Verses for the Week Before Easter
I mentioned before our Easter "week" tradition for this year. Since the girls our so young we are holding off on some of the other exceptional ideas others have used, but still want to do what we can and pray it makes some indention on their tiny hearts.
I went to Pier 1 and bought 7 crystal looking (I'm sure they're fake - I got them for cheap!) taper candle holders. I got the candles themselves at Michael's. They will be used as our centerpiece the entire week as 7 candles take up a lot of space!
On night 1, 7 candles will be lit and we will read a passage from the Bible about the original Palm Sunday and snuff a candle out - a visual representation that Christ's life is about to be taken. Each night we will read another passage from the Easter story and snuff another candle out, until they are all out. On Easter morning, all 7 candles will be lit again and we will read about Christ's victory over death - and ultimately over our sin!
While it may be a more accurate presentation if we picked verses for each night that correlated with the same day of the week in the Bible story, we wanted to expose Anna to more of the story as a general timeline - for clarity. So here are the verses we chose for each night:
Palm Sunday - Mark 11:1-11 (Preface that Jesus was traveling with 12 of his special friends, called the disciples)
Monday - John 13:1-17
Tuesday - Matthew 26:26-30 (Preface that Jesus and his friends have all gathered together to have dinner together and this is what he did...)
Wednesday - Matthew 26:36-46 (Garden of Gethsemane - no preface needed)
Thursday - Matthew 26:47-56 (Finish off the story by explaining that Jesus was then arrested and sentenced to death even though He had never done anything bad)
Friday - Matthew 27:45-55
Saturday - Matthew 27:62-66 (on this night we will snuff the candle out first as Jesus is already dead)
Sunday - Matthew 28:1-8, 16-20 AND John 1:5
There are lots of different angles you could go though as there are lots of passages about that week - Matthew 21-28, Mark 11-16, Luke 22-24, and John 12 - 20. Those are just what we chose for this year. We have been working with Anna this month to talk to her about Jesus being the light of the world, etc, so hopefully this will make more sense to her and add to her joy :)
Thanks for posting all the great idea's. I like getting idea's from the internet but when I can get idea's from people I know it is even better. Keep sharing the ideas!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the inspiration...I ordered some Easter kid's books (the one you recommended and some similar ones). I was looking for something Christ centered at Barnes and Noble and couldn't find anything (about a month ago). But I'd stopped searching and your posts encouraged me to just dole out the money and INVEST in ones online--it will be worth it in the long run to teach my children about the real meaning of Christ!! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteOooo, Nina, Let me know about the other ones you ordered - if you liked them, etc. I had ordered one other (a sticker type book for Easter from the Candle Bible people), but Daryl and I thought it was too "heavy" for her age (all about Jesus' beatings, etc). So, we're saving that for next year or so!
ReplyDeleteLauren, I feel awful...I JUST saw your comments on my post of Jadon's goose egg :/ I wish blogger gave me notifications, when people left a comment. Anway, thanks for the validation that this happens all the time at your house. Poor little guy's head is still green and yellow. It seems to have knocked the sense out of him ;) Ahh...boys! Anyway, back to your topic...I'm guessing you have a set of resurrection eggs (http://www.christianbook.com/resurrection-eggs/9781572297227/pd/297220) or maybe you think the pieces are too small this year? They've been great for us with Jadon so far, as long as Macy isn't around, when we are learning them. Happy Easter to you and your family. Anna's hair has gotten so light! Love you!
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