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Start with Lent
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| On AdventBook.com we talk about how to use the time of Advent to prepare for Christmas. The traditional time set aside to prepare for Easter is Lent. Lent begins on the seventh Wednesday before Easter (Ash Wednesday). The period of Lent consists of forty days. The forty days do not include Sundays, which commemorate the Resurrection. Forty days is a traditional time of preparation in the Bible. (For example, Jonah was in the whale for forty days, Moses stayed on Mt. Sinai for forty days, and Jesus spent forty days in wilderness praying and fasting before beginning his ministry.) Lent is meant to be a time for activities such as prayer, self-examination, repentance, reflection, special service or giving, fasting, and preparation for Easter. There are many good devotional and activity books available at Christian bookstores for use during the Lenten season. |
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Palm Sunday
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| The Sunday before Easter commemorates the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. (Mark 11:1-11) People lined the path, throwing down their cloaks and waving palm branches, crying, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!” There was a custom at that time of waving palm branches as symbol of independence and liberation and to welcoe leaders and rulers. A ruler or military leader would have been riding on a horse, but Jesus showed that he was not coming to be a that kind of king by choosing to ride on a donkey as was prophesied in the Old Testament. Donkeys symbolized peace and humility. (Philippians 2: 5-8, NIV: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross." ) Decorate the table for lunch or dinner using real or artificial palm branches. Small children can march around the house and wave the palm branches, saying, “Hosanna!” (You can make the palm branches out of green construction paper.) Talk about the kingship and kingdom of Jesus. |
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| The word Maundy comes from the Latin word meaning mandatum, meaning command. John 13:34 says, “A new command I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Maundy Thursday commemorates the night Jesus introduced the disciples to the Lord’s Supper. On this occasion he also washed their feet and commanded them to love one another. Consider participating in a service (which might include communion or foot washing) with your family or church. With young children, consider having them polish someone's shoes. At dinner, let family members take turns serving each other. Talk about what it means to serve others and remind your children that, when we do, we are serving Jesus. The Last Supper was held at Passover. Discuss the link between the Passover sacrifice and Communion. Invite another family over to share a Passover Meal. Read the story of the Last Supper from John 13:1-11 You can get a guide for conducting a Seder (Order of service) at: http://www.christianseder.com/haggadah.html. Or just make a simple sampling of the foods – Below is a list of what to serve with a simple explanation of what each food symbolizes. (By Jan Brown for Christianity Today) Serve Unleavened bread: This symbolizes the Bread the Israelites took with them from Egypt. In their haste, they did not have time to let it rise. The bread that Jesus broke at the Last Supper was without yeast or unleavened. Yeast stands for sin. Jesus said the bread represents his body. He was without sin. His body was broken for us. Serve Lamb: The Lamb was killed so that the blood could mark the doorposts of the houses of the Israelites. When the angel of death saw the blood on the doorpost he would pass over that house and not kill the first born child. Jesus is our Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Serve Horseradish as a reminder of the bitterness the Israelites experienced while they were slaves. We remember how bitter our lives are when we are slaves to sin. Serve Haroset. (Grind apples, nuts and a little honey together) The Haroset is eaten as a symbol of hope. Jesus is the hope of the world. He is sweeter than the honey in the honeycomb. Dip Parsley into salt water and taste. This reminds us of the tears that were shed in Egypt. The parsley is a symbol of new life. We are reminded of the sorrow we feel when we think of Jesus dying on the cross. But the green reminds us of the new life that we have in Him. Serve Grape Juice. Jesus said this cup was a sign of his shed blood for us on the cross. Whenever we drink it, we should drink it in remembrance of Him. Instead of a dinner, with very young children, consider just serving a simple form of unleavened bread-- Matzo (prounounced Matzah) crackers. |
