Add Meaning to Your Easter Celebration -
Christian Ways to Celebrate the Resurrection
Making
Jesus the center of your family's celebration can present
a challenge when images of the Easter
Bunny are so prevalent.
Parents
must take special measures to help kids understand that Jesus
is the giver of Easter gifts.
The reason for the season is His love, His sacrificial
death, the salvation we have through Him -- not a big rabbit
who hands out candy and colored eggs.
Here are
some ideas for putting the spiritual significance back into
your Easter celebration.
Put
a spiritual twist on the tradition of decorating
Easter eggs. Before dying the hard-boiled eggs, use
crayons to write an Easter message on each egg. Because
the crayon wax keeps the dye from adhering in those spots,
your "Jesus is Risen" and "Jesus Died for
You" messages will show through clearly.
If
your church does not celebrate Holy
Week, attend Holy Week services at a church that does.
Or celebrate each day as a family by reading passages of
scripture that recount what each special day commemorates.
Attend
an Easter cantata presented by a church other than the one
your family normally attends. This allows family members
to experience a celebration of Easter that is different
than that to which they are accustomed.
As
a family, choose a few Easter
craft projects that emphasis the meaning of Easter.
Do an Internet search or check out books from the library
for ideas. Use your completed projects to decorate your
home for your family celebration.
Celebrate the Resurrection of Christ by doing the kinds of things
Jesus came to earth to do. Extend God's love to others
by visiting the elderly and sick, gathering up clothing
to take to a homeless shelter, or making and delivering
food baskets to families in need.
If
you don't usually do so, attend a sunrise service so
your family can experience a little of what Jesus'
followers must have felt the morning they found the empty
tomb. Afterwards, enjoy a big family breakfast in celebration
of the Risen Lord.
Do
some research on how the Resurrection is celebrated in other
cultures. Turn the Easter celebration into a learning experience
by enjoying traditional
Easter foods and activities from another country.
Many
churches make Easter crosses by attaching real flowers in
some fashion to a wooden cross to symbolize the new life
brought to us through Jesus' death. Make your own family
Easter cross by cutting out a large cross from brown construction
paper. Let the children use construction paper, markers,
crayons and paint to create flowers to decorate it.
About the Author...Nancy Twigg is a Christian speaker and author.
Making
Jesus the center of your family's celebration can present
a challenge when images of the 
