Two Baskets

Last time we talked about Passover. Today we will talk about Easter. Today I brought an Easter basket. Let’s see what is in it...

Stuffed rabbit—Easter is not the Easter bunny

Remove the bunny and place a picture of Jesus and a small toy lamb in its place in the basket.

“The Bible says that Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. The Jewish people celebrated the Passover to remember how a lamb was sacrificed so that they would be safe from the Angel of Death when they were slaves in Egypt. We remember that Jesus, our Lamb, died to take the punishment for our sin.”

Easter eggs—Easter is not a basket of colored eggs

Replace the eggs with a wooden cross, preferably a crude one with slivers.

Although we often think of the egg as a symbol of life, the cross is a symbol of death, and Jesus had to die in our place before we could eternal life.

Sweet Easter candy—Easter is not sweet chocolate and marshmallow

Remove the Easter candy and place a bottle red wine vinegar in the basket.

When Jesus was dying on the cross, he was given sour wine (vinegar) to drink.

Colorful ribbon bow—Easter is not pretty ribbons and decorations

Remove the bow and tie a large steel nail in its place on the handle.

Jesus was not tied to the cross with colorful bows. His hands and feet were nailed there with sharp spikes.

Easter bonnet/new clothes—Easter is not a pretty new hat or new clothes

Remove the hat and clothes and replace them with a crown of thorns and long strips of cotton sheet.

Before Jesus was nailed to the cross, the Roman soldiers placed a crown made of thorns on his head and mocked him, calling him “King of the Jews”. After he died, his friends took his body down from the cross and wrapped it in long pieces of cloth before they placed it in the grave.

Flowers—Easter is not lilies and other beautiful flowers

Remove the flowers and place packages of spices in the basket.

After Jesus died, those who wrapped his body for burial placed spices around it .


Soft green grass—Easter is not a basket lined with soft green grass

Remove the Easter grass and put in a large stone.

Instead, Easter is a hard, cold tomb…carved out of stone…with a heavy stone rolled tightly across the opening.

The real gift of Easter IS NOT baskets of candy and eggs and toys.

The real gift of Easter IS God’s angel rolling away the stone to show the world an empty tomb. The real gift is a Savior who not only died in our place on the cross, but who also rose again to life forever.

Just as the Jews celebrated Passover to remember how God saved them from death in Egypt, Christians celebrate Easter to remember how Jesus became our “Passover Lamb”.

A Box, A Baby, A Lamb and A Cross

For the last few weeks we have been talking about Christmas. Have you been counting the days until Christmas? Have you been wrapping gifts?

As I was wrapping gifts, I started thinking about the wonderful gift God has given us when He gave us His own Son. You know, I have a son, too, and it would be very hard for me to send him far away…especially if I knew that people would treat him badly, even though he was willing to die for them.

Right now, there are many mothers and fathers in our country whose children have become soldiers and have gone to Iraq to fight so that the Iraqi people can have freedom. Many of those American soldiers have been injured and some have been killed for the sake of the Iraqi people.

When Jesus left Heaven to come to earth, His Father God knew just what was going to happen to Him, but He loved all the people of the earth so much that He willingly gave us the gift of His own Son.

I brought along some things today that represent the greatest gift of all…Jesus Christ.

BOX WITH STRAW
When I think of this box full of straw, I think of the cattle out in the barn. They might eat from this manger…maybe the chickens would roost in it at night…maybe mice would build a nest in the corner. A barn is a pretty dirty place, isn't it? It would be cold and drafty out there, and there would probably be dirt and spider webs…and it might not smell too nice, either.

BABY WRAPPED IN BLANKET (Place baby in manger)
But it would be the place where Mary would lay her baby…God's only Son…soon after He was born. She would wrap Him in blankets to keep Him warm, and Joseph would stand close by to protect this tiny baby that God had given him to provide for and to shelter.

LAMB (Place the lamb near the manger)
When God's angel told the shepherds out in the fields to go to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus, they knew where to find the manger…and the baby. The Bible says that they left their sheep to hurry to the barn where He lay. Sheep and goats were important to the people In the days when Jesus was lived on earth. Young sheep and goats were taken to God's temple in Jerusalem and killed there as a sacrifice to cover the people's sins. When the baby Jesus grew to be a man, the prophet John the Baptist, told people, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." God's Spirit was speaking through him to show people that some day Jesus would be the One sacrificed for sin. No more lambs and goat s would have to die, ever again.

THE CROSS (set behind the manger)
If you were going to run in a race, where would you begin? (starting line) How important is the finish line in a race? (it is your goal as you run) Jesus' birth in Bethlehem was only the beginning of the race He came to run. His goal was not to be born…but to die. All of His life was lived in the shadow of His death. When we celebrate Jesus' birth this Christmas, it is a happy celebration, but it is only the beginning of the work Jesus came to do. When you look at the little baby in the manger, don't ever forget the cross at the finish line.

A Candy Cane Testimony

What did we talk about last week?

*Christmas is not—
Presents, Tradition & stories, Trees, etc.

*Christmas is—
Jesus (Immanuel, God with us)
A miracle, never to be repeated

How can you tell other people about what Christmas really is?

I use objects—like the little Christmas tree—to teach and to remember something that is true. Today we will use another Christmas tradition as our object.
One of the traditions that many people have is special food & candy at Christmas. Did you know that we can even use candy as an object lesson to witness to people about Jesus?

Display candy cane. Do you know how to use a candy cane to tell people about Jesus? Why should we tell others about Jesus? BECAUSE HE TOLD US TO.
March 15:19 Jesus said to the healed man, "Go home to thy friends and tell them what great things the Lord hath done for thee."

