A new life
Children's sermon
Object:
a bed pillow
Good morning, boys and girls, it's Happy Easter Day! You can't find a day that is any better than Easter Day, not Christmas, not the Fourth of July, not your birthday. Easter Day is the very best! You remember what happened on Easter, don't you? (let them answer) That's right, Jesus rose from the dead. No one had ever done that before.
Let me share the story with you. It begins when Mary Magdalene came to the tomb where Jesus was buried and noticed that the tombstone had been moved. She ran back into town where she found Peter and John. She cried out that someone had taken Jesus out of the tomb and hidden him.
Peter jumped up and ran back to the tomb with John. John took a look into the tomb and he could see the cloths that had been wrapped around Jesus' body. Peter looked inside of the tomb, too, but he was surprised by something very strange. In those days, people covered the body with linens and they also put a cloth over the face of the dead person. This cloth had been rolled up and moved to a place away from where the head had been.
When you get into bed at night, where is your pillow? (show the pillow and let them answer) It is in the place where you are going to lay your head. When you lay down on that pillow, do you notice that it is all fluffed up and there are no dents in it? When you get up you will notice the marks that your head made on the pillow. Is this right? (let them answer) But, the pillow does not move unless you move it.
Well, Peter and John found the cloth in a different place, all wrapped up, and the linens were not like they would have been if they were covering a body. Peter and John knew that something had happened, but they were not quite sure what it was. Did someone hide the body in a different place?
When Mary Magdalene was so upset that she could not stop crying, she heard a voice. She thought it was the man who took care of the cemetery. Instead she found out that it was Jesus. After they had spoken, she ran back to the disciples and shouted, "I have seen the Lord."
All of us know that Jesus was raised by God and given new life. Look closely at your pillow tonight before you go to sleep and see how fluffy it looks, then look at it in the morning for the evidence which tells that you slept there. Peter and John collected the evidence that made them believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. We call this resurrection. Amen.
Let me share the story with you. It begins when Mary Magdalene came to the tomb where Jesus was buried and noticed that the tombstone had been moved. She ran back into town where she found Peter and John. She cried out that someone had taken Jesus out of the tomb and hidden him.
Peter jumped up and ran back to the tomb with John. John took a look into the tomb and he could see the cloths that had been wrapped around Jesus' body. Peter looked inside of the tomb, too, but he was surprised by something very strange. In those days, people covered the body with linens and they also put a cloth over the face of the dead person. This cloth had been rolled up and moved to a place away from where the head had been.
When you get into bed at night, where is your pillow? (show the pillow and let them answer) It is in the place where you are going to lay your head. When you lay down on that pillow, do you notice that it is all fluffed up and there are no dents in it? When you get up you will notice the marks that your head made on the pillow. Is this right? (let them answer) But, the pillow does not move unless you move it.
Well, Peter and John found the cloth in a different place, all wrapped up, and the linens were not like they would have been if they were covering a body. Peter and John knew that something had happened, but they were not quite sure what it was. Did someone hide the body in a different place?
When Mary Magdalene was so upset that she could not stop crying, she heard a voice. She thought it was the man who took care of the cemetery. Instead she found out that it was Jesus. After they had spoken, she ran back to the disciples and shouted, "I have seen the Lord."
All of us know that Jesus was raised by God and given new life. Look closely at your pillow tonight before you go to sleep and see how fluffy it looks, then look at it in the morning for the evidence which tells that you slept there. Peter and John collected the evidence that made them believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. We call this resurrection. Amen.
