Derri Daughtery & friends 'Beautiful Scandalous Night' Mark Heard 'Lonely Road' Iona 'When I Survey the Wondrous Cross'
The Choir 'Enough to Love' Newsboys 'God's Not Dead'
Sorry about the ads, can't even escape them at Easter!
Showing posts with label easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label easter. Show all posts
Thursday, April 01, 2021
Saturday, April 20, 2019
The End? The gospel (of Sherlock) according to John
Good Friday: 'The End'
Easter Sunday: God adds a question mark
Of course, the two characters in the final scene would have to be called John and Mary, the first two believers in the resurrection. I'm sure it's coincidence...
Happy Easter! Christ is risen!
Sunday, April 05, 2015
Monday, March 23, 2015
Chocolate Easter Talk
A retelling of the Christmas story through chocolate bars was quite popular on this blog a few years back, so here's an Easter version, using a mixture of brands of chocolate Easter egg and other sweets. There is even a Marmite flavoured chocolate Easter egg this year, and that's found its way into the talk. All the choccies and sweets are in red, as are the dreadful egg-related puns. Trial run with a couple of school assemblies tomorrow.....
Feel free to plagiarise, if you can stand it! Any improvements gratefully recieved.
Chocolate Easter
Feel free to plagiarise, if you can stand it! Any improvements gratefully recieved.
Chocolate Easter
What do Easter eggs, have to do with the very first Easter?
What does all this chocolate have to do with the very first
Easter?
Listen, and you will hear. It’s quite eggstraordinary.
There was a man called Jesus.
A Kinder man you couldn’t wish
to meet
He loved everyone, welcomed everyone, helped everyone
HobNobbed with the very rich and the very
poor and everyone in between
He did amazing things: made sick people better, helped blind
people see, made storms into calm
And he said amazing things: if you want to know the God who
made the Galaxy, get to know me, said Jesus. I
can show you what he’s like better than anyone.
If God and God’s love are the Topic,
then I can tell you everything you need to know.
The ripples from Jesus
went far and wide, thousands of people came to see him, hear him, touch him, be
near him, learn from him
But some people didn’t like him. The crème
de la crème, the top priests and the top politicians, realised they
couldn’t Eggnore Jesus, they couldn’t outfox him, so they Clubbed together and hatched a nasty
plan. In the middle of the night they arrested Jesus, Eggsamined
him and put him on trial. The leaders didn’t believe in him, and decided
he should die.
They put Jesus on a wooden cross and left him there to die. But
even on the cross, Jesus love was so Extra Strong,
that they heard him Whispa ‘Father God, forgive
them’. You can chocolate
(chuck a lot) of nasty stuff at Jesus but he will go on loving you,
forgiving you.
Jesus friends looked for somewhere they Cadbury him, and put him in a cave in a rock face with
a huge stone rolled across the entrance, then they went away to cry and comfort
each other.
On Easter morning, Jesus friends came to the place he was Lion buried. But the grave was open, the great rock
across the entrance had been moved, and they wondered who on earth would Rolo way the stone.
Suddenly, there was an Angel. Delight
filled them as he told them ‘Jesus isn’t dead any more, he’s alive!’
Then there Jesus was, standing with them. His friends were so Eggcited that they started telling everyone, and soon
lots and lots of people heard that Jesus was alive. 2000 years later the story
is still spreading, and people are still meeting Jesus. Some people love it,
some people hate it, but Easter shows us that Jesus is Marmighty
than death.
And the Eggs still Eggsplain the
Easter story.
- The shape of the egg reminds us of the stone which rolled away from Jesus tomb.
- The hollow inside the egg reminds us that the tomb was empty because Jesus was alive.
- And an egg is a place where a new life begins, and at Easter Jesus was given new life, and he promises new life to everyone who comes to him and trust him and asks for his help.
And that’s a great thing to chew on this
Easter.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Are Christians optimists or pessimists?
Not sure which way to jump on this one:
Every Christian should be a pessimist because the most effective government the world had seen up to that point, and the best religion on the planet, conspired between them to kill the best man who ever walked the face of the earth.
Every Christian should be an optimist because of what happened 2 days later.
Or to put it another way, it's Friday, but Sundays coming.
Every Christian should be a pessimist because the most effective government the world had seen up to that point, and the best religion on the planet, conspired between them to kill the best man who ever walked the face of the earth.
