MESSY EASTER activities and reflections prepared by Erika Pryde our Mission and Outreach worker.
Today we had planned to have our Good Friday workshop and lunch together at Mayfield and Easthouses church but online at home we are posting our Messy church activities and thoughts so we can still gather together to learn more about the Easter Story. We all know that Easter is about chocolate eggs, the Easter Bunny, spring lambs bouncing around the fields and little yellow chicks. These are good things but what about Good Friday?
Having shared the Passover supper with his Disciples Jesus went to his favourite place to spend time with God in Prayer. Jesus asks the disciples to pray and watch over him, Jesus is stressed and troubled, He knows he is going to die, he knows the authorities are coming for him and that this is part of Gods plan. The soldiers arrest Jesus and take him away, Jesus tells his disciples that this is what was supposed to happen but the disciples run away…
The next day Jesus was crucified on the cross and that is the day we call Good Friday …. A strange name for a sad day.
MIRROR
You will need:
- A hand mirror
- A white-board pen
- A sponge cut into a cross shape
- Take it in turns to look at your faces in the mirror. Remind each other – ‘You are God’s masterpiece!’ (Eph 2:10).
- Talk about the things which you do wrong – bad choices, selfish things, attitudes which are not God’s best. Write them on the mirror in pen.
- Pray to say sorry for these things.
- Use the cross shaped sponge to wipe the mirror clean again.
- Say thank you to Jesus for the Cross that wipes our wrong things away
PLAY-DOUGH
You will need:
- Balls of play-dough (bought or home-made you can get a recipe from You tube or on google)
- Each take a piece of play-dough, and make an image of yourself. It could be literally what you look like, or an image of how you feel.
- Make a ‘Jesus’ model out of the same play-dough. Read the verses below, and talk about how Jesus knows what it is like to be one of us – made of the same stuff.
- Pray – thank Jesus that he knows what it is like to be you, and that he died as ‘one of us’.
Philipians 2:7-8 When the time came, Jesus… became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim to have special treatment. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died the worst kind of death at that, on a cross.
EASTER BRACELET
You will need:
- Beads – either ones lying around the house or some hollow pasta shapes like macaroni or penne
- Paint or colouring pens
- Thread Elastic, cotton, wool or even garden wire
- Gather together your beads, or colour your pasta different colours
- Think of all the things that happened during holy week. Jesus arrival in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the meal with his friends where Mary poured perfume on his feet, the visit to the temple where he got angry with the money changers, the last supper, praying in Gethsemene, Jesus arrest and trial, being disowned by Peter, the crucifixion, the quiet Saturday and then the great surprise of the empty tomb and Jesus Alive.
- Choose a bead of a different shape or colour for each event and thread it onto your cotton, wire or elastic.
- Use the bracelet to help you remember the Easter story is not just about the Chocolate eggs and bunnies!
BROKEN WORLD COLLAGE
You will need:
- A large piece of blank paper or card
- A clean piece of card shaped like a cross as long as the blank card or paper above
- Glue stick or pva glue
- A printed picture of the world
- Felt or maker pens
- Lay out your blank paper on a table or flat surface,
- Write or draw on the paper all the things you can think of that are wrong with the world – war, greed, lying, stealing for example.
- Tear the picture of the world up into pieces all sorts of shapes and sizes.
- Using the glue stick the picture of the world onto the blank paper over all the words you have written or drawn.
- Think of what Jesus came to earth to do and as you say “Thank you” to Jesus for healing the hearts of people in the world glue the clean cross on top of the broken world picture.
The week has been full of surprises for the people in Jerusalem, the disciples and for us, but Jesus knew how things were going to be, and on Easter Day Jesus gives us the best surprise ever. Yep, it’s not about the Easter Bunny, the chocolate or the Lambs, it’s about Jesus suffering on a cross and about the empty tomb on Easter Sunday.
Why did Jesus have to suffer? On the cross Jesus stretched out his arms and died on the cross to draw enemies back together as friends; to heal the wounds caused by anger, violence and hate; and to make us a new family with God as our heavenly father. Jesus was a bridge between God and us, bringing us back together. When Jesus came back to life on Easter Day he gave us his peace – to share.
Can you think of some of the things you have done that have caused other people to be sad, angry, or upset? Are you sorry for the hurt you caused? That’s ok cos God sent Jesus to take your punishment so tell God you are sorry and ask him to forgive you and take away your bad feelings, and let Jesus bring you back together with those people that you have hurt, Stretch out your arms and share your peace with everyone. Is there someone living nearby that you can share peace with? Perhaps make a little card to wish them a happy Easter.
We would love you to share some of your crafts on our facebook page.
Prayer
Thank you Lord Jesus, that you stretched out your arms and died on the cross to bring us back together in peace. Help us to stretch out our hands to share your peace with everyone, Amen