Tuesday with Tiff: Making Easter Joyful and Leading Kiddo's to Jesus

Children learn about Easter in some interesting ways! They are exposed to videos (both religious and secular), photo opportunities with the Easter Bunny in the mall, traditional family gatherings, community egg hunts and ads for Easter clothing, Easter baskets and candy. This celebratory mixture is bound to confuse children! Even for adults, it’s sometimes hard to separate the traditions from the truths. Jesus’ death and resurrection is the single most powerful and important chain of events in human history. But it is easy to focus on the fun and yet miss the joy. Easter is far more than the trappings that surround the holiday! Keep It Simple Long after Easter day is passed, it’s important that children understand and remember that Jesus is alive! As adults, we need to keep in mind that words and phrases that are quite clear to us often have little meaning for young children. Young children have very vague and uneasy notions about death. While this truth is vitally important to our faith, “Jesus died and rose again” is not likely to be clear or seem like a reason to be excited and happy! (What does dying have to do with a flower? Why are you glad that Jesus died? I was sad when my Grandma died.) Instead of dwelling on the details of Christ’s death, help children grasp the great truth of the Easter story—that Jesus took the punishment for our sin and that He did not stay dead. He is alive now! Help them understand how Jesus’ friends felt: “Jesus’ friends were very sad when Jesus died. They were sad because they thought they would never see Jesus again. When they found out that Jesus did not stay dead, they must have laughed and hugged each other! They told everyone they knew, ‘Jesus is alive again! Jesus is living! We saw Him!’” As you talk, show pictures (from a Bible storybook, for example) that are clear and help children understand what you are telling. Ask them open-ended questions, so you can find out what they know. This is your opportunity to clear up any misinformation children have picked up and build happy feelings about the Easter story. Reinforce true details about the story, rather than misconceptions children may have.

Keep It Focused When a child talks about the Easter bunny, traditional activities or candy, simply smile and comment, “Those things are fun. But the biggest reason we are glad at Easter is because we know Jesus is alive!” In order to keep children’s attention focused on the Easter story, avoid use of decorations that picture the Easter bunny. However, don’t expect that children will be as excited about spiritual matters as they are about tangible things such as candy! Your excitement, enthusiasm and example in talking about Jesus’ resurrection and love for us provide more understanding for young children than any extensive verbal explanation could! Answers to Questions As a child’s ability to understand grows greater, he or she will ask more questions. Keep your answers clear and biblical. Why did people kill Jesus? Jesus was hurt and killed by angry people who did not like Him. They did not know that God sent Jesus to love and help everyone. Jesus let these angry people kill Him. He knew it was part of God’s very good plan. Jesus knew He was going to die to take the punishment for our sin. He loves us so much that He was willing to do that. And Jesus knew He was going to be alive again! Avoid graphic details of Jesus’ death: these are better left until a child is older. If a child becomes frightened by talk of Jesus’ death, he or she can be gently reminded, “It’s OK. Jesus knew this was going to happen. He did not stay dead. It was part of God’s good plan to make a very SAD thing into a very GLAD thing!” Where is Jesus now? Jesus lives in heaven now with God, His Father. Heaven is a very beautiful place. Everyone is very happy there. No one is sick or hurt there. No one cries or is sad. What is Jesus doing in heaven? Jesus is making a wonderful home in heaven for every person who is part of God’s family. Every member of God’s family will be with Him in heaven someday. Even though we can’t see Him now, we know that Jesus has promised to be with us and care for us.   Many adult Christians look back to their elementary years as the time when they accepted Christ as Savior. Not only are children able to understand the difference between right and wrong and their own personal need of forgiveness, but they are also growing in their ability to understand Jesus’ death and resurrection as the means by which God provides salvation. In addition, children at this age are capable of growing in their faith through prayer, Bible reading, worship and service. However, children (particularly those in early elementary grades) can still be limited in their understanding and may be immature in following through on their intentions and commitments. They need thoughtful, patient guidance in coming to know Christ personally and continuing to grow in Him. Pray. Ask God to prepare the children in your class to receive the good news about Jesus and prepare you to effectively communicate with them. Present the Good News. Use words and phrases that children understand. Avoid symbolism that will confuse these literal-minded thinkers. Discuss these points slowly enough to allow time for thinking and comprehending. For a simple, five-point overview of the Gospel to share with your kids, click here. As you give children many opportunities to think about what it means to be a Christian, expose them to a variety of lessons and descriptions of the meaning of salvation to aid their understanding. Talk personally with the child. Talking about salvation one-on-one creates opportunity to ask and answer questions. Ask questions that move the child beyond simple yes or no answers or recitation of memorized information. Ask what-do-you-think? kinds of questions. Click here to see example questions. Answers to these open-ended questions will help you discern how much the child does or does not understand. Offer opportunities without pressure. Children are vulnerable to being manipulated by adults. A good way to guard against coercing a child’s response is to simply pause periodically and ask, “Would you like to hear more about this now or at another time?” Lovingly accepting the child, even when he or she is not fully interested in pursuing the matter, is crucial in building and maintaining relationship that will yield more opportunities to talk about becoming part of God’s family. Give time to think and pray. There is great value in encouraging a child to think and pray about what you have said before making a response. Also allow moments for quiet thinking about questions you ask. Respect the child’s response. Whether or not a child declares faith in Jesus Christ, adults need to accept the child’s action. There is also a need to realize that a child’s initial responses to Jesus are just the beginning of a lifelong process of growing in the faith. Guide the child in further growth. Here are three important parts in the nurturing process: Talk regularly about your relationship with God. As you talk about your relationship, the child will begin to feel that it’s OK to talk about such things. Then you can comfortably ask the child to share his or her thoughts and feelings, and encourage the child to ask questions of you. Prepare the child to deal with doubts. Emphasize that certainty about salvation is not dependent on our feelings or doing enough good deeds. Show the child verses in God’s Word that clearly declare that salvation comes by grace through faith (i.e., John 1:12; Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 11:6; 1 John 5:11). Teach the child to confess all sin. “Confess” means “to admit” or “to agree.” Confessing sins means agreeing with God that we really have sinned. Assure the child that confession always results in forgiveness (see 1 John 1:9). IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS: PLEASE SEE PASTOR TIFFANY! LET'S CELEBRATE EASTER!