bath & wells: services for children and young people
schools & colleges
Seasonal Prayers - easter day
Colour Coded
An Easter prayer incorporating a simple craft activity.
(You will need A4 papers in different colours, drawing materials and a stapler)
Remind everyone that, for those who loved Jesus, Good Friday was a dreadful day when very bad things happened. Saturday was a quirt, sad day and Sunday, a wonderful day of rejoicing.
Give each person a dark paper for Friday, a neutral paper for Saturday and a bright paper for Sunday. Let them write the days at the top, then draw or write about the events of each day on the appropriate sheet. Use white, silver or yellow crayon on the dark paper. Staple the sheets together in order.
Say that the three different days were all part of God's plan. With the Friday pages showing, pray thanking God that Jesus died on the cross so that we could be forgiven. Turn to Saturday and allow a time of quiet to think about how much God loves us, then turn to Sunday and invite everyone to shout their own praises to Jesus for being alive today.
Thank you prayer
Make a 'tomb' with one hand by curling the fingers round and having an opening made of a the first finger and thumb in a circle shape. The other hand – as a fist – becomes the stone blocking the entrance. Each time the children say 'the angel rolled the stone away', roll the fist away to reveal the empty tomb.
Thank you, dear God, for Easter Day.
The angel rolled the stone away.
Thank you, dear God, for raising Jesus from the dead.
The angel rolled the stone away.
Thank you, dear God, for taking away our fear of death.
The angel rolled the stone away.
Thank you, dear God, for loving us so much through Jesus.
The angel rolled the stone away.
Thank you, dear God, for giving us hope and a new start.
The angel rolled the stone away.
Thank you, dear God, for giving us a message of love to share with others.
The angel rolled the stone away.
Thank you, dear God, for Easter Day.
The angel rolled the stone away.
Light triumphs
You will need a relighting candle (test it at home first!) and a box of matches
Light the candle and talk about Jesus’ death as the darkness trying to put out the light (Jesus). Blow the candle out. As it relights, say that Jesus’ power was greater than the darkness and he came back to life.
Say the following prayer with everyone joining in the responses:
Thank you, Jesus, for your love for us
Hallelujah! Jesus is the King!
Thank you for suffering so that we can have new life
Hallelujah! Jesus is the King!
We praise you because you defeated death
Hallelujah! Jesus is the King!
Help us to know you are close to us always
Hallelujah! Jesus is the King!
Amen
Floral Cross
(You will need a large piece of brown card, flower shapes cut from brightly coloured paper, pens and glue)
In advance cut an enormous cross out of card (if possible, use corrugated card to give a textured effect). Talk about how the cross reminds us of the events of Good Friday. In fact Good Friday was not a good day at all, but a very sad day on which we remember that Jesus was put to death on the cross even though he had done nothing wrong. Some people think that the name Good Friday may have derived from "God's Friday", just as "goodbye" comes from "God be with ye". Others believe that we call the day Good Friday because in the old days the word "good" was often used to mean "holy". In many European languages Good Friday is called "Great Friday". On Good Friday Jesus certainly did a very great thing for all mankind. He gave his life for our wrongdoing, so that all who believe in him might be free.
The cross is a symbol of Jesus' death, but Jesus did not stay on the cross: he rose again, and so it is also a symbol of our new life in him. Give out the flower shapes and invite everyone to write a short prayer on their flower thanking Jesus for his amazing love. Young children could draw a happy face. Play some rousing Easter music and invite everyone to come up and stick their flower prayers onto the cross.
More Seasonal Prayers
|
