The last few years it seems that Easter has snuck up on me with little warning. Both fortunately and unfortunately, this year has been a little different but due to circumstances not of my own making. We received word last Saturday night a young man in our church had lost his life.
All of a sudden talking about death, the tomb and new life took on a very different meaning. I was conflicted about whether or not to hold youth group on Wednesday night, but we had scheduled something called "catacombs" which has been a tradition in our youth group for many years now. Catacombs is a time of quiet prayer and reflection for the youth based on our understanding of how the catacombs of ancient Rome were used to conduct some services for early Christians. I had planned one last fall and planned a second one during this Holy Week in preparation for Good Friday and Easter. The theme was Lay Down Your Life, Take Up Your Cross & Follow Him. Understanding we had some kids dealing with grief and lots of questions it seemed appropriate to move forward with Catacombs.
We talked about what it means to "lay things down" in our life. Things that hold us back from either accepting or giving forgiveness, things that hold us back from gaining new life, new perspective. Understanding that those things need to be "put to death" I had constructed a tomb (that looked more like a confession booth) in the youth room so that the kids could enter, lay down their struggles and find new life......which was represented in crude little twig crosses I had made and encouraged them to "take up".
While we talked about the young man's death, we also talked about what it means to "take up your cross" only we did so from a different perspective. Often when people hear that phrase from the Bible they think of some kind of burden to carry.
Consider this perspective this Easter. We understand that the cross is a symbol of hope and forgiveness. Many of us walk around with this symbol around our necks, on our key chains, on the walls in our homes, or tattooed on our arms. So, we carry the symbol of hope. I asked the youth to take the rough little crosses home with them, to remember that they are the agents of hope in this world. By carrying the cross, whether physically or in our hearts, we are carrying that hope FOR OTHERS. Just as the hope was extended to us, carried by someone else who affected our lives, it is our responsibility to take up our HOPE and follow Christ.
Many people are fooled into thinking that there is no hope for them in this world and too often that ends in tragedy. We often talk about the hope found in Christ, being our forgiveness and eternal life with Him. But be encouraged this Easter to think of HOPE as something you can offer to others who are hurting. I guarantee you will never run out of people.....and your hope will only increase. Reflect on those to whom you can be the agent of hope this Easter.
All of a sudden talking about death, the tomb and new life took on a very different meaning. I was conflicted about whether or not to hold youth group on Wednesday night, but we had scheduled something called "catacombs" which has been a tradition in our youth group for many years now. Catacombs is a time of quiet prayer and reflection for the youth based on our understanding of how the catacombs of ancient Rome were used to conduct some services for early Christians. I had planned one last fall and planned a second one during this Holy Week in preparation for Good Friday and Easter. The theme was Lay Down Your Life, Take Up Your Cross & Follow Him. Understanding we had some kids dealing with grief and lots of questions it seemed appropriate to move forward with Catacombs.
We talked about what it means to "lay things down" in our life. Things that hold us back from either accepting or giving forgiveness, things that hold us back from gaining new life, new perspective. Understanding that those things need to be "put to death" I had constructed a tomb (that looked more like a confession booth) in the youth room so that the kids could enter, lay down their struggles and find new life......which was represented in crude little twig crosses I had made and encouraged them to "take up".
While we talked about the young man's death, we also talked about what it means to "take up your cross" only we did so from a different perspective. Often when people hear that phrase from the Bible they think of some kind of burden to carry.
Consider this perspective this Easter. We understand that the cross is a symbol of hope and forgiveness. Many of us walk around with this symbol around our necks, on our key chains, on the walls in our homes, or tattooed on our arms. So, we carry the symbol of hope. I asked the youth to take the rough little crosses home with them, to remember that they are the agents of hope in this world. By carrying the cross, whether physically or in our hearts, we are carrying that hope FOR OTHERS. Just as the hope was extended to us, carried by someone else who affected our lives, it is our responsibility to take up our HOPE and follow Christ.
Many people are fooled into thinking that there is no hope for them in this world and too often that ends in tragedy. We often talk about the hope found in Christ, being our forgiveness and eternal life with Him. But be encouraged this Easter to think of HOPE as something you can offer to others who are hurting. I guarantee you will never run out of people.....and your hope will only increase. Reflect on those to whom you can be the agent of hope this Easter.
2 comments:
"Consider this perspective this Easter. We understand that the cross is a symbol of hope and forgiveness."
Well written message for this Easter. May you and yours have a Blessed Easter in the knowledge of Christ's love and forgiveness.
Same to you Vanilla. I hope that your family felt especially blessed this Easter.
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