Every Christian should be an optimist because of what happened 2 days later.
Or to put it another way, it's Friday, but Sundays coming.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
"Do you believe this?"
Resurrection: Rob Bell from Rob Bell on Vimeo.
Because Jesus is risen, everything matters, and nothing is hopeless.
Christ is risen!
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Easter poem
En la crucifixión
It had not rained that morning. All was tinder dry,
ready for burning hearts on, and somehow
it made it worse that God had sent the sun to shine
(on a day like this!) so strong and bright,
when nothing, any more, was right.
He was our leader, our brother, our son,
pastor santo, muerto, done.
Perhaps he could not see our ache, our endless pain,
eclipsed as it was by the peerless passion of his own,
shot through the feet, the hands, the throne.
For a moment I even hated him,
the merry dance he’d led us on. So much
for the red carpet. Instead a river of blood,
and all my doubts are washed away by that water:
he’s as mortal as you or I. And then again he caught my eye,
as if to say one last goodbye, and left.
Finally, the sky gained eyelids,
which closed,
and wept.
by Katy Morgan
It had not rained that morning. All was tinder dry,
ready for burning hearts on, and somehow
it made it worse that God had sent the sun to shine
(on a day like this!) so strong and bright,
when nothing, any more, was right.
He was our leader, our brother, our son,
pastor santo, muerto, done.
Perhaps he could not see our ache, our endless pain,
eclipsed as it was by the peerless passion of his own,
shot through the feet, the hands, the throne.
For a moment I even hated him,
the merry dance he’d led us on. So much
for the red carpet. Instead a river of blood,
and all my doubts are washed away by that water:
he’s as mortal as you or I. And then again he caught my eye,
as if to say one last goodbye, and left.
Finally, the sky gained eyelids,
which closed,
and wept.
by Katy Morgan
Easter Linebacker - watch out bunnies
for some reason I still find this funny, and the kids love it. "Jesus rising from the dead and saying 'Booyah' to death!" That just about captures it.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Jesus died for the Jolly Green Giant
todays Inbox
The Yeovil Town Club Store are running an Easter drawing competition for all children of primary
school age (and below).
The winning entrant will be selected by Manager Gary Johnson and will receive a Yeovil Town Easter Egg and signed picture from their favourite player!
To enter, entrants should draw The Jolly Green Giant with an Easter egg. He can be holding the egg, standing by the egg, balancing the egg on his top hat, or whatever you can think of! You're limited only by your imagination!
Yes folks, this is exactly what Jesus had in mind that morning he walked out of the tomb, after wrestling death to an early grave.
The Yeovil Town Club Store are running an Easter drawing competition for all children of primary
school age (and below).
The winning entrant will be selected by Manager Gary Johnson and will receive a Yeovil Town Easter Egg and signed picture from their favourite player!
To enter, entrants should draw The Jolly Green Giant with an Easter egg. He can be holding the egg, standing by the egg, balancing the egg on his top hat, or whatever you can think of! You're limited only by your imagination!
Yes folks, this is exactly what Jesus had in mind that morning he walked out of the tomb, after wrestling death to an early grave.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Ancient Document discovered proving that Melvyn Bragg is Dan Brown
One hallowed British Easter tradition is that, over the Easter weekend, there's a TV programme which casts doubt on Jesus resurrection/existence/sanity/marital status. This year it's the turn of the BBC, where Melvyn Bragg 'goes behind the myth' of Mary Magdalene. Yes, you know what's coming next...
That's right, Bragg is this years graduate from the Dan Brown School of Historical Speculation, yet another victim to the modern virus which insists that the most important thing about people is who they're having sex with.
Bragg has written an extensive piece in preview to the BBC programme: reading it will save you the trouble of watching the telly. It's most glaring piece of foolishness is Braggs own admission that he doesn't believe in the resurrection, nor in God. If he's right on that, then everything else about Jesus is irrelevant, as is everything the church says about him. A dead Jesus is also a deluded Jesus, and makes liars of Jesus himself, and the gospel writers, and the rest of the writers of the new testament. In that context, who cares what kind of relationship he had with Mary? It's a footnote to a footnote, written in pencil.
But somehow Bragg is far more interested in whether Jesus snogged Mary Magdalene than whether he rose from the dead. Because that's clearly the most important fact in all of this.
