Easter
now browsing by tag
Resurrection Rolls
Main Verse:
Matthew 28:6 NLT He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.
Additional Verses:
John 19:38-42
Materials Needed:
- Crescent roll dough (Enough for each person to have one roll)
- Melted butter
- Cinnamon sugar
- Marshmallows (enough for each person to have one)
- Small paper plates (one for each person)
- Bowls for butter & cinnamon sugar mix
- Oven
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment paper for easy clean up
- Hand wipes
- Table
Preparation:
Line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Have the kids wash their hands before you begin. If you don’t have access to a sink, provide hand wipes. Hand wipes will also be helpful after they have assembled their “tomb” as well as after they eat it, as hands will be sticky. Melt the butter on a stove or in a microwave ahead of time. Depending on the number of children, you may want to have a few bowls of butter and a few bowls of cinnamon sugar so everyone can work at the same time.
Object Lesson:
Happy Easter! What do we celebrate at Easter time? Do we celebrate the Easter Bunny? Is he the reason that we have Easter? No. We celebrate Easter because Jesus died on the cross for our sins. When Jesus died, His friends were very sad because they loved Him so much. They did not expect to see Him again. Some of Jesus’ followers wanted to honor Jesus so they took His body and prepared it to be buried. They took spices and perfume and they put it over His body and they wrapped Him up in fabric. Then they laid Him in a tomb that was made out of rock. But He didn’t stay dead for long! Does anyone know how long Jesus was dead for? That’s right he was dead for three days. But on Sunday morning, a miracle happened. Jesus’ friends went to the tomb and found that He was not there. He had risen from the dead.
We are going to make a sweet treat to remind us that Jesus is alive. (Give everyone a crescent roll on their plate.) This is a piece of dough that will represent the tomb where Jesus was buried. (Give everyone a marshmallow). We are going to pretend this marshmallow is Jesus’ body and we are going to get it ready to be buried. Let’s roll it in the butter and then in the cinnamon sugar. This is like the spices that they put on Jesus’ body. Now let’s put his body in the tomb (help the children roll them up snugly into a ball. Press all of the seams tightly so they don’t explode too much).
Bake the rolls according to the package instructions.
(Hand out the baked rolls). Let’s break them open and see if Jesus is still in there. (Break one open). He is not here. He is risen.
Proud Peeps
Main Verse:
Matthew 21:5-5 (NLT) “Tell the people of Jerusalem, ‘Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey– riding on a donkey’s colt.’”
Proverbs 16:18-18 (NLT) Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.
Additional Scriptures:
Philippians 2:3-8
Materials:
- Microwave Oven that can be set up in the room so everyone can see it.
- Table
- Marshmallow Peeps (alternatively you can use a regular marshmallow and teach this lesson any time of year.)
- Plate
Preparation:
All microwaves vary, so practice ahead of time by microwaving a Peep to determine how long to leave it in. I recommend starting with 30 seconds.
Object Lesson:
Who can tell me what it means to be proud? (Allow for answers). Yeah, it means that someone is bragging about themselves. They might talk about how they are the best basketball player on the team or the best dancer in their class or brag that they are the smartest one in the class. They might say these things about themselves even if it isn’t 100% true. They sort of puff themselves up a bit to make themselves feel like they are better than everyone else.
What is the opposite of being proud? That’s right, it’s being humble. Jesus was the best example of a humble person. He didn’t act like He was better than everyone else. In fact, there was a prophecy about Jesus which said Matthew 21:5-5 (NLT) “Tell the people of Jerusalem, ‘Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey– riding on a donkey’s colt.’” Today on Palm Sunday, we celebrate when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people wanted Him to be their king. But they didn’t realize that Jesus wasn’t your average king.
Now, most kings were very proud. What kinds of things do kings usually have? (Allow for answers: jewels, money, throne, robe, castle, carriage, etc). They would be proud of all of their money and their fancy clothes and their carriages and big houses as well as their power. But Jesus didn’t have any of that. Do you think Jesus could have had all of that stuff if he wanted to? (Allow for answers). Absolutely! But He didn’t come to be an earthly king, he came to save us from our sins. The Bible says in Phillippians 2:5-8 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Even though Jesus was God, he gave up his privileges as God and became a human being. He took a humble position as a slave. He obeyed God by dying on the cross for our sins.
