"Easter Day "

Today's selected readings: – Set readings for the day

Kid's Church talk: -
• Do any of you have a duck or a chook as a pet? (Discuss)
• What happens when they get clucky? (Discuss)
• It is amazing to see a chick as it pecks away at the egg shell to break free
• It is only a matter of time and a new life appears.
• Today you were given an Easter egg, and probably received a number of these at home as well. As a youngster and with my own children we always had an Easter egg hunt for them to find their eggs, and these were always put in weird and exciting places to find. (Discuss)
• The Easter egg is a symbol (explain a symbol - cf a photo. Not the real person but reminds us of that person etc)
• The egg reminds us of the tomb or cave that Jesus was laid to rest in after he was killed - crucified on the cross.
• When we break the egg, it reminds us of the rock that was moved from the tomb to allow Jesus to be freed.
• Jesus was special, and came back to life. He did this to show us that there is a better place called heaven. A place where we go when we die.
• When we eat the chocolate of the egg, this is very sweet, and again tells us what heaven is like. A place where there is no more sadness.
• That is the joy of being a Christian - a follower of Jesus. And when we live a life with Jesus as our friend, we are guaranteed of a place in heaven eventually. (Explain heaven if thought to be helpful. But remember, with young children, too much information can be more confusing. Sometimes it is best to have a simple explanation. Eg: Heaven is up there, above the clouds. As they get older a more deeper explanation can be given)

Kids Church Activity:
To make an Easter garden with the tomb empty

What you need to get ready:
Small firm stemmed flowers, small Easter egg with end cut off, Paper plates, scissors, craft glue, slogan on plate "Jesus is alive today and everyday"

The Traditions of Easter
As with almost all "Christian" holidays, Easter has been secularized and commercialized. The dichotomous nature of Easter and its symbols, however, is not necessarily a modern fabrication.
Since its conception as a holy celebration in the second century, Easter has had its non-religious side. In fact, Easter was originally a pagan festival.
The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of spring with an uproarious festival commemorating their goddess of offspring and of springtime, Eastre. When the second-century Christian missionaries encountered the tribes of the north with their pagan celebrations, they attempted to convert them to Christianity. They did so, however, in a clandestine manner.
It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to celebrate their holy days with observances that did not coincide with celebrations that already existed. To save lives, the missionaries cleverly decided to spread their religious message slowly throughout the populations by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts, but to do so in a Christian manner.
As it happened, the pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ. It made sense, therefore, to alter the festival itself, to make it a Christian celebration as converts were slowly won over. The early name, Eastre, was eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.

The Date of Easter
Prior to A.D. 325, Easter was variously celebrated on different days of the week, including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In that year, the Council of Nicaea was convened by emperor Constantine. It issued the Easter Rule which states that Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox. However, a caveat must be introduced here. The "full moon" in the rule is the ecclesiastical full moon, which is defined as the fourteenth day of a tabular lunation, where day 1 corresponds to the ecclesiastical New Moon. It does not always occur on the same date as the astronomical full moon. The ecclesiastical "vernal equinox" is always on March 21. Therefore, Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25.

The Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.

The Easter Egg
As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself, the Easter Egg predates the Christian holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by Christians.
From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers.
Today, children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along with the modern version of real Easter eggs -- those made of plastic or chocolate.