Gospel.com Blog

Looking for some good ways to walk your family through the Easter story as the holiday approaches? CBH Ministries has compiled a list of Easter-themed “Keys for Kids” devotionals that would make good reading in a family with young children.

RBC Ministries has quite a large collection of devotions; you can find Easter-themed messages from the archives of the Thought of the Day audio devotional and the Our Daily Bread devotional.

Lastly, Peggie’s Place offers a humorous and inspirational Easter poem, “Twas the Night Before Easter,” at Peggie’s Easter page. Take a few moments to browse through these devotionals and see if any of them would make good family reading this Easter week.

Several Gospelcom Alliance members focus their ministry on evangelistic tracts, and so it’s no surprise that as Easter approaches, they’re bringing out a wide variety of Easter-themed tracts that you can buy or read online. If you’re looking for an inspirational message this Easter, try browsing these online tract libraries:

• Easter tracts from the Tract League

• American Tract Society’s Easter tracts
• … and some more Easter tracts from Good News / Crossway.

The hymns and worship songs of Easter are among the most well-known and moving pieces of church music. Have you ever taken the time to meditate on the music of Easter?

The Center for Church Music is always a good resource to check for more info about such things, and their collection of Easter tunes doesn’t disappoint. They’ve got lyrics, MP3s, and histories for Easter songs like:

• Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended
• Christ the Lord is Risen Today
• O Sacred Head Now Wounded
• When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

…and others. Stop by, read the stories behind the songs, and listen to them online!

Continuing with our Easter theme, we’ve got another Easter resource to highlight today: ACTS International’s collection of Easter articles, which bring together essays and devotionals related to the meaning of the holiday. You might start with Love’s Most Amazing Story or the devotional message The Day That Changed the World, then explore the rest of the collection.

How “emotional” is Easter for you? Many Christians have heard the Easter story so many times that they could probably recite it by heart–Jesus’s trial, the crucifixion, the resurrection. But in our familiarity with the Easter story, have we forgotten the strong emotions that characterize it?

In an insightful piece about Easter (compiled from several of his radio broadcasts), Woodrow Kroll takes a look at the different emotions that are mentioned in the Easter story. From the soul-shaking fear of the guards at Jesus’ tomb to the life-changing joy that Jesus’ followers experienced upon his resurrection, the Easter story is a harrowing emotional journey.

Kroll walks us through each of these, and challenges us not to let our familiarity with the Easter story get in the way of experiencing Easter’s emotions. He concludes:

This season release your emotions in response to what Jesus did for you. Experience the emotion of awe. Express the emotion of joy. Be obedient to what He asks you to do. And spend some time this Easter just falling at His feet and worshiping Him. Don’t be afraid of your emotions. They can make Easter a deeper, richer experience.

Easter is coming! To help you prepare for the holiday, we’ll be focusing on Easter-related resources over the next two weeks.

Here’s a simple question to start us out: when, exactly, is Easter? Since the date of Easter varies from year to year, how do we know when to celebrate it?

As it turns out, the answer to that question isn’t as simple as you might think. The Christian History Institute explains the story behind Easter’s changing date. The article also describes how other Easter traditions–sunrise services, Holy Week, etc.–came to be practiced by the church.

The CHI has other related Easter articles worth checking out as well, including a piece about efforts to identify the exact date that Jesus rose from the dead and another on the earliest possible date that Easter can be celebrated (as decided by the early church).

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent–a time in which people traditionally choose to give up an activity or behavior that’s distracting them from God. In an article about Ash Wednesday, author Keri Wyatt Kent ponders the lack of emphasis put on Ash Wednesday by today’s church, and offers some thoughts about the holiday’s importance.

For Kent, Ash Wednesday is much more than a legalistic tradition–it’s an important part of the Easter experience:

If we ignore Lent, we rob Easter of its texture, of its real beauty. Its music becomes flat, when we take away the counterpoint.

What would happen if I allowed myself the luxury of beginning to prepare for Easter not two days before, but forty days before? I’ve never thought of Lent as a luxury, but in a spiritual sense, it is. What if I were to focus on preparing my soul, to mourn Christ’s death by dying to myself, if even only in small ways? Wouldn’t the celebration of his resurrection become more meaningful?

Kent wants us to focus less on what we’re giving up, and more on what we’re gaining by simplifying our spiritual lives. So today, instead of asking “What do I have to give up for Lent?”–you might try asking “How can I simplify my life in preparation for Easter?” instead!

Easter will be here before you know it–so it’s a good time to give some thought to the evangelism opportunities presented by the holiday. The American Tract Society has unveiled its lineup of Easter-themed tracts, which you can buy individually or in larger packs. If you’re just looking for some inspirational reading, you can actually read the full text of the tracts online–for starters, try these tracts:

• Christ is Alive, written by Billy Graham
• Jesus’ Resurrection: Where’s the Evidence? written by internet evangelist Rusty Wright
• So, Who is This Jesus Anyway? by chaplain Don Anderson

Whether you’re looking to stock up on tracts to hand out, or are just interested in reading some solid Easter evangelism pieces, take a few minutes and read through ATS’ offerings.