Join us for Easter 2024 at TWO locations.

Good Friday - March 29th, 10am - AAL (2 Watt Street, Thornbury)

Easter Sunday - March 31st, 4pm - Thornbury Church of Christ (390-398 St Georges Road, Thornbury)

There will be no children’s programs this year but the creche space will be available for parents to supervise their preschool children and there will be activity sheets for school aged children.

 

Where

Good Friday - AAL

 

Easter Sunday - Thornbury Church of Christ

 

EASTER RESOURCES

Historically, Christians have prepared for Easter by observing Lent, a 40-day period where they engage in fasting (e.g. giving up meat or, in modern times, chocolate or TV) as a way to express repentance and their need for mercy.  However, this can easily lead to self-reliance or faith in traditions rather than faith in Christ.  Or even shame and frustration because, let’s face it, Lent goes for a long time!  These potential downsides might lead us to avoid any sort of annual ritual around Easter but I believe there are two good reasons for us to give it a go.

  1. We are spiritually forgetful.  We can use the time leading up to Easter to develop good habits of Bible reading and prayer so that we can draw near to God through repentance and faith.  It is a clearly defined time of year that can help us build a healthy spiritual routine.

  2. We have the ultimate cause for joy at Easter. Our society still has a yearly anticipation of the Easter weekend which we can leverage for our own spiritual good.  We can cut through the greed and commercialisation to develop a joyful annual rhythm that helps us to particularly celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus.

I’ve collated a whole (Easter) basketful of resources below, including books, music and crafts.  Many of them are still made for a 40-day Lent period, which may be too long for you. Rather than being driven by guilt for six weeks, my advice is to just skip days if needed or simply find a shorter resource.

All of these resources can be used each year and so they are worth buying.  To make physical and digital purchases, you can visit www.koorong.com or www.reformers.com.au. Also see below for how to access resources through apps.

Pastor Adam Humphries

What you will find below:

 

Top recommendations for 2024

Read the Bible!

You can’t beat just reading through the final week of Jesus’ life!  Pick a Gospel and go for it at your own pace!

Matthew – Chapters 21-28

Mark – Chapters 11-16

Luke – 19:28 – chapter 24

John – 12:12-20:23

Our Radiant Redeemer: Lent Devotions on the Transfiguration of Jesus
Written by Tim Chester

6 WEEKS OF READINGS ON THE RADIANCE OF JESUS CHRIST
Tim Chester shows how the revelation of Jesus’ glory at the transfiguration points forward to his death and resurrection. In these devotions you will be shown the radiant Jesus in terms of his person, words, love, passion and victory.

Each reading has a quote for reflection at the end.

Is Easter Unbelievable?
Written by Rebecca McLaughlin

4 QUESTIONS EVERYONE SHOULD ASK ABOUT THE RESURRECTION STORY
In this very short book, Rebecca McLaughlin looks at the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus and shows why it’s such good news. Great for those who doubt, those who are young in their faith or those who simply want to be encouraged again in these truths.

  1. Is Jesus's life historical?

  2. Is Jesus's death ethical?

  3. Is Jesus's resurrection credible?

  4. Is Jesus's offer desirable?

A Jesus Easter: Explore God’s Amazing Rescue Plan
Written by Barbara Reaoch

30 READINGS FOR FAMILIES OF ALL AGES AND INTERESTS
Much like Reaoch’s Christmas books, each devotion has Bible passages to read, questions to answer, helpful explanations, suggested prayers and a family journaling space. Questions are marked as better for older or younger children so you can plan. The variety in the book should keep a wide range of children engaged!

The first 10 readings explore the Old Testament passages that pointed forward to Jesus. The remaining 20 look at the life of Jesus culminating in the Easter story.

Visit the publishers page for extra resources to download.

NOTE: I couldn’t find details on which day to start these readings but Day 27 describes the resurrection and so would fit with Easter Sunday.  Start 26 days earlier (e.g. 14/03/23) and do one a day or start five weeks earlier (e.g. 06/03/23) and do five a week, landing with Days 25-27 across the Easter weekend. - Pastor Adam 

 

Resources for adults

To Seek and to Save
Written by Sinclair Ferguson

41 daily readings from the book of Luke.

FROM THE PUBLISHER – Journey with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem with these reflections for Lent by Sinclair Ferguson. As you walk through the second half of Luke’s Gospel, you'll meet the people Jesus encountered on the way to the cross—and prepare your heart to appreciate his death and resurrection afresh.

The Glory of the Cross & The Beauty of the Cross
Written by Tim Chester

These two bible-centred Christ-honouring resources point us to the glory and beauty of Jesus’ life and death through daily readings and helpful reflections.

The Glory of the Cross – 40 days in the Gospel of John.
(Free discussion guide here)

The Beauty of the Cross – 47 days in the book of Isaiah.

Truly, truly, I say to you
Written by Adam Ramsey

42 READINGS BASED ON JOHN
The Apostle John carefully recorded the sayings of Jesus so that we might know God and thus know eternal life.  These 42 devotions will guide you on a journey of reflection and connection with God.  