Another piece of bizarreness:
If you think that the gospels are – minus miracles – reasonably convincing accounts of a unique man and his followers, then the least we owe them is a historical debt. I agree with Graham Greene and others that what makes them convincing is the density of detail. They were written at a time when fictional, that is mythological, writing simply did not have this kind of detail. And further we underestimate the power of oral history, which is what the gospels were recording. We have no problem accepting the accounts of men who fought in the First World War and yet there was a shorter gap between the events the gospels depicted and their inscription then there is between 1914 and now.
i.e. Bragg is prepared to accept that the gospels are convincingly historical. Except for the bits he doesn't agree with. I don't even know where to begin to start critiquing that as a historical method. At the same time he gives the 'Gospel' of Philip just as much weight as an authority on Mary, despite the fact that it is a Gnostic tract written 200+ years after Jesus. Bragg mentions a 'Mary of Egypt' in a section on 'Marys in the Bible', but there's no such Mary in the Bible - she's a 4th/5th century saint. Bragg just appears to have Googled 'Mary, Christianity' and stitched together the results.
It really is very depressing and annoying. I'd be happier if there was something in the BBC's Easter output that didn't root the true retelling of Easter in high culture and classical music. Ah well, I'll just have to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with real people. There are some things TV is no substitute for.
That's right, Bragg is this years graduate from the Dan Brown School of Historical Speculation, yet another victim to the modern virus which insists that the most important thing about people is who they're having sex with.
Bragg has written an extensive piece in preview to the BBC programme: reading it will save you the trouble of watching the telly. It's most glaring piece of foolishness is Braggs own admission that he doesn't believe in the resurrection, nor in God. If he's right on that, then everything else about Jesus is irrelevant, as is everything the church says about him. A dead Jesus is also a deluded Jesus, and makes liars of Jesus himself, and the gospel writers, and the rest of the writers of the new testament. In that context, who cares what kind of relationship he had with Mary? It's a footnote to a footnote, written in pencil.
But somehow Bragg is far more interested in whether Jesus snogged Mary Magdalene than whether he rose from the dead. Because that's clearly the most important fact in all of this.
Another piece of bizarreness:
If you think that the gospels are – minus miracles – reasonably convincing accounts of a unique man and his followers, then the least we owe them is a historical debt. I agree with Graham Greene and others that what makes them convincing is the density of detail. They were written at a time when fictional, that is mythological, writing simply did not have this kind of detail. And further we underestimate the power of oral history, which is what the gospels were recording. We have no problem accepting the accounts of men who fought in the First World War and yet there was a shorter gap between the events the gospels depicted and their inscription then there is between 1914 and now.
i.e. Bragg is prepared to accept that the gospels are convincingly historical. Except for the bits he doesn't agree with. I don't even know where to begin to start critiquing that as a historical method. At the same time he gives the 'Gospel' of Philip just as much weight as an authority on Mary, despite the fact that it is a Gnostic tract written 200+ years after Jesus. Bragg mentions a 'Mary of Egypt' in a section on 'Marys in the Bible', but there's no such Mary in the Bible - she's a 4th/5th century saint. Bragg just appears to have Googled 'Mary, Christianity' and stitched together the results.
It really is very depressing and annoying. I'd be happier if there was something in the BBC's Easter output that didn't root the true retelling of Easter in high culture and classical music. Ah well, I'll just have to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with real people. There are some things TV is no substitute for.
Monday, December 10, 2012
The Beatbox Passion
Ok, it's utterly unseasonal (if you want the Beatbox Nativity, go here), but I've only just caught up with this, even though it's been online for a few months. Actually, it's more seasonal than most of the stuff around during December, because at least it's about Jesus.
Sunday, April 08, 2012
Saturday, April 07, 2012
What Sun Readers believe about Prayer and Easter
Fascinating survey for the Sun today on what Britons belive about Easter, prayer, wearing crosses at work, school assemblies etc. 31% of those surveyed belive that prayer works, another 24% are 'not sure'. Roughly 20% pray several times a week or more.
At the same time 75% go to church once a year at best. So a model of outreach based on getting people into church has got some serious limitations.
To take your mind off all that, you could listen to my contribution to BBC local radio here in Somerset, starts about 20 minutes in. Yes, I know I talk fast and say 'um' a lot.
