WAY2GO Magazine Issue 45

Issue 45

FEATURE

Easter is a special time of year for Christians and it’s

E

coming up fast! This Easter, let’s help our children

WELCOM

find out what the Bible says so they can understand its meaning in all its fullness.

When you plan your programme think carefully about what you want your children to discover about God. There are dozens of Easter ideas for telling stories and hundreds of crafts to make and do. Choose ones that appeal to you, but as you select them ask

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yourself, “Will these activities help my children grow closer to God?” Then make sure you choose ideas that will help that happen. Make space for discussions and let the children ask questions and explore the story for themselves.

Check out the ideas in this issue of the WAY2GO magazine. They have been carefully designed to help children take a look inside the story of Easter and find out what it means for them.

WAY2GO 2014 PRESENTS:

SCRIPTURE UNION’S CONFERENCE FOR ALL

NZ CHILDREN’S MINISTRY LEADERS

Dunedin - 15 March 2014 Auckland - 29 March 2014 Wellington - 12 April 2014 REGISTER: www.sunz.org.nz

BIGGER

than the

W RLD

itself

January 2014 11 ORDER A FREE BROCHURE: EMAIL way2go@sunz.org.nz OR FREEPHONE 0508 423 836 Adventure_January_.indd 11

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EASTER

E

Experienced

Eas exc nee pla you

Try this idea for telling the story of Easter.

Write each bold sentence on separate pieces of card. Hold them up for the children to see as you tell the story and teach the children the actions to go along with them.

Mo for cra

Jesus died upon the cross.

We to

Make cross shape with hands.

The Bible tells us that the religious leaders didn’t like Jesus very much because they didn’t like what he was saying. They plotted and planned and then they arrested him and sentenced him to death. He was killed on a cross, which was the way they killed criminals in those days. This happened on Easter Friday.

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Use the

He was buried in a grave.

Fold hands over and bow head.

After Jesus was dead, a man named Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body and buried him in his family tomb – a sort of cave grave. He wrapped Jesus’ body up in cloth and rolled a large stone in front of the entrance to the tomb.

For three sad days, Jesus was dead.

Hold up three fingers.

But then came Sunday morning.

Rest one forearm on top of the other. Raise the top forearm to show the sun rising.

An earthquake shook the ground.

Shake and rock on the spot.

When the women came to see Jesus’ tomb, Jesus’ body was not there.

Make a circle with arms and look through it.

He’d risen from the dead!

Punch hands in the air.

He talked and walked with all his friends.

Shake hands with those around you.

They saw him and they were glad.

Smile and cheer.

Easter is the time that we remember that Jesus died to take away all the things we have done wrong, and then came back to life so that we can be friends with God in a new and exciting way.

If the people will believe in Jesus,

Spread your hands to indicate all the people. they’ll be his forever friends.

Put out hands one to the left and one to the right.

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WHEN THE STOR Y IS FINISHED ASK TH E CHILDREN:

What part did you like best?

What part did you think was the most important?

Who would you have been if you had been in the story?

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EASTER

Cracked

Easter Cracked combines years of Scripture Union experience with exciting new ideas. This book will give you almost everything you need to get the most out of Easter for years to come. It includes plays, crafts, events, stories, service outlines and almost everything your church will need at Easter.

More Easter Cracked is a new book out. It’s a great collection of ideas for communicating the message of Easter. It contains dramas, stories, crafts, prayers and lots more.

We have a free copy to give away – ring us and mention WAY2GO. If you’re the third person to ring, you can have it!

Check them out along with our other resources online at www.sunz.org.nz or freephone us on 0508 423 836 for a catalogue.

EASTER

Use interactive art to tell the Easter story.

Explored

Give the children a small piece of white paper.

Ask them to use wax crayons to colour a pattern of bright colours all over the page. Make sure there are no white spaces showing. Ask the children to tell you some of the things they know about Jesus. Explain that Jesus came to earth to tell us about God. That was exciting.

Help them colour over the top of their paper with black wax crayon. Explain that something sad happened. Some bad people didn’t like Jesus. Tell the story of Jesus’ arrest and death.

But then something amazing happened. Give the children a sharp pencil or a nail. Show them how to start in the middle of the page and draw a spiral spreading outwards! Look at the bright colours shining through! Tell the story of how Jesus came back to life and that he is still alive today.

Ask the children how they know Jesus is still alive today. Share a story from your own experience.

Shared

EASTER

Make an Easter card to tell a friend about Easter

Give each child a plain card made of black card folded in half.

On the front of the card, stick a strip of double-sided tape horizontally to make the cross bar. Peel off the tape backing.

Now stick another strip of tape vertically to complete the cross shape. Peel the backing off this too.

Sprinkle glitter over the card so it sticks to the double sided tape.

Shake off the excess.

Use a silver pen to write an Easter message on the inside of the card.

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YOU’RE LOSING

H

US

growing kids and young peop le with faith

If You Knew That 50% Of Your Church Membership Would Leave In The Next 15 Years What Would You Do?

This is a serious question. Research conducted by David Goodwin tells us 50% of children and young people in Australian churches will be gone in the next 15 years. Other research across the western world is showing similar patterns and New Zealand is no different. This research tells us that despite our best intentions, the way we are supporting our children and young people spiritually is not working. The way we are doing faith formation is not working. This is nothing short of shocking.

Scripture Union will come and run a three hour workshop for your church, exploring how you can do faith formation more effectively with your children and young people.

This Scripture Union workshop is for children and youth workers, but it is also for pastors, senior leadership and parents as well. It's for everyone because this is a worrying problem and it will take all of us working together to fix it.

We don’t know about you, but we don’t want to lose our children and young people.

We would love to come run a workshop at your church to address this key issue.

Email way2go@sunz.org.nz or call Hilary Hague on (04) 385 0485.

Scripture Union wants to work with your church to create opportunities for children and young people to discover and follow Jesus, grow as leaders, and influence the world. Contact us and let us know how we can help you.

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Scripture Union in New Zealand – PO Box 760, Wellington 6140 way2go@sunz.org.nz – 0508 423 836 – www.sunz.org.nz

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