Easter Two Devotion

Pink paving stones & pic of red juice in a glass & a piece of bread/bun to add to wall hanging.
Bring a small glass with grape/raspberry juice & a slice of bread/bun. Set it out on a tray or on a small table.

Have a quick quiz… you can use lollies for prizes or ask teams a question each & give points. The purpose is to remind members of the ‘Exodus’ & to inform those who don’t know, of some of the background. Some of your members should know the answers from past devotions or general Bible knowledge.
Suggested questions:

Where did the Israelites live when Moses was born? (Egypt)
One day Moses killed an Egyptian – where did Moses live after that? (Midian/Desert)
God spoke to Moses from a burning bush. What did he want Moses to do? Go back to Egypt & bring the Israelites out)
Moses went to Pharaoh & told him to let the Israelites go. Pharaoh said ‘No’. So God sent plagues to punish Pharaoh & the Egyptians. Name 2 plagues that the people suffered. ( gnats, flies, frogs, hail, water to blood, boils, locusts, darkness, death of animals, death of firstborn)
What was the last plague that happened? (death of all firstborn sons)
What did the Israelites have to do to protect their families so their firstborn sons wouldn’t die? (put blood of a lamb around their doors)

So that’s part of the history of what is called the ‘Passover’. When God wanted them to escape from Egypt & the Egyptians wouldn’t let them go, he sent an angel of death to kill every firstborn boy child. If the Israelites were going to escape the angel of death coming to their house, they had to kill a lamb & paint its blood all around their doorposts.
Every year this is still celebrated in Israel – it’s called the Passover, & it comes just before we celebrate Easter.

One day Jesus’ disciples came to him and said “where do you want us to get the Passover meal set up?” Jesus replied, “Peter & John, I want you to go into the city. You will meet a man carrying a jar of water. Follow him to his home. Go in & say to the owner of the house, “where is the room where Jesus wants us to eat the Passover meal. He will show you a large upstairs room. Get everything ready for us there.” So they did.
When it was dinner time, Jesus and the rest of the disciples turned up at the house and celebrated this special meal together.
Also on the table was this (bring bread & grape/raspberry juice forward). During the meal Jesus said to his disciples “I want to do this with you before I suffer.”
Then he took a small piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks to God, and divided it amongst his disciples. “Take and eat it,” he said. “This represents my body which I’m giving for you. You also are to do this in memory of me.” (You might like to get 2 leaders to come & take it & eat it)
Then Jesus took the cup of juice, gave thanks to God and said, “Drink it. This represents my blood poured out for you, to cover your sins. Do this to remember what I have done for you.” (2 leaders to drink juice)

Today many Christians continue to follow Jesus direction & often take what we call ‘communion’. This is specifically for those who are Christians, who have asked Jesus into their heart. They take a piece of bread to remember that Jesus body was put on a cross & He died. They take a sip of grape juice or wine to remember that His blood flowed out of His body when He died.

It also refers back to what we were talking about earlier in our quiz when Moses took the people out of Egypt. A lamb had to die, and its blood was put around the doorposts of the house for protection. What happened then was a picture of what was going to happen many years later when Jesus died on the cross. See how it all ties up together?

The Bible tells us that ‘The blood of Jesus, Gods Son, cleans us from our sins.” (1 John 1 v 7b). That’s what communion represents. And it is a time where we thank Jesus for saving & cleansing us from sin.

Next week we will see what happened to Jesus after He celebrated this Passover meal with His disciples.