Family activity that highlights the TRUE meaning of Easter
Things you’ll need:
- A few long boards (ex. 2”x4”), nails, and a hammer
- Pieces of craft or notebook paper and pencils or crayons
- A Bible
- As a family make a cross by attaching the boards to each other using hammer and nails.
- What are some things God asks us to do? (love our enemy; obey our parents; be kind to one another)
- Discuss the word sin. Use the definition, “anything we do that disobeys God.” (ex. disobedience, bad attitude, anger)
- Read Romans 3:23. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
- Take a piece of paper and write words that represent some of the sins you have committed, such as lying, hitting, stealing, saying bad words, etc. Younger children can just draw a picture of a mean face, hitting another person, etc.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”John 3:16
- Invite an older child or parent to read Romans 6:23 and
John 3:16 aloud.
- Ask each person to “nail their sins to the cross” to symbolize what happened when Jesus died for us.
- Discuss God’s gift of forgiveness. Read 1 John 1:9. “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.”
- Review some of the sins nailed to the cross. Lay hands on the cross and pray a prayer of thanksgiving to God for what Jesus did on Good Friday.
- Recite this jingle—“Jesus took my sins away, on the cross that Good Friday.”