Sermon
A Heart Full of Love
Theme
The "empty" tomb was "full" of God's love.
Object
Cut a big piece of brown poster board into a heart shape. Then, fold the heart together by kind of bending the round parts toward each other.. (how do I describe this....) so that it makes kind of a cone shape and, if you face it from the front, it almost looks like a teepee with an opening in front. (cut a heart shape from typing paper and practice, you'll see what I mean.) Staple the folded heart right in the front above the opening. If you hold the stapled heart flat and look at it from the front, it looks like the door into a cave. When talking to the kids, I hold "the cave" flat with the "door" opening facing the kids.
Scripture
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 (NIV)
Good morning, boys and girls. Today, we are going to talk about the most important event since the beginning of time. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
As all of you know, Jesus was crucified and died on the cross. His friends and followers were so sad. They felt like life was over. They took Jesus down from the cross and buried him in a tomb that was probably more like a cave, because that is how people were buried in Jerusalem in those days. Perhaps that cave looked a little like this. (hold the heart flat so that the door is in front and it looks like a door in a rock or a cave. It does look a little bit like a cave with a door in it and kids believe you when you say it looks like a cave, right???) On Easter morning, some women who were followers of Jesus went to the cave to put spices on Jesus' body. They were so sad too, because they knew Jesus was dead and they have loved him so much. But when they looked inside the tomb, what did they find?!! (The kids aren't dummies, they will tell you that the tomb was empty.) "Oh no! (Carefully pop open the heart where it is stapled and open up the big heart, holding it up for the children to see the "heart-that-was-an-empty-cave.") That cave wasn't empty at all! It was FULL of Jesus' love for us! He loved us SO much, he died on the cross for each and every one of us, and when he rose from the dead, he left an empty tomb FULL of his love. Dear Jesus, we thank you today for a tomb that seemed to be empty, but was full of your love for us. Amen.