At the same time 75% go to church once a year at best. So a model of outreach based on getting people into church has got some serious limitations.
To take your mind off all that, you could listen to my contribution to BBC local radio here in Somerset, starts about 20 minutes in. Yes, I know I talk fast and say 'um' a lot.
Thursday, April 05, 2012
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
David Cameron is Praying for You
David Camerons Easter message.
“Easter week is a very important moment in the Christian calendar, so I would like to extend my best wishes to everyone here in the United Kingdom, and across the world, at this special time of year.
“This is the time when, as Christians, we remember the life, sacrifice and living legacy of Christ. The New Testament tells us so much about the character of Jesus; a man of incomparable compassion, generosity, grace, humility and love. These are the values that Jesus embraced, and I believe these are values people of any faith, or no faith, can also share in, and admire.
“It is values like these that make our country what it is – a place which is tolerant, generous and caring. A nation which has an established faith, that together is most content when we are defined by what we are for, rather than defined by what we are against. In the book of Luke, we are told that Jesus said, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” – advice that when followed makes for a happier, and better society for everyone.
“So as families and friends get together this week, I would like to send my best wishes to you all, and I hope and pray you have a very happy and peaceful Easter.”
Thanks Dave, we're praying for you too. This comes alongside a reception for Christian reps at 10 Downing Street, reported from various angles by the Telegraph (gay marriage), Guardian (the ghost of Alastair Campbell) and Rupert Murdochs Panzer Division (fuel prices). God and Politics has the full text of Cameron's speech at this event, and it's a fascinating read.
For the moment, I'll resist the temptation to dissect the theology, and be pleased that a PM is unashamedly celebrating Easter, in his own inclusive multiculturally-sensisitve way. Though I hope that in private DC gets that Jesus is not merely a living legacy, he's a living person.
“Easter week is a very important moment in the Christian calendar, so I would like to extend my best wishes to everyone here in the United Kingdom, and across the world, at this special time of year.
“This is the time when, as Christians, we remember the life, sacrifice and living legacy of Christ. The New Testament tells us so much about the character of Jesus; a man of incomparable compassion, generosity, grace, humility and love. These are the values that Jesus embraced, and I believe these are values people of any faith, or no faith, can also share in, and admire.
“It is values like these that make our country what it is – a place which is tolerant, generous and caring. A nation which has an established faith, that together is most content when we are defined by what we are for, rather than defined by what we are against. In the book of Luke, we are told that Jesus said, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” – advice that when followed makes for a happier, and better society for everyone.
“So as families and friends get together this week, I would like to send my best wishes to you all, and I hope and pray you have a very happy and peaceful Easter.”
Thanks Dave, we're praying for you too. This comes alongside a reception for Christian reps at 10 Downing Street, reported from various angles by the Telegraph (gay marriage), Guardian (the ghost of Alastair Campbell) and Rupert Murdochs Panzer Division (fuel prices). God and Politics has the full text of Cameron's speech at this event, and it's a fascinating read.
For the moment, I'll resist the temptation to dissect the theology, and be pleased that a PM is unashamedly celebrating Easter, in his own inclusive multiculturally-sensisitve way. Though I hope that in private DC gets that Jesus is not merely a living legacy, he's a living person.
Easter Preaching tip
Easter is not a time to get fancy. The goal of the Easter sermon is not to impress people with your oratory skills, your Greek syntax expertise, or your clever cultural insight. Easter is a time to boldly, loudly, passionately, gladly, and publicly proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ!
So, keep your Easter sermon simple. Hearing the good news of Jesus is something your people will delight in if the Holy Spirit resides in them, so make it plain. They know you will tell them Jesus is alive, they are coming to hear it, and it sounds good every time, much like a wife whose husband often tells her he loves her and is devoted to her—she never tires of hearing it and rejoices every time.
(Mark Driscoll)
So, keep your Easter sermon simple. Hearing the good news of Jesus is something your people will delight in if the Holy Spirit resides in them, so make it plain. They know you will tell them Jesus is alive, they are coming to hear it, and it sounds good every time, much like a wife whose husband often tells her he loves her and is devoted to her—she never tires of hearing it and rejoices every time.
(Mark Driscoll)
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Is it Possible to Preach about Maundy Thursday?