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Good Friday
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| Good Friday is the day when Jesus' death is commemorated. Children may ask why we call it “Good” Friday. For Christians, great good has come from his sacrifice. It is usually a very solemn day. Close all of your shades and curtains at noon on Good Friday, keeping your home darkened until 3:00. (During the crucifixion it got dark at noon when Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" It stayed dark for three hours until Jesus committed his spirit into the Father's hands and died.) You might even keep the house dark, using candles and low lights, until Easter. If you have a cross, cover it with a black or purple cloth. With very young children, make a crown of thorns using play dough and toothpicks. Attend a service, watch a movie about the life of Christ, and/or read the Biblical account of the betrayal and crucifixion and listen to hymns about the cross. |
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Saturday
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| Have a Light in the Darkness devotional time. E--mail us to request content for a Reading . Make Resurrection / Easter Story Cookies with young children. Resurrection Cookies Read the whole recipe before beginning. Try to do it together with the children on the Saturday night before Easter Sunday. Ingredients: 1 Cup WHOLE pecans 3 Egg whites 1 Cup sugar 1 tsp. Vinegar Pinch of salt You will need: Wooden spoon Zipper baggie Bowl Bible Tape Wax paper Cookie sheet Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, the Roman soldiers beat him. Read John 19:1-3 Let children smell the vinegar. Put 1 teaspoon into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30 Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11 Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers, and the bitterness of our own sins. Read Luke 23:27 So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup of sugar, a little bit at a time while beating mixture. (See next step.) Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16 Beat with a mixer on high speed for 11 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3 Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto waxed paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid. Read Matthew 27:65-66 Put cookie sheet in oven. Close door and turn oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and “seal” the oven door. Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66 Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22. GO TO BED!! On Resurrection morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie! Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Resurrection Day, Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9 Author Unknown |
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Easter Sunday
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| On Easter morning, wake up the household with joyful music—perhaps the Hallelujah Chorus. If you have been keeping the house dark since Good Friday, open all the curtains and shades. Teach your children the traditional response to “He is risen!” (He is risen indeed!), then on Easter wake them up saying, “He is risen!” and let them respond. Encourage children to sing, dance, play a tamborine, wave a ribbon stick, etc. Give your children Easter baskets with a Christian theme. Include things like a lamb with a little note stating that it represents the Lamb of God who came to take away our sin or give rock candy with a note saying that the rocks represent the stone that was rolled away. Include things like bookmarks, jewelry, or storybooks from the Bible Book Store that represent the story of Easter. If you feel that Easter baskets distract from the true meaning of Resurrection Day, but still want your children to enjoy them, you can help the “Spring Bunny” deliver baskets on first day of spring or some other day after Easter (when all the goodies go on sale). |
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| • Put an egg on or near each person’s dinner plate. Inside the egg have a treat and a small paper with an appropriate scripture verse or note. Let everyone read their verses aloud. • Put eggs containing discussion questions on or near each plate and let each person at the table read their question. (“What is your favorite part of the Easter story?” “Tell us about a special memory from an Easter in your past or the first Easter celebration that you can remember.” “Who remembers the first people to find out that Jesus had risen?” “What is something that has happened to you since last Easter for which you are thankful?”) • On a table or buffet, have two baskets—one filled with pull-apart plastic eggs and one empty, along with pens and small pieces