CrossKids Devo | Women's Bad Day
Activity – Tell Me Thumbthing
Say: When people like a movie, they sometimes give it a thumbs-up. Demonstrate. Really like the movie? Two thumbs-up. If they dislike or really dislike the movie, they give it one or two thumbs-down. Demonstrate.
Please rate how this past week has gone for you. Was it a one or two thumbs-up week? A one or two thumbs-down week? Or maybe you'd give it one thumbs-up and one thumbs-down--it was a good and bad week.
Rate your week now.
After kids rate their weeks, give kids 30 seconds each to explain why they rated their weeks as they did. You'll go first, sharing a story that models the sort of brief, personal stories you hope kids will share too.
Children will express themselves more over time, and hearing their stories will help you adapt this session to make it even more relevant to your kids' lives.
Fun Game Foam cups are usually sold in tightly packed tubes or packages, one cup nested in the next. When you give each child two cups, pull the cups apart and gently nest one inside the other without pushing them together.
Say: Here's your challenge: get the top cup that's inside the one you're holding to rise out of it without touching it. And turning over the cups won't work--it leaves the cup lower, not higher!
Allow kids to try to solve the challenge for several minutes. Then demonstrate the solution: Blow across the lips or edges of the cups. You'll push air under the top cup and lift it from the bottom one. (Hint: practice this trick before kids arrive!)
Allow children to master the technique (they'll want to show their friends!) and then discuss:
What gave the top cup the power to rise?
Christians believe that they'll rise to new life after their bodies die. What will give them power to rise like that?
Say: Several women went to the cemetery to honor a dead friend and discovered he'd done some rising too. Let's find out more about that!
Bible Time – Women's Bad Day – Luke 24:1-12 Their friend and leader had been killed, and all these women wanted was to be sure he was buried properly.
In Jesus' day, bodies were wrapped in linen cloth along with spices. Then bodies were slid into a tomb. In his case, Jesus' body was placed in a new tomb, one borrowed from a rich follower.
But still, the women came with spices to finish a job that had been done sloppily--hurried along because the Sabbath was quickly approaching. Now was the time to give Jesus' body the respect it deserved.
Except the tomb was open and empty.
Grave robbers? The work of the Romans or Jewish leaders? The people who'd murdered Jesus couldn't even leave his body alone?
But the women found more than just an empty tomb. They found Jesus-- alive. Bad day?
Yes . . . but it swiftly got much, much better. What changed it? Jesus rose from the dead!
Give: Each kid a wooden cooking spoon and a pillow or other object that can be hit with a spoon without consequence. (Hint: if you cannot collect enough spoons and pillows for your group, simply let kids beat their hands on their knees or legs.)
Say: All of us have heartbeats (let's hope), and when we grow excited or emotional, our heartbeats grow faster. Your resting heartbeat is probably between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Let's say it's 60 beats and match it with our spoons and "drums" (or beat with hands on legs).
Lead a one-beat-per-second rhythm and encourage children to get in that groove and stay there, softly tapping their pillows.
Say: I'll read you a Bible account of something that happened long ago. It's very important because it's the account of Jesus rising from the dead! As you listen, increase the speed of your tapping rhythm when you think the women in our story felt their heartbeats go faster. Slow down when you think their heartbeats slowed down.
Read: Luke 24:1-12 Pause slightly between verses as you lead kids in tapping out the imaginary heartbeats. Then ask children to put down their spoons, and discuss:
When do you think the women's hearts beat fastest?
If you'd been at the tomb, how would you have acted?
Think about your own heartbeat. What happens to it when you think about Jesus rising from the dead? Why?
Say: What happened in Jesus' tomb makes a huge difference. It's why we can have hope for life after death. It's why we know Jesus has power. It should fire up our heartbeats!
Pray