Easter Sunday
April 16, 2017
Acts 10:34-43 Psalm118:1-2,14-24
Colossians 3:1-4 Matthew 28:1-10
The Smith family had three children, Harry, Jeremy and Chloe. And they had some wonderful grandparents. The three kids loved to do things with their grandparents. Papa and Nana would do wonderful things for them and with them at special times of the year, like for their birthdays, for Christmas, Easter, summer vacations and for Valentine Day.
One year the three children decided to ask their Nana and Papa for something special. They just loved Christmas; it was so fun to wake up on Christmas morning and see lots of gifts under the Christmas tree. They loved to sing Christmas songs and so they decided to ask their Nana and Papa for something special.
Chloe, Harry and Jeremy were with their Nana and Papa one day and Chloe said, "Nana and Papa, we have something special to ask you." Papa said,"Well, what do you want to ask?" Jeremy jumped in and said, "I will asked. We have been talking about this for a long time and so now it is time to ask you." Nana said, "Okay, Jeremy, what is it that you want?" But then, Harry interrupted and said, "Nana, I should ask you since I am the oldest. I'm 9, and Jeremy is 7 and Chloe is 5, so I should ask." Papa said, "Okay, what is it that you want?" Harry said, "What we want is this. We want you to make Easter for us just like Christmas." Papa thought he knew what they meant. Perhaps they were thinking about all of the presents under the Christmas tree and they were comparing this with just getting about a dozen chocolate Easter eggs in the Easter egg hunt. Nana looked at Papa and winked and said, "Papa, we'll have to think really hard and see if we can make Easter a special time for the kids."
The children were very excited now and they could barely wait for Easter. Every day they would ask their mom and dad, "When is Easter coming? Will it be coming soon?" Harry asked, "Can I use your cell phone to call Nana and Papa to make sure that they don't forget Easter and their Easter promise."
Mom and Dad made a count down calendar for them on the refrigerator and each day they would mark big red X on a day. They were so excited. And mom and dad were worried that it might be a big let down for the children and they did not know what Nana and Papa had planned.
Well, finally Easter came and the children got up really early. They went down stairs to see if there was anything in the living room. Nope. Nothing there. They went into the backyard to see if there were any surprises there. They couldn't find anything. Chloe wondered," I wonder if Nana and Papa forgot." So the children went to the kitchen and mom and dad had breakfast ready. And then they had to get ready for church. So they went to church and had a very good Easter celebration and they had an Easter Egg hunt, but no Nana and Papa. Jeremy asked their mom and dad, "Where is Nana and Papa? Why weren't they at church?" Dad said, "Well, they went to their own church today. But we are going to drive to their house today and see them."
Chloe said, "Great, so we will get our Easter surprise."
After they got home from church, they changed clothes and ate a quick lunch. Harry said, "Let's go. We have to go to Nana's and Papa's to see if they can make Easter better than Christmas."
So they got into the car and in about twenty minutes they came to Nana and Papa's house. Jeremy was excited and he said, "I can hardly wait for our surprise."
They got out of the car and Nana and Papa greeted them and hugged them and wished them a happy Easter and they all went into the house. And the children were surprised by what they saw in the family room. You know what they found?
They found a large cross there. And around the cross they found lots of gifts wrapped. Chloe said, "Nana, is this a Easter Christmas Tree?"
Nana said, "No, this is a cross." Harry said, "I see that you have our names on the gifts. Can we start opening them?" Papa said,"Okay, do you want to start? So each child got one of the gifts with their name on it." Jeremy said, "Let's open them together. On, your mark get set, go!" The three children ripped off the wrapping as fast as they could. They got down to the box. And together they ripped open the boxes. And Harry said, "There's nothing in my box. Where's my gift?" And Jeremy said, "There's nothing in my box either." And Chloe said, "There's nothing in mine either. My box is empty." Chloe started to laugh in nervous way, "Ha, ha, Papa, that's a very good joke. Can we open the rest of the gifts now?" Papa and Nana said, "Sure go ahead. Open all of the gifts."
