Scriptures: Mark 16:1-8-or-John 20:1-18
Preparation: Get a big piece of paper, like off an art roll, and write/paint/color “Alleluia” on it as big as you can. Have it all rolled up so that no one can see what it says, but so that it will be easy to unroll like a banner.
Faith+Open: Enter into the space as excited as you can. Say things like, “Children, come quickly! The most amazing thing has happened! You’re never going to believe this!”
Faith+Share: : Do you know what has happened? Have you heard the news? Jesus isn’t dead! He’s alive, ALLELUIA!
Unroll your banner, you need to be really over the top about this, super excited, far beyond anything that the children are going to give back.
Wait, why am I so much more excited than you? Have you heard this story before? Oh, you have, well, it’s still exciting, don’t you think? Maybe we need to look at this a different way. Have you ever lost a special toy, and then found it again? It’s pretty great when that happens. Or, maybe more for your parents, putting on a pair of pants and finding $20 in the pocket. It just makes your day so much better. Now think about Jesus friends, they didn’t lose a toy, they lost their best friend, their teacher, the person they thought was God in human form. He was gone. Then, suddenly he’s not! He’s alive and with them! Now that would be an amazing day, don’t you think?
The story gets better, too. Jesus came back with an unbelievable gift for everyone. Jesus forgives us all for everything, and opens the gates of heaven. So, when you think about it that way, even if you’ve heard the story before, it’s pretty exciting, isn’t it?
Ok, now that we’re all excited about the story, let’s try this again. I’m going to shout, “Alleluia! Christ is Risen!” Then you say, “Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
Here we go:
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Faith+Prayer: Amazing God, WOW! Your live and with us! Help us to celebrate the good news of Christ risen and share the Easter blessing with everyone we meet. Amen.
Faith+Blessing:: You say, “Alleluia! Christ is Risen!”
They say, “Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!”