(Put the Peep on the plate and put it into the microwave). Let’s pretend this Peep is a proud person. (Turn the microwave on for 30 seconds). They brag and brag and make themselves sound better than everyone else. (Open the microwave to show the Peep that is all puffed up. The Peep will start to deflate). Uh-oh! What’s happening to this Peep? He’s going down. He was too proud and you know what happened, he fell down. The Bible tells us to watch out because pride comes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall. That means that when we are proud we are not following the example of Jesus and things can go wrong in our lives! There can be a consequence. If we are too proud, God might have to teach us a lesson so that we can learn to be humble. God wants us to care more about others than ourselves, the way that Jesus did.
Hollow Without Jesus
Key Verse:
Ephesians 3:19 (NLT) May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Additional Verses:
Titus 3:5; Ephesians 1:19-20
Materials Needed:
A Hollow Chocolate Easter Bunny
Preparation:
Remove the chocolate bunny from the packaging.
Object Lesson:
We’re a lot like this Easter Bunny (Hold the hollow bunny and take a bite out of the ears or break them off). I’m sorry that I can’t share this with everybody. We’re hollow, empty. (Show that the inside is hollow). Going around day to day, waking up, working a job going through the motions, but we feel empty inside (e.g. going to school, sports, homework, etc. Use age-appropriate examples for your group).
We feel bound by addiction, our past, we’re held back. We feel like we look good on the outside, but on the inside we know that there’s something missing. We know that we are not experiencing all that God has for us. Empty.
So how do we get rid of that empty feeling? The Bible says in [Eph 3:19 NLT] 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
It’s understanding how much God loves us that fills us up. He loves us so much that we can never fully understand it. He loves us more than our parents, brothers, sisters or friends could ever love us. His love completes us and gives us power to live a full life.
Maybe you’ve been going around depressed, or with anxiety, anger or feelings of rejection. Jesus is saying that you don’t have to stay that way any longer. You don’t have to feel that emptiness or loneliness any longer because God wants you to know that He loves you. He sent Jesus to die on the cross for you and Jesus rose from the grave. He gave Jesus life and He wants to give that life to you. There’s nothing you can do to deserve it, it’s a free gift that He wants to give to you.
It’s not because you’re a nice person or a good-looking person or because you dressed up for Easter. That’s not why He wants to give you salvation. It’s because of His great love for you.
Stars and Stripes
Key Verse
Galatians 5:1
Additional Verses
1 Corinthians 7:23; Galatians 5:13; John 3:16
Materials Needed
- American Flag
Object Lesson
(Show the American Flag).
Do any of you know what this is? Yes! This is the flag of the United States of America. This flag reminds us of the freedom citizens of America enjoy but it also helps me to remember what Jesus did for me.
On June 14, 1777 the founding fathers of America decided that the flag should have stripes with red, white and blue. When I look at these things is reminds me of Jesus.
The stars that are on the flag reminds me of the very first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1. It says that in the very Beginning God created everything. Even the stars. Can you imagine how big and powerful God must be to be able to create the stars!
The stripes and the red color remind me about the stripes from the whip that Jesus had on his back. He bled and died for me. He wanted to take my sin upon him and he gives me forgiveness. He was beaten and whipped so that I could have healing.
The white stripes remind me that once Jesus died and rose again he cleaned my heart. The Bible says in Psalm 51:7 that God will clean us and make us whiter than snow.
The last color of the flag is the Blue. Blue is a very royal color that kings and queens wear. This reminds me that Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and He rules everything from His throne is Heaven.
When we see the flag let is remind us of the great country that we live in, but also let it remind us of the sacrifice that Jesus made and the love that He has for us.
Incoming search terms:
- lessons on healing from the bible
- usefullaj
He Took Away Our Sin
Key Verse
1 Peter 2:24
Additional Verses
2 Corinthians 5:21; Isaiah 53:4-6; Hebrews 9:28; Matthew 8:17; Galatians 3:13
Materials Needed
- Large shirt that you don’t mind ruining. A button up shirt will probably work the best as it is easiest to put on and off.
- Black washable marker (In case it should bleed through)
Object Lesson
(Call up a volunteer and have them put the large shirt on.)
Here is my friend and just like you they have sinned against God at times. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that we have all sinned, so let us think of some different sins that this person may have committed. (You can ask for sins if you want, or you can just write down the ones that you want to.)
