Jesus’ death and resurrection is the crux of our Christian faith. However, I find the story of Baby Jesus a much more fun story to tell to kids. A new baby, animals, the smell of hay, shepherds hearing the news, kings following a star – it is so much more understandable. Many kids have younger siblings or cousins and they have toys and blankets from when they were a baby.
But a story of violence and death, and then someone coming back to life is a much heavier story. We are not as comfortable talking about death or about Jesus’ death in particular. I remember one time I was doing a children’s message on Good Friday, and one of the kids pipes up, “But he doesn’t stay dead.” Exactly! We have a God who breaks boundaries and the greatest of these is Jesus bursting out of the tomb, very much alive!
Which leads to the question of how do you introduce kids to the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection in an age-appropriate way? The Spark Story Bible is a good resource for parents and grandparents to read with kids. You can talk about the story and the pictures and answer the questions that they have. Sticking with the questions they have is a good way to be at an age-appropriate level. Kids often understand more than we give them credit for.
Another great way to help kids understand the story is to come to our Children’s Good Friday Worship Service at 11 a.m. on April 19. We will experience the story from Palm Sunday through Maundy Thursday, Good Friday to Easter through song, story and movement. Kids – and adults – learn in a variety of ways and we want to help everyone better understand Jesus’ story and how it relates to our lives.
The service will be followed by a grilled cheese lunch. Please invite family and friends!