So the children began to open all of the gifts. They opened their second presents and again, all of the boxes were empty. Jeremy said, "Let keep going and open more presents; this is a scavenger gift hunt." So they open three gifts and then four gifts and five gifts and all of the boxes were empty." And they came to their last gift. Harry said, "I hope you saved the best for last." And they all opened their sixth gift and their sixth gift was also an empty box. The family room was a mess; it was full of the all of the wrapping and boxes of 18 different wrapped boxes and all of the boxes were empty.
Chloe was sad and she started to cry. She said, "Why didn't we get any gifts? I thought you were going to make Easter as good as Christmas." Harry was older and he said, "Papa, you got us! That was a good Easter joke." Though he still was sad about the empty boxes. Jeremy said, "Nana and Papa, why did you do this? We got so excited and now we're so sad and disappointed. Why did you do this?"
Papa said, "Well, your parents told us that we should not make Easter like Christmas. They said we should do something to teach you about Easter. Christmas is about giving the gift of our lives to the baby Jesus, just like the wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus. That is why we share gifts at Christmas. But Easter is different from Christmas. How did you feel when you opened your presents?"
Chloe said, "We felt sad and disappointed because we were expecting to find some gifts." Harry said, "I thought it was a joke that you playing on us."
Nana asked, "What did the women discover on Easter morning when they went to the tomb of Jesus?" Jeremy said, "They saw that the tomb was empty. They were very sad. They thought someone had stolen the body of Jesus."
Papa said, "But was it good that they found the tomb empty?" Chloe said, "Yes, because it meant that Jesus was alive and risen. The angel told them that Jesus had risen. And then they were really happy when they saw Jesus alive and well."
Nana said, "So what did you learn from the empty presents?" Harry said, "I learned that sometimes empty can mean the very best gift of all because the empty tomb of Jesus meant that he was alive."
Jeremy said, "So we learned something very important today. Easter is not supposed to be like Christmas because the empty tomb of Jesus is the very best gift of all."
Papa said, "I so happy that you have learned about how special Easter is. But I do have something fore you. Here's an envelope."
Harry opened the envelope and he found airplane tickets for all of them to go to Hawaii for a vacation together. The children all hugged their Nana and Papa and thanked them for teaching them about Easter.
Acts 10:34-43 Psalm118:1-2,14-24
Colossians 3:1-4 Matthew 28:1-10
The Smith family had three children, Harry, Jeremy and Chloe. And they had some wonderful grandparents. The three kids loved to do things with their grandparents. Papa and Nana would do wonderful things for them and with them at special times of the year, like for their birthdays, for Christmas, Easter, summer vacations and for Valentine Day.
One year the three children decided to ask their Nana and Papa for something special. They just loved Christmas; it was so fun to wake up on Christmas morning and see lots of gifts under the Christmas tree. They loved to sing Christmas songs and so they decided to ask their Nana and Papa for something special.
Chloe, Harry and Jeremy were with their Nana and Papa one day and Chloe said, "Nana and Papa, we have something special to ask you." Papa said,"Well, what do you want to ask?" Jeremy jumped in and said, "I will asked. We have been talking about this for a long time and so now it is time to ask you." Nana said, "Okay, Jeremy, what is it that you want?" But then, Harry interrupted and said, "Nana, I should ask you since I am the oldest. I'm 9, and Jeremy is 7 and Chloe is 5, so I should ask." Papa said, "Okay, what is it that you want?" Harry said, "What we want is this. We want you to make Easter for us just like Christmas." Papa thought he knew what they meant. Perhaps they were thinking about all of the presents under the Christmas tree and they were comparing this with just getting about a dozen chocolate Easter eggs in the Easter egg hunt. Nana looked at Papa and winked and said, "Papa, we'll have to think really hard and see if we can make Easter a special time for the kids."
The children were very excited now and they could barely wait for Easter. Every day they would ask their mom and dad, "When is Easter coming? Will it be coming soon?" Harry asked, "Can I use your cell phone to call Nana and Papa to make sure that they don't forget Easter and their Easter promise."
Mom and Dad made a count down calendar for them on the refrigerator and each day they would mark big red X on a day. They were so excited. And mom and dad were worried that it might be a big let down for the children and they did not know what Nana and Papa had planned.
