Because He Lives: The Lesson

Once again, be careful what you pray for. God's always listening.

A week ago, I sat down to write a multi-day lesson for our youth group's Easter study. Herein lies the quandary - I never want to give teenagers the kindergarten version of Easter, but I also don't want to give a college-sized textbook of detail and commentary. So what's a girl to do?

Pray. 

Yep. I prayed that God would help me study and write this lesson as if I've never taught the story of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. If it wasn't new and exciting to me, it definitely wouldn't be new and interesting to junior high and high school students.

Starting in the book of Matthew and harmonizing the last days of Jesus' life, God gave me so much material to work with. I shouldn't be surprised when He answers prayer, but this was above and beyond. Thanks to the inspiration and illumination of the Holy Spirit, my introduction was a full typed page. The difference this time, though, was that the page was filled with many new and interesting details. It made the whole story feel alive and breathing, instead of the same-old-same-old.

The youth had a shadowbox craft with multiple layers of paper and cardboard to make the resurrection scene. For each layer, we looked at what each gospel writer wrote on paper and compared the stories. We talked about why some things were the same and some were different (who wrote it, who they were writing to, and whether they were eyewitnesses) and went beyond the little kids' story they've known for years.

If you would like a copy of the lesson, including the eight layers of the story, you'll find it HERE. The two crafts are from Oriental Trading, but you can always design or draw your own. Have fun being creative with this lovely lesson on Resurrection Sunday.

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