The more I think about doing a sermon on Jesus washing the disciples feet, the more obvious it becomes that a simple sermon won't do to recreate the impact or the meaning of what Jesus did.
After all, if Jesus had merely spoken for 20 minutes about mutual service, it would have just got noted down alongside all the rest of his teaching. But the sheer discomfort of the disciples, the dramatic role reversal of master becoming servant, the sheer grace (though nobody has washed his feet, Jesus the divine Word is washing theirs), the best way to recreate all of that is to do it.
which applies to blogging about it too.
After all, if Jesus had merely spoken for 20 minutes about mutual service, it would have just got noted down alongside all the rest of his teaching. But the sheer discomfort of the disciples, the dramatic role reversal of master becoming servant, the sheer grace (though nobody has washed his feet, Jesus the divine Word is washing theirs), the best way to recreate all of that is to do it.
which applies to blogging about it too.
Easter in TV Babylon
Following on from last time, here's the TV feast that is Easter weekend:
Easter Saturday
Easter from Kings (BBC2). This may tick some people's boxes, but in terms of TV the packaging is very National Trust - historic setting, historic music, historic bible version etc. Kings is top quality art, architecture, music and literature that the Christian faith inspires within a particular cultural setting, and for some it will inspire. For others, it will look like an attempt to keep that disturbing stuff about resurrection and God's Kingdom firmly locked in the past/high culture where it can't harm us. If that's you, try the Preston Passion (see Good Friday).
and that's it, unless you count 'Two Mules for Sister Sarah', a western with Clint Eastwood and a nun. Otherwise its sport, shows with Simon Cowell and shows with the ghost of Simon Cowell, family films, and mammon (national lottery, million pound drop, Flog It! etc.). Though a couple of hours channel hopping on Saturday night is probably enough to convince most people of our need for a saviour.
Easter Sunday
10am Easter Eucharist, BBC1, followed by the Pope's Easter message
5.25pm Songs of Praise
10pm 'Crucifixion' a C4 documentary about a man trying to construct a crucifix from donated body parts. Hey, it's channel 4.
and that's pretty much it, though there's plenty of stuff about death and betrayal if you're still stuck a bit earlier in Holy Week (Silent Witness, Titanic, Homeland). Interesting to see the 12-rated The Mummy on at 3.45pm. It's been moving 30 minutes forward in the schedules every year since its release. Don't let your kids near the zapper on Sunday afternoon if you want them to sleep.
Best bet - dig out the DVD of the BBC's Passion from a couple of years ago and watch them again. Or just follow the narrative in real time by reading the Bible.
Or if you can't read more than one sentence at a time, the Facebook Passion.
Easter Saturday
Easter from Kings (BBC2). This may tick some people's boxes, but in terms of TV the packaging is very National Trust - historic setting, historic music, historic bible version etc. Kings is top quality art, architecture, music and literature that the Christian faith inspires within a particular cultural setting, and for some it will inspire. For others, it will look like an attempt to keep that disturbing stuff about resurrection and God's Kingdom firmly locked in the past/high culture where it can't harm us. If that's you, try the Preston Passion (see Good Friday).
and that's it, unless you count 'Two Mules for Sister Sarah', a western with Clint Eastwood and a nun. Otherwise its sport, shows with Simon Cowell and shows with the ghost of Simon Cowell, family films, and mammon (national lottery, million pound drop, Flog It! etc.). Though a couple of hours channel hopping on Saturday night is probably enough to convince most people of our need for a saviour.
Easter Sunday
10am Easter Eucharist, BBC1, followed by the Pope's Easter message
5.25pm Songs of Praise
10pm 'Crucifixion' a C4 documentary about a man trying to construct a crucifix from donated body parts. Hey, it's channel 4.
and that's pretty much it, though there's plenty of stuff about death and betrayal if you're still stuck a bit earlier in Holy Week (Silent Witness, Titanic, Homeland). Interesting to see the 12-rated The Mummy on at 3.45pm. It's been moving 30 minutes forward in the schedules every year since its release. Don't let your kids near the zapper on Sunday afternoon if you want them to sleep.
Best bet - dig out the DVD of the BBC's Passion from a couple of years ago and watch them again. Or just follow the narrative in real time by reading the Bible.
Or if you can't read more than one sentence at a time, the Facebook Passion.
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