Ramsey’s devotions include prayers and are followed by quotes from Charles Spurgeon, the famous 19th century preacher.

Your Sorrow Will Turn to Joy
Written by Desiring God 

A team of eleven pastors and scholars (including John Piper, Justin Taylor, David Mathis and Tony Reinke) have created a book that guides us through Holy Week (Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday).  With eight days of morning and evening readings, we are encouraged to meditate on what Jesus has done for us.  You can purchase a physical copy or download a free ebook.

 

Journey to the Cross
Written by Paul Tripp

40 READINGS HELPING YOU TURN FROM SIN
In these 40 daily readings for Lent, Paul Tripp helps us meditate on the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus Christ in a way that helps us to mourn our sins and find renewed joy and strength in the wonderful forgiveness secured by Jesus for us.

Each reading has reflection questions at the end and a suggested passage of Scripture for reflection.

The Case for Easter
Written by Lee Strobel 

This short book is a great Easter read, looking at three main pieces of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus (the medical evidence, the missing body and the witnesses).  It’s a shorter version of Strobel’s book “The Case of Christ” so why not read it for even more evidence for the life, death and resurrection of Jesus?


 

Easter Music

Much of our church music is Easter music since it is about the cross and the resurrection.  Some particularly helpful resources come from Page CXVI who have reworked old hymns and written some of their own to go along with the annual church calendar.  The Lent and Easter albums are fantastic!  Get digital copies at - www.pagecxvi.com.

LENT TO MAUNDY THURSDAY
By Page CXVI 

Reimagined hymns and new songs that set a sombre mood for this season of preparation.

 

GOOD FRIDAY TO EASTER
By Page CXVI 

Reimagined hymns and new songs that highlight the sorrow and joy of Easter.

BOSS OF THE CROSS
By Colin Buchanan

Lots of new and old Easter-themed songs. 

RISEN
By Sovereign Grace 

These songs focus on the cross and the resurrection.

 

 

Access resources digitally

Many of these resources can be access digitally as PDFs or ebooks or even as part of existing apps.

PrayerMate App

Some of the books listed above appear as feeds in the app that you can subscribe to. The paid ones are as little as $2.99 each.

YouVersion Bible App

Search “Lent” or “Easter” to access free Bible plans with devotions.  Here are some recommended ones:

 

Resources for children and families

The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross – Easter Calendar
Written by Carl & Lizzie Lafterton 

This product is inspired by “The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross”.  It contains a calendar that’s like the ones we use at Advent and a booklet with 15 readings for families.  If you have a copy of the book, you might like to read it during the Easter season since the readings connect to the Bible passages in the book.  

A Very Happy Easter
Written by Tim Thornborough

This cute book for pre-schoolers tells the Easter story but with a focus on the emotions felt by the people who were present at the first Easter. Children are encouraged to not only use their eyes and ears while this story is read to them but also to use their faces to copy those of the people in the book.

The prolific Andrew McDonough has many books in his Lost Sheep series that are centred on the Easter Story. These stories are biblically faithful with bright illustrations and plenty of humour. You can visit the Lost Sheep website to read the books online and find plenty of resources to download.

The Third Day
Published by The Good Book Company

Something for young adults (and the not so young!) is this comic about the Easter story.   

The illustrations are great and the words are simply the text of Luke’s account.

Darkest Night Brightest Day: A family devotion for the Easter season
Written by Marty Machowski

FAMILY DEVOTIONAL STORY BOOK (14 READINGS)
This creative family book is beautifully illustrated and faithfully recounts the events around Easter.  Each of the 14 readings retells the next part of the story and provides 3-4 questions for discussion. Starting on the Sunday before Easter, the first seven chapters end after the darkest day with Jesus in the tomb. Then on Easter Sunday morning, you flip the book over to reveal seven more readings that recount the joy of the brightest day and what happened next! 

The strength of this book is it helps your children see how the events of Easter form a unified story.

 

Resurrection Eggs

Resurrection eggs are a great tradition!  You could start with ones purchased from a shop or make your own! 

Tips for making resurrection eggs:

  • Find a good devotion (See below)

  • Purchase a dozen hollow plastic eggs from the supermarket or a craft shop

  • Find an item for each day to put in each egg

  • Put a bible verse or passage in each egg too

  • Start on the Wednesday two weeks before Easter so you finish on Easter Sunday

  • Set aside family time each day to open an egg, read the bible verse & devotion and then pray

  • Examples:

Easter devotions for families

  • Wendy Lin

    Wendy’s family devotions are very helpful.  The Matthew’s Gospel series is aimed at younger families and the Luke’s Gospel series at primary school kids.  They have Bible readings, questions, prayers and suggested visual aids.  You can modify them to suit your needs.  They both go for 14 days but the Matthew one starts two days earlier. 
    Explanation and downloads here. 

  • Carmelina Read
    Carmelina has put together a nice 6 day devotion for pre-schoolers to early high-schoolers, with extended ideas on activities and crafts to do. 
    Explanation and a link to a PDF here.