From Empty to Full

Short Talk (SHT052) From empty to full © Jane Hulme 2015 Aim of Short talk: Main themes: Biblical references: Props: Before the Service: (SHT052) An Easter day talk to teach people that the empty cross and the empty tomb give the possibility of our empty lives being filled with the fullness of God. Easter, Gospel, Good news, Resurrection Luke 24:1-8, Ephesians 3:16-19, Colossians 1:27 Empty plastic Easter eggs (enough for all the children present), small foil wrapped chocolate eggs (enough for all the children present) Hide the plastic Easter eggs around the front of church in SHORT TALK: “FROM EMPTY TO FULL” obvious places so that children can easily find them. ........................................................................................................................ How many of you children have been given an Easter egg this morning?  And how many of you have already eaten one before breakfast? This morning I have got some special Easter eggs which I have hidden around the front of the church.  So children if you would like to, come and find one egg as quickly as you can.  As soon as you have found one egg, come back and join me at the front of church. (Children go hunting for plastic Easter eggs) Would you all like to open up your Easter eggs? (Children open up plastic Easter eggs)  What’s inside them?  Nothing, nothing at all....... That’s what Mary and her friends found on the very first Easter day when they went to Jesus’ tomb,  They found that Jesus wasn’t there anymore,  His body had gone,  The tomb was empty apart from the cloths that had been used to wrap around his dead body. You can imagine that this was a bit of a shock for Jesus’ friends,  but soon they found out that Jesus had risen from the dead, and that He was alive. Two days earlier if you remember, Jesus had been nailed to a cross,  and by the evening of that day his body had been removed from the cross and placed inside the tomb. So we have an empty cross and an empty tomb.  What does all of that mean for us today?  Why is the empty cross and the empty tomb something to celebrate? © Jane Hulme 2015 2 I want you to put the two halves of your plastic egg together, not like they were joined before, but so as to make one half of an egg. (Show the children with a plastic egg you have. The idea is to combine the two halves of the plastic egg so that one half of the egg is inside the other half)  Have you all done that? I want you to imagine that this half egg is your life.....  And your life is made up of all sorts of different things..... o being part of a family and making friends, o going to school, or college or work, o playing sport, enjoying music or other hobbies, o going on holiday, celebrating birthdays, enjoying happy times, o but also coping with disappointments, illness, loss and difficult times. Good as life is though, we can sometimes feel empty deep down inside us.....a bit like the emptiness inside your egg.  It is a bit like that empty feeling on Christmas Day afternoon.  You have opened up all of your presents.  You have eaten perhaps the best meal of the year.  You may have your family all around you.  You may have just watched a great film on television,  and yet.....deep inside you can feel empty.....and think: “there must be more than this!” The reason we can feel empty is that we have been created to enjoy a relationship with God,  and without that relationship, our lives will feel empty. The Good news of Easter is that Jesus was willing to die on the cross,  to take the punishment for our sins,  so that our empty lives can be filled with the life of God. The empty tomb on Easter day means that Jesus is alive and He wants to come and fill our emptiness with Himself. (As you speak these words place a foil wrapped chocolate egg into each child’s empty plastic egg half) If any of you are feeling empty inside this morning,  let me encourage you to come to Jesus in faith.  Ask Him to forgive you your sins and He will because He died for you.  Ask Him to come and fill you with the life of God – the Holy Spirit,  And you will find that He will come and satisfy you, like nothing else on earth ever will. Happy Easter! © Jane Hulme 2015 3