EASTER - An Acronym to Remind Us about the Meaning of Easter

EASTER

What do you think of when you hear or see the word Easter?

You probably would include
Cross
Tomb
Angels
Disciples
Mary & Mary & Mary
or
bunnies
eggs
baskets
springtime

Here is another way to:

remind us of Easter

and 

what Easter should mean to us

and 

how we can share the Love of God to others at Easter Time

and

who Easter is for

Let's consider an Acronym of the word 

1.  E is for Everyone

Romans 3 v 23:  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

2. A is for Anyone

John 3 v 16:  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever believes on His name shall be saved.

3. S is for Salvation

Acts 16 v 31:  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

4. T is for Today

Hebrews 13 v 8:  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever

5. E is for Everlasting Life

John 6 v 47:  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

6. R is for Resurrection

John 11 v 25:  Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.

At Easter Time we learn exactly why we can have faith in God.

No-one has lived a perfect life except Jesus.
No-one is good enough to be in the presence of God.

But God still loves everyone so much that He provided a way for us to be with Him.
He sent Jesus to die for our sin, to be our Saviour.

Anyone means You, personally You, no matter who You are or what You have done.
Jesus died on the cross for You and He wants You to trust in Him and You will be saved.
This is a personal promise for You from the Saviour.

God wants us to trust in Him today and because He never changes He will forever keep His promises.
Jesus also never changes so today He is STILL the Saviour of the World.

He wants to be your personal Saviour.

On Easter Sunday we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the day when Jesus rose from the dead and He is Alive forevermore.

Jesus is a living Saviour.

So

 is all about the fact that...

"JESUS  LIVES”

 and 

that is the Good News

of

Salvation Today

to

Everyone, Anyone, 

because

Jesus died

but

then

there was the

Resurrection

bringing

Good News

of

Everlasting Life

to

ALL  WHO  BELIEVE  IN  HIM

There is a similar post on this blog using the same acronym with free downloads for you to use as a presentation with Children - EASTER Letters

A variety of other Easter related posts and Free Printables can be found on our  EASTER PAGE

Why not pin this pic to come back later

5 Best Quotes on Easter

Here is my choice for the 

5 Best Quotes on the subject of EASTER

I am not a fan of QUOTES

In fact sometimes I get very annoyed at how people almost treat a quote

 as more important than the 

Word of God

I actually wrote a blog post about Do We Really Need This Quote?

However I do see that there are certain topics that there are some great quotes on from some very reliable people. This month I'm thinking about God's Blessings so let's get encouraged with some quotes around this.

There are many quotes from so many people on the subject of Blessings but I prefer to only refer to or recommend ones from people who I trust as standing firm on the Word of God.

So in the list below I will quote

NOT  Joel Osteen   but   A.W. Tozer

 NOT  Oprah Winfrey   but   William Tyndale

NOT  Joshua Harris  but   D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

1.  Clarence W. Hall

     "If Easter says anything to us today, it says this: You can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there."

2.  Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones

"The cross of Christ justifies God; He remains holy because He has punished sin in the death, the shed blood, of His Son."

 

3.  C.S. Lewis

"He died not for men but for each man.  If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less."

Have you read the 5 Best Quotes on EASTER?

4.  William Tyndale

"To see how Christ was prophesied and described therein, consider and mark, how that the kid or lamb must be with out spot or blemish; and so was Christ only of all mankind, in the sight of God and of His Law."

5.  A.W. Tozer

"The only cross in all of history that was turned into an altar was the cross on which Jesus Christ died. It was a Roman cross. They nailed Him on it, and God, in His majesty and mystery, turned it into an altar. The Lamb who was dying in the mystery and wonder of God was turned into the Priest who offered Himself. No one else was a worthy offering."

   

 Don't forget to download our

                      EASTER Quotes Free Printable 

You will find all of my other posts on Easter at

My EASTER PAGE

Plus why not have a look at the other Free resources in our

Blog Resource Library

There is a Green Hill Far Away - A Hymn of Encouragement

I was born in the city of Londonderry, Northern Ireland and that means I have a hometown that is famous for various things.

• It is a walled city
• There was a siege in 1689
• For political reasons it now has to be referred to as as both Londonderry and Derry on the news.
• It has produced many well-known song writers

Perhaps the one who wrote most pieces was actually the Hymn Writer and Poet 

Mrs Cecil Frances Alexander

One of her hymns is a great one for Easter Time and especially for Good Friday

There is a Green Hill Far Away

When this was first published in 1848 it was in a selection of "Hymns for Little Children" and in various hymn books it has been classified in the children's sections.

Hymnology Archive

Each verse is a great tool for teaching young children about the sacrifice Christ made for us and can be said to have been based around various verses of scripture including  John 3 v 16

and  Romans 5 v 8

Mrs Cecil Frances Alexander was the wife of  William Alexander who was the Bishop of Londonderry and later became the Archbishop of Armagh.

The Bishop was based in St. Columb's Cathedral which along with their home sat within the Walls of Londonderry and outside those walls Mrs Alexander would have had a view of the hills around the city which would have reminded her of the hill on which her saviour died.  Hence these lovely words were penned:

There is a green hill far away,
Without a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was crucified
Who died to save us all.