Stealing. Maybe this person was at a store and really wanted a pack of candy and instead of paying for it they just snuck it into their pocket. That is a sin, and we will write it down. (White “stealing” on the shirt in permanent marker.)
Maybe this person told a lie also, so let’s write that down as well. (Write “lying” somewhere else on the shirt.
Perhaps they were taking a test and they decided to cheat, do you think that would please God? No! Let’s write down “cheating” as well.
Maybe they were playing ball with some friends and they all started bullying someone else who wasn’t playing the game as well. Let’s write down “bullying” too.
(Feel free to write down as many as you want to.)
Wow! Look at this person! They are covered in sin, aren’t they? Do you think that they can wipe all these sins off?
(Instruct the helper to try to wipe all the sins off of the shirt.)
They may scrub and wipe and struggle, but there is nothing that they can do to remove these sins that we have written down. There is no way to make themselves clean again.
(Have another volunteer come out and play Jesus, or you can play it.)
What Jesus did when he went and died on Calvary was he took the sins away from us. God could not be near sin and since we were covered with sin God could not be near us. So Jesus took our sins and put them on himself.
(Have the helper remove the shirt. Have “Jesus” put it on himself, or put it on yourself.)
Then when God saw Jesus all he could see was the sin. Jesus died on the cross wearing all of our sin on his back. When Jesus died sin and death could not hold him any longer. (Take the shirt off and throw it far from you.) Jesus came back alive and left the sin in the grave. He is now alive and offers us freedom from the sin that once held us captive.
Incoming search terms:
- https://freebiblelessons net/object-lessons/took-away-sin
Triumphal Entry
Key Verse
John 12:13
Additional Verses
John 12:9-19; Matthew 21:5; Mark 11:1-11
Materials Needed
- Palm branches
- Coats
Object Lesson
Do you know what today is? It is Palm Sunday! This is the day that we celebrate when Jesus rode into Jerusalem shortly before He was crucified. They call it His Triumphal Entry. That mean he rode in victoriously! Like a king!
(Show the palm branch)
One day Jesus was going into Jerusalem. He was riding in on a donkey which no one had ever ridden on before. As he rode into Jerusalem people started cutting down palm branches and throwing them on the road in front of him. Some people even took off their coats and threw them on the road for the donkey to walk on.
(Throw the branches and coats on the ground and walk across them)
Jesus rode over the coats and palm branches and as he did the crowd starting shouting. They said “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” Let’s say that together!
When a king would come riding into town everyone would gather around for the great parade. Even though Jesus was not the earthly king, people realized that He was the King of Kings.
Incoming search terms:
- https://freebiblelessons net/object-lessons/triumphal-entry
- palm sunday youth object lesson
- kids object lessons on triumphal entry
Jesus is the Best Gift
Key Verse
John 3:16
Additional Verses
Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:9-10; Romans 8:32; Romans 5:10; John 3:36
Materials Needed
- Small figure of baby Jesus, such as one from a nativity set (alternately you could use a cross)
- A gift bag and tissue paper or a gift box and wrapping paper
- Small treat or prize, such as a candy
Object Lesson
Do you guys like to open presents? I want some of you to tell me about the best present that you ever got! (Allow for responses).
The best present I ever got was (use your own story here).
Do you guys like to give presents? Isn’t it exciting to buy your friend a present and watch them open it on their birthday? Presents seem to get everyone excited. Well, I brought a present with me today (bring out the beautifully wrapped present) and I am going to let one of you open it.
(Choose a volunteer to open the gift. Ask the volunteer to tell everyone what it is:Baby Jesus or cross).
You know, God is a very generous giver. The Bible tells us in John 3:16 that God loved the world so much that He gave his only Son so that is any of us will believe in Him we won’t perish but we will have everlasting life in Heaven!
God sent His only Son into the world as a human baby and we celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas. When Jesus was an adult He began to teach people about God and soon after that He died on the cross and He rose from the dead and that is what we celebrate at Easter time.
Now, imagine how hard it must have been for God to give up His only Son and allow Him to die on the cross for you and me. That must have been a hard thing to do, but God did it because He loves us so much. He says that all we have to do is believe in Jesus and we will have eternal life with Him in heaven. Believing in Jesus is the way that we receive this wonderful gift from God. You could also give someone the top wii games for kids to bring the family together at the end of along day and after you are done playing have a talk about god and pray.
