preparation: Decorate a small hand-mirror so that when you look into the mirror your face is completely surrounded by glitter. (If you are feeling very ambitious, this sermon would be very cool done with a full-length mirror so that kids see themselves fully surrounded by the Holy Spirit.)

Note: The NIV translates “Advocate” as “Friend,” which is a more relatable term for children and the one used in this sermon.

Good morning! Our Bible story for today has a really important lesson. It tells us that when Jesus had to go back to Heaven to be with God that he asked God to send another Friend to be with us. And that Friend is the Holy Spirit! We can’t see the Holy Spirit, but he is always with us. Always sticking around, right by our side, no matter what is happening, we can always count on the Holy Spirit to be right there with us because he is our very best friend!

Sometimes that’s a little hard to remember, so I’ve come up with this gizmo. I call it “A Spirit Detector!” All I have to do is look into it and I can see that the Holy Spirit is surrounding me all the time. You try… (have one of the kids look into the mirror)… see this bright shinny glitter reminds me that the Holy Spirit is always there. Even though we can’t see our friend, the Spirit is right here with us. “A Spirit Detector” just helps us remember that.

Let’s pray: God, thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to be our friend. Help us always remember that the Spirit is right here with us no matter what. Amen.