As Christian parents, we all want our kids to know Jesus – and Easter is a time to create meaningful spiritual moments for our children, but we often get overwhelmed by chocolate and other things.  In this episode I’m talking about the importance planning how you are going to approach Easter with intentionality and faith so that your children can grow in their knowledge and faith of Jesus Christ and all He has done for them. As an intentional parent – you need to start thinking about this now.

What are you going to Teach your Children this Easter?

Something that’s been on my heart about Easter is that Christmas is not complete without Easter, and Easter comes out of Christmas. We put so much effort into Christmas, and we want to make Christmas about Jesus. We want to resist the cultural influences and the commercialization, and we struggle with the Christmas tree and we struggle with Santa and all the things. We make a really big effort to help our children see that there’s something about Jesus in our celebrations with Christmas. There’s something for them to focus on and to grow in their faith, because Christmas is about Jesus. 

And then a few months down the track, we get to Easter. And certainly here in Australia, it’s very easy to make Easter a family time long weekend. But if we are to be consistent with seeing our responsibility to introduce our children to Jesus and to help them mature as a disciple of Christ, then we need to take hold of this opportunity in our Christian calendar the same as we did with Christmas. I think Christmas is a lot easier because, there’s a lot of crafty stuff around Christmas, and baby Jesus is a lot more fun than Jesus on the cross. But that’s putting our eyes on those cultural things that we do. And I do those things. They’ve been a part of our family memory-making and building our family closer but they’re not the things that build my children’s faith. 

A heart-focused approach to Easter

We really need to stop and think, how am I going to approach Easter in a way that will encourage my children’s faith journey? 

When I look back and think about the things that we did do – and there’s probably a lot more ideas on the Internet now than there was back then, but we kept things very simple. We did a Bible study or a devotional or, whatever was age-appropriate for a few weeks beforehand so that the children understood the significance theologically about Easter. I wanted my children to be biblically knowledgeable or to know the Bible, and I also wanted them to respond to Jesus. There are two sides to it. So we would have a Bible study, Bible reading, whatever fits your family and we would have lots of conversations about Easter and all the different things.  

Our faith without Easter is not a faith. It’s only because Jesus died and rose again that we have something to live for. And so it is so important that our children understand these things. And as they get older, Easter, is kind of like the centre pivot that you can study so much – you can just keep on digging deeper and deeper into God’s word. So it doesn’t have to be just about the cross, though that is the foundation. It is about teaching your children God’s word and what that means for them today and how they can really trust God’s word, how they can really believe in God. And it’s important, this day and age, it is important that our children come back to the word of God when they are thinking about life. And it all starts because of Easter.

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Easter is Coming and you need to be Prepared

So the main thing I want to leave you with today is just to remind you that Easter is coming up and it’s an opportunity for you to think about now and prepare those heart conversations that will help your children grow in their faith. You need to look at where they’re at and see what the next thing they need is – to either believe in Jesus or to grow as a disciple of Jesus. 

I have a printable for you. It’s an Easter edition Heart Booster. In it I have the Little Jelly Bean Story, which is a little poem that outlines the gospel with the different colours of jelly beans. My kids made up little sacks of these jelly beans and we put in this little poem and they gave it to their friends on Resurrection Sunday. It was just a little action that we could do that helped our children remember that it wasn’t about chocolate, it was about Jesus. So I have a copy of that poem and the instructions there for you. 

I also have some conversation topics that you can dig into for yourself so that you can talk about these things to your kids. If you’ve got older kids, dig into them together. If you’ve got younger kids, they are going to ask these questions. For example these questions are like: Why did Jesus have to die? What does the cross mean? And, make that applicable. What does the cross mean and how does it affect my life today? That’s a really good question for older kids. One question that one of the kids asked me was, why is Good Friday so good if Jesus died? We need to know the answers for these questions that our kids will ask. 

This is why for me, being intentional is about thinking about what’s coming up before it comes up. And so Easter is coming up. So as an intentional Christian parent, you need to think about how you’re going to deal with Easter. How are you going to deal with chocolate? How are you going to deal with the story of Jesus dying on the cross? If you’ve got very young, sensitive children, how are you going to deal with that? I’m not at all saying that young, sensitive children don’t need to know the story, but you need to be aware of how you’re going to teach it. And if you’ve got teenagers who think they’ve heard it all before, how are you going to encourage them to think about Jesus and what He has done for them? 

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Discipleship is a Parent’s Responsibility

Do you feel this responsibility? Does it overwhelm you or are you excited by it?

Though it is indeed a responsibility – we can let it become bigger in our heads than it needs to be.

If we love Jesus, if we have a relationship with Jesus, if we read the Bible – then we can talk about those things to our kids.

That is all it takes: Be honest, be real, talk in your every day words.

If Jesus is real to you – talk about Him like that to your kids. You don’t have to do a sermon or even a Sunday School lesson. Read the Bible, talk, pray.

But – if you don’t know how to do that – then start reading and praying now so that you can share your faith with your kids.

Be prepared this Easter

Are you and your spouse on the same page? How are you going to use the celebration of Easter to strengthen your children’s faith?

Set aside time and talk about these things:

• What are your fondest memories of Easter growing up?
• What were some significant moments in your faith journey that you would like to pass on to our kids?
• How can we prioritize faith in our Easter traditions?
• What do each of our children need to grow in their faith?

There is no one-size-fits-all all for our children’s faith journey – we as parents, need to be aware of what our children believe, what they struggle to understand or accept – and we need to be diligent in finding ways to help them grow.

Talking about this together, now, before Easter is upon us, helps you be prepared to address the important faith needs in your child’s heart.

Maybe your husband isn’t on board – well, still think these things through for yourself. Same if you are a single parent – think about these things so you can be prepared to talk about Jesus this Easter.

Resurrection Garden Activity

Do you ever think about how much effort we put into making Christmas about Jesus and then Easter just slips on by?

Making this ‘Resurrection Garden’ table centerpiece is a great activity that then reminds everyone who walks into your home that you are thinking about Jesus.

Do you have any other hands on activities that you do that makes a statement in your home about how you are going to celebrate Easter?

Further Reading:

Celebrating Easter is about Jesus – are you Ready to Talk to your Kids?  (podcast/blog)

Our Children need to Meet Jesus – and We Should Make the Introduction (podcast/blog)

Easter Lessons for Older kids (blog only)