(Say to your volunteer) I am going to give you a gift for helping me today (hold out the candy) and all you have to do is take it out of my hand to receive it. (Have the volunteer take the candy and sit down). All they had to do was receive it! I want to give all of your here the opportunity to receive this amazing gift, the gift of God’s Son and eternal life. (Pray with them and give them the opportunity to receive Christ).
Incoming search terms:
- https://freebiblelessons net/object-lessons/jesus-is-the-best-gift
- our greatest gift is jesus
Make Your Sins Disappear
Key Verse
1 John 1:9
Additional Verses
Romans 3:23; Ephesians 4:32; Matthew 6:15; Acts 2:38; Matthew 6:12
Materials Needed
- Flash Paper. You can purchase it online or at a local magic shop or it you are daring you can try to make it yourself.
- Pen or pencil
Preparation
Practice this beforehand so that you understand how quickly the flash paper will burn! What you will do is hold a sheet and light the bottom corner and as it burns higher up let it go and it will completely vanish.
Object Lesson
Have any of you ever committed a sin? Have you ever done anything wrong before? What is something that you have done that is wrong? (Let the kids answer and write their answers on the piece of flash paper).
Now this paper doesn’t look very clean does it? How many of you have ever felt like this paper, dirty all over and covered in sin? Some people try to hide the fact that they have sinned. (Crumple up the paper and hold it in your closed hand). The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard. Just ignoring the sin didn’t make it go away did it?
God wants to completely forgive you of your sins and make you a brand new person inside. Doesn’t that sound great? Jesus promises us in 1 John 1:9 that He will forgive us of every wrong thing that we have done if we will apologize and ask Jesus to forgive us. We need to accept His free gift. Then God promises that He will completely take our sins away.
(Light the paper on fire, and it will instantly burn up with no residue or ash).
Just like those sins on that paper are gone Jesus wants to make your sins disappear too if you will let Him come and forgive you.
What Can Wash Away My Sins?
Key Verse
John 3:16
Additional Verses
Romans 3:23; Hebrews 9:22; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 5:8; Luke 13:3; John 3:36
Materials Needed
- Mirror, piece of glass or polished metal (could even be a TV or anything with a glass surface, but if you use a TV you will need to put a signal through it to make the marker visible)
- Red dry erase marker
- Black sharpie permanent marker
- Spray bottle with water in it
- Cloth or paper towel
Preparation
Make sure you try this before you do it live.
Object Lesson
(Hold up the mirror and let the kids look into it.)
What do you see? (Wait for responses.) You can see yourself in it so this mirror is going to represent you. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that, “all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard.” How many of you have ever done anything wrong? The Bible tells us that all of us have sinned, so let’s say you cheated at school.
(Put a mark on the glass or even write the name of the sin in small letters with the black permanent marker).
This permanent marker is going to represent the sins in our lives. Then later on you tell your parents a lie. (Put another mark on the glass).
Perhaps your parents ask you to take out the garbage, but you are very disrespectful and you disobey. (Put another mark on the glass.)
Maybe you start picking on your sister, and calling her names and hurt her feelings. (Put another mark on the glass).
Now this glass doesn’t look very clean anymore. Maybe you feel really bad about the things that you have done, so you try to do something nice to make up for it, maybe you offer to set the table. (Spray some water on the screen and try to rub the marker off).
You still feel bad though, because there is nothing that we can do to take away the sins in our lives. (Add a few more marks).
They keep adding up the more wrong things that we do. There is a way to remove the sin in our life though. It is by receiving the free gift of forgiveness that Jesus offers to all of us. Jesus died on the cross and shed his blood so that we can be forgiven. It says in Hebrews 9:22 that without the shedding of blood there can’t be forgiveness of sin. (Start drawing with the red dry erase marker all over the black ink, make sure to cover it all completely or you the permanent marker won’t come off.)
What was once impossible for us to do, Jesus can do with His blood. (Take the rag and wipe off all the ink.)
If you feel like your life is filled with all kinds of bad things like this mirror was, you need Jesus to clean you with His blood. You need to receive His free gift of eternal life, because only Jesus can remove the sin in our life.
Incoming search terms:
- wash away sin object lesson
- what can wash away my sin object lesson
- https://freebiblelessons net/object-lessons/what-can-wash-away-sins
D5 Creation