of paper. Invite your guests to write prayer requests on the papers and put them inside the plastic eggs, which should then be placed in the second basket. When your guests leave, invite them to take an egg (or eggs as everyone may not want to participate) and pray for the person/request for the next forty days. • If you have an Easter Egg hunt, include the eggs from the Resurrection Egg set along with the other eggs. After the children have found all the eggs, gather up the ones from The Resurrection set and open them in conjunction with reading the Easter story from the book Benjamin’s Box. (Just for fun, you might want exchange a small token gift for the Resurrection Egg when the child gives it to you or puts it in a box like Benjamin did.) |
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| Make or find a wooden cross and put it out at the beginning of Lent. On Good Friday, drape it with a purple or black cloth and/or a crown of thorny vines. On Easter Sunday remove the cloth and crown and cover the cross with flowers Make an Easter Garden. Help your children make a terrarium or diorama.. Use a shoebox lid, planter base, or tin foil baking dish. Add soil and small rocks. Cut a paper towel or toilet paper roll in half to make Jesus’ tomb. Bury most of it with soil, grass, plants, and/or rocks so that it looks like the opening of a cave. Put a stone in front of the grave on Good Friday and then on Easter morning, make sure it is moved away. You could add a sign that says, He is Risen! |
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| <% ' Persistent Web Page Counter, Version 2 ' by John Sgro (John@SucceedOnTheWeb.com) 'declaring variables, arrays Dim x Dim i Dim DisplayCount Dim ThisPage Dim ShortPageName Dim FSObject Dim GetTotals Dim WriteTotals Dim PageHits() Dim PageName() ThisPage = Request.ServerVariables("URL") 'Grabs page path/name from root ThisPage = lcase(ThisPage) 'changes URL to lower case DisplayCount = 0 'Will use later to determine if new page 'Open a FileSystemObject and fetch data from the text file containing our page counts Set FSObject = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") 'True creates file if none exists Set GetTotals = FSObject.OpenTextFile("c:\InetPub\virtroot\adventbook\PageTotals.txt",1,True,0) 'Now read each line in our text file and load the data into the PageName and PageHits arrays x=0 While Not GetTotals.AtEndOfStream 'Loop until last line ReDim preserve PageName(x) 'Append PageName array PageName(x) = GetTotals.ReadLine 'Put first named page into PageName array If PageName(x) = ThisPage Then 'Check to see if this page name is current page ReDim preserve PageHits(x) 'Append PageHit array PageHits(x) = GetTotals.ReadLine + 1 'If current page, add 1 to total and put into PageHits array DisplayCount = PageHits(x) 'DisplayCount now contains this page's counter total x = x + 1 'Increment the index number for our arrays Else ReDim preserve PageHits(x) 'If this page is NOT the current page... PageHits(x) = GetTotals.ReadLine 'we still load it into our array, but do not adjust total x = x + 1 'Increment the index number for our arrays End If Wend 'Loop through rest of PageTotals.txt GetTotals.Close 'Clean up Set GetTotals = Nothing 'Routine for new site or newly added pages If x = 0 then '.txt file empty...1st site hit Redim preserve PageName(x) 'Create PageName array item and, PageName(x) = ThisPage 'Array item = this Page's Name. Redim preserve PageHits(x) 'Create PageHit array item PageHits(x) = 1 'Set page's hit total to 1 DisplayCount = 1 'Count to be displayed on page elseif DisplayCount = 0 then 'Or if this page is newly added x = x + 1 'Bump up the array index ReDim preserve PageHits(x) 'Create PageHits array item PageHits(x) = 1 'Set new page's hit total to 1 DisplayCount = 1 'Count to be displayed on page ReDim Preserve PageName(x) 'Create PageName array item and, PageName(x) = ThisPage 'Array item = this Page's name. End If 'Now that we have our arrays loaded, we write a "new" PageTotals.txt file Set WriteTotals = FSObject.CreateTextFile("c:\InetPub\virtroot\adventbook\PageTotals.txt") x = 0 'Reset our array index to 0 For Each PageEntry In PageName 'Looping through our PageName array WriteTotals.WriteLine PageName(x) 'Write the PageName to the text file WriteTotals.WriteLine PageHits(x) 'Next line is the page's hits total x = x + 1 'Increment our array index number Next WriteTotals.Close 'Clean up Set WriteTotals = Nothing Set FSObject = Nothing 'Routine to parse page name from path/file name ThisPage = left(ThisPage,len(ThisPage)-4) For i = 1 to len(ThisPage) ShortPageName = Right(ThisPage,i) If left(ShortPageName,1) = "/" then ShortPageName = Mid(ShortPageName,2,len(ShortPageName)) exit for end if next ThisPage = UCase(left(ShortPageName,1)) & Mid(ShortPageName,2,len(ShortPageName)) %> | |||||||||||||||||||||