We may not know, we cannot tell,
What pains he had to bear,
But we believe it was for us
He hung and suffered there.

He died that we might be forgiven,
He died to make us good;
That we might go at last to heaven,
Saved by his precious Blood.

There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gate
Of heaven, and let us in.

O dearly, dearly has he loved,
And we must love him too,
And trust in his redeeming Blood,
And try his works to do.

and because of the short verses of 4 lines each would have been easily remembered by everyone. 

DON'T FORGET TO DOWNLOAD THIS FREE PRINTABLE 

(Available in both A4 & Letter Size) 

So we have a great hymn sung to a peaceful tune that is a great reminder of Good Friday and in fact a good reminder everyday of the love of Jesus.

You can find Songs for Kids at  Kids Resources

You can find Other Easter Posts at  EASTER

All my Free Printables can be found by going to Sandra's Ark Resource Library

Easter Kids Dice Game for Families - Plus FREE PRINTABLE

This is a simple dice game for all ages in the family.

OBJECTIVE of the Game:   

To help the children understand more about Easter and to be able to practice talking about it with the aid of the pictures.

EQUIPPMENT required:    

2 special dice (templates of the 2 different cubes to make the dice are in the FREE PRINTABLE)

Instructions (included with the templates of the dice)

White or coloured card

Scissors

Glue or sticky tape.

INSTRUCTIONS for Preparation:

1.   Print out the templates of the dice

2.   Cut out the templates of the dice 

3.   Fold up & stick together to make into 2 dice

INSTRUCTIONS for Playing 2 Dice Game:

1.   Each player takes a turn at throwing the 2 dice

2.   The player has to tell something about Easter which links the 2 pictures together 

(eg. First die shows the donkey, second die shows the tomb  -  The donkey was essential for the start of the Easter story and the empty tomb was essential for the end of the Easter story) 

INSTRUCTIONS for Playing a Simpler version:

1.   Each player takes a turn at throwing one of the dice

2.   That person must then tell a short bit of the Easter Story which includes whichever picture shows

(eg. for the church below - we go to church to celebrate that Jesus is alive forever) 

INSTRUCTIONS for Playing with very young children:

1.   Each player takes a turn at throwing one of the dice

2.   That person simply tells what the picture represents and the parents can teach them a small fact about the object.

(eg. for the donkey above - it was a donkey that Jesus rode to come into the city) 

If you want to you can enjoy playing the game while you enjoy your chocolate Easter Eggs.

What's Included in the FREE PRINTABLE?

1.   The 2 templates A4 size or Letter size as shown above

2.   A page with the instructions similar to above.

3.   A smaller version of the 2 templates on one page A4 size or Letter size as shown below

Don't forget to download your

 FREE PRINTABLE

More Kids Resources

More EASTER Posts

10 Bible Verses of Encouragement about EASTER - plus Free Printable

We all need encouragement and the best place to go is to the Bible.

In this blog Post I have tried to gather some Bible passages or Bible verses which will encourage us all around the topic of Easter.

I do believe that we should not just grab a verse and read it on its own but we should always lift our bibles and read a passage of scripture to make sure that we know the real meaning and context of each of the verses we are putting our trust in. 

I pray that you will do the same and only use this list to guide you as to where you may find help.

So here are 10 Bible verses or short passages for us to turn to in times when we need to be encouraged about Easter 

1.   Matthew 28 v 6

He wasn't there,  He had risen from the dead just as He had said He would.

It is still the same today

He has risen as He said He would but although He is not physically here on earth He is still with us.

When we think of Easter many first think of the empty tomb but we also need to remember the cross had to come before the empty tomb could be celebrated.

2.   Galatians 6 v 14

Let's go back to before the empty tomb to the cross which paved the way to make such a difference in our lives.

3.   Philippians 2 v 8

The humility and obedience of our Saviour is life to us.

4.   1 Peter 2 v 24 

Jesus although He was the sinless one the Son of God took on our sins 

 

The righteousness we have as children of God is not our own it is the righteousness of Jesus.

5.   John 19 v 28-30

The death on the cross

28  After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!”  

29  Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.  

30  So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

He did all that was needed for us.

6.   Romans 6 v 8-11

Death and life are so different for us when we are in Christ because through the cross He has the power over death and not the other way round.

7.   Romans 5 v 8

Easter - the cross and resurrection are the signs for us that God loves us

and did so before we had come to Him through Salvation.

8.   John 11 v 25-26

Yes before the crucifixion Jesus even told Martha in Bethany that He was the resurrection and the life - it was in the plan for us all along

and a great promise to us to know we will have life because of Christ.

9.   Romans 10 v 9 -13

What a Bible passage this is to encourage us about salvation

 9  that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 

10  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  

11  For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 

12  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.  

13  For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

and to remind us that the cross and the resurrection are at the centre of our faith.

To finish after that great reminder we now have a great question:

10.   1 Corinthians 1 v 18     

Two views of the cross  -  which do you take?

The cross truly shows the power of God.

You can download this FREE copy of the Bible Verse Graphics I made for this blog post 

from my

 

RESOURCE LIBRARY HERE AT Sandra's Ark