Naturally I took the opportunity to talk to colleagues before and after the Chrism Eucharist yesterday about their best Easter all age talks.
One person had borrowed a coffin from a local undertaker and was considering how to use it untraumatically!
A classic talk is to do with Believing The Unbelievable on the basis of Eye-Witness Evidence. This simply involves doing something unbelievable: eat a daffodil (do check on the health and safety of this), pretend to eat a tin of dog food (though this rather detracts from the point), cycle down the aisle in full regalia. A friend of mine is keen for me to pogo-stick into church. Anyway, anything unbelievable. Ask: would your friends believe you if you told them you'd seen it? We ought to believe in the resurrection because the empty tomb and the appearances of Our Lord are confirmed by honest, reliable witnesses. (We believe things on the evidence of others all the time - e.g. I have never been to Australia, but I believe it exists).
Easter Punctuation. This could be adapted for almost any Bible passage and has the virtue of being educational!
! - The shock of Good Friday
? - What's it all about?
" " - for anything anyone says!
. - It seems like a dead end / the stone over the tomb
... - Waiting while Jesus is in the tomb
! - The tomb is empty
? - What's going on?
etc. etc.
Extra points for anyone who uses a semi-colon!
Easter Hats.
A baby's bonnet for Jesus born to die.
A judges wig for Jesus' trial.
A black hat / veil / undertaker's black hat to represent a funeral.
A crown of thorns.
A real crown.
A football club or other hat to represent a fan or follower.
etc.
Easter Colours.
Large sheets of coloured card / images on the screen / bits of cloth etc. to help you tell the story:
Green (palms) / Gold (kingship) / Grey (donkey) for Palm Sunday.
During Holy Week the leaders are Green with envy. They increasingly see Red.
Red wine colour for the Passover meal.
Green for the garden. (Red for the blood of Jesus' sweat)
Silver for the 30 pieces of silver for which Judas betrayed Christ.
Black for betrayal and trickery, for the night, for the darkness of the human heart.
Jesus' purple robe.
Brown for the cross.
Gold for the title above the cross and the crown of thorns.
Red for the blood of Jesus.
Grey for the gloom of morning / confusion.
Gold for the resurrection.
White for the forgiveness of sins / the empty tomb / the grave clothes / the shinning whiteness of the angels.
Green for go follow Jesus, sent out on mission etc.
Blue for Jesus' ascension into the sky.
Tell the Easter Story with stuff in Eggs (chocolate or plastic could work): https://thevicarswife.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/resurrection-eggs-for-toddlers-sunday-school-and-busy-vicars/
The Bible Societies Easter Poem / Video / Powerpoint / script: - Easter from the point of view of Jesus' friends, Peter, Mary (and John) http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/easter-2016/
Glen Scivener's latest poem: If You Had Been Here - drawing on John 11 - http://christthetruth.net/
Or the previous Bread of Heaven one. https://thevicarswife.wordpress.com/tag/glen-scrivener/
Easter & Holy Week goodies: https://onlinepastor.org/
And no doubt there are lots of other videos in the world.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
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2 comments:
Thanks for this. I used the Easter Punctuation and adapted it slightly. Made large cuts outs of the points and hung them up for all to see. I then used the same punctuation marks to help people see how they react to this story. Question marks - for the sceptics amongst us who would benefit from doing Christianity Explored. Exclamation marks - for those who want to burst out in praise. "..." for those who profess faith but need to work out the next steps in their walk with Christ (plug for forthcoming Discipleship Explored Course). Thanks again.
Great ideas, Mark. Thank you.
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