An Easter Sermon for Children's Church

You may know many things about the death and resurrection of Jesus. You may know about the Man who was killed on the Cross. You may know that man. I do!

Or, maybe you don’t know anything about the story. You may have questions. You may be asking:

Did these things really happen?

Who was that Man on the Cross?

Why did He have to die?

Did He really come back to life?

What does it all have to do with me?

I hope to answer these questions over the next few minutes.

The Gospel – Good News

Paul the Apostle wrote these words in the Bible:

(Romans 1:1b-4 ESV) 1 …the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

These words speak of the gospel of God. Gospel means “good news”. And they say it is God’s gospel. It is “good news” from God. This “gospel of God” was promised by God “through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.”

In another place we read this about the gospel of God.

(First Corinthians 15:1, 3-4 ESV) 1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you… 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

There is a clear statement of the gospel:

Christ died for our sins and Christ rose from the dead!

That is the gospel. That is the “good news”.

The Bad News

But if you were listening close, in that clear statement you also heard some bad news. And it is that bad news that makes the “good news” so very good.

“Christ died for our sins.” Christ Jesus, the man who died on the Cross, “died for our sins.”

The bad news we must face is the bad news about “our sins”.

What is sin?

Have you ever lied? God said, “do not lie.” Lying is sin. That is why Jesus died; “for our sins.”

Have you ever stolen anything? God said, “do not steal.” Stealing is sin. That is why Jesus died; “for our sins.”

Have you ever disobeyed your parents? God said, “Honor your father and your mother.” Disobeying your parents is sin. That is why Jesus died; “for our sins.”

Sin is doing what God has commanded us not to do or not doing what God has commanded us to do. Everyone has sinned. The Bible says:

(Romans 3:23 ESV) 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the gloryof God,

The consequence of sin is death. The Bible says:

(Romans 6:23 ESV) 23 For the wages of sin is death…

The death this verse speaks of is an eternal painful existence in hell - separated from God and all that is good.

That is why Jesus died; “for our sins.”

Jesus, Our Sin, and His Death

Who is Jesus? How could He die for my sin?

There is one answer to both of these questions.

Our Scripture talks about “the gospel of God… concerning his Son.”

The reason Jesus could die for our sins is because he is the sinless Son of God. He is God in human flesh. Jesus…

“was descended from David according to the flesh”

He was the perfect Man who never sinned

And Jesus…

“was declared to be the Son of God”

Very God in human flesh. And he “died for our sins.”

How can we know that Jesus is the Son of God? That is what Easter is all about. Our Scripture says Jesus…

“was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead”

We know that Jesus is the Son of God because, after he “died for our sins” on the Cross, He rose from the dead. He came back to life.

Your Response

Do you still ask, “What does this have to do with me?

Well, nothing if you reject the good news. If you reject the Son of God’s death as payment for your sin, then it has nothing to do with you. You must pay for your own sin forever in hell.

But, if you receive Jesus and His death as payment for your sins then your sins are forgiven and you will live forever with God in heaven.

You must receive Jesus by faith. Faith is turning to Jesus in love and trusting in his death and resurrection for the forgiveness of your sins. And faith is turning from sin. This is called repentance. It means that with God’s help you live the rest of your life the way God wants you to live.

If you understand that you need your sins forgiven - if you believe that Jesus died to pay for your sins and that He rose again - if you are willing to turn from sin and trust in Jesus, you can receive Him now.

Prayer

If you would receive Jesus, tell Him so in prayer. Tell Jesus that you want to trust Him and turn from your sin. Tell him you want your sins forgiven. Tell Him you believe that he died for you and that He rose again from the dead.

Now tell me, doth this offend you?

A Witness at the Door

My wife told me about something that happened today while I was at work. I wanted her to tell you about it:

Today a van pulled up in front of our house and parked. Two Jehovah’s Witness men got out and approached our door. When I saw them I quickly ran to the back door and called our five year old son, Creed, in from playing.

When we returned to the front door the two men were waiting. I said, “Hello.”

They started saying that they were “telling people about our creator.”

I said, “Creed, who is our creator?”

He said, “God!”

“Wow, that’s good!” the men said.

I said, “Creed, who is Jesus?”

Creed said, “Jesus is God. He came from heaven to earth; lived a perfect life. He died on the Cross to pay for our sins. And He rose again!

One of the Jehovah’s Witnesses said, “Wow, you know, people four times your age don’t know that much.”

“Creed, where is Jesus now?” I said.

“In heaven,” he began, “offering us the free gift of eternal life.”

They said they had two booklets that talked about God...

I said, “I think we differ on who Jesus is.”

“Well, we try not to argue or discuss too much on differences,” they said.

I continued, “It’s a big difference. We stand firm on our belief that Jesus is God; it’s a very important difference!”

“Okay,” they said as they were backing away from the door, “Have a good day.”

I turned to Creed, took his face in my hands and said, “Son, do you know what you just did? You just witnessed for Jesus! You just told some people who did not believe that Jesus is God that He is God! You see, they believe in God the Father, but they don’t believe in God the Son. They don’t believe that Jesus is our Creator.”

Creed ran back outside where Cameron and Haley were playing (Caleb had been in the corner the whole time). Creed said, “Woo hoo! I just witnessed for God! I just told someone who didn’t know Jesus about God...that He created us! I was a create? I was crea...? What was I Cam?”

Cameron said, “Creator?”

He said, “No... I... I was a witness!...for Jesus! Yeah! Woo hoo!”

I was crying, wishing his daddy could hear. And I was praying that he would continue to the glory of his Heavenly Father.

Amen!

Check out this related article.

Now tell me, doth this offend you?

First Day of School

Our son Creed and our daughter Cameron started kindergarten today.

I’ve told them both that I was paying for their primary and secondary education. But college tuition is up to them, so they better work hard and get a scholarship.


They said, okay!

Adoption

No, this is not a theological post.

On Friday, July 7, my wife and I went before a superior court judge to finalize our adoption of our daughter
Haley Faye Akin.

Haley has been in our home since September 2005. We are very happy to have the process of adoption complete, and we thank God for sending her to us.