Turned up-side down
Children's sermon
Object:
Sad/happy face
Good morning, boys and girls. I want to show you a picture of
someone. How is this person feeling? (Let them answer.) This
person looks pretty sad, doesn't he? What would it take to make
him feel happy? Let's turn him upside down and see what happens.
How is this person feeling now? (Turn the illustration to the
happy side.) Now the person looks happy, doesn't he?
This happy and sad face is like the followers of Jesus on the first Easter morning. At first they were very sad. Do any of you know why they were sad? (Let them answer.) They were sad because Jesus died on the cross and was buried in a tomb. On Easter morning some of Jesus' followers went to where he was buried. What happened when they arrived? (Let them answer.) They found the stone rolled from the tomb. Jesus was not in the tomb. Mary was so sad when she saw that Jesus' body was missing that she began to cry. Suddenly someone asked her, "Why are you weeping?" When she turned around, she thought she saw the gardener, who took care of the graves. She was still sad. She said, "Sir, if you have carried Jesus' body away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away."
Much to Mary's surprise, the gardener was really Jesus. He was alive! Mary suddenly realized that Jesus was alive! Her sad face turned into a happy face. (Show the face. Turn the sad face around to become the happy face.) She was the first person to experience the joy of Easter. We are experiencing the joy with her this morning. We know that Jesus rose from the dead. When he rose from the dead his followers were turned upside down -- from sad to happy, just like this face. Because Jesus lives, we are no longer sad people. (Show the sad face.) We are ... (Show the happy face.)
That's the message of Easter. Jesus turns our lives upside down -- from sad to happy. We know that Jesus lives. We are happy because of it. It is up to us to share that happiness with others.
This happy and sad face is like the followers of Jesus on the first Easter morning. At first they were very sad. Do any of you know why they were sad? (Let them answer.) They were sad because Jesus died on the cross and was buried in a tomb. On Easter morning some of Jesus' followers went to where he was buried. What happened when they arrived? (Let them answer.) They found the stone rolled from the tomb. Jesus was not in the tomb. Mary was so sad when she saw that Jesus' body was missing that she began to cry. Suddenly someone asked her, "Why are you weeping?" When she turned around, she thought she saw the gardener, who took care of the graves. She was still sad. She said, "Sir, if you have carried Jesus' body away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away."
Much to Mary's surprise, the gardener was really Jesus. He was alive! Mary suddenly realized that Jesus was alive! Her sad face turned into a happy face. (Show the face. Turn the sad face around to become the happy face.) She was the first person to experience the joy of Easter. We are experiencing the joy with her this morning. We know that Jesus rose from the dead. When he rose from the dead his followers were turned upside down -- from sad to happy, just like this face. Because Jesus lives, we are no longer sad people. (Show the sad face.) We are ... (Show the happy face.)
That's the message of Easter. Jesus turns our lives upside down -- from sad to happy. We know that Jesus lives. We are happy because of it. It is up to us to share that happiness with others.
