Empty Tomb/Resurrection Appearances – Family Faith Companion

Easter is here!

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

Two kids in Easter finery at the base of the flower-decked cross

A blessing for your Easter:

May the joy of Easter dress you out in finery and flowers.
May your Easter be full of family and friends and glimmers of joy.
May you openly receive God’s grace,
Allow it to fill you,
and may you turn outward and offer it back to the world around you.

Happy Easter !

— Carol

Photo credits:
Photo is from my archives.

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Why did Jesus have to die?

Posted on April 2, 2015April 2, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

Did you see the parade on Sunday? Such a celebration!

Lots of waving palms!

And there it was… Sure enough… Joy was in the air!

Palm waving with a focus on joy

And next Sunday is Easter!

More Joy!

Oh, but what about the in-between days?

Can we leave out this?

draped cross

Do you say, “I don’t know how to explain why they killed Jesus, so I’ll just hurry over that part.

“Let’s just skip the bad parts and progress right to the Easter Joy.”

Granted, it takes delicate talk to explain why Jesus had to die. Start off by asking your child why they think Jesus had to die. It is important to ponder and wonder around this question with our kids.

Make sure that they understand that is was not God who put Jesus to death but other people; people who did not like Jesus. They did not like the things that Jesus said and did. It might even be helpful to talk about why people might not like what Jesus had to say about how to treat others (Matthew 7:12), or about loving your enemies (Matthew 5:43-44), or about sharing your resources (Matthew 19:21).

How about some elaboration on why Jesus had to die:

This part of Easter is hard to understand. This part shows us how much God loves us and wants to be able to be connected with us.

No matter how hard we try, we still sin — we do stuff that separates us from God and from other people; things that push God away. There is nothing we can do to make up for our sins; we deserve to be punished.

Jesus took that punishment for us. He died so that our sins could be forgiven!

It seems harsh, but it’s not the end of the story because Jesus came back to life! Jesus had been killed on a cross but on the third day, women found his tomb (the place where he had been buried) empty! The tomb was empty because Jesus was alive! God’s power brought Jesus back to life again. He was resurrected. This means that God’s love is more powerful than death!

Jesus’ death and resurrection show us that we are fully forgiven. God’s love is more powerful than anything and is still there, even when we sin!

Photo credits:
Photos are from my archives.

Our Schedule for March/April 2015 – Jesus is alive!

Posted on March 18, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

We’ve heard the story so many times it is easy for us to accept. But pause for a moment and consider the shock, and surprise, and joy experienced by the followers of Jesus on the very first Easter. They needed convincing that the resurrection was true! Do we? What does this message mean to us?

Attend our workshops for this Rotation!

He is Risen by artist He Qi

As preparation, read our story in Matthew 28:1-10, and in John 20:1-20.

For Saturdays at the Green Wood location, here is the schedule…

Date	Workshop or Activity
3/21	Art Workshop
3/28	Video Workshop
4/4	Science Workshop
4/11	Cooking Workshop
4/18	To be announced
4/25	Attend worship – led by the 7th-12th graders

And on Sundays, at the downtown location, here is our schedule of workshops:

Date	Our workshops for 1st through 5th graders…
	Art	Cooking	Video	Science
	Room 212	Social Hall	Room 215	Room 211
3/22	4th grade	3rd grade	2nd & 5th grade	1st grade
3/29	3rd grade	2nd & 5th grade	1st grade	4th grade
4/5	Enjoy Easter Sunday worship with your family! The sermon is on Mark 16:1-8. Read it before hand! It will sound very familiar, except for one part. I wonder what that’s about?
4/12	2nd & 5th grade	1st grade	4th grade	3rd grade
4/19	1st grade	4th grade	3rd grade	2nd & 5th grade
4/26	Enjoy Youth-led worship with your family!

And here’s what the 6th graders will be doing this month… (They’ll always be in the Pine Room.)

3/22	3/29	4/5
Stay tuned…	for further details.	Worship with family Easter Sunday!

What’s happening in each workshop?

In the Art Workshop students will create a mini garden/empty tomb scene. Sort of like a crèche scene for Easter!
In the Video Workshop students will watch portions of the animated video from Nest Entertainment, He is Risen.
In the Science Workshop students will explore the difference between magic tricks, scientific facts and miracles. Which one does Jesus’ resurrection fall into?
In the Cooking Workshop students will create “Resurrection Rolls.” Yum. And what a surprise!

On Saturday nights and on Sunday mornings at FUMC our Cool Disciples experience Rotation Model Christian education, as they learn about Bible stories and concepts through kid-friendly multimedia workshops. If you are in the area please join us for the fun learning at First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor, MI.

Photo credits:
He is Risen, by He Qi, via Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN, offered under a Creative Commons License.