Easter through punctuation marks

On your marks

An all-age talk idea for Easter Sunday.

Get set

You will need three large pieces of card, each bearing one of the following punctuation marks, printed large and bold:

• an exclamation mark (!)
• a question mark (?)
• a full stop (.)

Also put beside them (covered) – or on the reverse in the same order – so that you can reveal them at the appropriate point:

• an account-paid stamp
• a torn curtain
• a large filled-in circle, which represents the tomb and/or the rolled away stone

Go!

Outline:

The empty tomb of Easter morning not only made public the victory of Good Friday and that the cross was not some great mistake but it also answered some of the questions and mysteries of this momentous weekend.

• ! = the horror of Good Friday. What did it all mean? Link to how the women must have felt
• ? = the confusion of the Easter Saturday. What now? Link to the disciples’ despair
• . = the end of all their hopes. Death. Is that it? Refer now to the other pictures that have been covered or which are on the reverse of the punctuation marks.

But there had also been the great cry from the cross at the end.

• ! = “It is finished!” – in the Greek, it is a word that suggests completion such as when a bill had been paid (i.e. account paid)
• ? = The puzzle of the curtain in the temple being torn (picture)
• . = The empty tomb that says that death cannot hold Him.

Many people think that the events of this story are just too much (!) to believe; others are not sure and would like to believe it (?). The truth is that the Bible story, 2,000 years of changed lives, and many here today including myself all agree that it is true and that this unique event is what turns life’s full stop (.) into a comma (,) (add a tail to your full stop). There is more. Our debt has been paid, access to God made possible and assurance of heaven is available. Amen!