What does the candy cane have to say? Let's take a look at it.
It began as a pure white stick of candy. White reminds me of Jesus. He never sinned in His whole life—There was no dark spot of sin in Him at any time at all. (I John 3:5 "..in Him there was no sin.")

He had to be without sin so that He could take the punishment for our sin. (Rom. 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

Turn candy upside down to form a "J". This "J" reminds me of His name…JESUS. The angel told Joseph to name Him "Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins." (Matt. 1:21

There are red stripes on this piece of candy. They remind me that before Jesus died, He was whipped and nailed to a cross. When He died, His blood ran down, just as these stripes do, for me. He died in my place…and in yours…so that we would NOT have to be punished for our own sin. Because Jesus did that for us, our sins can be forgiven and we can go to Heaven some day to be with Him forever.

This candy cane is mine, isn't it? I bought it, and I can do whatever I want with it. If I want to give it to you, you don't have to pay me for it because it is mine to keep or mine to give away.
Jesus says that He has bought our salvation so that we may have our sins forgiven. We cannot pay Him for it. It pleases Him to give it to us as a gift.

but…

Just as this candy will not be yours unless you take it when I give it you, the forgiveness and salvation that Jesus wants to give you will not be yours unless you accept it. If you truly believe that Jesus has died in your place, take the forgiveness that He is offering you. Thank Him for dying for you…and tell others about Him so they can have His free gift of salvation, too.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christ-less Tree

Props: small Christmas tree, representative ornaments

How many of you have decorated your houses for Christmas? How many of you have already put up a Christmas tree? Have you baked cookies? Bought presents for other people? Do you like to sing Christmas songs?

None of these things are bad things to do, are they? But sometimes even good things can cover up the best things.

I brought along a little Christmas tree today, and I want us to think about whether any of the things we hang on this tree show us what Christmas really is. There are lots of fun make-believe things people talk about at Christmas, and there are lots of traditions (big word—things that we do every year) that we have…and they are not all bad. Some of them are good things, but even good things can cover up the best thing.

Display Christmas tree and point out that the stories & traditions about Christmas (as demonstrated by ornaments) are not what Christmas really is.

Stocking—How many of you put out Christmas stockings? Lots of fun to find candy and little gifts in them on Christmas morning.
Presents—Do you like to get presents from people? Do you like to give them? It's fun to give people we love something special, isn't it?
Santa & reindeer—The story of Santa is a Christmas tradition for many people. You will see pictures of Santa on Christmas cards and maybe see people dressed in Santa costumes.
Bells—Many church buildings have bells that are rung to tell people that it's time to come and worship God.
Christmas tree—Green trees and wreaths and garlands are pretty and real ones smell wonderful, don't they?

But…What is Christmas? Can you tell me?

All these things are just traditions and stories…The truth is, Christmas isn't any of these things.

Take each ornament off.

Christmas is a miracle. Only God can do miracles. Remember that God is really three persons in one—God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The great miracle of Christmas is that God the Son put Himself into the body of a tiny baby and was born to a young woman named Mary. That little baby, Jesus, was both God and man. No one else has ever done that before and no one ever will do it again. That is Christmas. Nothing else.

Christmas trees and stockings and presents and lights and cookies and Christmas cards are not wrong…but just make sure that the good things of Christmas don't cover up the best thing…the REAL Christmas. And the real Christmas is Jesus. Just Jesus, and nothing else.

TWO BOOKS: Do-It-Yourself or Done-It-For-You

Objective: To show that salvation is of faith or belief, not work on my part
Objects: Cookbook and Bible
Vocabulary:
Same – like something else
Different – not like something else
Faith or Believe – rely only on God/Jesus to save me
Work – rely only on my self and what I can do to save myself

Indicate the two books—the cookbook and the Bible
What are these?

How are they the same?
Both are books
Both give directions to do something/both are "how to do it books"

How is the Bible different from the cookbook?
It is God's Word (God doesn't make mistakes)
The Bible tells us how we can know God
It tells us what God is like, that He is always right in everything He does and says
It tells us how God has told us to live
It tells us that we are sinners and that sin must be punished
It tells us that Jesus has died to take the punishment for our sin
It tells us that all we must do to have our sin forgiven is to trust God and believe what He says

How is the cookbook different?
It is a person's words (People sometimes make mistakes)
Tells us how to cook or bake something, like cookies or soup or fried chicken
We can't just read a recipe for cookies and then believe that there will be cookies—We must get the ingredients and the pans and make the cookies.
We have to do the work ourselves or there will be no cookies
If we don't want to follow the recipe and choose to forget some of the ingredients or put in too much of something, there will be awful cookies!

Cookbooks are important when we cook because we all want the cookies to taste good. Cookies are the result of work, of what we do, not what we believe.

The Bible is important when we want to know God and have our sin forgiven so that we can be with Him forever some day.

Going to Heaven is not like baking cookies. There is nothing we can do to be forgiven and saved. Being saved comes from what we believe about Jesus—That He is God who came to earth to live a perfect life, to die in our place to take the punishment for our sin.

There is nothing you or I can do—There is no recipe list of things like…
Going to church
Obeying your parents
Reading your Bible
Praying
Being really good and nice to people even when they aren't nice to you
Giving money to missionaries
That God has said will pay for your sin.

The difference between the cookbook and the Bible is that this one (cookbook) is a do-it-yourself book, and this one (Bible) is a done-it-for you book.

Jesus has done it for you and me. The only thing we can do is believe Him, and accept (take) what He has for us.

Have you done that? I have something for you. I have already done the work in your place (just like Jesus died for you), and you may have this gift…Just like Jesus' payment for your sin is His gift to you, you can't do any work for it.

Now it's up to you to decide whether or not you will accept it...It won't really belong to you unless you do.

Hand out homemade cookies to the children.