Well, finally Easter came and the children got up really early. They went down stairs to see if there was anything in the living room. Nope. Nothing there. They went into the backyard to see if there were any surprises there. They couldn't find anything. Chloe wondered," I wonder if Nana and Papa forgot." So the children went to the kitchen and mom and dad had breakfast ready. And then they had to get ready for church. So they went to church and had a very good Easter celebration and they had an Easter Egg hunt, but no Nana and Papa. Jeremy asked their mom and dad, "Where is Nana and Papa? Why weren't they at church?" Dad said, "Well, they went to their own church today. But we are going to drive to their house today and see them."
Chloe said, "Great, so we will get our Easter surprise."
After they got home from church, they changed clothes and ate a quick lunch. Harry said, "Let's go. We have to go to Nana's and Papa's to see if they can make Easter better than Christmas."
So they got into the car and in about twenty minutes they came to Nana and Papa's house. Jeremy was excited and he said, "I can hardly wait for our surprise."
They got out of the car and Nana and Papa greeted them and hugged them and wished them a happy Easter and they all went into the house. And the children were surprised by what they saw in the family room. You know what they found?
They found a large cross there. And around the cross they found lots of gifts wrapped. Chloe said, "Nana, is this a Easter Christmas Tree?"
Nana said, "No, this is a cross." Harry said, "I see that you have our names on the gifts. Can we start opening them?" Papa said,"Okay, do you want to start? So each child got one of the gifts with their name on it." Jeremy said, "Let's open them together. On, your mark get set, go!" The three children ripped off the wrapping as fast as they could. They got down to the box. And together they ripped open the boxes. And Harry said, "There's nothing in my box. Where's my gift?" And Jeremy said, "There's nothing in my box either." And Chloe said, "There's nothing in mine either. My box is empty." Chloe started to laugh in nervous way, "Ha, ha, Papa, that's a very good joke. Can we open the rest of the gifts now?" Papa and Nana said, "Sure go ahead. Open all of the gifts."
So the children began to open all of the gifts. They opened their second presents and again, all of the boxes were empty. Jeremy said, "Let keep going and open more presents; this is a scavenger gift hunt." So they open three gifts and then four gifts and five gifts and all of the boxes were empty." And they came to their last gift. Harry said, "I hope you saved the best for last." And they all opened their sixth gift and their sixth gift was also an empty box. The family room was a mess; it was full of the all of the wrapping and boxes of 18 different wrapped boxes and all of the boxes were empty.
Chloe was sad and she started to cry. She said, "Why didn't we get any gifts? I thought you were going to make Easter as good as Christmas." Harry was older and he said, "Papa, you got us! That was a good Easter joke." Though he still was sad about the empty boxes. Jeremy said, "Nana and Papa, why did you do this? We got so excited and now we're so sad and disappointed. Why did you do this?"
Papa said, "Well, your parents told us that we should not make Easter like Christmas. They said we should do something to teach you about Easter. Christmas is about giving the gift of our lives to the baby Jesus, just like the wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus. That is why we share gifts at Christmas. But Easter is different from Christmas. How did you feel when you opened your presents?"
Chloe said, "We felt sad and disappointed because we were expecting to find some gifts." Harry said, "I thought it was a joke that you playing on us."
Nana asked, "What did the women discover on Easter morning when they went to the tomb of Jesus?" Jeremy said, "They saw that the tomb was empty. They were very sad. They thought someone had stolen the body of Jesus."
Papa said, "But was it good that they found the tomb empty?" Chloe said, "Yes, because it meant that Jesus was alive and risen. The angel told them that Jesus had risen. And then they were really happy when they saw Jesus alive and well."
Nana said, "So what did you learn from the empty presents?" Harry said, "I learned that sometimes empty can mean the very best gift of all because the empty tomb of Jesus meant that he was alive."
Jeremy said, "So we learned something very important today. Easter is not supposed to be like Christmas because the empty tomb of Jesus is the very best gift of all."
Papa said, "I so happy that you have learned about how special Easter is. But I do have something fore you. Here's an envelope."
Harry opened the envelope and he found airplane tickets for all of them to go to Hawaii for a vacation together. The children all hugged their Nana and Papa and thanked them for teaching them about Easter.
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